greg and stacey

It’s all moved and the boxes are stacked…..in Greg’s house! Saturday we hit the floor running and with the help of a few friends we were able to move ALMOST all of my belongings to our new home. Thank you Dwight, Duke, Derek and Byron!!!!! You made our day very easy and we appreciate your help. We were able to donate a few of our things to the Community Enrichment Center. Albert was kind enough to put us first on his list Saturday morning for pick up. It worked out great and we had extra hands to help carry furniture out to the truck.

Greg treated everyone to Spring Creek BBQ half way through the move and I think this provided enough momentum to carry the guys through the rest of the day.  It was DELICIOUS!!!!!!

So now my stuff is here and I’m not…….yet! I do have a very comfortable air mattress that I am sleeping on and a TV as big as my pinky toe that I can watch the Olympics on. Not too terrible for a week. I will leave and head home early next week so I won’t have to be there too long without any furniture or luxuries of home!!!!

After I arrived home late Saturday night I sent Greg a text message telling him how lonely I felt with all of my belongings gone. He picked me up for church on Sunday and then I headed to Hillsboro to switch cars with my mom Sunday afternoon. We were able to go over all the final wedding details and decisions. I would like to take a moment to say a HUGE THANK YOU to my mom for all the time and effort she has put into our wedding.  She has met with so many different people and has helped me make so many decisions and there is no way in this world that I could be doing this without her help. THANK  YOU MOM-your the best!! Oh and just in case your wondering….my dad has also helped…..he stuffed about 10 envelopes when we were mailing out invitations!!!!! heehee-love ya dad!

So back to that comment I made about feeling lonely when I saw that all my furniture was gone…..when I got back from Hillsboro Sunday evening I stopped by Greg’s. He told me he had a surprise for me and preceded to show me that he had set up my desk and hooked up my computer. He also set up my bed and found my sheet, comforter, pillows, pillow shams and dust ruffle and put it all on the bed just like I had it at my house. He even found my night stand and put it next to the bed. When I saw it I teared up at his thoughtfulness….and for the first time I felt like this was our home instead of Greg’s home. It was a nice surprise and one that made me feel very at home. I do have to admit is was strange seeing MY furniture in HIS house! Strange but nice!!

It’s going to be another busy week with lots going on!! Thanks for all the encouraging words we get from you when we see you, when we talk on the phone to you and when we get your cards in the mail! We both feel very loved by friends and family!

It’s already Thursday and I am just now updating this page! Time flies when you are having fun!!! Friday at 1:00 Greg and I left Fort Worth and headed east. 10 and 1/2 hours later we pulled into Nashville! We hit the ground running on Saturday morning and had a wonderful day enjoying the cooler temps and being out of the Texas sun. Saturday evening we were privileged to have a reception held in our honor at the Madison church were Greg grew up. I had the opportunity to meet many wonderful people that have known Greg since he was born. I heard story after story about Greg growing up and even heard stories about the rebellious things he did during his school days. Several of his teachers from elementary school were there as well as some of his groomsmen and friends from high school and college. It was so nice to meet all of these wonderful people and it was so fun to see the love these families have for Greg. In the midst of meeting so many strangers on Saturday I did have my cousin Sherri and my bridesmaid Sarah come to the reception. They both live in Nashville and it was so fun to have them there. Thanks to both of you for coming! After church on Sunday we had a Texas themed lunch at his Uncle Mark’s house with the Gingles side of the family. I had met most of them earlier in the year when we went for a visit so it was nice to see familiar faces. We had a wonderful two days and headed home on Monday morning. Thanks to all the ladies who helped plan the reception for us. I hope to put a picture of all of them on her soon.

When we got home (late) Monday night Greg told me that he had a special surprise for me on Tuesday night. I immediately started shaking my head no and said I didn’t have time to do anything because I needed to pack. (we are moving my belongings to Greg’s on Saturday and right now you can’t even walk into my house. There are boxes everywhere and it looks like a tornado has come through) He said that he had already planned out the evening and I needed to be ready to go by 6:30.  I reluctantly said yes and was ready to go by 6:30 Tuesday night. He had told me to dress nice so I instantly thought we would be going somewhere nice to eat……like Texas de Brazil!! You can imagine my surprise when Greg showed up with a pizza in his hand!!!!! He said we were going to eat at my house and then head out about 7:15. Around 7:30 we were ready to go and all of the sudden there was a loud knock at my door. It was Jessica and Morgan and they were kidnapping me for the night. I thought, “how sweet that was of Greg to plan a night for me with Jess and Morgan!” They put me in their car and blind folded my eyes. They are both in college so it wasn’t to crazy that they were doing this but I couldn’t figure out why they were in shorts and flip flops and I was dressed so nice.

We drove a ways up the road and they go me out of the car. As we walked (still blindfolded) they lead me through some grass and almost made me fall by tripping over a curb. Before I knew it they took the blindfold off and there before me stood some of my most favorite girls in the world. They had kidnapped me and were throwing me a surprise lingerie shower…….and I was surprised!!!!! The night was SO fun and we had lots of good laughs. My sweet friend Dana White drove all the way from Temple just for the evening-thank you so much for coming!

I do have to say that I have tried to avoid this type of shower. I have been sooooo mean to so many of my friends at their lingerie showers that I thought I would be smart and just not have one. Guess my friends didn’t like that idea!!!!!! It was a great night and I appreciate all the hard work to make the night a total surprise!

It’s moving day on Saturday even though I don’t have to be out until the 31st. You can check with us about 1:00 on Saturday and see how much energy we have. If we don’t answer you will know the heat go the best of us!!!!!!!

Hope you are having a great week. Only 16 days!!!!!

Happy Friday! I’m starting to wonder what it is like when you can come home from work and actually cook dinner, watch TV and just relax! I have ALMOST forgotten what that is like…..right now there is always something to do after the work day is over! All the planning is going great and now we are just down to the details. I don’t think we have any more major decisions to make but just as soon as I say that something will pop up!!

We will be in Tennessee this weekend to see Greg’s family and friends. I am actually looking forward to leaving town and not being able to run around town to work on the wedding. I think it will be a nice break and I’ve been told that it is MUCH cooler there than it is here. Hopefully we will be able to leave the 100+ degree weather behind for a few days.

The wedding is fast approaching and there is SOOOOO much excitement around here. I get asked at least 10 times a day when the wedding is and how the plans are coming along!! It is nice to be surrounded by people that actually care and want to hear all the details.

On a side note my niece survived her first day of JUNIOR HIGH yesterday!!! Yeah Bethie!!!!! I talked to her before and after school and she said it was “so fun!” On another side note football has started!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Cowboys have been in California for two weeks practicing and there first preseason game is this weekend. Equally as important…high school football practice started this week. It is a beautiful site to be driving down the road and look up and see the teams practicing!! Can hardly wait for it to start this fall! Life is hectic but good!! Hope you have a wonderful weekend and stay out of the heat!!

Another busy and productive weekend under our belts! Friday night (before the craziness started) we actually had the opportunity to have dinner with several friends from church. We have a small dinner group that TRIES to meet once a month-that hasn’t happened much lately-but we did get to go on Friday. It was great catching up with James and Katie, Melanie and Brad, Cari, Ricky and Allison and Dwight and Tara. We are looking forward to doing that much more after August 30th!!!!

Early Saturday we headed to Salado and made all of our final selections with Tracelyn…our cake lady!! When you walk into her shop it smells so delicious and Greg immediately started dropping hints that he was up for any samples she may have available. It didn’t work and we both had to “suffer” through the wonderful smells with out any cake.

After our meeting we headed into Temple to meet Dana and Brad for lunch. Greg was finally getting to meet Brad!!!! They hit if off and we had a great lunch.  After lunch we headed to Salado to wrap up a few loose ends and after that we headed back to Fort Worth. Sunday was another busy but very fun day. My cousin Amy is getting married in September and we celebrated her at her bridal shower yesterday afternoon. It is always good to be with family and yesterday was no exception. Her shower was beautiful and lots of fun. After the shower I met up with Greg and we headed to meet Rick and Jamie for dinner. We had the opportunity to discuss lots of details about our ceremony and as usual soaked in lots of good martial advice from both of them…..and Morgan and Matthew!!! We have had the opportunity to spend lots of time with the Atchley’s and have loved every minute of it. Thanks Rick and Jaime for taking time out of your schedules to share wonderful advice with us about marriage. We are looking forward to your family being part of our wedding day!

This week is going to be a fun one with lots going on! Thanks for being interested in our lives and our upcoming marriage!!

 Have a great week!

So much has happened since my last post. We are in full throttle wedding gear around here! (as if we haven’t been for a while). Almost all of my bridesmaids have received their dresses and the tuxes are rented! We spent the weekend in Salado and had a wonderful shower on Sunday with several ladies from my parents church and with several ladies I grew up with in Temple. It was a sweet time to spend with so many people that love my family.  It was extra nice to have my sister Dana and her kids in town and to have Dana and Beth at the shower.

On Tuesday several friends from the hospital had an ice cream wedding shower for us. When you work in a hospital you have to put food on the agenda if you want people to come and it worked!!!! We had a great turn out and got lots of nice gifts! My mom, Dana, Beth and my cousin Kayla drove up for the shower. It was lots of fun showing them around the hospital and introducing them to my coworkers.

This Saturday Greg and I will travel BACK to Salado to meet with the lady making my cake and for Greg to meet my brother-in-law Brad. He is the only person in my immediate family that he has yet to meet so I am really excited for them to finally meet. Brad is more than just a brother-in-law he is more like a big brother. He has known me most of my life since Dana and Brad were high school sweethearts and since we all grew up in the same town! We always have a great time when Brad is around and I know Saturday will be a ton of fun.

Have a good weekend!

That was the temperature this afternoon at 4:30 when I took a patient outside to the playground. It would have felt a lot better if I had on shorts instead of work clothes!! Hope everyone is enjoying the dog days of summer.

Wedding plans for the week are going great. The end of last week and the weekend were packed full of all sorts of planning. We finished up our invitations and got them mailed out. I have become very good friends with my local postal lady and appreciate her help so much. I have come to the conclusion that the United States Postal Service and the companies that make wedding invitations are in cahoots! I find it a little strange that the postal service makes a fifty nine cent stamp…….which just so happens to be what every wedding invitation cost!  Of course they make the stamp really cute so you forget how much more it cost and you forget about the fit you were about to pitch over the price as soon as they show it to you. Yes, I’m a sucker for stuff like that-if it’s cute then it may be worth a little extra. Anyway, the stamp looks great, they match the invitation and they were well worth the extra price! I think you will agree when it shows up in your mailbox!

I had my bridal portraits made early Saturday morning. Many, many, many thanks to my mom and to my cousin Melissa for helping me look my best. I’ve seen my sisters bridal portrait hang in my parents house for many years now and I really felt the pressure on Saturday to take a good picture! I’m really hoping my mom will go with the one of my sticking my tongue out at the camera!!!! I also had the chance to sit down with my florist this weekend and finalize all the flowers.  I can hardly wait to see what it will all look like.  After a very full few days I came back to Fort Worth on Sunday and Greg and I ended up moving more of my stuff to his house.  It was a busy weekend but very productive.

This next weekend Greg and I are headed back to Salado. My sister and her family will be arriving on Friday and we will headed down on Saturday. My parents church will be hosting a shower for us on Sunday afternoon and I am thrilled for several people I grew up with to finally get to me Greg! It should be a fun weekend!

Enjoy the heat!!!!

It’s getting close……can you believe it? I keep getting asked, “are you stressed out yet?” I can safely say NO……I’m not stressed! I even went to a wonderful wedding Friday night for Cassidy and Jeremy and being there and seeing all the things we’ve yet to do didn’t stress me out-SO I can tell you that today-47 days before the wedding I am not stressed……but I will let you know when I start to feel it! haha.

The weekend has been extremely productive with my first load of belongings delivered to Greg’s house on Saturday night. After two loads of stuff hauled off to Goodwill I was ready to deliver my second load to Greg’s house today! The sad thing is I look around and it doesn’t even look like I’ve touched this place!!!!! You would think after all that hard work I would see a difference! Oh well, I’m sure in the coming weeks my house will start to change dramatically.

 My dress will be ready for pick up tomorrow-yippee! Most of the time I dread any time I have to drive to Dallas but for some odd reason I can hardly wait to go tomorrow!! Let’s hope the Bluebell ice cream (that’s been on sale all month so of course I have to buy it) won’t be a hindrance when I put my dress on tomorrow!! The next two weekends will be spent coming and going to Salado with different appointments and showers. My sister and her family will be coming into town in a couple of weeks so I am waiting patiently to wrap my arms around them!

In the midst of a busy weekend I was able to finish a book recommended by Rick and Jaime. I know that I already recommended Sacred Marriage to you but I would also recommend the book For Women Only by Shaunti Feldhahn. It is an eye opener to the inner lives of men. I am so glad I read this before our marriage begins. It has been very helpful in understanding Greg and the man God created him to be.

 Have a great week and I will keep you updated on the fit of the dress! Yikes!!!!!!!!!

You know your day is going to be great when your finance shows up to your house at 6:00 AM with breakfast!!!! Why so early on a holiday you might ask??????? Well when you are fortunate enough to work for a children’s hospital you GET to work on holidays! So after my 5:00 am workout I was headed home to get ready for work and there is Greg…..Starbucks coffee in one hand and banana nut bread in the other hand!!!!!! Oh by the way…..he didn’t have to work today-he just got up early because he is that wonderful!(now you really want to throw up don’t you?) To top off the morning when I got to work I got a parking spot on the first level of the garage! Now that is a good 4th of July!!!!

 Have a great day!

Greg and I spent last week on the Sophomore mission trip to Ruidoso, New Mexico. We set out around 7:30 am on Friday June 20th and returned on Friday June 27th. It was an amazing trip with almost 70 people (mostly sophomores) we go to church with. I’m not sure what is sweeter…..watching the teenagers teach the kids about Daniel or getting to spend a week with so many wonderful people we go to church with every week!! This is an amazing class that Greg and I have the privilege of following all the way through high school!

It took us about a day and a half to get there and that included a stop by the alien museum AND RESEARCH CENTER in Roswell, New Mexico. You haven’t lived until you’ve spent your $2.00 to walk through that bad boy!!!!!!

When we arrived we immediately started preparing for VBS that took place Monday-Thursday. The teens prepared the lessons ahead of time, decorated every classroom and taught the lessons all four days! I have to say I was proud of all of them and especially proud of Brock, Matt, Trisha and Jordan!

We stayed with families from the church and that was a real treat! I stayed with Alan and Kim McGhee and was treated like royalty! Every morning we had a gourmet breakfast waiting on us. The view from their deck overlooked the mountain range and it was breathtaking! Lori and Shirley (two mom’s of girls on our trip) also stayed at the same house. It was a ton of fun and I enjoyed getting to spend time with Kim and Carolyn most of the week.

Greg was privileged to stay with a wonderful family from church also. He stayed with Jace and Jan and from what I understand had a wonderful time. The difference in his house and mine was in addition to him staying there he also had six boys from the youth group and our youth intern!!!!!! Greg affectionetly became known as “dad” to the boys when he showed up to church Sunday morning with a button down shirt on. The name stuck and even this past Sunday when we showed up to church (at Richland Hills) I could hear people shouting dad and running up to Greg! I can’t think of a better way to spend your first mission trip with a church than being stuck in a house with 6 sixteen year old boys! Greg has many, many, many stories if you would like to hear more!

In the evenings we got to do lots of fun things with my favorite being a trip to White Sands! It amazed me to be driving through this desolate land and all of the sudden you come over the hill and see white as far as you can see! It is actually a national park and we spend a few hours there last Tuesday night. It was so fun but so strange at the same time! If you are ever in that area I recommend stopping by just to walk through part of it.

After a week of not thinking about wedding stuff it was nice to get home and settle back in for the FINAL TWO MONTHS of our engagement!!!!!!! I got the phone call that my dress had arrived while we were in Ruidoso so I left work early today and drove to Dallas to have it fitted.  I was thrilled to see it and can hardly wait to pick it up in a few weeks.

We are moving right along with making all the final plans for our wedding. It has been nice to enjoy the planning phase of our wedding but we also realize we are planning for more than just a wedding. We have had time to really think about and pray about the life we are building together. We realize this will last much much much longer than the ceremony that takes place on August 30th and we are both focused on that more than the actual wedding ceremony. I am thankful for this and am thankful that we see the bigger picture in the midst of planning a wedding.

Happy July 4th!!!!

Hi! Haven’t posted in a few days because there is not a lot going on……THANKGOODNESS! Greg and I did make a quick trip to Salado last Thursday to have our official engagement pictures taken. The photographer for our wedding took a few pictures of us and now we have those in addition to the ones my friend Katie took. We ordered our wedding invitations and will sit and wait for those to arrive.

Last night we went to Dallas to see the show STOMP! Greg had seen it before but this was my first time. It was OUTSTANDING!!! If you ever get the chance to see it I highly recommend it! During the show Greg leaned over and said, “it’s like watching River Dance on crack” and that is a perfect way to describe it. I talked to my brother Greg this morning and he said that he loved it so much that he saw it twice also. Once you see it you will understand why….it is really good.

We are getting ready to go on our mission trip with the youth group. Our group has worked so hard on preparing to teach little kids about Daniel. I can’t wait to see them teach! We will meet tonight to put the finishing touches on our lesson. When you think about it over the next week pray for our trip and for all the kids that will be coming to Vacation Bible School.

I want to ask you to also pray for Royal Family Kids Camp that will be going on next week. This is a camp that is near and dear to my heart and it is a camp that serves abused and neglected kids. The counselors will need your prayers for energy and patients this next week. Several of my close friends will be there and I would love for you to join me in praying for them EVERY TIME you think about it from now until next Friday. Pray for the kids that will be attending this camp. If you have ever worked with kids that have been abused or been in abusive situations you know how difficult it is and how heartbreaking it can be. Royal Family is an amazing ministry that spans around the world and we are so fortunate to be able to serve the kids in Tarrant County that are living in abuse and neglect.The road to married life is good! Greg and I are gearing up for our premarital counseling and we both highly recommend the book Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas.  It is a book that was recommended to us and we are just about finished reading it. Hope your week is fabulous!