For I Know The Plans I Have For You

I was sitting in the funeral service for my father in law when all of the sudden I had a revelation and I really wanted to share it with everyone. If you know David Simmerman than you know that his favorite verse is Jeremiah 29:11 which reads, "'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope." Well it all became very clear to me that God was preparing us for this day; He knew the plans. It was about 2 years ago when our dear friends, John and Lindsey, came into our lives. Sam and John grew up together, but it wasn't until Lindsey came along that we all hung out. Over the years, a close bond has developed both as couples and as individuals. Around this same time, Sam and I became very close to another couple, Amanda and Steve. They have been our mentors, but most importantly our friends. If I've ever had a question about anything or just needed to chat for a little bit, I don't hesitate to call Amanda. Sam and I are going through a tremendous loss, but God knew that the burden would be too heavy for me to carry alone to be the strength that Sam needs. That is where "the plan" idea comes in. These friendships that we have created in this short time is just what God planned. They are our support. Don't get me wrong, our families and other friends are support for us as well! Today when John and Lindsey walked up to us to give us a hug and let us know they were there for us, we both were teary eyed! It meant so much for them to be there to mourn with us, but to also comfort us!
To continue on with my idea of God's plan, August 9th looked right to Sam and me for a reason. We didn't move our date even though we knew that the length of time with Mr. Sam was uncertain. God knew that we would need each other 24/7 now. This has all been my thoughts over the past week, so I thought that I would share. If it doesn't make sense, I apologize. It's sometimes hard to express your thoughts and make them make sense! To John and Lindsey and Steve and Amanda, thank you so much for your friendship and support! We love you very much and am very blessed to call you our friends! (Lindsey, I know you don't like this pic of us, but it was this or your opera wear! lol)

In Memory Of Sam Shrewsbury Sr.

Samuel Dean Shrewsbury Sr. (July 14, 1954-August 27,2008)

As I said in my first post, Sam's dad has been battling cancer since June. The battle came to a bittersweet end this morning August 27, 2008. He is gone, but he is no longer in pain. This post is to celebrate the time that I have gotten to know my father-in-law. We had to wonderful relationship, in my opinion. I would always tell him how I felt about things and he would always return the favor! I remember one night he told me that he was never disappointed with me because he didn't have expectations of me! I fired back a few months later when he asked if I thought that he was highly intelligent. My answer was that I thought that he was highly intelligent in some areas and in others he thought that he was! Like I said, we had that joking way about us. I would always try to beat him in Scrabble, but I never succeeded. I think that I helped him more than competed with him. He always found a way to build off my words and get like triple letter scores. Another memory that I have of him is from last year when we took a family vacation to Panama City Beach. They came to pick me up and he was complaining about falling down the stairs at his house. Sam and Mrs. Terri were laughing and I was concerned thinking that he fell down many stairs. After backing him up the entire ride to down there, I was finally informed that he only fell down two to three stairs. Needless to say, I joined the other group and no more sympathy came from me! He was always very interested in what I was doing with my life. How was I doing in school, how was work, how is my family, and so on! He made me feel that I could do this education thing, so I will keep that as my motivation to finish school and get my teaching license. I will always remember his stories. He always had a story to tell, especially when we would visit West Virginia. We took many trips down memory lane when we went there. I will always hold those memories close to my heart. Ever since the first time Mr. Sam met me, he called me Holly Rose. After several times of correcting him, letting him know my middle name was Lee, I finally gave it up. The other night Chris, Sam's brother in law, asked Mr. Sam if he had called me Holly Shrewsbury. I loved his answer. He said, "No, no I haven't. She's Holly Rose. That's what I call her." I will always be Holly Rose. Our best memory as a married couple will be from our wedding day. Mr. Sam might have felt horrible, but you couldn't tell. I love that I will be able to remember him as part of the most wonderful day of our lives. Mr. Sam will be greatly greatly missed, but he will not be forgotten. Sam and I appreciate your prayers and support as we are going to be going through a very tough time!

Regina is the Best!...Mo and Lib are too!

The title of this blog says it all! Regina was the best maid of honor ever going above and beyond, but that is how Regina is! She helped me in every way possible! She designed and printed my invitations, came to the rescue when I had a music meltdown, designed my programs, took bridal portraits and engagement pics, planned a great bridal shower and bachelorette party (Lindsey you gets props in that one too!), and did so much more! I cannot thank her enough! Regina, I love you so much and thank you for everything that you do and for being absolutely awesome in everything that you do! I am so blessed to have fantastic sisters! When I was little, I always thought it would be cool to be an only child. I think that many kids have those thoughts when you are part of a large family! I am SO glad that I was not though! It's funny because I never realized how much my sisters meant to me until I got married and don't see them everyday anymore. It's the best of both worlds though because I have three awesome families now! My favorite is my own with Sam and me though! Slightly biased on that one!



The new family!

Honeymoon to Cancun

I told you guys that I would be out of order for a little while, so now I can post about the honeymoon! We went to Cancun, which was amazing! Our wedding night we stayed in the Sheraton Music City. We stopped at Chili's Too and got some food to take with us because we were starving! We both agree that was the best food we have ever had in our lives! I decided that we needed to document the best food ever, so above is a picture of the wonderfulness...mine is the empty aluminum foil.

We were ready for bed after a long, exhausting day of smiling when all the sudden we got a knock on the door telling us it was room service. It was 10 o'clock at night! Why in the world would we have asked for room service was my thinking! Sure enough we did have complimentary room service. They brought us champagne and chocolate covered strawberries. It looked really nice and was a very good idea, but it did not taste very good! Thank you still Sheraton Music City hotel!

So many of you know that my bag was lost during the connecting flight in Charlotte, NC, so when I arrived in Cancun, there was no bad to be found. I cried like a baby, but I really who wouldn't! I had nothing but one change of clothes and one bathing suit! No hair care cause it can't go in a carry on...nothing! It was not the ideal way to start off the honeymoon! 24 hours later...after many use of roaming minutes...my bag arrived at the door of our room! It was great! My attitude completely changed after that one moment!
We loved our hotel. The food wasn't be greatest, but everything else was fantastic! There was daily entertainment at the pool, which Sam and I enjoyed poolside and watching. We took a moment from our sun bathing..me more than Sam...he stayed in the shade due to earlier burning...to take a newly married pic!
So to end this blog about the honeymoon, I thought that I would tell about our final night of entertainment. This was the best way to leave in my opinion! They had a Michael Jackson impersonator as entertainment for Thursday night! It was hilarious, but pretty accurate! He did all the dance moves, including the moon walk! It was just fantastic! I think everyone in the entire hotel was there because it was sooo crowded! Sam and I had to stand on the wall, which really wasn't ideal, but well worth the pain in my feet. This is a picture of the Thiller song!! I dedicate this picture to Libby Jo! I took it just for her! Love you Libs!
Well, then we traveled all day Friday and got back to our own little apartment at 11:30 that night! It was a long day, but was a great honeymoon!...aside from the whole bag ordeal!

Back to School

Today was the beginning of my junior year. For Sam, it was just another day on the job! Welcome to the real life! It was nice though because Sam and I were able to get up together and sit and drink some coffee at 6:30 in the morning! I am saying that with slight sarcasm because it was really early for us both. Sam normally doesn't have to be at work until 9 o'clock, so getting up at 8 hasn't been bad at all! Now, I have 8 o'clock classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, so sleeping in is no more! One thing I did enjoy today is that when I lived at my parents home I had to get up 2 hours before my class time and leave an hour before class time. Today, I left the apartment at 7:30 and had 10 minutes to spare once I got on campus. After finding a parking spot, I had about 5 min. Parking is always bad for the first few weeks. Mid semester the slackers stop coming around and open up good parking places! You've got to love those people! Well anyways, my first day back on campus was not so bad. It generally takes me awhile to get in the swing of things. At least this semester I don't have to think about wedding plans! After class, I stopped by Sam's work and brought him lunch. He might hate being so close to campus because I have to pass right by there to come home! Well, I am sorry that I did not take a back to school picture with a lunch box. If I can find an old one, we can all flashback to that time when you got a new haircut, new clothes, new backpack, and new lunchbox all for the first day of school! I did one out of the four! On a final note, I love new hair cuts! I love mine! Lindsey and I decided that it's already growing out! Sad face :(

It Is Official!

As of August 9, Sam and I are officially husband and wife. For those of you who do not know much about us, Sam and I met in high school. I was a sophomore who thought I was a bigshot because a senior (Sam) was interested in me. Little did either of us know that we would be together now! We became an official "titled" couple on December 5, 2003 even though we had been talking ever since September. Needless to say, on our four year anniversary Sam gave me the suprise of my lifetime getting on one knee and asking me to be his wife. He actually written a poem in a card asking me and then got on one knee with the ring in hand, but it's all the same. I said yes and 2 weeks ago from today, we both said "I do!" Now more about the wedding! It was the best day of our lives. Most of you know that we had a curveball thrown at us in June when we found out that Sam's dad had pancreatic cancer. It has been extremely aggressive and made him weak very fast. A week before the wedding, Mr. Sam was put on hospice and we didn't know if he would make it to the wedding or not. The best news of the day...after knowing that Sam showed up...was the Mr. Sam was at the wedding. He even came to the rehearsal dinner the night before. The only time I had actual tears coming down my face was when I saw Mr. Sam and I gave him the biggest hug! Words can really not describe what that meant to Sam and me. God truely answered many, many prayers that weekend! So on a lighter note....I had a rocking awesome dress accented with even more rocking awesome shoes. Yes that's right I said rocking awesome whatever that means! The shoes were hot pink with a "diamond" incrested buckle!! Thank you Lindsey for finding and convincing me that I needed to get those shoes! At the reception, I smashed cake in Sam's face! It was fabulous! I really want to see a picture of that one! We rode off in the sunset...not really it was like 5 o'clock so no sunset....but anyways..we rode off in a silver Chevy hardtop Convertible! It was a dream come true of a wedding! By the way..I am just now starting this blog thing...so everything will probably be out of order for awhile until I get the hang of this world of blogging!