Pensacola Beach Pictures

If photographers have one crime it would be that they aren't in front of the lens enough. It's fun to take pictures but we often forget that in 50 years people will want to see us in those pictures too. So, while in Pensacola I hired our awesome photographer, Naomi, who did our wedding photos to come and take some pictures of us.

It should also be noted that 45 minutes prior to these pictures the Univeristy of West Georgia had just finished their daily 10am - 5pm drinking escapade that ended with a fight and police involved. After that though, the beach cleared out real quick and we got to take pictures without 50 million people in them.

These pictures were fun to take and Dave was a good sport about it. I had him wear comfortable clothes because guys take pictures much better when they are comfortable. That's just a free tip for you.

I got these pictures printed in a soft cover book by Artifact Uprising and the quality was great and I highly recommend them.

We are 4! 

I thank crossfit for the following picture ;).

Also, when you have a photographer taking pictures and one photographer in the pictures and are trying to explain to Dave how to pose you just pick him up real quick and show him how to pose. ha ha! This picture just cracks me up.

When was the last time you took pictures of you and your family?

If you are in the Wichita area I now do photos! You can check out my website, Sunshine Photography by Beka. 

Things I've Learned in 4 Years of Marriage

Dave and I have been married for FOUR years as of March 23rd. I can hardly believe it. Since our first anniversary I've always held up however many fingers old we are in marital years and told Dave, "We're one!", "We're two!" and so on, and this year, we are four! At first Dave thought I was so weird for doing this but now I think he secretly likes it. 

Also, these pictures were taken at Pensacola Beach in March by the same photographer, Naomi McIntosh, who did our wedding and trash the dress photos. I have another post coming with more of these pictures but today I wanted to share some of the things I have learned in these last four years of marriage. I wondered if four years was too young to write out 'advice' like I'm full of wisdom compared to those who have been married 20, 30, 40 years but these are still good lessons God has allowed me to learn so I thought I'd share. 

1. Before you get married meet with some godly women, who have godly marriages, to seek their advice on marriage. Dave and I dated long distance for a year and while away I met with some of the godly women in Korea. The advice I received was custom fit for my marriage because I still think of it and refer to it often. I even have a Word document called 'life as a wife' with their advice in it. I'm so thankful I asked those women and am thankful they were willing to invest in my life.

2. Cut out as many distractions as you can the first year of marriage and focus on each other. Did you know that in the Old Testament when a couple got married God said the husband couldn't go to war for a year. They also weren't to be intricately involved in public affairs or business but had to spend a majority of their time at home. You can read more about that in Deuteronomy 24. Now, I know that isn't feasible in America today but there are things you can do. When I got married I didn't really have a choice because I moved to Oklahoma where Dave lived and didn't know a soul. At first it was really hard but looking back I think how much time Dave and I spent together away from family and friends and it really helped establish our marriage. Not everyone gets to move to Oklahoma where they don't know anyone either but here are some things you can do:

-Log out of social media for a year. Gasp! Yes, it can be done.
-Decide you won't discuss marriage problems with all your friends but will first go to God and then your husband.
-Make time with your husband a priority and guard that time!

Any other ideas on that one?

3. Get a mentor. Life changes are so incredibly difficult for me. I always think I'll do okay and then the struggle is real! When Dave and I moved back from Asia to America, as wonderful as it was, transition was hard and our marriage had some hard days. I told Dave I wanted a Christian mentor and he thought that was a good idea too. I asked a lady at my church who leads our Bible study and she said she would be glad to do so. (side note: I have no idea how old my mentor is, probably 20-30 years older than me, but I know she is further down the road than I am. I think a mentor should be someone who has more experience in life than you do.) I meet with her probably once a quarter and tell her all about my marriage and life. She encourages where I need encouraged and corrects me where I need correcting and I'm so thankful for that. It's been a huge blessing. Lastly, in my opinion, a godly mentor should not be family. Your Mom will most likely pick your side on issues and you should have someone more neutral.

4. Laugh about lots of things. I think Dave and I have improved on this a lot in the past year. Which, now that I think about it my mentor encouraged me to do this more, Dave is already good at it. Laughter can often diffuse a situation. Instead of taking everything so seriously laughing and kindly joking is sometimes healthy. Dave and I have serious discussions too but laughter can do your marriage and heart good.

5. Psalms 127:1 is a great verse to pray over your marriage. It says, "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it." You can do all the work you want for your marriage, and you should, but if you don't ask God to build your marriage than the work you do is in vain.

6. Marriage is a tool God uses to show you the best qualities in you and the ugliest ones and I'm thankful for both. It's not fun to realize that we struggle with certain things but I'm thankful marriage brings those to the surface so The Lord can refine and mold my heart into who and what He wants it to be.

Those are some of the bigger lessons I have learned these past four years and I'm thankful for them. If you have some good marriage advice or have any more questions about what I wrote please feel free to comment below.

Runners Tell All - Running on Pensacola Beach

Hello and welcome to October's RTA!  Can you believe we only have two months left of our linkup? Runners Tell All is a monthly linkup hosted by Sunshine to the Square Inch and The Lady Okie that occurs on the 21st of every month. Our goal is to build a community where we can encourage and inspire each other on our running journeys. October's prompt is your favorite running memory! I'm excited to read your stories. 

Sponsorship Update:
We are still offering two co-host options each month. This allows for us to connect with you, advertise your blog and it also helps fund the monthly giveaways. Each co-host spot comes with entries into the giveaway as well as a month of advertising on each of our blogs. Because I am moving to Asia Amanda will now be taking care of all sponsorships. If you are interested in sponsoring Runners Tell All please e-mail Amanda at theladyokie{at}gmail{dot}com.  We currently have two spots available for November! 

What comes to mind when you think of your most memorable race? A marathon? Your first 5K? A PR? You think a most memorable run would be the one where a big accomplishment was achieved but for me it was quiet the opposite. 

It's interesting to me because lately I have had a few people ask me where my favorite place to travel to has been. I honestly don't know how to pick one favorite place but the first place that comes to my mind is Pensacola. I lived there for two years, have had family vacations there and I had my wedding there. It's also where I had my most memorable run. There's something about those white sandy beaches and hearing the crashing waves that I absolutely love. 

Something I always wanted to do there was run up the bay bridge that links Pensacola beach to the main land. The bridge has a high incline but the views of the beach are stunning. So, in August of 2011, two months after my full marathon when running was a piece of cake, I took off for a run towards the bay bridge. I thought it would be a short 2-3 mile run but it ended up being around 6 miles and it was just the perfect run.  The breeze in the air, the warm humid weather that made me sweat extra, the pretty scenery, the sunshine and just being outside near the beach made this my most memorable run. 

It was simple and perfect. What about you? What's your most memorable run? 

 

Giveaway

Today we are giving away an UnderArmour Storm hat as well as a Nike scarf, both great for running. I can for sure tell you the hat is a-maaazing because I own one in gray and just hauled it all over New England. It's warm, stays on your head and is water resistant. The scarf! Let's be real now, scarfs are awesome all the way around and I think a scarf is great after a long run or post race once you start to get cold. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

What was your most memorable run? 
Do you have a most memorable training run? Race run? 

Hey! We only have two months left for Runners Tell All! We have really enjoyed this linkup and are looking forward to the last two months. Here are the last two topics: 

November: Your biggest running fan or running hero! 
December: Running reflections from 2014 and your running and race goals for 2015. What do you hope to accomplish? 

Beach Wedding - Part 3, The Reception

I’m thankful for my friends in Pensacola who recommend Hemingway’s Island Grill for a reception. Hemmingway's did a fabulous job. They decorated the tables, let me tweak the set menu and had fabulous service. Another big perk they offered me was to allow me to bring in my own dessert, with no fees. I’ve worked in the service industry so I knew the deal was great. Most companies charge you to bring in any extra food of your but not Hemingways. 

Having a big cake and feeding each other never appealed to me. So, instead of cake I picked crème brulee and cookies. My brother-in-law and sister-in-laws like crème brûlée too so I asked them to make it for the reception. I got them all the ingredients and they made me some of the best crème brûlée I’ve ever tasted. 

Let’s not forget the cookies!!! I made two big batches earlier in the week, froze them and then Kirsten was nice enough to bake them up the day of. Not gonna lie, I worried that Kirsten and Shenel would devour a good portion of them before the wedding. Those girls can't be trusted with dessert. They did good though and left some for the reception.

 Also, my brother and I have this gross tradition that we started randomly at thanksgiving. You take one small bite of everything, chew it up and show it off to each other. The first person to show off their chewed up nasty food wins! So, without exception we did this with the cookies too. Just the cookies though, not all the other food this time. 

The reception and getting to visit with everyone was a favorite part of our wedding day.

Can you tell who was done with weddings by this time??? Poor Dave. He didn't stay like this for long and still had a great time. 

After we stuffed our faces and visited we went outside and lit sparklers. I especially love that my sister Holly looks as though she is on the verge of torching Dave’s head in the pictures. 

Well, that is it folks! The day went perfect, just as I imagined. I couldn’t have done it without all of the help from friends and family. I've said it once and I'll say it over and over THANKS for helping Dave and I have a beautiful wedding.

Beach Wedding - Part 2

After Dave and I took lots of pictures, we headed to the beach where our family awaited us (we were late to our own wedding...). We walked down the aisle together to The Piano Guys version of Over the Rainbow / Simple Gifts. I think Dave and I have funny expressions in this picture. 

My Dad got to marry us twice. He spoke about Christ's work on the cross for us, the true meaning of what a Biblical marriage is, and he read us a poem reminding us that the small things add up to big things. 

I'm not sure what was so funny here but it makes for such a fun picture of Dave.

It’s always nice when a John Deere ATV comes driving by too … classy dude…real classy! 

After Mr. John Deere left, our families gathered around us. Cherrel and Alisha led us in singing the hymn How Great Thou Art. I couldn’t have picked two better people to sing for our wedding. Alisha, Cherrel and I sang and led worship together in Korea. Having them sing at our wedding was a treasure. 

Dave and I said our vows that we wrote and exchanged our rings. Has anyone else felt awkward saying vows out loud infront of people or is it just me? 

Followed by our vows and ring my brother and our good friend Jeremy prayed over our marriage. 

And then walaaa we were married, for the second time! 

 I loved the small beach wedding. I felt relaxed and comfortable surrounded by our family and close friends. I can’t think of a better way to say our vows and dedicate our marriage to God. We then took a lot of family pictures (which I loved). 

The entire wedding party.

This is the first family picture since the babies and Dave were added to our family. I love love love this picture! 

 Dave's family - who have been so welcoming and kind

All my wonderful sisters. 

Our supportive and fun friends

We took a few more pictures after the ceremony. Here a few of my favorites

So there you have our ceremony. Blogging a wedding is a lot of work =) However, I thought it would be good for family and friends to see and read about it. I have one more post about our reception and then I'll be all done with the day of wedding events. Thanks for reading and following along. Again, I can't say thanks enough to our family and friends who have supported us over the years.