We Still Surprise Each Other

That's us, having our cake and eating it, too.

Four years ago, I married my best friend.

It was an unusually warm day for January — about 70 degrees and sunny.

The church was full of friends and family, many of whom were moved to tears before the ceremony even began. Myself (Jeff) included.

It was beautiful, fun, and unforgettable.

They say you can’t prepare for the best things in life. This certainly has been true for our marriage. Despite our best efforts to plan, so much has been unexpected.

For instance, I didn’t expect Ashley to change the song from “Canon in D” to “Hold On,” a song I had written for our first date.

As the doors to the sanctuary opened, my heart leaped into my chest. I nervously watched Dustin, my best man, walk up to the altar and pick up the guitar. I just about yelled at him to stop.

This wasn’t what was supposed to happen, I thought. He was supposed to play during communion. This was too soon. But then, he started playing the familiar tune. And I turned to watch my bride walk down the aisle and completely lost it.

I knew in an instant this would be the best day of my life.

The surprises continued at our reception when my wife surprised me with a song-and-dance routine of “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” by Stevie Wonder (with the help of her bridesmaids and close friends).

We then surprised our friends with the first dance — a choreographed mash-up of ballroom and the styles of Michael Jackson.

One day on our honeymoon, we made plans to visit the city and got snowed in. So instead, we baked brownies and made snow angels.

When we started looking for houses, we ended up buying the first one we saw (because it was perfect — “the best deal in Franklin,” our real estate agent told us).

When we were tired of looking for dogs and just about to give up, we found Lyric at the local shelter. We brought him home the very next day.

I’m grateful for the surprises. They make our story feel exciting. Our marriage has been full of wonderful, unexpected moments that we’ve learned to embrace. Some have been great and others hard. In all of it, we’ve learned to trust God and each other more. I’m a better man for it, and we’re a better couple.

Tonight, we will go out to dinner, exchange gifts, and see The Civil Wars in concert. And we will celebrate four years of surprises, and hopefully, many more to come.

Our New House and Continued Adventures with Doggy Parenthood

Well, the scorching summer is already here in Tennessee, and the cicadas are buzzing. It’s late morning, Lyric the dog is fast asleep on the couch, and I (Jeff) am all out of coffee.

It’s time for a “Life with the Goinses” update.

La Casa de Goins

What’s new with us

• We are buying a house in Franklin, TN. We close in a week. No big deal or anything!
• Lyric averages a couple of ticks per day. We’re becoming experts at pulling them off. (Well, at least, I am).
• My sister Marissa recently graduated high school and is planning on attending University of Alabama at Birmingham in the fall. We gave her a George Foreman grill. In the same weekend, Ashley’s parents celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary with a surprise party that Ashley planned. It was a blast.
• Ashley’s photo business is doing well; she recently shot a wedding (with a little help from her assistant) and did a family session.

In other news

• The movie Bridesmaids was better than I expected (don’t tell anyone I said that).
• I ran a half marathon in April, finishing 30 minutes sooner than I thought I would. Not bad, if I may say so myself.
• I’m leading a mission trip to Puerto Rico with my very good friend Dustin.
• We’re headed to Ireland in August!
• We have a lot of packing to do (Ashley is making me get rid of a bunch of books — can someone say, “Kindle?”)
• Ashley beat me at Jenga last night.

And just for fun…

Caught in the act!

Here’s the most pathetic picture of Lyric I could find. I took this after he was sniffing through the groceries, trying to find something good to eat. His collar got stuck, and he started to panic. I watched with sadistic joy. Serves him right.

My Dream Has Come True!

Lyric. Loves. Car rides.

If you were lucky enough for me to bare my soul to you and admit that I was selfishly heartbroken by the fact that my dog disliked car rides, then you would know how much I dreamed of my dog sticking its head out the window, tongue flapping in the wind.  And you would also know that when Lyric came along, he just laid in the backseat and slept, never once trying to stand up and look out the window.

Well something changed around February.  And I wonder if it was his new-found-friend Monty.  I wonder if he looked back, saw almost three-foot Monty with half his body out the window riding in the car behind us to the dog park, and thought it looked fun.  Who knew that all this time all I needed for him to try it was to see a dog (I may or may not have stuck my head out the window once or twice to get Lyric to do it with no luck) do it to know what to do.  Regardless, he got a taste of it that day.  And there is no turning back. Lyric loves car rides.

Everytime we take him out and stop by the car to grab something, he jumps in.  If you announce a car ride and let him out the door without his leash, he’ll run out of sight in a heartbeat, only for you to finally make it to the car and see him sitting at the backdoor.  Yes, he knows both of our cars, which sometimes means he’s at the wrong car, but he’s always sitting at one of our cars nonetheless.

His favorite thing to do is perch on the console between the two front seats*.  At first you might blame it on his slight height disadvantage and wanting to see outside, but he can fit his nose out the backdoor windows.  The real reason behind his perching is, in fact, he is part mountain goat.  No joke.  We have witnesses.

So to celebrate my uncontainable joy, here are a few more Lyric photos.  I would be concerned that my faithful audience would be turned away by us doting on our dog… however he is the cutest thing to walk this Earth, so I know you love it.

Doggy see...

Doggy do!

The ONE time outta upteen that Lyric got the ball.

Doggy roll!

Check out Lyric's paw-o-death!

This pup loves his tennis ball!

*Lyric has a seatbelt that he wears on any trips longer than five minutes, so he gets lots of car rides to McDonald’s and Redbox just for fun (and maybe for our benefit).  We do practice puppy safety in this house!