Ben and Cassie

8.08.2008

Our house!

I posted awhile back than Ben and I bought a house, but we never put pictures up. Here are some pictures before we painted and moved in. We absolutely love the house. It has so much character and charm and the location is incredible. It's in the historic district just a few blocks from Lee and the greenway. Now, we're just working on making it our own, which is taking longer than I'd hoped. I'm realizing it might be one of those ongoing processes since our tastes change over time.

Check back for the after pictures of what we've done so far and let us know when you're in town - we love houseguests!

Yeah mon!

Wedding planning is tiring, no matter how laid back of a bride you are. Your whole life gets consumed by aisle pomander decorations and stalking the newest bridal magazines at Barnes and Noble. Needless to say, Ben and I were definitely looking forward to a little R&R and our honeymoon was the perfect getaway.

The day after our wedding, we left for Sandals Dunn's River resort in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. It was so beautiful. The resort was a smaller, intimate resort - which we loved. The beach was perfect and the locals were great. We were escorted straight to the concierge desk upon arrival and from that moment, we never had to worry about a thing. We went to check out our room and it was wonderful - we had an ocean view and it was so nice to sit out there in the mornings and eat breakfast and listen to the island wake up.

The first day we were there, we got our shopping out of the way and hit up some of the local markets to grab the usual Jamaican souveniers. The next couple of days we went on some island excursions. The first one we did was climb Dunn's River Falls. This place was so beautiful. It's a waterfall in Ocho Rios that flows out in the ocean. We started at the bottom and climbed our way up with a huge group of people.

Our second excursion was the Blue Mountain bicycle tour. We took a bus with a group of people from nearby hotels and we headed off to the Blue Mountains. The ride was about two hours, but it was so fun. Our driver gave us great info on all the areas we drove through and the history of the island, as well as the current state of the island. We finally reached the Blue Mountains and we drove up near the top and stopped at the tour headquarters where we had brunch, learned how coffee berries are transformed into coffee beans and then headed off to ride our cruisers down the mountain. This excursion was a blast. We ended the day with a dip in a pool of cold mountain water right under a waterfall where some local boys were jumping off (you know Ben was dying to play, but the guides wouldn't let him jump off the falls since they would be liable) :(

The rest of the time at the resort was spent in the pool or by the beach. It was so nice to just relax and not plan anything for a change!

We did take a few pictures and you can view them here if you're interested. I wish we had taken more, but our cameras aren't waterproof so we didn't take them down to the pool or beach. Enjoy!

We did it!

We got married! I am now Mrs. Ben Williams and Ben is...well, he's still Mr. Ben Williams, but with a new sidekick. We've got some pics that friends and family have taken and you are welcome to view them here. (I'll let everyone know when our professional pics are available for viewing.)

We had the best time that day and were so lucky to have so many family members and close friends in attendance. And even though my 100+ candles didn't stay lit, everything was perfect. I feel like people were able to see our personalities shine through in the details of our wedding and that's what we wanted most.

So thank you to everyone who was able to join us on that day. We know it was hot and sticky, but at least there were sno cones!

5.13.2008

We have a house?!

Sorry for the lack of posts, but it may be because Ben and I are proud homeowners. Yay-uh!

Holy cow, actually.

We have a house. With a yard. That has to be mowed. By someone other than the apartment lawn crew.

We'll update more as soon as we can. We're down to 60 days until the wedding so we are a bit preoccupied at the moment. Not to mention, we now have a kitchen worthy of serving McDonald's Happy Meals from our roll-out window. Yep, our walls are that shade of yellow.

Pictures to come!

4.27.2008

Please Talk To Strangers...

Ok, let me clarify the title, if you are under 16 years of age and home alone, or are approached by a representative of any religious sect whose title includes the words “Davididian, Nuwabian, sojourners of perpetual creepiness, or a combination of more than 5 “less-threatening " words, (example: Freedom liberty family fellowship evanga-worshipful seekers of the seventh revelation) then pay no heed to the title and run away! I merely want to address the blinders we often put on to the rest of the world. You know, the intentional disregard of all people in our “peripheral” vision on a daily basis. We get locked on to schedules, meetings, productivity, and all of the above at the sacrifice of isolating ourselves to an island of comfort and stagnicity. (Yes, stagnicity isn’t a word, but I called Webster and it's pending for his next edition.)

Mine and Cassie’s blinders have been ripped off in the past two weekends by enthralling strangers around us. A mechanic and part-time Santa-Claus and missionary that traded me a banjo for a fiddle was only the start of these encounters with who, in every definition of the word, would be regarded as strangers. To follow would be a folk-hearted believer named Katie in ATL that knowingly traded a beautiful fender resophonic guitar for a quirky little banjo-lin simply because she wanted me to have it. Cassie and I were walked through 3 generations of a family business by a tailor in Chattanooga, helped a family propose via 20ft sign from the Market street bridge for their son, and ran into a tightrope walking (slack line) hoola-hooping couple in the park that granted me the pleasure of embarrassing myself on a tightrope. In talking, he was a regular supertramp, trotting the US from Alaska down the west coast and finally to Chattanooga TN for the climbing.

Very different people, yes, but the one thing that they all had in common was their innate ability to capture mine and Cassie’s hearts and admiration in the span of a single conversation. What has God been trying to show us? As much as we believe in miracles, we also are seeing a very different form of them. I think the miracles of our days aren’t necessarily spiritual outbursts in public leading millions to dive into the closest source of water for impromptu baptism. No, what God is doing in our collective midst is much bigger. He’s calling for talking to strangers. (Outside of the 15 min Sunday morning greet and seat? Gasp!) I count it a small miracle when I can see past my own world to connect to someone else’s. And as lost as I have become at times in my own schedule, I continue to be pulled out by wildly engaging encounters with people I’d normally avoid or disregard. So friends we implore you, from our hearts to yours, Please talk to strangers.

-Ben and Cassie

3.25.2008

Whirlwind of craziness!

Well, March is flying by like crazy! We've got some pics to put up later, but we had a great St. Patty's Day party last week at the Barks and then a great Easter weekend with my family in TX. And there's much more to come! Hope everyone is having a great month and a wonderful start to Spring.

Be blessed!

2.28.2008

Coyotes and Marshmallows

We went camping this past weekend near Gee Creek and while we had a good time, it was soooo cold! I think we had three or four blankets spread out on the bottom of the tent and then another one thrown on top of our sleeping bags! We had a great time though and Maggie just loved it. She's getting a North Face jacket for Christmas I think! Well, I don't know if they make those for dogs, but she's getting one if they do. Anyways, we had a great time, ate good camp food, listened to the coyotes in the middle of the night and had the best coffee the next morning. Thanks for the pics everyone!