When Shayla Married Danny

May 31, 2014.

The day I became Mrs. Danny Box, Jr.

I have to say the whole weekend of our wedding was everything I expected and MORE!  I gotta give a huge shout-out to my family for making it all possible!  Since Danny and I were on the road, they took over the planning and they did an amazing job!  We could not have pulled off such a beautiful event without them!  From the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU!

Ok, now on to the good stuff!  We got our pictures in and I've been anxious to share a few of them with you all!  Our photographer was Keshia Schnider.  She and her husband Aaron did a fabulous job!  They were very professional and easy to work with.  I would highly recommend her!  Thank you to my sister/bridesmaid Holly for doing the research and finding Keshia!

Some of the detail on my dress.

I absolutely LOVED my bouquet from Jan's Flowers in Minco!  She did a wonderful job on all the flowers!  Plus, she's a joy to work with!

Anyone who knows me knows I'm NOT a high heels kind of gal so I opted for sparkly Toms!  The key belonged to my Nana.  I found it in an old tin cup of hers that I have.  It has various odd and ends in it.  I saw the key and decided to wear it in my shoe when I got married.  She never got to meet Danny but I am absolutely certain she would have loved him.  She told me once while she was laying in a hospital bed that I would someday find someone to love me unconditionally and treat me the way I deserved to be treated.  Once again, my Nana was right.  ;-)

I love this shot of our rings and the marriage license.

This is probably my favorite 'getting ready shot.'  My sister has always been there for me and there is no one else I would rather have standing up next to me while I married the man of my dreams!  Sisters Sanders 'til the END!!!!!  ;-)

Danny and the kids:  Alyssa, Danny III and Aaron.

Me and my bridesmaids:  Alyssa and Holly.

A pre-wedding bridal shot.

A pre-wedding groom shot.  Seriously can't believe I'm married to such a handsome man!!

Danny and his groomsmen:  Aaron and Danny III

I love this 'around the door' shot of us before the wedding.  It was so comforting to feel my groom squeezing my hand.  Getting closer!!!!

Drey and Olivia, the cutest little ring bearer and flower girl!  They were convinced this was their wedding, not mine and Danny's!

Here comes the bride!  Escorted by my Daddy Bill.  I came down the aisle to one of my favorite songs by Billy Joel called "You're My Home."  The song suits Danny and I so very well.

My beautiful and talented friend Camille Harp played a Chris Knight song called "Saved By Love."  She put her own unique spin on it and it was absolutely perfect.

I love this picture of Danny and I enjoying Camille's singing.  It was nice to just soak in the moment.

Our minister was Ezell Nelson from New Life Church in Chickasha.  This is the third time Ezell has officiated a wedding for our family.  He is such an amazing person and pastor!

You may kiss your bride!!

Finally we are husband and wife!!!  I swear this smile was on Danny's face the entire day!  Pure happiness :)

Here's a few post-wedding bride and groom shots:

Such an amazing day.  It went off pretty much perfectly!  The reception at the USAO ballroom was a blast!  The staff over there are exceptional!  They take care of everything in such a professional manner!

Thank you to my friends who attended.  I know who my true friends are.  I wish we could have spent more time with each of you but please know your being there meant the world to us!

Thank you to our families.   Some travelled a great distance to celebrate with us.  We love you and appreciate you!  We are always here for you, in good times and bad.

At certain points in my life, I wondered if I would ever meet the right man and get married.  Sometimes the prospect just seemed absolutely hopeless.  I was 35 years old when I met Danny.  I had decided to just focus on myself and let the chips fall where they may and then literally I turned around and there he was.  We met at a time in both our lives when we needed to be saved.  The circumstances weren't perfect but it worked out perfectly.  He is the most honest, genuine, caring, loving, hard working person I have ever known.  His love for me is overwhelming and he never misses an opportunity to let me know how beautiful I am and how much he loves me.  We are not perfect people but we are perfect for each other.

I am blessed beyond compare.



Cheers!!!

Following the ghost of Roy Orbison.

We started this line tramp adventure in Vernon, Texas on March 20, 2013.  I did a little research on the town of Vernon and discovered it was the birthplace of Roy Orbison on April 23, 1936.  My Nana was a big fan of Roy Orbison so I grew up listening to his music.

We arrived at our current location in Wink, Texas this past Sunday.  Yesterday I was out driving around and checking out this tiny Texas town.  I came upon a little white building with a big mural of Roy Orbison on the side.  I did a little research and guess what?  Wink was his boyhood home!  According to his Wikipedia page, the family left Vernon during the Great Depression in search of work.  They moved to Fort Worth where young Roy attended elementary school until a polio scare prompted a move back to Vernon.  The family later moved to Wink.  Orbison described Wink as  "football, oil fields, oil, grease and sand"

While attending Wink High School, Roy and some friends formed a band called The Wink Westerners.  He would eventually graduate from Wink High School.

What a crazy coincidence, huh?

Here is the Roy Orbison mural that grabbed my attention.  Upon further exploration, I discovered the building is actually the Roy Orbison Museum.  The museum is open by appointment only and I do plan on calling up there one day and taking a look around!

Here's a short video montage I found on You Tube.  A sneak peak inside the Roy Orbison Museum!

Here are a few pictures I took yesterday:

In 1988, Orbison was brought back to rock-n-roll prominence by being a part of the supergroup The Traveling Wilburys alongside Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne.  Roy died of a heart attack on December 6, 1988.  As a tribute to him, the video for "End of the Line" shows his guitar rocking in a rocking chair and a brief shot of a framed photo of him.  I remember instantly loving the Traveling Wilburys when this song came out!  Greatness!!!!

Cheers!

A couple of camper tips!

Happy beautiful Saturday everyone!  It is indeed lovely here in west Texas today!!  Looking at a high around 66 degrees today and no wind!

The weather is lovely, the scenery…..not so much……..but more on that later ;-)

I thought I'd share with you a couple of 'inventions' I've come up with while living in our 5th wheel.  We've been on the road 'tramping' for almost a year now and I've learned a lot about utilizing space and keeping things organized!  These two things are key when living life on the road in a camper!  I think these two little ideas can also work well in your home!

Danny has several belts and they are a real pain to keep organized and looking neat!  I've tried hanging them on hangers in the closet and rolling them up and storing them in the top of the closet but it just seems to always end up in a mess!  So here's what I came up with:

I up-cycled a full size coffee can into a belt storage container!  Just roll up your belts and stack them inside.  I was able to fit five of Danny's belts into the container and still get the lid on.  If I had some craft supplies here with me I'd probably dress up the can a bit.  I'm thinking I might save that as a project for Alyssa to do when she's with us for the summer.  She loves doing art projects!!

My little belt can keeps all those unruly belts tamed and fits nicely in a cabinet or closet!

We like to recycle plastic grocery bags for things like lining the bathroom trash can or picking up Jaye's dog poo outside the camper.  Storing all those saved plastic bags can be a pain so I up-cycled a used disinfectant wipe container into a plastic bag keeper!  Check it out:

I wash out the container and soak the label off, let it dry then stuff it full of plastic bags!  I like it because it's durable and it stores nicely in a drawer.

I also keep one under the back seat of our truck in case we need a sack for trash while traveling.

So there you go!  A couple of camper tips that you could also use at home!

A quick update on us:  we are currently in Big Spring, Texas.  I would love to show you lots of pretty pictures but we're in west Texas so there's not much to see.  LOL!!

We're staying at Texas RV Park just outside of Big Spring.

Danny is finishing up a job here in Big Spring.  Within the next week he'll be getting on with another company and we'll be moving to Wink, TX which is about 123 miles west/southwest of here.

That's all I've got for today folks!  Enjoy your weekend!

Cheers!!