Disney Vacation-Day 1

Bill and I got the chance to go to Disney with my mom, dad, and sisters Kelley, Erin, and Michael. We left on Friday, July 2nd around 11, stopped in Evansville for lunch, made a few pit stops, and stopped for the night just south of Atlanta. The next day we got up and ate breakfast and traveled the rest of the way to Disney. We got there around 4, checked in our hotel, ate supper, and just relaxed for the night before our very busy days that were coming up. On July 4th, we went to Animal Kingdom and Epcot. We thought that since it was a holiday and there were a lot of people off, we should do the least exciting parks first. We started the day off at Animal Kingdom. It was cloudy, but not humid. Here are some pictures from Animal Kingdom.

Erin was trying to catch the ducks!

The Tree of Life from the Lion King

Someone was excited for their FIRST trip to Disney!

Kelley, Pluto, and Michael

Erin and Meeko-She wanted him to braid her hair like he did Pocahontas in the movie!

Minnie and Michael

Bill and Mickey-he said this wasn't the REAL Mickey!

Erin and her favorite-Pocahontas!

Alligators

These are pictures from the Safari ride

Look closely at the Baby elephant!

Rhino

Rafecki (sp) from the Lion King

This is all of us on the Dino ride-My mom hated it and this picture shows just how much!

Me, Erin, and Michael at the Bug's Life 3D show

When we were finished at Animal Kingdom that afternoon, we decided to go to Epcot. We rode some rides, looked at the gift shops, and had some good laughs. We went back to the hotel to eat supper and freshen up, but went back to Epcot that night for fireworks. The fireworks were the best that I had ever seen!!!

Bill and I with the golf ball!

Sisters: Kelley, me, Erin, and Michael

Kelley, Erin, Bill, and I going on the Mission: Space ride

We saw an astronant!

The golf ball at night!

Amazing fireworks!

A great way to celebrate America!

Day 2 of Disney Vacation to come!

Love and Blessings,

Whitney

2 year Anniversary!

Two years ago today, July 19th, 2008, Bill and I were finally married. It seemed as if we had waited years for this day to arrive, and now we can 't believe that it has been 2 years! These 2 years have definately been challenging and testing, but we have drawn closer and love each other more and more every day! I don't know what I would do without him and I thank God for giving me the perfect man to share my life with. Thank you Bill for being my best friend, my soul mate, and the love of my life!!! We look forward to many more years together! Here are some pictures from our special day!

Getting married!

So happy to finally be Mr. and Mrs.

Our first dance...I had waited so long for that moment!

Dancing the night away!

Love and Blessings,

Whitney

May and June Rewind

Yes, I know it has been awhile since I have updated, but I thought I would let you know the events that Bill and I took part in during the months of May and June.

May 1st-My nephew Braeden had his 6th birthday party. It was held at a bowling alley in Bloomington and was the first party that he got to invited his friends to, now that he is in school.

Blowing out the candles on his cake

He didn't want to have his picture taken!

My cousin Ryan's daughter, Taegan.

May 15th-We attended Amanda and Rob's wedding. Amanda is Bill's cousin Tony's daughter. It rained some that day, but the wedding and reception were wonderful. Here are some pictures from their special day.

Bill and I at the reception

Mr. and Mrs. Bechtel

Cutting the cake

First dance

Amanda sang "Mine" by Martina McBride to Rob

May 22 and 23-This weekend was full of Graduation parties. Our niece Breanna had her party with our neighbor Matthew Smith and Bill's cousin's son, Clayton Shake. My sister Erin had her graduation party the next day with some of her friends. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera at either party, but here are some pictures from their graduation, which was on May 28th.

Seniors celebrating their graduation

Bill, Breanna, and I

My mom and dad with my sister Erin

Sisters: Michael, Erin, me, Laurie, and Kelley

Erin with Papaw Carl and Mamaw Beverly

June wasn't as busy of a month for us, but I didn't take any pictures. Sorry!

June 12-A girl in my sorority, who was also my lil sis, got married in Terre Haute. Bill and I made the trip up and enjoyed watching them get married. It started to pour during the ceremony, but luckily we were inside! Congrats to Jamie and Zack!

June 19 and 20-On Saturday night, Bill and I went with his dad's family to eat in Jasper for Father's Day. We had a good time and enjoyed the family time we had! The food was good as well. The next day we went to church and then to my dad's sister's for lunch. Then that evening we went to Bill's aunt's. It was a busy day, but it was great getting togther with family.

June 26-I enjoyed attending a luncheon bridal shower for Annalie Scudder. It was a cute bridal shower for a girl I've gone to church with my whole life.

Well that about does it for the rewind! Sorry for the delay! I hope/plan to post soon on our recent trip to Disney!

Love and Blessings,

Whitney

Prayers

If anyone gets a chance and doesn't mind, I would appreciate if you could pray for a special someone over the next couple of months. I don't want to go into details, but my friend needs some prayers and uplifting. Thanks so much!

Love and Blessings,
Whitney

Prom and Jr. High Dance

I know that these are really old and that I've been bad at updating, but I thought that if I ever wanted to print my blog into a book, I better blog about some of these things. Here are some pictures from prom and jr. high dance.

My sister Erin and her boyfriend Brad on Prom Day

A closer picture of Erin and Brad. She looked beautiful, even though her dress had to grow on me!

Erin and Brad again. He was thrilled over all of the pictures!

My niece Breanna and her boyfriend Jake

Neighbor Matthew Smith and his date Stacey Beard

Erin and Brad during Grand March

Erin and I. Please excuse my face as I had a case of Impetigo :(

Bill and I with our "kids" Sarah and Matthew Smith

Sisters!

Bill and Breanna

My baby sister Michael before her last Jr. High Dance!

She looked beautiful and has grown up too fast!

Erin and her favorite cat, Matthew!

Sorry that I haven't posted earlier! Hopefully I will update more within the next few days!

Whitney

2 Years Ago!

This was 2 years ago today! May 3rd, 2008 I finally graduated from Ball State University. What began as a 3 hour drive, away from home for the first time, Telecommunications major turned into 5 years, 2 different majors later, sorority girl, and most of all, life changing experience that was my college experience. I learned so much about life and other people and these things will live with me for the rest of my life. I sit now and think back to move-in day Freshman year and it seems like yesterday. And it only seems like hours ago that I was walking across the stage to receive my diploma holder!!! There are so many times that I want to go back to the years-maybe I would have done something different, maybe I would have just relaxed and took it all in, but no matter what happened, I wouldn't have changed one single thing. Those 5 years have helped make me who I am today. I know I can't go back, even though I try so hard to. I cherish most of my college memories, and if you were at all a part of them, I just want to say thanks! When I look back at that day, I didn't think things would be the way they are, but that is all part of God's plan. I can't believe it has been 2 years after all of that hard work and dedication, but it was definately 5 years that I will never forget. I'm so proud that I accomplished one of my life goals-becoming a college graduate!!!

Lucy, the new addition to our family!

I know I've waited way to long to post on this! It just seems I never have enough time in a day to get everything that I want done! I received my Valentine's present a couple of days early this year. Bill and I had talked about getting a puppy around Christmas. So he researched and found a couple in Madison that would have some Golden Retriever puppies born in January 2010. This was suppose to be a surprise, but my husband isn't good about keeping a secret and I found out the date the puppies were born, added 6 weeks, and pretty much knew when our puppy would arrive, Valentine's Day. But Bill thought he would still surprise me by going and getting her early, but he isn't very good at sneaking around and I figured out that he went on Wednesday, February 10th to get our girl puppy. Here are some pictures of Lucy's first night with us.

Giving her a treat
Little puppy face!
So sleepy
This is how she slept the entire first night! Poor Bill!

People have asked why we got a Golden Retriever. When I was younger, that is what my mom got my dad one year and he was such a good dog and never harmed anyone. I loved that dog and have always wanted another Golden Retriever some day. So since this is technically my dog, I got to pick what I wanted. Bill and I both decided on the name Lucy too. It was one of the first names that came to both of our minds and just kept coming back, even though we had looked and thought of other names. It definately fits her too.

First bath!

Posing for the camera

My Valentine's Day presents

Too cute!

This picture is too funny-putting her paws up while sleeping!

Lucy has been a pretty good dog so far. She almost has the potty thing down, but has a few accidents every once in a while, and that is usually when we aren't paying attention to her or when Bill leaves the room! She loves Bill and if he leaves her alone, she will whimper or run after him. As you can see from the picture below, there is a different comforter on our bed, so she has some accidents before we get up or can get her outside. The only thing she needs to learn is to sleep in her own bed!!!! Just like a child, once they go in your bed, they don't leave! She thinks she has to sleep with us, usually at our heads or on our pillows. She has improved her sleeping by sleeping more during the night, but I would love for her to sleep in her crate! We definately need to work on that! But overall, she has been fun and the perfect addition to our family!!!!

Love this picture!

Getting so big!

Loves to get in the dishwasher and the shower!

We love our Lucy!!!

Hopefully, I'll continue to take pictures and show just how big she gets over the summer. She has been out the past couple of days and loves to run around. We've all enjoyed the weather and the sunshine and hope ya'll have too!

Love and Blessings,

Whitney