Our Story~ Part 2

Well, it's finally time to pick up where we left off as I share Part 2 of our love story which continues to present day. Which means this is super long... and I thought you should know before you start reading. =) Even though it is really, really long I'm so glad I did it for us and for our babies... and our future family. Plus we have the blog to keep up with our continued story. I love that. So for those of you who have time...

(Read here to catch up on Part 1.)

Our Story~ Part 2

After Terrell's creative and romantic proposal on June 12, 2004 we jumped right into wedding planning mode. We shared our engagement and wedding date with everyone. I immediately looked into colors for the wedding. Terrell immediately looked into honeymoon costs. We wanted to take care of booking all the big stuff before I left for Athens at the end of the summer. We booked the church, the Civic Center where our reception would be held, our photographer, caterer, wedding director, and honeymoon. And I got my dress! Yay!! It was a relief to have all that done but boy was it stressful doing all that while preparing to move away and start classes at UGA. Talk about an up and down summer. Part of me was excited about my new adventure at UGA and part of me was terrified and heart broken about leaving my fiance' behind for a whole school year. What an emotional roller coaster!

In August of 2004 I moved into an apartment in Athens with 3 other girls. One of the girls was a childhood friend who was already attending UGA and the other 2 were friends of my friend. Terrell came along with my family to help me get moved and somewhat settled and it was sooo hard saying goodbye and almost immediately I realized I was in a totally different place in my life than my 3 roommates. I was planning my wedding, preparing for my future, and constantly missing my fiance' and best friend. I was there to finish my degree... and get the year over with so I could get married! 

During our engagement and my time spent away in Athens I learned a few things about myself. Or maybe a LOT. I discovered that I loved my small town and being surrounded by family more and more. Being a little fish in a big pond wasn't my thing. I liked going places and seeing people I knew. I liked knowing my way around. I liked having friends and family close. I liked less traffic and less opportunities for getting lost. I liked my small, safe, familar pond. I liked home. But, we knew we'd be starting our life in Athens or somewhere close no matter what because I'd still have a year of college plus student teaching to go after we got married... which made our first year of marriage pretty interesting. But more on that later.

In the meantime Terrell got a job with the Boy Scouts as a District Executive in March of 2005... which meant we would be starting our life together in Gainesville, Georgia (one of the job requirements). And because we'd need to live on the outskirts of town so my commute to Athens could be kept to an hour, we had to buy a house in the country... crazy! We never had any intentions of starting our marriage in our very own house but there were no apartments anywhere near where we needed to live. Sooo, as a young (we were only 21 and 23!) engaged couple we found ourselves signing on the dotted line and purchasing our first home. Wow.

Finally I completed my oh so long year living in Athens and moved back home with my parents for exactly 1 month before our wedding. We finalized all the details for the ceremony, reception, rehearsal dinner, honeymoon, you name it and couldn't wait to become husband and wife! June 4, 2005 was a beautiful day and the day I became Mrs. Terrell Selph. Squeal!!

We enjoyed an amazing honeymoon to Hawaii for a blissful 8 days. It was so beautiful there- take your breath away beautiful- we talk about going back all the time. (But of course we'll need some money... and the kids will have to go with us... or be grown ups.) We flew into Honolulu and spent 3 nights there before flying over to Maui to spend the remainder of our honeymoon. It really was wonderful. We visited Pearl Harbor, went on a sunset dinner cruise, enjoyed a luau, and even went parasailing in Maui with gorgeous mountains as our backdrop. And of course we enjoyed the amazing beaches and pools to the fullest! Everything was done with a budget in mind because my hard working hubby had saved TONS for our honeymoon and the last thing we wanted was to go completely crazy and start our marriage in major debt. Still, even on a budget, it was wonderful.

We returned from our honeymoon to real life. And unfortunately it wasn't all that wonderful. Real life sort of slapped us in the face.

Following a crazy 2 weeks after returning from our honeymoon we finally were able to move into our house... which didn't feel like home at all. I was hoping it would immediately feel comfortable and homey and wonderful... but it didn't. Not even close. Boo. We were in a predominant hispanic neighborhood (with great neighbors... they just didn't speak our language... which was kinda uncomfortable) in the country in a brand new town where we didn't know a soul and where I had a teensy fear of leaving the house because I just knew I would get lost and have a panic attack. Terrell worked crazy hours with the Boy Scouts and I was by myself a lot. I seriously felt like I had moved thousands of miles away. It was so lonely and I found myself homesick a lot. Poor hubby. I tried to keep myself busy with making our house a home and learning how to cook more and more, but I was sort of miserable. Our first year of marriage was tough. Between adjusting to being married and living together, plus feeling homesick and lonely, I was an emotional, unhappy mess (not all the time but a lot of it). And Terrell was frustrated and confused and couldn't figure out how to snap me out of it. Ha! Definitely not how you want to start off your happily ever after.

Thankfully we were able to go home a good bit, I had a sweet and patient husband, and I found a good group of girlfriends at UGA when school started back. My time was occupied and I slowly but surely adjusted to living far away in a lonely country subdivision. Ha!

Then, near the very end of my college career, Terrell was offered a job much closer to home in a smaller city/town than Gainesville and would be making a career change and working a regular 8-5 job. We were so excited!! We moved into an apartment in Covington right after my graduation from Georgia in December of 2006. We didn't even get a Christmas tree that year... which was sad but we spent most of the holidays in Barnesville so it wasn't too bad. Immediately following the holidays I got a job and started my teaching career.

I felt waaaay more at home in Covington. Almost right away. Going to Barnesville required a 45 minute to an hour drive down rural Highway 36 versus a 2 hour drive (with no traffic) down several interstates from Gainesville. Covington was smaller and I found my way around really easily. I made friends at my school and best of all my hubby was home when I was! Yay!!

We bought our (current) house in the Spring of 2007 and finally settled in as a family and felt a little more at home. My teaching career was in full swing, we got a dog, we started talking about starting a family, and we went to Disney World! Our 2 year anniversary present to each other and our 2nd honeymoon. =) Going to Disney World as a couple without kids was a blast. We had SO. MUCH. FUN!

After returning from Disney World, we enjoyed the rest of our summer to the fullest and treated our new, sweet puppy Bailey like our first child. She really was our first baby afterall. We had a great summer!

Following the summer, school started back and I began the craziest, most stressful, roughest, toughest year of teaching ever. And I am not exaggerating. It was Bad with a capital B. I will not go into details about it all because BAD MEMORIES, but I will say that during and after that particular school year I felt "the call" to stay home more than ever... with a sense of urgency. I knew without a doubt that God was leading me away from full-time teaching. And not just because I'd had a tough year but because I felt led to something more... ah hem....I caught baby fever more than ever! I wanted to be a mama more than anything and couldn't wait to start the journey and adventure of parenthood. Sooo... we talked and prayed and argued (just being honest here) before Terrell finally agreed he was ready. Sort of. I guess you're never fully ready. Anyway, we got pregnant right away the spring of 2008. Yay!!

Shortly after finding out our wonderful news we took our last before-kids trip... a cruise to The Bahamas. The trip was already planned and scheduled long before we knew we were expecting and thankfully I had no morning sickness so we were able to fully enjoy ourselves. Even though we discovered cruising isn't our favorite way to vacation, we still had a fun trip, made some memories, and got to visit Atlantis. Yay!!

I used the rest of the summer to rest and relax. It was wonderful to be lazy with a good excuse! And my pregnancy went wonderful. I was constantly exhausted and had moments of wanting to gag, but I was blessed with a really smooth and easy pregnancy.

Once school started back I had the BEST class ever. Thank you Lord!! Each and every one of my students were sweet and precious. I think the entire school and especially my administration knew I earned a wonderful class after the previous year's experience. I am soooo thankful God blessed me with that particular class the year I was pregnant. It was as stress-free as could be.

Throughout the pregnancy Terrell prepared and planned and saved and budgeted to make sure I'd be able to stay home after our baby boy made his debut. He drove me crazy along the way but I really am thankful he's so money-conscious and money-smart because anyone else would've probably said it'd be impossible for me to stay home. Thanks babe- I've never regretted a day!

Garrison Cade Selph arrived February 5, 2009. (Here's his birth story) He made us parents and changed our lives forever. After welcoming him to our family we were given a true glimpse at God's love for us. Talk about being wowed!

I took off 11 weeks of maternity leave from school before returning to my precious class of 2nd graders to finish the last month of school before summer break and my first "retirement" from teaching. Between my mom, mother-in-law, and a sweet college student we always had a "nanny" at our house during the day and I had peace of mind about my baby boy while I was at work.

Once summer break started I immediately started looking for something I could do from home to bring in an income. And, by the end of the summer, I was blessed with an opportunity with Premier Designs. A huge answered prayer! I loved staying home with Garrison (and knew I was exactly where God wanted me) and loved bringing in an income through Premier. Life wasn't always easy but I was truly living my dream and we have lots of precious memories of our little family of 3.

Then, a little ways into 2010, we prepared for baby #2 because I just knew my kids should and would be about 2 years apart. And I had a whole list of reasons for why. Only God had other plans. So we waited. And waited. And in God's perfect timing we welcomed our 2nd baby boy, Austin Carson Selph, to the family on September 3, 2011. (Here's his birth story) Our lives were changed once again and our hearts filled to the brim with love. Now I'm out-numbered by boys that I love more than words can say and I'm beyond thankful for every single one!

I continued staying home after Austin arrived while also doing Premier for 11 months before we made the super tough decision for me to return to teaching... only this time around teaching preschool part time. While it has been an adjustment and I do miss being home every day, I actually am enjoying teaching preschool. It's fun, laid back, rewarding, and light. This job was another huge answered prayer. Plus I still have Premier. God is good and always faithful! And my husband has been the biggest supporter and right-hand along the way. I love and appreciate you Terrell Selph!!

And there you have our story to present day. =) It's definitely not perfect...cause everyday isn't lovey dovey or super wonderful or happily ever after.We're two different people with different personalities, opinions, habits, and ways of doing things, afterall. And sometimes all of that clashes. And we drive each other crazy. And bicker and fight. But, at the end of the day, we're a team. We love each other and we're committed to each other. And more than that, above all else, we are blessed and SO thankful for all God has done for us. He has authored our story from the beginning and He gets all the glory. 

Love isn't perfect. It isn't a fairytale or storybook and it doesn't always come easy. Love is overcoming obstacles, facing challenges, fighting to be together, holding on and never letting go. It is a short word, easy to spell, difficult to define, and impossible to live without. Love is work, but most of all it is realizing that every hour, every minute, every second was worth it because you did it together.
-Unknown

Happy 13th anniversary Terrell! I love you!!