The BIG Year is Here!!

Yay for 2015! 

I cannot believe it is here already. This year has always seemed so far away, but it came so quickly! This is a year of BIG changes for us, and we can hardly wait! I'm normally not big on change, but this year I think I'm okay with it!

2014 was a bittersweet year for me. I lost a dear grandmother, got engaged to my high school sweetheart, and graduated college. It has been hectic and overwhelming pretty much the entire year. Which is why I have neglected this poor little blog. One of my resolutions for 2015 is to blog a little more. Even if no one reads it, ha ha.

As 2015 begins, I am learning how to transition into the real world (yikes!). I am not 100% sure what I will be doing until this summer/next school year yet. I know, it's probably crazy to y'all, but I'm learning to be okay with it and trust in the Lord's timing and plan. Also, planning a wedding is proving to be not easy. Ha!

Taylor is heading back to Lubbock this weekend for his final semester of student teaching and college. He will graduate in May and our plan is to then (possibly) move back towards home. We love Lubbock, but it is too far from home!

Those are all of the updates for now. We hope that you have the happiest new year!! Here's to 2015!

Sarah

A Small Town Homecoming

"You're going home for homecoming? Why?" is the reaction I get every time I explain to someone that I will be out of town that weekend. My response is always "I just can't explain it."


Here's a few things that I loved about this weekend:

The doorbell at the Hamilton's house going off every 10 minutes with people picking up their mums and garters.

Stopping by Studio G to pick up our Save the Dates and talking with Libby for at least half an hour about everything.

Lunch with my daddy.

Seeing Christopher's friends at the pep rally and reminiscing on memories of him.

Eating at Rancho before the game on Friday night and knowing every single person in there.

Knowing that every person that asks how I've been genuinely cares and is interested.

New friends getting a glimpse into the life of Teague, Texas.

Taking 30 minutes to make it to your seat at the game because you can't walk three steps without seeing someone you haven't seen in a while.

Old friends and being able to pick up where you left off.

"Lets just throw a picnic table and grill on it." "Oh, that actually looks pretty good."

A morning and afternoon with my old classmates.

A night with family at my grandparents house.

Getting 8 and a half hours of sleep because the weekend wore me out.


There really is nothing like a small town homecoming.

{Life Currently} #2

To explain my blogging absence, this summer was crazy. I feel like my family has some kind of summer curse. Something bad ALWAYS happens in the summer. This summer was no exception. We were kind of hit from both sides of my family so life was just all over the place.

Taylor and I are about to begin our last year at Texas Tech University. It is crazy looking back on the past few years and thinking about how fast it went by. A year from now we will be married and (hopefully) preparing for our first teaching jobs.

Our final year at Tech will be a busy one as we will both begin our student teaching. We will student teach at a middle school (Taylor 7th grade math, I'm 8th grade science) four days a week and then on Wednesdays we will be in class from 8-6. Pray that we adjust to this schedule easily and we both have good experiences.

I recently moved into a new house in Lubbock with two of my friends who are also education majors. I think it is going to be a perfect living environment for student teaching this year. I will share pictures of it soon!

Sarah

Six Years

Six years ago my world was shattered, and my life was turned upside down.

We got a call that my brother had been in a car accident.

My parents lost a child, and I lost a brother.

Our family was surrounded for days by people that love and care about us. Cooking us meals, cleaning our house, and just being there.

The weeks passed and less people came by, and we were faced with the horrifying reality that our life as we knew it was changed forever.

I no longer had someone constantly picking on me and doing every possible thing to drive me crazy.

I would give anything for him to pick on me again. To see that goofy grin of his. To hear his laugh. Hug his neck.

I often wonder what life would be like if Christopher were still here. Would we be closer now that we were older? Would he be proud of me and everything that I've done? What would he be doing? Would he approve of Taylor, and would they get along?

I am selfish daily, and want his presence back so badly. I have to remember that he is the one that is in Heaven, and that is far better than anything he could experience on this Earth. The Lord's plan is so much bigger and better than my plan. I struggle to remember that daily, and I wish that I understood it.

Until I can understand it, I will cherish the 15 years of memories with Christopher and thank the Lord that my bubba is in a better place. I will live my life fully and be thankful for all of my blessings.

{Life Currently} #1

I've decided that this blog needs a little more love. In order for that to happen, I suppose I need to update it more. (Even though I still don't understand why people wouldn't want to read about our proposal over and over again! (-; ) Anyways, I've decided to start a blog series called {Life Currently}. I plan to update it about every other week with what we've been up to, if there is any wedding news, things we like and dislike, etc. So, here goes week #1!

Currently in the lives of Sarah and Taylor..

There was a new addition to the Hamilton family! Taylor's sister and brother-in-law welcomed a precious baby boy on 5/26/14. Canaan Luke Richardson is precious and we are all so excited to watch him grow!

Super precious, right?

I started back working at Pharmacy Plus in town a few days a week. I originally wanted to be a pharmacist, and working at the pharmacy is what turned me away from it, haha. Even though it's not the career I want for the rest of my life, I really enjoy the people I work with and am thankful that they always find times for me to work there.

Taylor began a job at the high school and has been building tables, benches, etc. on the side. I have no idea where his drive and love for woodworking came from, but he's been going to town with it lately. If you need something built, let him know! I'm pretty excited about it because maybe he'll save me some money on furniture one day! (-;

We attended our first wedding together last weekend in Dallas. One of four in the next three weeks. Talk about giving me wedding fever.

Wedding 1 of 4

We head out today for Roswell, NM to attend the wedding of some of our close college friends this weekend. The two of us we present for their engagement last May and are excited that we get to be a part of their big day. I cannot wait to watch their marriage grow and see where the Lord leads them.

Last, but definitely not least, I found the perfect wedding dress! My mom and I traveled to Waco yesterday just to look around and kind of get a feel of the style of dresses that I liked. While I had been researching wedding dresses online, I wanted to try some on to see which best fit my body style. So, we went into the bridal boutique and there it was! I was hesitant to try it on at first, but mom said "It won't hurt to just try it on and see how it looks." I am so thankful that she encouraged me to try it on, because it turned out to be the perfect dress for me! Yay!

Eeeek!! Just a teaser pic, because of course I can't show you the real deal!

Sarah

The Proposal

March 14, 2014

Background:
I had been sick with strep throat the Friday before and missed one of my classes. Taylor and I were supposed to teach a lesson that day but it got pushed back to the 14th since I was sick. Well, my professor emailed me the Monday after I was sick and told me I had to stay an hour after class on the 14th to make up the day that I missed. "AN HOUR AFTER CLASS ON THE FRIDAY WE LEAVE FOR SPRING BREAK??" I was not at all happy about it. But it was all part of the plan.

As I mentioned previously, Taylor and I were teaching our lesson this day because it had been pushed back from the week before. So, Taylor told me the day before "I think I'm going to wear khakis tomorrow." Code for: you should probably dress more presentable than t-shirt and jeans. Thanks, Tay!

We went through the day like any Friday. We had class for 6 hours straight and we taught our lesson. I gave Taylor instructions on everything that needed to be done before we left to go home that day and he went home as I stayed to meet with our professor. About 45 minutes into talking about the 5 E's of inquiry lesson planning, my professor asked me to go to the bottom of the stairs to get his mom who was visiting for break. "She's about 5'8" and she'll probably look lost." So down the stairs I went. Waiting at the bottom of the stairs was my friend Randa. She had mentioned coming to tell me bye before she left for spring break, so I wasn't surprised to see her there. What surprised me was when she said "Come with me.." "Randa, I still have class. We aren't finished yet." "Just trust me. Come with me."

I walk outside to see two rocking chairs set up right in front of the education building, and Taylor standing there in between them. I turned back to my friend and said "I'm scared!!" I had always thought about this happening, but never imagined what would happen if it actually did! Taylor came to me and grabbed my hand, walking me towards the rocking chairs and sat me down.

I sit down and he tells me to close my eyes and breathe because he knows I can't. Then tells me to imagine. He reads me a story he wrote about our future lives together. Two people right out of college starting their lives together.. A few years, a few adventures, and hours spent rocking on the front porch later, a child comes along.. Then a child comes along not from their family (I've always wanted to adopt).. Years go by and the children are grown.. The only thing left to do is rock the days away in the rocking chairs. Will you join me in this story? Will you marry me?

YES!

I LOVE rocking chairs. I mentioned to Taylor a long time ago that I wanted to take pictures every year on my anniversary in the same rocking chairs to see how life progresses. So that is where the rocking chair idea came from. Kudos to Tay for remembering!! (-:

When we got back to Taylor's house, I was surprised (yet again) by both of our immediate families being there!! After a few minutes with our families, friends began showing up for a fiesta! Fajitas, rice, beans, and cookies! So thankful that we got to share this day with everyone! Thanks Taylor for making it a complete surprise, it could not have been more perfect!

**Special thanks to Nathan Havens and Katie Burleson for taking pictures of our special day. Y'all are the best!

Sarah

About Us

Hi everyone! We are so eager to begin our new chapter of lives together and share the journey with all of you!! We decided that before anything we should give you a little background information on our relationship..

Our adventure began in 2009.

Taylor was a senior and I was a junior in high school. My mom was the student council sponsor and Taylor was the student council president. We both had an off period the last class period of the day and spent most of our time running student council errands for my mom. We grew up in a small town where everybody knows everybody and people start to notice when a relationship is forming. So, people started asking my mom if Taylor and I were together and we just always shrugged it off and laughed. One day, Taylor just bluntly asked if I liked him and it all started.

After discovering we both had some sort of feelings, we decided to get to know each other a little more. The first time we hung out outside of school we watched a NASCAR race at his friends house. Not my number one pick, but I guess it worked out pretty well. (-;

Taylor went off to college at Texas Tech University in the fall of 2010. It was a tough year being 6.5 hours away from each other but we made it through. I joined him there in the fall of 2011.

We broke up in September 2011 and were apart for most of that school year. We remained friends and still had mutual friends that we hung out with together. It was hard, but we survived. Around spring break of that year, we both started to redevelop feelings and began to hang out a lot more. In May of 2012, we decided that together was the best place to be and we've been together ever since. We both knew that we were meant for each other, we were just being stubborn about it.

On March 14, 2014 Taylor proposed to me outside of the Texas Tech Education building. It was the most precious and unexpected thing. But more on that later!

The past couple of years have been great, we've learned so much about each other and our relationship. We've been through our fair share of ups and downs but we always know that we can count on each other.

Through this blog we will be posting updates and stories about anything and everything that is happening in our lives. We hope that you will keep us in your prayers and follow along as we embark on this new chapter of our lives!

*Proposal story coming soon!!

Sarah & Taylor