raining ash

I have been told many times that I need to write down all of these funny stories that happened during the wedding so that I wont forget them. It blows my mind that today I have been married for 10 months. wowwza.  I will start out with a story. I will be writing these very randomly.

So my mom was here in Los Alamos and had come out a week before the wedding. She was a great help- we butt heads... but I think that it was because things were so stressful that she was my person. That sounds weird but whenever things get super stressful with life my mom and I have had the tendency to argue. Its like no matter what I say or do, I know she loves me, and will still love me once I am done throwing a temper tantrum. and that is true for the crazy wedding week. We were calm( umm ya right) for the most part  but the biggest thing I remember is that we were having a couples shower down and Nanas house and the fire had started a few hours before hand. This was when everything was whishy washy. We weren't sure what was going to happen. We are there hanging out with our friends and family( brandon gets pushed in the pool by Shawn Amburgey)
 and it is raining ash.
 raining ash.
 yes raining ash.
at this point I know whats about to happen...pure chaos is waiting to erupt. Brandon pulls me aside and sits me down. He very calmly says that we are going to have to change our wedding site, we will most likely have to evacuate, but its okay. because we will be married, and I have a right to cry. So thats what I did. I sat with my fiancee and just cried. Cried over the wedding that I thought i was getting gipped out of, cried out of fear, and cried out of sadness. Once that was done I pulled my crap together. We got in the car Brandon said very seriously (as we are driving watching people frantically get gas and watching flames over the mountain top) that we will need to pack up quickly he will get gas in the car and to meet back at the house. So thats what we did. With Brandon my mom and I were pretty calm, but when it was just my mom and I we were freaking out. Packin like mad men, semi yelling out of fear, and trying to get thing of importance. (this is hard to do when EVERYTHING is in boxes, I have been living out of a suitcase and Tims house (Brandons dad) and dont know where anything is)).
Thank you Jesus my mom grabbed my dress.
 as in my wedding dress.
 That was the 1st thing she grabbed.
 whew.
 Then we went back to our house and sat on the floor listening to the radio waiting for the evacuation to be announced. Now I dont know how many people have been through some sort of natural diaster, or a fire, or flood, but this was seriously scary. I had never experienced something like this. we were forced to pack anything we cared about in a car and had to be willing to walk away from everything else. Because there was a pretty good chance that it would all burn down.
chaos
chaos chaos
but Jesus provided. I got the wedding of my dreams because I married the man of my dreams.
Forget decoration.
]I got him. and I will thank God for that stupid fire.
 I was able to see that decorations didn't matter.
God put Brandon and I together.
and that is something to rejoice over.

Embarking on a journey..

So I have put a halt on blogging about the honeymoon because well, I want to blog about this. So in my speech class we have to give a speech and a power point about someone or someplace famous. Now I have been pretty careful about choosing topics for speechs, because I want them to represent who I am, and be personal. I feel like so far I have done a pretty good job. So I went back and fourth on what topic I wanted to do for a while i thought I could do this castle ( yes I have been there and its utterly AMAZING) but the more I looked into the less facts I had. This castle is beautiful, and has a lot of history to it...but it didn't really fit my speech topic. So I have changed my topic from a castle to C.S. Lewis. I have learned a lot about C.S. Lewis, and I am finding him more and more fascinating. I have read a ton of biographies and books and I really would love to have had coffee with this guy. seriously he is brilliant.
So this has gotten me onto a kick- for those of you that know me I love to read. love love love to read. This is thanks to my father who himself loves to read and he has always encouraged me to read from a young age and this has helped me become a lover of books.  So I am going to do a challenge.
I am going to read all of C.S. Lewis books. He wrote 30 of them. Now I know that this will take me a while- but I can do this. My goal is a book a month. so at this rate it will take me 2 1/2 years. (HA! I can do it faster than that)
But he wrote the Chronicles of Narnia (which will be fun to read) and quit a few theology books. Which I find pretty interesting- but I like that he says in Mere Christianity (this is me paraphrasing it) but he basically says that knowing theology doesn't affect you getting into the kingdom of heaven, it helps you understand things more, and dig deeper, but if it doesn't intrest you and you believe in Jesus its okay. 

As of right now I am reading the Screw tape letters- which is great so far. I really like it. I will blog more about what I think about it later. AND if anyone wants to join me on the journey of reading C.S. Lewis books please do! It will be fun!

continued...

So my dad came and got me and I watched each of thees girls that I loved dearly walk out ahead of me. Then I saw my Aunt and cousin Nadia (She is SO cute) and Nadia was having a hard time getting it together she was the flower girl. So my aunt Andie was the first one to see me and she was so funny! Then I heard the song I was walking out to which was this song.. and then it was game time. I would like to say that I was pretty nervous for walkin down the isle. I mean this is every girls moment, where all eyes are on her and its fantastic. Well to be honest that made me a little nervous and I think that you could tell by how fast i started out walking. Then my Dad (thank you Jesus) said we should slow down- and then I saw him. It was that moment of- nothing else matters at all. We are here on this day marrying each other because this is what God had planned for us. And he looked so handsome! Then the ceremony was done. Not really but it FLEW by. I feel like it lasted maybe 15 minutes? which we wanted a quick ceremony (and good thing because the shoes I was wearing were killing my feet.) literally right when we walked out of sight where people could no longer see is I ripped off my shoes and put on my flats. Then we went off and took pictures with or wedding party came back and we introduced as Mr & Mrs Stone to this awesome song.. we wanted to kick off being mr and mrs stone dancing and enjoying all of the lovely people around us. which is exactly what we did! and thans to Kyle and (soon to be Mr & MRs ) Gretta we had great music! Then it was time for us to go. We gathered all of our belongings and were ready to leave. Only to come out to getting pegged in the face with a bucket of bird seed (jake or brett...was that you?!) and to see our car covered in (semi inappropriate) comments and our car filled with glitter. seriously they dumped glitter down out vents! Not okay! to this day its still like a party every time we turn on our vents. We get shot in the face with glitter. The first few times it was funny, but after a while it gets a little old. The we were off! the next day we were heading to Ireland. It was such relief that we were married. That may sound weird but everything had been flipped upside down, and I felt like we were put to the test to see how we would deal. We were now one, and were off to spent 2 weeks in Ireland! So awesome...
So the next morning we woke up packed out bags and headed to the airport for 2 transfer flights then a 5 1/2  hour flight that goes to Dublin( 5 1/2 hours doesn't sound too bad until your sitting in a seat for 5 1/2 hours and just want to lay down. Then it gets a little annoying)  We make it through the first few flights then the long one- so we were on the plane when we should have been sleeping which was weird, i had a ton of movies to choose from  and sleep was needed. But we finally arrive to the absolutely stunning Ireland- green every where! and it was 6am there. We are like zombie status tired, and look the part. We get our rental car and we are off o County Sligo which was where we spent the first part of our honeymoon. We get to out cottage which looked exactly as it sounds cute cozy, fire place, and sheep everywhere! We crashed, well the plan was to stay up as late as we could which was about noon, and the sleep. So we slept and then woke up. I though it was the next morning,like convinced we had slept from noon to 6am the next day. which was not true. Brandon said "did you ever wake up and see it dark out?" nope. end of thought.

Wedding III

To say that life has been hectic in the past 2 months would be a very safe understatement. Its funny that Before school started I was bored out of my mind... now I am trying to just catch a break. wellI have and I am going to blog- its been far too long. I will finihs the whole wedding story.
SO the day of my wedding started out like any other day- really it didnt hit me until I put on my wedding dress. BUt I got up packed my bags- told my bridesmaids I would see them soon and I went and met up with my mom dad and brother and showed them out house in Los alamos. Because LA opened up the day of our wedding! ha- funny funny. So I hugn out with them then went and got my hair done with my sweet mama ( got my face burned in the process.....(no joke she burned my face with a salon curling iron. and by the end of the night I had a pretty awesome scab.) I figured I havent really freaked out over much, why freak out over a burn? Well then we went to nanas house and finished getting ready. Sarah did my makeup and then it was go time- dress is going on. I put in on then it hit me,I am getting married! holy cow! we have made it! praise Jesus! Then we sat there and waited to go take pictures which was fun and then went back to nanas and sat. and sat. and sat. Then we got ready to go and my dad came to get me. MAN was that emotional! It was precious and I loved it!...more later I have to get to class!

wedding part 2

Once we left (we left from every one was told to evacuate) we went down to White Rock, where Brandon's Nanas lives. and this was plan B for the wedding. and to be honest I was afraid that they were going to evacuate us again, and we would have to go onto plan C. Thank you Jesus we did not have to go to Albuquerque.
so we get down there and are hanging out and then we see the announcement on the news saying that it was evacuations time and do not go to white rock (which is exactly where we went - ha)
but we were fine and okay. It was time to move on and start planning like we were having the wedding in White Rock. So we did. planning away- and I had good moments and not so good moments. It was time to just plan and trust Jesus.
My mom and I planned away went to Sams and bought everything we needed and I was anxiously awaiting the arrival of 3 of my bridesmaids. I could not wait for them to come. seriously I was SO excited to get to see them and just be with them. So they came a few days early to help me which was so great that they did. The best part of the week before the wedding was getting to spend time with my girls and my mom. It was great to have my people with me- surrounding me and just loving on me. I had SO much fun with them going out to dinner and seeing a movie, shopping, and just being together. I am so blessed to have so many great women in my life. SO blessed.
but the wedding was on, and we were planning away. 2 days before the wedding my girls planned a day/night away for me and the bridesmaids + a a bunch a friends at a resort close by. i cannot even begin to explain to you how excited I was to just sit, and relax in the sun. And thats exactly what I did and it was glorious. My wonderful Aunt (hey Andie! if you reading this love you!) my mom and I sat by the pool until other girls came and drank fancy drinks with little umbrellas in them. it was glorious.
so then it was the bachelorette party which was so much fun! I was able to go out with the girls, have a few drinks and dance (in a non sketch place.) we had SO much fun!
the next day was the day before the wedding & the rehearsal I can say easily my favorite part of the rehearsal was standing up there with Brandon and looking behind me to see all of the girls that I love so much. I got teary-eyed thinking about how much of a role that each of these girls have played in my life. That was my favorite part. They have helped me become who I am. and it was precious. Then  soon enough it was the day of the wedding and to be honest it didn't even feel like my wedding day at all....

our wedding week- part 1

ahhh...first post since I got married. Thats a strange thing- I got married and now have a husband. well from the last time i updated my blog until alot has happened. I mean alot has happened.
 I will first start off with saying planning a wedding is pretty hectic.. and i think that it is very easy to get consumed with stupid little details. and I did it- so thats why I can say that they are stupid. every wedding I went to I cannot remeber what the floral arangments looked like, or what the center pices looked like, or what food was served- lame. But what I can remember is the first look of the groom as his bride walks down the isle, their first dance and then them leaving and how happy they looked.
so why do we so easily get consumed with silly little things? well I think thats its all the wedding blogs, magazines, and everyhting else that adds to it.
and it is very safe to say that I learned that those things dont matter. I feel like on the day I got married all that I cared about was the fact that all of my dearest friends were there, and I was marrying th man of my dreams.
well about 5 days before the wedding thats what I realzied and I clung to that.
 I think that God was teaching me and is teaching me alot. the week before my wedding I was busy planning away. my sweet mom had come into town and we were just hanging out and the house, doing wedding things.
Brandon and I were going to this coffee shop to work on our vows together. we are sitting there for a while and then we notice a large billow of smoke coming from the mountains. If you didnt know this our wedding locatin was in the jemez mountains. and it was going to be beautiful! we had just spent all day saturday working away at it, and getting it all ready.
Brandon looks up on google "fire in Los Alamos country" and sure enough the jemez mountains are on fire. 10 years ago there was a fire here and it burnt down half of the town, so to say that people here scare easy would be an understatement..and its because their homes burned down(freak out- understandable)
so we stayed calm(well he did) and we went on like usual and then we had a couples shower that night down in white rock (about 15 minutes away from LA) and we are sitting outside and it is raining ash..
no joke. raining ash.
Brandon quickly pulls me aside and starts to talk me though a possibility of plan B for our wedding. (imiagine your a week away from your wedding. and then your wedding location is clsoe to the fire, and you may have to change venues..yup loads of emotions)
so I had a bit of a melt down, or I am not sure what to call it. For me it was like whatever Brandon was saying was what I was holding onto. I told him that I needed to cry- that I had dreamed of this day being perfect since i was a little girl and that I had a right to cry. he agreed and said cry as much as you need too.
so we sat where no one could really see us, and I cried, and cried hard on my soon to be husband shoulder.
after that it was game time, I no longer cared about much else other than the fact that we are safe.
as we are driving back to our house( I wasn't living in our house yet...I was living at Brandons dad house just a block away) I see flames coming over the mountain. I could literally see individual flames lighting things on fire- then a little bit of panic began to set it.
I am going to back track and say it is awesome to see how quickly people surround you with love. Right when we found out that evacuation was a possibility there were 4-5 people around us just talking us through it (when I say us I mean me. Brandon was so stinkin calm.) and I was so blessed to have Amy there (Amy gilbert) because she quickly began to just pray. pray for everything it was very touching to know that God is in control of this- even the fire. He knew that this fire was going to happen and I had to trust and know that God wants nothing but great things for me. and I really had to try hard to see it. 
Brandon calmly said "Christian I am going to need you to go and pack everything of yours up at my dad's house and then meet me back at the house- so we can pack up there"
so I did just that.
threw everything that my mom and I had into suitcases, and laundry baskets.and we were at our house now, and doing the same thing.
we knew that if they said we needed to evacuate that everyone would be leaving all at once and we could be stuck in traffic for a while. so we filled up our cars and while Brandon was filling up his truck he saw a bear running down the street- no joke its because they were fleeing from the fire.
But after we had everything packed up we took video of our house (in case it burned down) and just sat around and listened to the radio. We didn't end up leaving that night we weren't in any immediate danger so we went back to the house tried to sleep and went on as semi-normal as we could.
the next morning my mom and I decided to go grab some coffee and on our way there we say the military rollin in hot. there were about 6 military trucks coming in and honestly this struck a little bit of fear into me. haha I called brandon and said that we should leave, he was busy planting the daisys that he had grown from seed so we were going to wait until he was done and then leave.
and we did....
to be continued..(because this post is already far too long)