Finally Friday

Well, it sure has been a long time since I have updated this little blog of ours. So I figured I would take the time to do so, finally.
Life with the Snyder's have been nothing short of interesting. I have been working weeks at a time, doing blood drives ALL over Kansas. The past couple weeks I was in Hays, Beloit, Phillipsburg, Manhattan and Topeka. Those are just SOME of the towns, anyways. This job gives meaning to life, other than just a "job," on the difficult days, and weeks away from home, I just have to think how many people I could truely be saving, and it gets me through the toughness of the job.

Colton has been enjoying the quiet (HA!) at home with Chase and Cleveland. He might miss me, but not much :)  I love these weekends at home with him, fireplace lit, Christmas tree glowing, and The Santa Claus on TV. Oh, can't forget the homeade hot cocoa either. Makes it all worth it.

We are ready for Christmas, and the short break we will get, that's for sure.

Hope everyone has a good Holiday season!!

Nobody can do everything, but everyone can do something.

I just got done texting my cousin, whom sparked a flame that really hit me. A family member, friend, co worker, or child of mine, or yours could need blood, maybe even tomorrow. My cousin might need a transfusion after she has her baby, these things happen. We always hope that is not the circumstance, but we are VERY thankful to have the technology to save yours/mine family members and childrens' lives by giving blood transfusions, if they may need it. I was told at my new job last week that there is a national blood shortage, and in our area, the Central Plains Region, is definetely feeling the effects of this shortage.
I highly, highly encourage you to give blood, if you can. If you cant, encourage your family, friends, children and anyone you know to donate blood. I also learned that of the eligible donors, only 5% of people do actually donate. Why? Is there not enough time for you to save a life? Things happen, yes, but there are multiple towns, days, hours, and oppurtunites at different blood drives that you can take 45 minutes out of your day to save a persons life, maybe even two or three people at that.

SO! Please do me a favor, and make an appointment. Call. Email. or go to http://www.redcrossblood.org/. There's tons of information on that site to help you out.

There are THREE blood drives coming up in McPherson... the times are on the above web page.
September 30th, at McPherson College
October 17 & 18 at Trinity Lutheren Church

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.  ~Winston Churchill

Random quotes :)

Boys have the key to a girl’s heart, but a best friend doesn’t
need one. She knows the secret handshake.

I think what we mean to say is that we’re so grateful for what we have because we’ve been through so much this year. So many things that were not easy and so many things that make you realize you’re all grown up and on your own. Hopefully we came out the other side stronger with the realization that we do have a lot to be grateful for. So maybe instead of focusing on what we don’t have, we can focus on what we do have.
- One Tree Hill

you should never forget about the past, everything happens for a reason. instead learn from the past,learn from your mistakes, and learn from every experience in life. never forget those that have changed you either for the good or the bad because they have made you who you are. And always remember that life is meant to be tough, to challenge you, and to make you stronger.

What if..

The other day, Colton and I had the "What if" discussion. What if we had different classes in Elementary School, What if he didn't go to McPherson and move, What if we fell in love with other people, There are few people out there who can say they married their Grade-school sweeetheart, but we can. I knew I loved him the day I found out he left me for St. Joseph school in 3rd Grade, Mr. Wine, my teacher, broke the bad news to me. I remember sitting by the foldable walls they had a Roosevelt Elementary, on the first day of 3rd grade, I believe I was counting coins on how to make a dollar. I waited and waited for Colton to come into the classroom, and he never did. I asked Mr. Wine where he was, and he told me that Colton's parents decided to move him to St. Joseph School. I. Was. Devistated. Of course, I never knew what it meant to be heartbroken in 3rd grade, but at that moment, my world came crashing down, he was my best friend! I can remember that day like it was yesterday, that day changed everything! I was looking forward to ALL summer of having the same class as him. As I look back, I wonder, "what if" his parents didn't make him go to a different school, What if, it's possible to fall in love with someone and 3rd grade, and still be in love 15 years later to the same person. There were so many times we broke up and got back together, dated other people, got back together, fought, and made up. I truly believe, everything happeneds for a reason. I guess we could be considered "Soul Mates," whatever it may be, I'm the luckiest woman in the world to be married to this man, he is my everything. So, when we were talking about all the "What ifs", I just had to think, there is no other way I would have it. If the past didn't happen, we probably wouldn't be sitting here, in our own home, on our own couches, with our own wedding bands on our fingers.
My maid of honor at our wedding said this quote during her toast....

"When im older & my daughter
asks me who my first love was
i dont want to have to pull out
the old photo album.
i want to be able to point across
the room & say
hes sitting right over there. <3"

Now, how many people do you know will get to say that to their daughter? :)

Lots of.. NewS!

I dont update this thing as much as I would like to, So, here's a recap!

A couple weeks ago, we got this little (big) guy...

His name is Cleveland. He's our first pet together :D We got him from the Humane Society on Elizabeth, behind the firehouse. If you get a chance, stop by there. They are completely overloaded with cats, and we actually got Cleveland for no cost. He has all of his shots, and flea preventative.

Cleveland is quite the lover. When we get home from work, he will meow and meow until we pick him up, and he will give us each "kisses" on our noses. Like eskimo kisses :) We love him so much already, even though he's going to be an only child for awhile, as long as Colton doesn't get his way, anways!

Also!! I JUST got a new job! I have applied and applied for his job for since before my Surgical Tech schooling. I FINALLY got called for an interview a couple weeks ago, and got the call last week that I will start on August 22nd! I have to have 14 weeks of rigorous training to be a Collections Tech (Phlebotomist) and after that I will be doing the Mobile Blood Drives for the American Red Cross! Basically, I'll be setting up and arranging the drives, and taking the blood and putting it into the computers to send off. We couldn't be happier for this next step in our lives.

Last but not least, we, BOTH of us, are enrolled in college, again! Colton is taking Criminal Justice courses, and I am going to minor in spanish for now, and decide my next major from there. We start August 15th. Another big step in the right direction!

Our wedding photographer just got our pictures done, so I'm awaiting the CD's in the mail to post the pictures, but heres just a couple for now.

Have a good evening :D

We're back!

Well well well, I finally have a speck of time to get on here and update this thing! I've heard several people say how they really like to read up on our lives, so I figure I'll update as much as I can!

Our lives have been incredibly busy this last month. Non stop, go go go! We went on our honeymoon June 24th, and got back July 2nd. We stayed at a beautiful resort, Star Island, In Kissimmee Florida. We had such a good time... Except the rain. Every. Single. Day. We arent talking about a sprinkle for 10 minutes and it stopped... We're talking about a downpour for hours! But we still had SO much fun!
We went to Universal Studios and only got to ride 3 roller coasters, because the rain shut the park down, but the 3 we rode were pretty exciting. I'd say my favorite thing was Gatorland, where we got to see all these shows of people feeding Alligators and how crazy they are! They had some 13-14ft Gators there!

I had my friend Sarah's bridal shower today.. For those of you who weren't at our wedding reception, Josh, Sarah's boyfriend of 8.5 years, proposed to her, right in the middle of the dance floor with everyone watching. It was so cute, and definetely put a tear or two in my eye! Now, I get the honor to be a Bridesmaid in Sarah's wedding, which is fast approaching on July 30th! The bridal shower today went great, and I couldn't be happier for her and Joshua!

I also painted our dining room yesterday, So once I get everything how I want it, I'll post pictures on here :)

Here are just a few random pictures that were from our honeymoon...

On the way to the airport at 5am!

 Heading to memphis for layover

 Almost to Florida!

 Our Little Airplane

 ANnnnnnd Rain, as soon as we landed in Orlando

 Our cute little Kia Soul

 Star Island Resort

 Colton swimming at our resort

 Harry Potter world at Universal Studios

 Gatorland

 Universal Studios

 Albino Gator

 Us at Clearwater Beach

 Beach aftershot

 On our Plane, heading home!

Our professional wedding pictures should be done by Tuesday, if not tomorrow (Monday) So, I'll be sure to post those once I get them!

<3

Finally got the knot tied!

WOw! So we are officially a married couple! Man, we waited years for this day to happen! It was PERFECT! I'm going to do a brief timeline from Friday to Sunday just to lay it all out ;)

Friday June 17th

Rehearsal! Started at 4 at First Christian Church and we used the whole allotted time to make changes and what not! Everyone was there that needed to be and everyone cooperated *horrayyy*

The rehearsal dinner was right after the rehearsal, and was at Perkins! The food was beyond delicious! We had roast beef and bacon, cheddar wrapped cordon bleu. Lets just say the chicken was amazing. The cream corn was good too! It was so pretty in the back room too, Colton's grandma, who we call Mernie, was in charge of it all, and did a wonderful job!

After the rehearsal we went to finish the legion decorations, right in the middle of filling up vases and putting up lights, Amanda tells us her mom just called to let us know we're in a tornado warning, so we wait around for a little bit, and the sirens go off. So there we are, in the middle of decorating for our wedding reception, and a tornado decides to erupt. So we all head down into the basement of the legion, and wait and wait and wait. Finally, we can go up and finish! It was pouring and hailing SO hard though. I can't help but think that its good luck the first tornado of the year in Mac happened the day before our wedding day ;)


Saturday June 18th, D-DAY!

The day started off great! Me and my bridesmaids all got our hair and makeup done at Integrity, Thanks to miss Chelsea Baker (Potter) who did mine, she did a great job! We all looked so purdy~!

We chilled quite a bit through the day.. Everyone kept asking if I was nervous at all, but nope, I was cool as a cucumber! Not one bit nervous. The girls on the other hand, were pacing and shaking their legs with nervousness :) Silly girls!

So, The clock chimed 6:00PM and we all pile out into the lobby. I stayed a bit behind, still not nervous at all. Nor have I cried all day, which I figured I would! Sarah, my Maid Of Honor, gets ready to walk down the aisle with Keith, the best man, and she turns to look back at me, she had a huge smile on her face, and I had tears in my eyes! It was SO surreal I was finally able to marry this person I have loved almost my entire life. My dad walked me down the aisle, and the only other time I got teary eyed was when we were saying our vows. Other then that, I was just so incredibly happy. Our ring bearers, Dylan and Jaiden, did amazing walking down the aisle and standing there, as well as our flower girl, my cousin, Reanna. It was just so perfect. No big catastrophe's, no fights or arguements. It was P.E.R.F.E.C.T!

The reception was beyond amazing, we had lots of good food, and dances. Something I will always remember and cherish! I still cant believe I'm a married woman, yet married to the man of my dreams. Wishes, prayers, hopes and shooting stars, whatever it is you may wish for, it may come true some day. Just keep trying..It took awhile for me, but everything is exactly how it should be. And we couldn't be happier!

Soooo after allll that.. Here are some pictures! In order :)

Reharsal:

 Getting my hair all pretty ;)

 Dylan (ringbearer) and I

 Me and Reanna (Flowergirl)

 My new siblings and I

 Garter :)

 Bridal Party Dance

 First dance as Husband and Wife

 Father and Daughter dance

That ended the great night! We are home now, and will leave Friday the 24th to head to Florida, Stay on Star Island Resort for 8 Days. SO ready!