As the wedding documenting continues, here is one of my favorite parts: the vows we wrote and gave during our ceremony. Not much more to say, I’ll let the words speak for themselves.

Our Personal Vows

To Ash

I, Andrew, choose you, Ashley, to be my lawfully wedded wife, to be my partner, my companion, and my anchor through the adventures and seasons of life.
I vow to love you without reservation and above all others, to hold you in the highest esteem, to admire your character and beauty, to respect you as God’s creation, and to accept your love with a joyful heart.
I vow to provide for you in all the ways I am able. I vow to protect you, and to lead our household with courage and dignity. I vow to trust your intuition, and rely on your counsel so that wisdom, peace, and love prevail.
I vow to show you kindness and compassion, and to be generous in spirit.
I vow to support you and your passion for life. I will be a positive force for your tremendous spirit, encouraging you and your hopes.
I vow to cherish you as my wife, being thankful every day God let me choose you. I will search out new ways to show my love to you so that neither of us forget the love that has been the foundation for ours.
I vow to celebrate your joys and share your sorrows as long as we both shall live. From my hand to your heart, in the love of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, I thee wed.

To Ace

I, Ashley, choose you, Andrew, to be my lawfully wedded husband, to be my partner, my companion, and my iron through the adventures and plains of life.
I vow to love you without reservation, to honor you with all my mind and heart, to respect you as a spark of our Creator, and to accept your love with a joyful heart. I give you my trust as a provider, protector, and guide.
I vow to show you patience and grace; to turn to you and not on you in times of hardship; to remain tender and open to you through the difficulties of life.
I will work faithfully to inspire and challenge you to be the incredible person you are meant to be, and I commit to being an active force in your life: encouraging you to live generously and responsibly; praying for you and helping you to bear up under spiritual struggles; caring for your physical, mental, and emotional health; and positively reinforcing you and our family.
I will strive to entice you; to make passion and closeness a priority for all our days.
I vow to celebrate your joys and share your sorrows as long as we both shall live. From my hand to your heart, in the love of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, I thee wed.

Our Spiritual Vows

We vow to always keep you at the forefront of our lives — our greatest priority, the foundation of our love, our foremost goal. We will seek to honor and glorify you through our marriage – to stay tender to you and to one another, and open to your movements. We will work together to care for your children, both close to us and far. We promise to make the best use of the resources you’ve given us. We will strive to maintain humility — to deal with sin thoroughly in our lives, to value your edification over personal gain, and to trust you with obedience.

We take seriously the commission to be ministers of reconciliation. We promise to not give up on this marriage, to not take the easy way out: and to do all of this without the intentions of our personal glory, but rather to reflect your message of reconciliation with humanity. We vow to use our marriage and our bond to speak to the world of your boundless love, your forgiveness, and your constant movement towards mankind.

We carry the death of Christ within us, that his life would also be revealed through our bodies. We carry the love of the Father, the most powerful force that mankind can know. We carry the breath of the Spirit, that we may share true life with the world.

Our Communal Vows

Today, you have come here not simply to witness Andrew and Ashley’s union, but to take part in it. Your support has helped their relationship to flourish, and as their loved ones, you hold an important role in their marriage.

Will you surround this couple in love, strengthening their marriage and blessing this family created by their union? In times of conflict will you offer them the strength of your wisest counsel and the comfort of your thoughtful concern?
In times of joy, will you celebrate with them, nourishing their love for one another, for the world, and for God? Will you lift them up in prayer, and help them focus on a marriage that fulfills God’s intentions?

Please give your affirmation with, “We will.”

This time of the year is not welcome in the Atchley household. Winter after Christmas seems like an unnecessary trial. We hate the cold…hate having to get bundled up just to take the pups outside…hate having to wake up early to scrap ice off the cars…hate having the season’s perpetual cold or cough. Fortunately, since Christmas, the weather has been mild, more like spring than winter. But I don’t trust it to last until actual spring arrives, global warming or not.

To adapt to our hatred of the cold, we stay inside and take part in a sort of hibernation. I become quite lazy. Most of my time is spent watching movies, reading, baking and cooking, eating soup and drinking tea. It’s this time of year where I fall back on my old favorites…The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; The Robe; The Hobbit; Jane Eyre. Anything that will take me far away from bare trees and monotony.

Right now I’m re-reading The Robe. John’s reading The Hobbit. This weekend I watched the movie Jane Eyre, which my parents bought me for Christmas (love that movie so much). What are you doing to cope as winter settles in? Or are you one of those people who loves this time of year?

Roskoe's got the right idea.

Part 1 – Part 2

So finally, it was time to dine! Once everyone had gathered at their tables, grabbed a few bowls of soup and stew. This music was fairly simple in its needs – set a happy tone, be pleasant to listen to if one focuses, and be easy to keep in the background if one is busy chatting.

I began gathering music that makes me happy – easy standards, sweet indie riffs, and some tried and true romantic songs. What developed is dinner music that’s light on the ears and buoyant to the mood. What more could you ask for?

Tracklisting after the jump.
there’s more to this article. keep reading…

John had the day off on New Year’s Day, so we decided to start our own little tradition. We woke up, fixed a breakfast of Lindy’s Delights scones (banana chocolate chip, thanks to a good friend’s Christmas gift) and Trader Joe’s coffee and sat down on the couch to watch all three extended editions of Lord of the Rings. Despite my love of all things Lord of the Rings (as evidence by the name of this blog), this was not my idea. All John’s! And I have to say it was a great lazy way to spend the first of the year. Roskoe was content to be my cuddle buddy throughout the movie. Lucy couldn’t take her eyes off the screen when Gandalf fought the balrog (it was her first time watching). I do have to admit though, about halfway through The Two Towers, which was about 2-3 p.m., we were starting to doze off. And despite the epicness of Return of the King, we both decided we think The Fellowship of the Ring is our favorite. All this traveling to Middle-Earth made us stoked for The Hobbit, which the first part comes out at the end of this year! I’m not sure I can wait after watching this trailer! The Hobbit

How did you kick off the new year?

I want to be more intentional in all things. That is my goal for 2012.

I want to be more intentional in my relationships — with my husband, friends (near and far), family, co-workers, strangers. I want you all to know that someone is here for you and wants to be a part of your life.

I want to be more intentional in my life — my job, my writing (including this blog), keeping my home, exercising, eating right. I learned in 2011 that all the things I say I want to do in my life won’t happen unless I make them happen. A house, a job, travels to Europe — none of that just falls into one’s lap (usually). I want to try to give my life my best everyday so one day I can look back and say, “I did good.”

I want to be more intentional with my pups. They deserve better from me. Don’t worry, they haven’t been neglected, but we could go on longer walks together and learn some more tricks instead of cuddling on the couch all the time. Then maybe I won’t need to be so intentional about exercising

2012 is going to be an over-achieving kind of year.