My Other Half

A question you might be asking yourself (one which I have to remind myself of the reasoning behind every day) is "Why are Brett and Meredith living 1000 miles apart?!". And, believe or not, there is a good answer to that question...unfortunately.

I'm away from Brett because this is what he currently gets to look at everyday -instead of his beautiful wife :)

Brett is working in the midst of multiple green bean farms in Florida. He will be working his way up the east coast with the harvest of the beans. This is his first taste as to what his new job will require of him. Which let me tell you- it is alot! His 15 hr days (with no "off" days for two months) are definitely a test of his work ethic. But, as if any us doubted how hard a worker Brett is, he has received excellent reviews from everyone around him.

As I sit here in my office back on the ol' U of A campus, I am thankful for what Brett is doing for us in Florida and for encouraging me to come back to finish my thesis. It will be so nice when we get back to our little nest in PA at the end of the summer and have two big weights off of our shoulders. -Just keep praying that we make it to that point gracefully :)

Hello, PA!

After a whirlwind of a wedding and honeymoon, we packed everything in our Budget truck and spent two days saying goodbye to our family.

Then we were off on our two day drive to our new home in Hanover, PA. It was hard to say goodbye to Arkansas, but the drive to PA was full of beautiful scenery.

The next couple of weeks consisted of unpacking, learning my way around Hanover, dealing with truck breakdowns, and working on my skills as a wife! But we love our new apartment and we love being married! It is so fun to have Brett to come home to. I'm so thankful for him...he is just the most wonderful thing. The next two months will not be easy while we are away from each other again, but I know that the Lord won't give us anything we can't handle!

There are still a lot of things to organize in our home, but I guess it will have to wait until Brett and I return in July. Here are few pictures:

guest room

our room



Eureka!

While on our honeymoon, we wanted to be sure we took time to tour Crystal Bridges. We left Eureka Springs expecting that it would take us about 45 min. to get to Crystal Bridges....then our car overheated. But it turned into such a fun adventure! The point along the highway where we pulled over was the entrance to the Blue Springs Heritage Center. We hiked a few miles around the springs- it was beautiful!

It was the perfect day to be outside and we really enjoyed taking our time walking around and dipping our feet into the springs.

After we let the car cool down and put some water in it, we were back on the road. We ate lunch at The Flying Fish (one of my favorites) and then finally made it to Crystal Bridges. It did not disappoint. We loved it. I highly encourage anyone in the NWA area to check it out if you haven't already!

The next two days we mostly stayed around our wonderful, amazing treehouse. We did eat at some of our favorite spots (Local Flavor- I could eat there every day) and rent movies (Dances with Wolves...classic). Our last day in Eureka, we drank margaritas on a balcony downtown, shopped, and went to the Christ of the Ozarks.

It was the most amazing thing to spend so much time with Brett. We have the best time together and I can't wait to be reunited with him!!

The Honeymoon

Because Brett and I would be moving across the country the weekend after our wedding, we wanted to stay close to home for our honeymoon. We spent one night at the Dickson Street Inn (amazing!) and had a big brunch at Cafe Rue the next morning. Their brunch consists of the best foods I've ever had.

Then we drove to Eureka Springs and had incredible time! It was the most relaxing and fun few days. We stayed at the wonderful Eureka Springs Treehouses. It was perfect. We decided we would love to have a place just like our treehouse.

Our first night in Eureka Springs we ate at Ermilio's. YUM!



If you guys aren't completely sick of pictures, I'll leave you with one more for today.

In my next few posts, I'll write about our adventures in Eureka!

From Schafer to Gordon

I'm behind on my wedding day post, because, well, I'm back in Arkansas. It appears as though crazy travel schedules and time away from each other did not end for Brett and I when we left AR for PA. Brett's new job has him away from Hanover for the next two months so I had an opportunity to come back to AR and finish my thesis. Even though we were terribly sad to leave one another AGAIN...we both agree that the last month has been the happiest of our lives and we can't wait for that to continue.

SO back to the BIG post: THE WEDDING DAY!

I woke up Saturday morning next to Kaitlin on my "wonderful" air mattress. I barely slept due to excitement and nerves which means I kept Kaitlin up as well (sorry, Kait!). I think there were some shouts of "it's my wedding day!!" and "I'm getting married" as we grabbed some breakfast on the way to Pratt Place. We also rolled the windows down and belted out "You make my dreams come true!".

Pratt Place Barn was buzzing with my family and friends who were in full decoration mode. It was really nice to goof off with everyone and release of some of that nervous energy. The barn started to turn into what I had pictured in my mind. It actually turned out more beautiful than I could ever have imgained! It was perfect!

After a couple hours of decorating, Kaitlin and I left for the hair salon (studio eight) where we met Jessica to get our hair done! It was a such a fun time and was also the point at which I realized that it really was THE DAY.

The next stop was back to Pratt Place where all the girls were waiting to get ready and start the pictures. I could not WAIT to see Brett! But I will cherish that time getting ready with the girls- my friends are amazing.

Brett and I had our "First Look" which was so sweet! He was SO nervous...it was adorable. I asked if he liked my dress (because he hadn't said ANYTHING to me yet haha) and he said "I can't even talk, because you took my breath away". Ah melt my heart! Pictures ended with just a few minutes to re-group before the ceremony. As much fun as I had dancing the night away with everyone, the best part of the day was standing at the altar with Brett. It was the most amazing feeling that we were tying out lives together forever! It was so special.

Then it was time to CELEBRATE!

It was a perfect day. The most beautiful weather, wonderful ceremony, great dinner, awesome music, and getting to be with my best friend forever: what could beat that?!

I have many more pictures to share when we get the professional pics back, but until then I'll be filling everyone in on what's been going on since the wedding.

Love,

Mere