March 18, 2010. One year later

One year ago, David and I arrived in Barcelona for our 25-day European honeymoon.  We actually flew out of Memphis on March 17th but the multiple flights and were pretty uneventful so there's not too much worth mentioning.  Only thing that was funny was that there were 2 old ladies sitting behind us on our transatlantic flight from NYC to Barcelona who we ended up befriending (and the 4 of us actually got in trouble for being too loud on the plane because others were "trying to sleep".  Who knew they could force you to be quiet just bc a couple of people wanted to take a nap.  But I digress.)  They must've been in their mid to late-60's and from Virginia.  They were meeting a group of their friends for a cruise out of Barcelona...the same cruise we were going to be on!  Small world.

Anyways, we arrived in Barcelona on March 18th.  Our cruise didn't leave out until Friday, March 19th but we sure weren't going to risk missing that boat so we flew in a day early.

We checked into our hotel, took a nap and then started our sightseeing of Barcelona.  We hit the highlights that day but knew we were going to be back to Barcelona for a day between the 2 cruises we were on. (We took a 21-day cruise but it was actually a 12-day plus a 9-day so between the 2, we picked up and dropped people off.)

First off, we quickly realized we looked so "American."  We both had on khakis and tennis shoes.  The locals do NOT wear khakis nor does anyone wear tennis shoes.  Their wardrobes were not chosen for comfort.  They all looked incredibly pretentious in their tight, dark jeans and black boots.  Everyone was dressed in black from head to toe and here we were in our bright white tennis shoes and t-shirts.  Oh well.

We immediately headed to the Underground Metro station to attempt to tackle that transportation system.  It's actually a fairly simple way to get around...assuming you know Spanish.  It's incredible how quickly my 4 semesters of Spanish classes and David's amazingly large Spanish vocabulary came back to us :)

Our first stop was La Sagrada Familia, an enormous church in the heart of Barcelona.  Construction began on this church in 1882 and it is STILL not finished.  They expect it to be completed in like 2026.  The detail on the exterior of this building is just amazing.  It is a must-see for anyone visiting Europe.

This was the view from the top of the church.

 

We took a bus tour of the city which showed some of the incredible architecture.  These are a few Gaudi buildings that stick out like a sore thumb among the other more modern-day stores. (Gaudi started the construction of La Sagrada Familia but obviously died before construction was completed.)

The first night we were there, we walked up and down Las Ramblas (Barcelona's most famous street) attempting to find some authentic Spanish food.  We ended up eating at a little place near our hotel and it was hilariously European.  Our dinner was basically a meat and cheese tray.

We must've walked 20 miles in the day and a half we had to sightsee in Barcelona.  Our feet hurt and we were exceptionally tired.  But we pushed ourselves to the limit because we knew this was the beginning of a once-in-a-lifetime trip for us and we weren't going to let a few blisters stop us from seeing as much as we could.

Next stop...the Norwegian Jade.

March 13, 2010. One year later.

Happy Anniversary to us.  Yes, March 13, 2010 seems like just yesterday.  I remember (most) every detail so vividly.  Yet the last 364 days have been a blur.  That's why I've decided to attempt to relive them through this blog.  For now, I'll start with our actual wedding day. 

I won't detail out the entire day for everyone but it could not have been more perfect.  Sure...the weather was a tad cold and I think it sprinkled the entire day.  But not once did I get wet.  It seems that every time we had to go outside, God parted the clouds for us.  And sure...a few things didn't go exactly as planned.  But for David and Sara Shepherd, 3/13/10 was exactly as we both had always dreamed of and wished for.

Our Ceremony and Reception were both at the Memphis Zoo's Teton Trek.  We were the first couple to have both the ceremony and reception in the Teton Trek.  And I'm not tooting my own horn, but it was beautiful.  And seriously, our guests are still talking about it (and how great the food was :) ).

Here are a couple of my favorite pictures from our wedding day:

The last year has been quite a ride.  And I'm not going to lie and say it's been easy.  David went out on his own to start his own business.  That has been stressful.  I was promoted at work last summer.  That has been stressful.  Living with someone ALL THE TIME.  That has been stressful.  But I wouldn't change anything and I'm pretty sure David would same the same thing :)  We are both excited to see what the future brings and are excited for 50 more years of this exciting ride.

One more thing.

I completely forgot to mention in the previous post that...not only am I finished with grad school but that I made STRAIGHT As throughout the entire program!  I'm pretty excited about it!  There were so many classes that I struggled with and were just plain HARD!  But I managed to get through them and now I'm FREE :)

Whatever is God's will is our will...

We put an offer on a house yesterday. 

We're letting the Lord take us where He wants us to go rather than forcing this based on what WE want.  So...we shall sit and wait on Him....

Here is a little info about the property:

3-Bedroom/2-Bath home on 27.93 ACRES in Piperton, TN - 2-acre pond in back.

 























Bulldawg Bound

Davis-Wade Stadium every Saturday during Fall

Our good friends Clark and Valerie invited us to go with them to Starkville this weekend to see MY Bulldawgs play the other Bulldogs this Saturday. When the opportunity arose, we of course accepted! I have not been back to Starkville in years so I'm excited to see how it has all changed. I probably shouldn't prepare to get too excited because it more than likely will depress me once I see all the changes that have happened since I was in school there...over 5 years ago! Aaahhh. Age aside...I do love all of the new construction they've done since I've been gone. The campus looks so much better since I left. I can't imagine what my dad's reaction is to the campus every time he visits Starkville! Probably feels like a completely different school to him now.



Old Waverly Golf Club  West Point, MS

 More than likely MY Bulldawgs will lose and the other Bulldogs will win on Saturday. But we're there for the good times. We plan to eat lunch/dinner/cocktails at Old Waverly in West Point, MS.  They say it's really nice.  In the 4 years I lived there, I never visited Old Waverly because it is a members-only country club.  And of course we weren't members.  Excited to eat and drink and then head to the game.  To finally ring a cowbell!  Well, legally anyways :)

Look for pics to come.  I feel 19 again when I step on that campus.  Then I look around at the REAL 19-year-olds and quickly am reminded I'm not 19 :)  But regardless of the outcome of the game....GO STATE!



Beginning, End and Continuation of Eras

Today, September 13, 2010:

The Beginning of an Era - David and I are starting a new Diet.  Actually, David claims it's not a "diet" but more of a "lifestyle change."  We are doing The Maker's Diet.  Going back to basics.  Fresh, organic food,  how they used to eat in biblical times.  If you know me at all, you know I will struggle more than David will with this.  We just started this today and I already wanted to jump over my desk in class and devour my classmate's Subway sandwich.  Say a prayer that my body will begin to prefer a carrot over a Muddy's cupcake.

The End of an Era - I took my FINAL final exam in graduate school.  I totally bombed the test.  Trying to care but that's a little difficult to do.  Three more Mondays and I'll probably never grace the Union University campus with my presence again.  No tears shed here.

The Continuation of an Era - Today is mine and David's 6-month anniversary.  180 days.  90 of them great.  90 of them difficult.  So we're batting a .500.  That's a pretty good statistic in baseball so I'd say all is well in the world of The Shepherds.

Already failing

As you can see, I'm already failing at keeping this blog updated.
But, to catch you up on the last few weeks:
August 28th - I went to Nashville to throw Angela Bowden a baby shower.  My mom and sister went with me to help and I don't know WHAT I would have done without them?!?!  It was a LOT of work but I'm pretty sure Angela was pleased with the outcome. 

Labor Day weekend - David and I took a 1,500-mile road trip to explore some areas we might potentially want to move to.  We saw Knoxville, Johnson City, Asheville, Boone (NC), Greenville (SC), Clemson and Clayton (GA).  The whole reason we took this little road trip was to ultimately whitewater raft the Chattooga River in Northeastern Georgia on Labor Day Monday.  Whitewater rafting is always a good time for both of us but we have decided that we need to learn to kayak better because the excitement of whitewater rafting is not quite cutting it anymore.  But, after this rafting trip, we can now say that I have still managed to stay in the raft.  My "Velcro Butt" nickname still remains!  David can't say the same though :)

Since our last trip to Asheville (about 18 months ago), we had pretty much decided that Asheville was the place we would eventually land.  But then we ended up in Greenville, SC and now that has bumped up to #1 on our list.  It was definitely the sleeper city of the trip bc we weren't expecting much out of it. 

September 7th - My 27th birthday.  Dinner with my family at PF Chang's and then dinner with David's family the next night.  I received the best birthday gift...David cut his hair!!  WooHoo!  And I treated myself to a hair cut and color as well :)

This week we have Alex.  Amy and her mom went to the beach for a week so we're keeping him for a few days. 

We have a VERY busy next couple of weeks.  I am EXTREMELY BUSY at work.  September, October and November are always crazy for me at work so I don't know why it catches me off guard each year?  David is going strong with his renovation business and things are working out very well for him.

Stay tuned for things to come...