~ My Husband Rocks! ~ Reflecting on Two Great Years <3

Click here to read about why I started MHR Fridays!

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As I blogged earlier this week, Austin and I celebrated our second anniversary on Tuesday, September 22. We have been through a lot in those two years, and in the three years that we dated before the wedding, and I love the opportunity to do a little reminiscing.

Thinking back over the past two years, many wonderful memories come to mind but the thing that I keep coming back to today is how blatantly obvious it is to me that Austin is the person on this earth that God had in mind for me to marry, and how no one else in the world could fill that roll better or more completely than he does. He is my match beyond a shadow of a doubt, and I feel so blessed and humbled to watch the intricacies of that unfold in our lives.



Why does your husband rock?
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If you're not a blogger, but still want the world to know about your amazing husband (or wife, or husband to be, or wife to be, etc.) leave a shout-out in the form of a comment! If you're unable to comment, e-mail me at katylinvw [at] yahoo [dot] com and I'll add your shout out to this post!

As always, on Fridays Union 28 will refund your shipping on any order of two or more items if you mention the great adventure and ~my husband rocks! Fridays~ in the "how did you hear about us?" section of your order form, so run on over there and check them out, too! Thank you Union 28!

Hope you all have a fantastic Friday, and a wonderful weekend!

<3 <3 <3 Two years ago today . . .

. . . we said "I do!"



I can't believe that it has already been two years, and at the same time it seems crazy that it has only been two years.



I love you hunny bear! Thank you for being my husband!

<3 Je t'aime plus d'hier et moins de demain . . . <3

I'm ba - a - ack . . . .

NOTE: I am unable to upload photos while we are on the road, so this post will be edited to add pics as soon as we get home :)

Hello and happy Wednesday everybody! We're just heading home from our fabulous anniversary trip in Branson, Missouri!

As I write this I am currently driving down the highway connected to the Internet through Austin's amazing Motorola Q (I will never cease to be amazed by that, I'm very easy to amaze, lol!)

We had a great time in Branson. I had never been there before, and Austin hadn't been since he was about 12, so a ton had changed. Our stay was a wedding present from my grandparents (pictured below), which was a huge blessing!

Thanks Mommer & Papa!

We left right after work on Friday evening, and got to Branson around 11:30 PM. I was driving at the end of the trip, and right as we crested the final hill into Branson, we ran out of gas!!! (Thank the Lord for a Hybrid that can run on the electric engine!) We coasted into town powered solely by the electric engine (this is definitely NOT recommended by the maufacturer) and ran out of electricity right as we pulled into the gas station! Crazy!!!



We checked into our little condo, and went straight to bed! Saturday we spent most of the day just laying around, watching TV, reading - I finished two whole books this week - and it was wonderful. Austin napped (which is very unusual for him, but it was so good, because he was exhausted)!!! And we went swimming, twice :)


(Austin is the tiny dot under the palm trees :) )

Saturday evening we enjoyed a delicious dinner buffeet at Sadie's Sideboard & Smokehouse - absolutely wonderful, especially the dessert: raspberry cobbler (Austin had apple).

Sunday we slept in then went to lunch at Taco Bell, walked around a little mall, then historic downtown Branson where we saw a discount ticket place. We went in, and signed up to take a tour of a timeshare place and got the rest of our tickets for the rest of the week for super cheap.




Waiting for Legends to start.

Sunday night, we went to Legends and saw Garth Brooks, Liza Minelli, The Blues Brothers, Tina Turner, and Elvis in concert! Very fun! We even got our picture taken with "Garth."



Monday was our anniversary, and we got up and went to our timeshare presentation. We ended up spending most of the day there talking to the sales person, but did not end up buying into the program. They sucked us into scheduling an "evaluation" for the following morning by offering us more free tickets, lol!



We enjoyed a delightful anniversary supper at Mel's Hard Luck Cafe (where the waiters and waitresses sing to you!) Our waitress, Julie, dedicated a song to us for our anniversary:

After supper we shopped a little bit, then headed to the New Shanghai Circus for the Acrobats of China show! Amazing!!!

Tuesday morning we had our "evaluation" where they try to sell you a "membership" rather than an "ownership" - we were pretty close on this one because we do like to travel a lot, but my wise husband decided that he would feel better about it if we were able to do some more research and make an informed decision. (Have I mentioned that he rocks? :) )

From there we went to lunch at Fall Creek, home of the tossed rolls - they actually throw your bread at you, lol!



Our free tickets for the day took us to the Titanic exhibit and the Hollywood Wax Museum.

Titanic was very interesting and informational with a lot of interactive activities. They had a huge portion of the exhibit dedicated to movie memoribilia including several of Kate Winslet's gorgeous costumes.

Hollywood Wax Museum:

Gone With the Wind (one of my favorite movies of all time)


Austin on the Johnny Carson Show


John Wayne (that one's for you Aunt Ger!)

Two hotties, one a more alive than the other :)


Indiana Jones exhibit



After that we had a little bit more time to kill, so we went for a free tour and wine tasting at the Stone Hill winery! Very fun!!!



We went straight from our tour to the Sight & Sound Theatre for their production of

We ate supper from concessions while we waited for seating to start.

The musical was AMAZING!!!! The stage and set were spectacular,

and while they did take some artistic license with the story line, they had a great message of God's faithfulness and salvation! Not a bad way to end our vacation.

All in all we had a fabulous time, and we enjoyed celebrating our first anniversary and looking forward to many, many more. Branson is a very popular destination with the retired generation, so everywhere we went we met couples who had been married for 30, 40, 50 years and more. Such a great encouragement for us, and a beautiful testimony to the committment of marriage in a world where that is not always commonplace.

Thank you all so much for your sweet anniversary wishes and prayers for our safe travel! And thanks for reading!

To see a list of ALL of our travel stories, in chronological order, click here!

~ my husband rocks! ~ Anniversary

Austin and I will be celebrating our one-year anniversary on Monday, September 22! This year has flown by, and yet it's hard to believe that we have grown and changed so much in only a year!

I had kept all of my attire specifics a secret from Hoss, and we waited until after the ceremony to take pictures, so the first time he saw me was as I was coming down the aisle:

I literally melt every time I look at this picture!

This song that was played during our unity sand ceremony

Our first dance as husband and wife:



To this song:



Thank you for a wonderful, amazing, crazy, stretching, challenging, fun-filled, action-packed year, baby! I can't wait for the next 50!

I love you, Austin! You so totally rock!

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If you'd like to find out more about why I started MHR Fridays, either click here or follow the button in the left hand sidebar (if you would like to add the button to your sidebar, use this code ).

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If you'd like to join in the fun, leave a comment on this post with the permalink to your ~my husband rocks! Friday~ post! Remember, this is not just for us girls, guys we'd love it if you would turn it into ~my wife rocks! Friday~ and link up! :)

If you're not a blogger, but still want the world to know about your amazing husband (or wife, or husband to be, or wife to be, etc.) leave a shout-out in the form of a comment! If you're unable to comment, e-mail me at katylinvw [at] yahoo [dot] com and I'll add your shout out to this post!

And remember, on Fridays From*me Tees will refund your shipping on any order of two or more items if you mention the great adventure and ~my husband rocks! Fridays~ in the "how did you hear about us?" section of your order form, so run on over there and check them out, too! Thank you From*me Tees!

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Very Important Announcement!!!

Due to circumstances beyond our control, the My Husband Rocks Fridays/Austin & Katy's Anniversary Giveaway has been postponed exactly one week! We apologize for any incovnience that this may cause and invite you to inform your family, friends, and readers that NEXT Friday, September 26, 2008 we will be revealing our fabulous giveaway items, allow 1 week for y'all to enter, then announce the winner on the following Friday, October 3, 2008!

Anyone is welcome to enter the giveaway, even if they do not post for MHRF, and if you would like to contribute items to the giveaway, please contact me by e-mail (so that way it will be a surprise when we announce the items) at katylinvw(at)yahoo(dot)com!

Marriage Builder Monday - on a Tuesday :)

Hello and happy Tuesday!

I know I'm a day late on this one, but yesterday was our big BATW day! Thanks to everyone for your visits and your sweet comments! I am hoping to return the favor within the next couple of days :)

I am starting the book The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian, so one thing that I'm going to do for Austin this week, and for the next several, is to read this book and put it into practice. I have a tendency to just zip through a book and while I get a lot out of it, I know that in certain situations, it is best to read slowly, taking everything in and even rereading when necessary. Therefore, I am going to read just a single chapter per week, and take longer if I feel the need. This week's chapter is entitled "His Wife" and it's about looking at myself and what I need to improve upon rather than always thinking about and focusing upon the areas in which he needs to improve.



Another practical thing I am planning for Austin this week will happen on Friday evening. We are going away for our anniversary this weekend, and the trip involves a six-hour drive. Having just returned from a cross-country road trip to Florida in which he drove the bulk of the 25 hour drive (both ways), he is not particularly looking forward to the driving portion of our weekend. So, I am going to drive the entire way there, and if he would like, the entire way back. If he'll let me. Sometimes he's kind of macho about that. He feels responsible to get us there safely. He's so stinking cute! :)

Hope everyone's having a great, great Tuesday!