The Brownings: Our Story

I know I am a couple of weeks behind on this subject, but I've been a busy girl lately. More on the reasons for that on a later post...

"Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." 
 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

On Wednesday, July 17, 2010 I married my best friend. Cooper Browning and I started dating in May of 2009. We worked together at a grocery store (Market Street in Colleyville, TX), he worked in the Deli and I was a cashier. I remember working the 6am-1pm shift the day I met him. It was 9:30am and it was break time. I sauntered over to the deli to get some meat and cheese for a small sandwich. There he was....shaggy hair, big green eyes, hat, apron, and glasses. As he handed me my deli items and I thanked him, he smiled and said "you're welcome, anytime!" It was then that I realized the he was adorable. Now, I didn't think much about him for several months. I took a brief leave of absence to do my student teaching. Upon my return to work, I started to notice him more and more. It got to the point where I would get off my shift and walk to the coffee shop pretending to get coffee just to see if he was working. If he was working, well I went up to him and uttered the words: "hey Cooper! Thought I'd come by and say hi. I haven't had my Cooper sighting in a while." Lame, I know. What can I say? I was smitten. This went on for a while until I finally got up the nerve to ask him out. He asked for my phone number and used it later that night. Our first meeting was at Buffalo Wild Wings with my friend, Lisa, and my sister, Amanda. A couple of nights later, he came to my apartment with a few other friends to hang out. This is our first picture together....

We enjoyed a great summer together. I met his family, and I brought him home to Lubbock to meet mine. He was the first guy I ever brought home to meet my family. There was just something about him I couldn't resist. He was not who I pictured myself being with, but I fell in love with the man. November 28, 2009 he asked me to marry him. We had picked out rings and he made me wait. I knew it was coming, I just didn't know when. That night, he dragged me through the streets of down town Ft. Worth all the way to P.F. Changs. We had a nice dinner, but he seemed awful nervous. We had to skip dessert because he had something waiting for us at 7pm and dinner ran late. We walk outside the restaurant and there was a horse and carriage. We rode all around Sundance Square. The driver stopped outside the large Christmas display claiming something was wrong with the horse's harness. I totally bought it! So we get out and walk towards the large tree and I'm completely oblivious to a photographer and his brother and sister-in-law. I'm looking up at the tree, and when I look back at him he is on his knees with my ring asking me to marry him!!!!

This next picture is one of my absolute favorites from the proposal shots.

We originally planned on a December wedding the following year, but early spring we decided not to wait that long. So we planned the wedding for July 17, 2010. We were married at Fossil Creek Golf Club in Fort Worth. It was small and casual. We had an afternoon wedding. My mom and sister did a lot of the work: invitations, favors, center pieces, etc. We saved on cost big time. I was even able to do some of my flowers since I have some floral design background. Cooper was dressed in Khaki cargo shorts, white polo shirt, and flip flops. His brother, brother-in-law, and nephew were dressed the same. His nephew, Beckham, was a little over a year old at the time, so he made the cutest ring bearer as he toddled down the aisle. Standing up with me were my 2 younger sisters dressed in white skirts and blue tops and my twin best friends dressed in blue summer dresses. Cooper's niece, Kylie, was our flower girl. The preacher from my church back home came all the way down just to do our ceremony. It was a great little wedding. We had dinner together at P.F Changs that evening and stayed the night at the Worthington Hotel down town where we enjoyed chocolate covered strawberries and champagne. The next morning we got a complimentary breakfast via room service!

We spent the following Tuesday-Saturday honeymooning in the Bahamas.

Throughout our first year of marriage we shared a lot of joys and even some sorrows.

In the summer of 2011, we made our first huge decision as husband and wife: we bought our first house!

In our second year of marriage, I was getting ready to make a job change. Cooper had made one the previous year, now it was my turn. This is us on our second anniversary. (notice the drastic hair change)

Now here we are in our third year together! We just celebrated year 3 a couple of weeks ago. We took a mini vacation to Austin and New Braunfels. We went to Schilliterbaun and floated the river. This was a first for me. We had a great time. We hope to have another big life moment as husband and wife (no this is not meant to be cryptic...we want to start a family soon:)

This is our story. I can't wait to spend many more years with this man. I love him and enjoy spending time with him. It truly is wonderful being married to your best friend. I leave you with this: "So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate." Matthew 19:6