Wedding Season continues on!!!!

It's been such a fun year because so many of our friends are getting married. The weekend before us was Trav's college roommate Nate's wedding! It was a beautiful event and Ashley looked stunning!! It also was neat because we got to see a sneak peek of how weddings work so we knew what was coming for us the next weekend!!!! Here are a few pictures from their big day....


A beautiful location and ceremony!

Talk about GREAT wedding favors!

2 more weddings to come in 2008!!!!

Bachelorette Shin-dig!

It was a GREAT girls day!!! We started out with relaxing at the Glen Ivy Hot Springs in Corona but were careful to not get tan lines!!!! We than got all decked out in our cow girl attire and headed out to Chili's for dinner. The girls made the cutest "Future Mrs. Hardeman" shirt and "Bride to Be " cowgirl hat!!! After dinner, we were ready for some line dancing! The night didn't go as planned b ut it ended up being a super fun night!!! Ladies night was not we we thought...and it turned into a hip hop club, bu we rocked our cowboy boots anyways! Afterwards we t-peed Trav's house where the Bachelor party was going on! We made it away safely after they came running out of the bushes!!! It was a perfect way to start off the Wedding Week!!!
Glen Ivy

Cave Men

Love the Mud Bath

Strike a Pose

Dinner at Chilis

We were all in cowgirl attire ...and it ended up being hip hop night. oops

fun times!

Ready to line dance!

Elle Woods?

A month after Trav's graduation, I graduated from my LVN program! The year flew by fast and I was glad to say good-bye to 4:30am wake ups and late night cramming! Graduation was a beautiful event at the Balboa Bay Club and Resort and there was quite the cheering crowd in attendance. And of course, I couldn't give the Valedictorian address without my hot pink heels!!!! Hello Elle Woods! :)

Next step for schooling??? Indiana State University where I will receive my Bachelors of Science in Nursing in the next 1 1/2 years! No, we are not moving to Indiana!!! I will be taking classes online and performing clinicals at local hospitals in the area...and all in my own pace so I will be able to work as well!!

Here are a few pics from the graduation ceremony...22 more days until the wedding!!!! We can't wait!!!! :)


It's all about the shoes :)

They have been so supportive!!!

Speech

I try to be serious...

My Arizona nieces!

The In-laws!

My wonderful Great Aunt Katie

The 3 Musketeers and our Fiances!

Engagement Pics...Better late than never!!!!

Back when we got engaged in September, our goal was to have our Save the Dates out in the mail before my surgery which was scheduled for the first of October. That being said, trying to set up an appointment with the photographer and than wait for the pictures to be edited did not fit into the crunched time frame. Trav's cousin Kristen ( who is an AMAZING photographer and I still think she should start her own business...) graciously came to Disneyland and took our Save the Date pictures. After my surgery, we began contacting Rachel Priddy ( She is the photographer who did all of Vander's pictures and she is absolutely incredible at capturing the moments!!!) about having her take our engagement pictures when she was in California for other shoots. We had date picked out in the Spring because we figured it would be sunny by than and portray the beautiful Cali weather that we love. Those plans were cut short when Trav broke his nose before the session. The pictures were than scheduled for the end of May to be taken in Laguna. Trav and I were excited because we figured, it's May so of course the weather would be perfect!!! Well, we were thinking that only sunshine could be the perfect weather for pictures but God is a comedian and he sure showed us different!!!

We were all set for the pictures...outfits chosen, hair appt made, half day taken from school...and mentally prepared for a beautiful sunny, spring day! As I drove to school that morning I was watching clouds after clouds ( and we are talkign DARK clouds, not light, fluffy, white clouds that look like cotton candy) roll in and all I could think about was ," Please don't let it rain!" When I left school for my half day it was of course, raining. I talked to Heidi on my way home and she let me know that she had just checked the forcast online and it was supposed to have thunderstorms in Laguna right at the time of our pictures!!! Great! I was ready to cancel them untill I talked with Rachel. We spent and hour going back and forth about going ahead with them, finding a new location, or just re-scheduling. We finally decided to go through with them and change the location to Newport so if there was a down pour we could take refuge. Trav and I figured if it started pouring rain on us it would make for some pretty cool engagement pictures. I rushed around all day, picking up back up outfits in case it poured and the whole time I kept watching the clouds to see which way they were headed. After staring at them for a long time at a stop light I realized they were headed away from the beach and it totally gave me hope that it just might not rain. When Trav and I pulled off the 55 freeway, it started to rain. I seriously sat in the car for the rest of the 10 min drive to location praying for just a patch of rain free skies so we could take just a few pictures.

It stopped raining as soon as we parked the car. Rachel was ready to go with a big umbrella in case the skies opened back up and we got right to work taking pictures. Trav and I are not used to taking so many non silly faced pictures but Rachel did a great job directing us and just letting us do our thing. It started sprinkling some when we were at the life guard tower but it made the whole experience fun!! Of course, it was FREEZING cold but we both just brushed it aside and while Rachel was wiping off her lens, we would take the chance to rub the goosebumps off our arms. ( In my case, my arms, legs, back, neck, face...) The pictures ended up being PERFECT!!! Rachel catches these moments that completely leave me in awe!!! Looking thru the pictures online, I couldn't believe it was me and Trav...with no silly faces!!! :) The best part was...all along I was thinking sunshine in Laguna would be the "perfect" pictures but I was so wrong...God had something great in store for us! Due to the rain, the beach was completely empty!!! Which NEVER happens!!! That meant, there was so much more we could do with the pics! Also, moving our location to Newport made the pictures so unique...and we happened to park right next to Lifeguard Tower #20...for July 20!!! Right at the end of the pictures for the last set, God opened up a window in the clouds and the perfect ray of sunlight streamed thru. It was beautiful!!! When we got into the car to go home...it started to rain. It could not have been a moer perfect day!!!

If you want to view the pictures, you can go to www.priddyphoto.com and click on BLOG. She posted some pictures and than at the bottom it say "click here" and that takes you to the site where she has the rest of them.

49 days till we all gather in Palm Desert....time keeps flying by faster and faster!!!!

Dutch Brothers Expess takes off!

God works in the craziest ways! When Trav and I got engaged last September the thought of having "real" jobs seemed so surreal. We had no clue what life would hold for us in 10 months but we were trusting in His plan and knew that everything would pan out. Trav's mom signed the wall of our Knot page back in January and left this verse that spoke directly to us. " Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know! Jeremiah 33:3. Well, we called out for his guidance and he just opened up an incredible door for Trav!

A little while ago, Trav was doing one of the twin's infamous medical studies and called me to tell me that he was going to start his own business with Big Nick, his cousin. My initial reaction was, " Have you thought this thru?" but boy had they ever!!! They went right to work planning out the company and what they should start out with. At first, they were going to start with local moves but than decided to begin with freight and cargo. Within a short amount of time they had 2 moving trucks, their LLC and DBA, were licensed, and have their first moves starting this next week! When you see Trav, you will have to ask him about all the details....it makes mych more sense coming from him!!!

God has truly had His hand in all of this and I know he is going to bless this new business!!! We are so excited to find out what great and unsearchable things God has for us in this upcoming year as we begin our life together!!!

Travis Graduated!!!!

After transferring from Concordia in 2005, Trav finished out his college years at Hope International and graduated this past weekend! It was so special to see him walk across the stage with his twin brother and receive their diplomas! The Hardeman's threw an awesome BBQ after the ceremony to celebrate the twin's college success! It was so great having family and close friends there who have supported the boys throughout their lives. Here are a few pics from the day...
Almost in-laws!

Levi and Trav

The Guys

Proud of my Fiance

Trav and Trent

The Troy Crew

Spppeeeedddyyyy

Concordia Roommates and their girls :)

The new Grad w/ his mom!!!

The twins...years ago...can you guess who's who??

It was great having family together!

Hanging with high school friends!

The Greatest of These

We all know the verse, “ …Faith, Hope , and Love….but the greatest of these is Love.” This specific passage took a whole new meaning the summer before my sophomore year of high school. I had just turned 16 so of course boys and love were pretty high on my list of priorities since I was now allowed to date. One night after church, my dad and I went to Marie Calendar’s for dessert. After some casual talking over our cheesecake ( yum!) my dad pulled out two packages. I opened the card to find a picture of a father kneeling over his sleeping child, in prayer , with an angel outside the window with his arms reached out to protect both the father and the child from whatever evil the world may bring.

While just that picture alone moved me, it was what my dad wrote on the inside that made me realize how special love really is. My dad reminded me that he has been praying for me every day of my life, especially that I would grow and mature in the light of the Lord. He then told me that of all the gifts God has given us- faith, hope and love- the greatest is love. How true it that? It reminds me of the verse from 1 Corinthians 13:2, "If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have faith that can move all moutains, but have not love, I am nothing." It’s like the song from the musical RENT, Seasons of Love. Part of the song goes, “ 525,600 minutes…how do you measure the year in the life?...How about LOVE?...Measure in LOVE.” After all, love conquers all right?

Ok, I went on a tangent. Back to that night with my dad at Marie Calendars. He then encouraged me to seek a life pure in thought, word and deed. It was his hope that the gifts he had for me would help me do so and to remind me that true love is special. Little did I know at that time how special true love really was. At that point in my life I knew of love in many forms…an everlasting love from my Savior, a never-ending or changing love from my parents, a sisterly love that could never be broken, and a love from life-long friendships. I had no idea what else would be in store though nor did I know I would only have to wait patiently for 3 years until God would show me this new kind of love.

I opened the first gift to find a picture frame. On the frame was written,

“ LOVE is life’s most BEAUTIFUL mystery. It often comes as a surprise, filling the heart with sudden JOY. Selfless and giving, LOVE places the happiness of another before one’s own, It inspires with it’s PASSION, nutures with its GENEROSITY, and enriches with its SPIRIT. There is not limit to its magic. LOVE is ETERNAL.”

The words inscribed on the frame are so powerful to me. I kept reading it over and over and I knew that this is just what I wanted. I also knew that this frame would only hold one picture….of the man I would one day love, the life-long, selfless, and eternal sort of love. The frame sat empty on my desk for years… until I met Trav. I didn’t put his picture in there right away… for some reason I always felt like I would know just the right time to fill the frame. And one day, I just knew.

The other box my dad had for me was a little box. The kind every girl likes to see. What was inside that box would soon be my most prized possession. I opened it to find a ring engraved with a cross. A purity ring. It has never left my finger since that night. When talking with my dad he told me he knew that one day that ring would be replaced with a ring from another man in my life. I wore the ring on my left ring finger and all through high school people always asked what it was for. The ring was not only a remembrance of my promise to my dad, my Savior, and my future husband but it also was a huge witness to those around me. I still wear the ring but on my right hand now. And every time I look at it I am reminded of that night with my dad. It was after this night, there was a new addition to my nightly prayers. A prayer for my future husband, the one I had yet to meet. I prayed that God would prepare him for me, that he would help him grow in his faith and to remain pure in all he did. I prayed that God would prepare me in the same way and when God felt that we were both ready, he would bring us together. Whenever I say Trav really is an answer to prayer and the greatest gift, I truly mean it.

Trav and I feel so blessed to have grown up with parents who had faith as the center of the household and who showed us what true love really is. My parents are celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary tomorrow and I can’t believe how incredible that is. In a world where there is so much wrong, faith and love can still persevere. Our parents have taught us both so much and because of them I know our home and our lives will be built on a firm foundation of faith and overflowing with love.

1 Corinthians 13:13, “Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.”