We're Adopting a ... Puppy!

I bet you thought I was going to say baby! ;) We aren't in that season of our lives yet. We'll get there when the time is right. As for now, let me tell you about the newest addition to the Greer family!

For those of you who know me, you know I love Boston Terriers. I just think they are the cutest! When I was in high school, we adopted a BT that needed a home. His name was Pugly! I wish I had a picture of him, but sadly, I don't. He was absolutely precious. Pugly is no longer with us, but I have loved Bostons ever since.

The hubby and I have always talked about getting a Boston. Even before we were married. So, after a couple months of blissful marriage, we decided to get a dog. My sweet hubby wanted a Golden Retriever or a Chocolate Lab, but for now we decided to go with the Boston since we are still renting and have a smaller yard.

Thus, the search began. We didn't even really consider the idea of buying a dog from a breeder or other source. I wanted to rescue our pet. I'm an animal lover and it makes me sad to think unwanted animals are euthanized everyday. There are both national and regional Boston Terrier rescue organizations. We, however, found our BT through www.adoptapet.com.

Without further ado, I would like to introduce Rueger Greer! Yes, his name is Rueger like the gun; it's just spelled slightly different. The gun is spelled Ruger. Just a bit of trivia for those interested!

Newlyweds

We have been married for six months now so, technically we are still in the newlywed stage. Our first couple of months as a married couple flew by. We had some fun adventures, some typical of newlyweds, and some not so typical.

In October, we took our first road trip as a married couple. It was a long road trip, a little over 11 hours. And we didn't even leave Texas! I forget what a truly BIG state Texas is until traveling across it. Back to the road trip. The purpose of our road trip was a wedding, my hubby's sister's wedding. The wedding was beautiful. We had a great time and the drive wasn't so bad because we were together. :) Cheesy, I know, but true. Also, I made some fun mixed cds to keep us entertained. And yes, I still use cds. My hubby always likes to point this out, as if I'm the only person who still uses cds.

In November, we had to decide what to do for Thanksgiving. The hubby works an unconventional schedule. He wouldn't have been able to leave for the 6-ish hour drive until late Thursday morning. Due to this, traveling back to NM for Thanksgiving didn't seem too appealing to him. I went home to spend Thanksgiving with my family. Luckily, one of the hubby's friends also had to stay in the area, and they spent Thanksgiving together.

In December, we were both able to go to NM to be with our families for Christmas! I flew back a couple of days before the hubby, and he made the long drive on Christmas eve. We spent the weekend visiting with our families, and it was great! I was so thankful we were both able to go "home" for Christmas. Hopefully it will always work out that easily in the future!

Even though the hubby and I traveled to NM for Christmas, we still decorated our house. We spent an evening, as well as a couple of days, putting up our tree, hanging the mistletoe, and putting the other decorations around the house. Our house was covered in Christmas decorations, and I LOVED it! :) They were everywhere; not a single space was safe! Christmas is one of my two favorite holidays, Easter being the other. A lot of the decorations we had this year were extra special to me because they were from my childhood. They were decorations my Mom and Nana used every Christmas from as long as I can remember. Both my Mom and Nana went through all of their decorations and sent me several boxes full, and for that I am very thankful! It made our first Christmas together as husband and wife very special. We had some old traditions, and have began to make our own as well. :)

Usually, I'm really good about taking pictures, but this year I completely spaced out at Thanksgiving and Christmas. A few were taken, but not as many as I hoped, and none that I want to share. At first I was a little bummed about this, but then I remembered Adam and I took pictures of us decorating our first home together. So, that kind of made up for it. Besides, nothing will ever replace the memories we are making together on our journey through life!

Hawaiian Honeymoon

Our honeymoon was a surprise for me. :) Adam planned the entire thing and managed to keep it a surprise until the morning after our wedding when we arrived at the airport. When we got to the airport, we checked our luggage at the American Airlines counter and got our tickets. I opened my ticket and read Honolulu, Hawaii; I screamed and jumped up and down with excitement! I was so ecstatic, I couldn't wait to get on the plane!

We flew from Lubbock to Dallas, then Dallas to Hawaii. The flight was 8-9 hours total! :/ It wasn't as bad for me as it was for Adam. Poor guy! His height made the plane ride slightly uncomfortable for him. When we arrived in Hawaii, we were greeted with leis and a shuttle to take us to our hotel, The Royal Hawaiian!
Here is a picture of our arrival. You can tell the plane ride was rough. Ha!

The Royal Hawaiian Hotel was amazing! I loved the fact that it is a historical resort. It was built in 1927 and there is so much history to it. Adam knows me so well! One of the reasons he chose The Royal Hawaiian is because of my nostalgic side and love of all things old/vintage. Another reason is because it is very romantic. :) He did so good! It was perfect and I couldn't have imagined a better place to stay, or a better honeymoon.

Did I mention the lobby of the hotel was completely open?! Meaning, you could see right out to the beautiful beach of Waikiki, or The Royal Hawaiian's courtyards, depending on which way you were looking. It was absolutely breathtaking, as was all of Hawaii! Here is a picture looking out from the lobby toward ocean. Oh, and my cute hubby too!

Adam planned some of our week, yes we were in Hawaii for an entire week, but left some of it open for us to decide what we wanted to do together. :) Two of the things he planned prior to our arrival were: dinner on Top of Waikiki and Germaine's Luau. Top of Waikiki is a revolving restaurant that overlooks all of Waikiki. It was really neat getting to see all of Waikiki while we enjoyed dinner. Germaine's Luau was great! It was so much fun. Adam and I liked learning about the Polynesian culture. The food wasn't too bad either! ;)

Oh, I have to mention that we had one of the funniest tour guides/luau group leaders of the entire bunch. We took a shuttle bus from the hotel to the Luau site. I'm not sure what side of the island we went to...I'm terrible with direction, but it was about a 40 minute drive. Our luau group leader entertained us the entire way and taught us some things about Hawaiian culture. If you are ever in Hawaii on O'ahu, you have to go to Germaine's Luau!

Us with one of the luau dancers!

Two things we did on the honeymoon that Adam hadn't planned prior to the trip were: going to Pearl Harbor and going to Kailua beach. I was really excited to go to Pearl Harbor. I thought, how could we come to Hawaii and not go to Pearl Harbor?! Adam didn't really have a preference about going at first, but once we went, he was glad we did. It was a neat experience and I'm glad we had the opportunity to see something that had such an impact on our country's history. We spent the entire day there and saw all of the exhibits.

Kailua beach was BEAUTIFUL!!! Talk about paradise! As many of my close friends and family know, I am not a water person, unless it's in a pool. I am deathly afraid of open water, especially the ocean. I do not like sharks or whales. I don't even like to see whales on TV; it gives me the willies. However, we went to Kailua to snorkel and boogie board. :) Crazy, I know! Adam convinced me to get in the water, and I am so glad that I did. It was warm and crystal clear. This was my first time to go in the ocean and to see the ocean, other than in Galveston, TX. We bought a disposable, waterproof camera and had so much fun that day!

Pearl Harbor

Kailua Beach

On the flight to Hawaii, Adam sat next to a guy who was originally from O'ahu. He was going back to Hawaii to visit family. He lives on the mainland now, and married a woman from Post, TX. We thought that was interesting since Post is so close to Lubbock. He told us about some things we should check out while we were there. One of them was the flea market, which is held every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. We went on a Wednesday. We rode the shuttle bus from our hotel to Pearl Harbor and walked, yes, I said walked, from Pearl Harbor to Aloha Stadium. The flea market, or swap meet as some referred to it, was great! We got some great souvenirs. One of my most favorite things we got in Hawaii were two customized signs. One says Aloha and the other says Greer. They were hand-painted by a guy right in front of us. The detail is the best part! I don't know how to describe it so, I will just let the picture speak for itself.

I can't believe I haven't even talked about food yet! One of the benefits to honeymooning in Hawaii, more specifically Waikiki, is we had some inside information on where to go. Adam's aunt and uncle lived in Hawaii for many years. One place Adam's aunt and uncle recommended was Duke's. It is right on Waikiki beach, and was literally a few steps away from our hotel. The food here was so good! We ate here our first night, and then two more times throughout the week! :) I'm not kidding when I say it was good. We also went to Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville! It was good too, and the live entertainment was fun! There was a little coffee shop connected to the hotel. We spent a couple of mornings there. The balcony overlooked one of the Royal Hawaiian's courtyards.

Duke's Cheddar Burger

Adam's nachos at Margaritaville. They were huge!

Pretty self-explanatory...

The band stopped in the middle of their song to pose for a picture, without me asking! They were great!

There is so much more I could share from our Hawaiian Honeymoon, but I feel like I've written a novel already. I have to mention, however, that the weather in Hawaii was perfect. It truly is a paradise! I am so thankful for my amazing husband Adam, and the awesome honeymoon he planned. We had a great time and made memories that will last us a lifetime!

Our Wedding: Mr. and Mrs. Adam Greer

For those of you who actually read my blog, I would like to apologize. I have been a terrible blogger. Hopefully, I will get better. I'm working on it. I still have a lot of catching up to do, but I will get there.

I already blogged a little about our wedding. So, I won't go on anymore about that. I just thought I would share a picture from our wedding day.

Our wedding was on August 14, 2010 at The Spirit Ranch in Lubbock, Texas. The property is beautiful and our wedding was beautiful, as well.

We did the traditional thing and didn't see each other before the ceremony. So, all of our pictures were taken after the ceremony. Nowadays, many photographers prefer (some even require) couples to see each other before the ceremony for pictures. I was thankful we had a professional photographer (a family friend) who allowed us to do what we wanted. At the time, I didn't think I had a preference about it, but Adam did. He wanted to do it traditionally and not see each other before the ceremony. After, I was glad we did it that way. It was more special and exciting not seeing each other until I was walking down the aisle.

Okay, I know I said I wasn't going to talk anymore about the wedding, but I wanted to share a little about our picture experience. :)

Now introducing Mr. and Mrs. Adam T. Greer

Catching Up

There is still so much blogging to catch up on the current happenings of life. :) I'll pick up where I left off after the post about our second wedding shower. I didn't have a bachelorette party because that's just not me. The final month leading up to the wedding my Mom and I put the finishing touches on everything. God blessed me with the most wonderful mother. My Mom was the best support system during the wedding planning process, as for my entire life. Between the two of us, with some help from my loving husband and some other friends, I would say we put together a beautiful wedding. Granted, everything wasn't perfect and smooth...what is ever perfect and smooth in life?! There were the typical "wedding day bumps," but the ceremony was beautiful and the end result was perfect...I married the most amazing man and my best friend, Adam Thomas.

Thank you Mom for all you do for me and for helping me plan a spectacular wedding. I love you.

Back to Blogging

I haven't blogged in quite some time so, now I have some catching up to do. Trying to keep up with this blog has been a lot harder than I anticipated. I am determined, however, to stick with it. I especially want to keep it up now since Adam and I live several hours away from our families and some of our friends.

So much has happened since my last blog about my first bridal shower. Adam and I were lucky enough to also have a couple's shower thrown by some of his mother's friends. I still don't have any pictures from this shower. Shalie, Greg's wife (Greg is Adam's best friend), took the pictures for us and I just keep forgetting to ask her for them. She is pretty awesome at taking pictures.

Anyway, I was glad Adam was able to be there for our second shower. We were showered (again) with many gifts from family and friends. Once I have some pictures from this event, I will make a follow up post. In the meantime, thank you to everyone who made both of our showers a memorable experience. We love and appreciate all of you. :)

Bridal Shower Fun

So, I realize I had hoped to be caught on my blog by now, but that obviously hasn't happened. I'm not giving up though. I have a little bit of free time today and thought I would take advantage.

This summer is when my engagement began to feel "real". I guess it didn't really hit before now because I've been busy with school and other life events, and also because we've had a long engagement. I wouldn't have it any other way though. I've enjoyed the engagement and planning process.

The first weekend in June, two of my Mom's friends threw me a bridal shower. It was a lot of fun and we got some really neat gifts from our registries in our hometown. The food was great and the decorations were in our wedding colors, blue and yellow. :)

It was nice to get to share some special time with family and friends. And of course the gifts were nice too! ;)

Here are a few pictures from the shower.

The picture table. Pictures taken throughout our 7 year relationship! :)

The gift table.

A cake stand. That I was very excited about! :)

We got some of our Fiesta Dinnerware! A cream and sugar set from my uncle, aunt and cousins.

Fiesta heart-shaped ramekins/bowls.

Painted goblets that match the cake stand.

An apron from my Mom! :) Love the satin blue trim and polka dots.

My Mom, my Nana, me, and my future mother-in-law.

My Nana, my Mom, me, and my aunt Tika.

Flower arrangments that were on the tables. So pretty.

There were more pictures of everything, but these were some of my favorites.