Merry Christmas

From the McReynolds

Honeymoon

We made it back from our honeymoon in the Riviera Maya, Mexico late Thursday night. We had a wonderful time and were not ready to leave the beach where it was sunny, in the low 80s, and with a nice breeze. I know you are curious, so I'll give you a quick summary of what we did (besides that) and then post a few pictures.

To sum it up we: lounged on the beach, visited Mayan Ruins, kayaked in the ocean, played putt putt and ping pong, sat by the pool, slept in hammocks, ate whenever we pleased, and took long walks on the beach

Getting ready before dinner


The beach




By the pool





Tulum




more pics on facebook

Photo Teaser

Dave and Whitney of Scott Photography have posted a few pictures from the wedding on Saturday.  You can see them on their blog (http://scottphotographyblog.org/2008/12/16/stefanie-scott/).  We will let you know when more pictures are up.  Also, stay tuned for a honeymoon update.

Wedding Photos

If you have photos from the wedding you would like to share, we would love to see them. Below are a few ways you can get them to us.

Email
You can send us pictures by email. Send pictures to scottandstefanie+pics@gmail.com (max 20 MB)

Facebook
If you post your pictures on facebook anyone who is your friend can view them. If you would like to show the world there is a link at the bottom of the album that you can share.

Flckr, Picassa, etc.
If you use another web service to host your pictures there are usually links that can be shared to view the album or individual pictures.

Last minute details

The wedding is getting very close now and time seems to speed up the closer we get to the big day. Decorating is just about all that is left before the rehearsal on Friday evening. I will remind all of our out of town guests that there is a local map on the right side of the page under "Wedding Links" to help you get around the area. We look forward to seeing everyone and apologize in advance for not being able to spend as much time visiting as we would like.

Digital TV transition (update)

update: added antenna review below
You may be completely unaware, completely confused, or somewhere in between of the upcoming digital TV transition. There are lots of good resources out there so I will just hit some of the high points.

1. You are only affected if you currently receive your tv with an antenna.
2. If you use an antenna and haven't purchased a new tv in the last couple of years you will need a converter box.
3. Uncle Sam will give you $40 to spend on a converter box
4. You have to request a coupon(s) by the end of the month.

website for coupons https://www.dtv2009.gov/
more details http://reviews.cnet.com/dtv-transition/

Quick antenna review:
I just bought a new indoor antenna. The Terk HDTVa was my choice. I had been using a Phillips antenna. The Terk is better for several reasons. First, it allows me to pick up the same stations I did before, but now I don't have to adjust the antenna depending on which station I want to watch. Second, the main analog station (which will cease to exist after Feb. 17) that I watch comes in clearer. Third, I now can more reliably pick up the 4 PBS stations that only worked on occasion. The Phillips will now be moved to the bedroom so that Stefanie can watch the news or weather (when it storms) and should work just fine for that. (NBC has a very strong signal and should work well throughout the house) One other note. Both of these antennas are amplified (they must be plugged in) and I believe that this has made a big difference for me since the towers are up to 45 miles away. You can see what stations you should pick up by putting your address in at www.antennaweb.org. Best Buy carries the Terk antenna, but it is much cheaper on Amazon.com

Early Christmas Present

Consider these your early (and probably only) Christmas cards. Please don't question my orientation. Enjoy.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Pay it Forward

In the mornings I usually have my alarm set to radio. For the last couple of months, the dial has been tuned to KLRC, the local Christian radio station.  While Christian radio sometimes bugs me, I have come to appreciate the positive message, especially when I am starting my day.  Lately they have been promoting their "Pay it Forward" campaign and I have heard some cool stories about what people are doing.  Anything from giving away gently used furniture after an upgrade, to free firewood for a family that can't afford to buy propane, has crossed the airwaves.  I challenge you (and myself) to check out their blog for ideas big and small (Thursday has been declared "Drive Thru Difference Day") on how you can pay it forward.  To top it off, tonight was the last lesson in our Financial Peace Class and we talked about giving.  It is really fun to think about (and hear stories about) the great joy that comes from giving.  Ultimately, that is the point of the class.  Being able to put yourself in a financial position where you can use God's money to truly bless people (Dave teaches to always give, even when getting out of debt) can be very rewarding and a ton of fun.  I look forward to the day when I can write a check for $5,000 or more to help a strugling couple, pay for a stranger's hospital bills, or tell my kids that college is taken care of.  Let your imagination run wild and learn to give as God has given.

Closing In

The wedding is just over 1 month away and we are anxiously anticipating the big day.  Stress will continue to build until it is over, but hopefully will ease as final decisions are made.  Tonight Stefanie got to work on some of the church decorations and later we are meeting with Marshall to talk about the service.  The honeymoon is all taken care of and the beach is looking better every day.  (I am looking for good books to read while soaking up the sun, by the way.)  Until then, we will keep chugging along on different things (we hope to have most stuff wrapped up by Thanksgiving) and look forward to enjoying the Holidays with family.

Achievements

I know that Scott won't post this, so I have to myself. I am so proud of him. For the past few weeks Scott has been studying for a test in order to become a LEED Accredited Professional. His office is wanting as many of them as possible to get this certification. I'm not exactly certain of what all it entails, but being a LEED Accredited Professional means that you are aware of what it takes to make a building "green". Scott obviously knows more about it than I do, so ask him if you have any questions. I just wanted to let everyone know of his great achievement this past Thursday!! Again, I am so proud of him! He works so hard, & when he sets his mind to something, he achieves it. What a wonderful quality!

On another note, today is Scott's 25th birthday!!! WOW! I cannot believe that we are getting into our mid-20s. My mom said the other day that she had a really hard time when she turned 25, just knowing that she was a quarter of a century. (She was kidding...somewhat, I think.) Haha! I told her that I wasn't as concerned with 25 as I was with 30. The closer I get there, the younger it looks. :) Tonight, I will be cooking Scott dinner (he's requested tacos), & maybe some sort of birthday dessert like a cookie/ice cream sandwich or just ice cream from the local ice cream shoppe. I'll let Scott decide which he'd prefer. Happy Birthday, my love!!! :)

One more thing & I promise that I'm finished. Last weekend was our wedding shower at Church. I honestly didn't know how many people to expect (the pessimist in me thought there would be less than 10). I was completely wrong! There was a wonderful turnout, & I feel so blessed to be a part of our wonderful Church family. To everyone who came, THANK YOU SO MUCH! You will all be receiving thank you notes in the near future. With less than 36 days to go until the wedding, my list is getting a lot shorter yet I'm still stressed out. haha! You will get those thank you cards, though. I promise! Thanks again! We love you all!

Got some leftover Halloween spirit?

FYI gel groups were our small groups in college

Office Fun

You're Invited

Some of you will get a hard copy of this, some will see it via a church news or on a bulletin board, and some will get it through email or facebook. We want you all to know that no matter how you see it, you are invited and we would love to have you attend our big day. You can help us out by sending us your RSVP (a link on the right is also available). If you are coming in from out of town, there is information about the Rogers area under the "Wedding Links" section on the right.

Yo Yo!

Happy Mule day

Today Stef and I took part in what makes small town America amazing. That's right, today (and every 2nd Sat. in October) was the Pea Ridge mule jump. We were not exactly sure what to expect since neither one of us had been before. While, the earlier divisions (51" & under and over 51") were not super exciting, the pro mule class brought quite a bit of excitement. Before we knew it we were caught up in all of the drama. (yes, it actually was pretty dramatic)

a mule getting pumped up for the big jump

preping for a jump

enjoying the festivities

our mule stamps

one of the "pro" mules

facing the wrong direction

up and over

such athleticism

The winners tied by clearing jumps of 66". Neither one was able to muster one more inch at 67". One of the most entertaining things was watching one of the handlers get his mule "Radar" all pumped up before a jump. Be sure to check out the video below.

Wedding Month

October 1st kicked off what Stefanie and I are officially calling "wedding month." There are less than 70 days to go and that reality hit us today. This morning (Saturday) the two of us went and watched Stefanie's 7 year old niece's soccer game. That was entertaining, to say the least. After that we headed out to register. The plan was to leave the game, head to Bed, Bath & Beyond, grab a bite to eat, go to Target, stop by Walmart and then head home. The soccer game was over around 11 and I was thinking that we would be done around 4 in time for me to grill up some pork chops for dinner. Those of you who have been through this process before probably know where this story is headed. We went to Bed, Bath & Beyond first and met with one of their "bridal consultants" (or whatever the official title is) and got started. 2.5ish hours later I had learned more than I ever needed to know about flatware, bakeware, cutlerly and coffee makers. We finished up and I handed over my beloved barcode scanner. By this time we were quite hungry, so we made a stop at the mall food court before journeying to Fayetteville (since the Target in Rogers isn't finished yet). We paced every aisle in Target and eventually decided that we could leave. On the way home we stopped at Walmart to pick up some envelopes for invitations. By this time it is past 6 so we decided to stop at Chick-fil-a and grab dinner (I wasn't too keen on fixing dinner anymore). While the whole process wasn't without pain, I'm glad it is done (for the most part) and didn't take up more than one day. (I added links to the registries on the side bar and in this post if you are curious) Stefanie is still going to add a few things online (I'm glad that there won't have to be any more trips to the store) and hopefully that will be it.

In other news, this month we are going to be spending many glorious hours addressing invitations, writing checks, gathering pictures and songs for slideshows, making hotel arrangements, and who knows what else will come about.

Stefanie also finished her first week of teaching 2nd grade for a teacher on materity leave. It has been a bit of a change of pace and she is already working on building up her immunities via the common cold. Things get a little better every day as she and the students make adjustments.

Now I've stayed up too late just to give you guys the update I promised. I must sleep. Goodnight all.

Update Soon

I promise.

Don't Forget

about this.

Engagement Photos

Dave and Whitney have posted a few of the engagement pictures we took tonight. Check them out on their blog.

All of the pictures were taken at Red Oak II, an old town that an artist bought up and had moved just on the outskirts of Carthage, MO. We had a ton of fun and will let you know when more pictures are available for viewing. Enjoy.

Honeymoon Excitement!!! ;)

We have made a decision! I'm happy to say that we are going to the Riviera Maya for our honeymoon. We had been considering both Jamaica & the Riviera Maya, but we've decided on the Riviera Maya based on all of the wonderful things that our travel agent told us. We'll be staying at an all-inclusive resort called Barcelo Tropical & Colonial Beach. This is actually two resorts right next to each other (one is the Tropical & the other is the Colonial). We honestly couldn't tell the difference between the two resorts in the photos that we looked at because they are right next to each other, but our travel agent said that she always puts in a request for the Barcelo Tropical Beach. ANYWAY...I think that we're both really excited about the trip. This will be an awesome time for us, I'm sure! The only downside is that our flight leaves at 6:30 the morning after the wedding. If you know me, I am NOT a morning person. I'm sure it will be worth it, though. :)

24 seems a lot younger than it used to

Today is Stefanie's birthday, that's right the big two four. Tonight we are going out to eat with her parents and grandma to celebrate (I almost forgot the cookie cake afterwords). Hopefully The Olive Garden will be less crowded than last year. To top it off, our good friends Jared an Lacey Lett welcomed Adele Elizabeth into the world this morning. Congrats guys, and I will try to sleep extra for you since you won't be sleeping so well for the next 18 years.

September

It's been several days since we've last posted anything, & now we're into the month of September. I can't believe how fast these past few months have flown by. September is going to be a pretty big month. First of all, today we met with our travel agent. The honeymoon has been narrowed down to the Riviera Maya or Jamaica (I'm REALLY excited just thinking about it!!). This weekend Scott and I are helping our church with the Senior Retreat at Green Valley Bible Camp. We'll be hanging out with the youth group Friday night through Sunday morning. It should be a lot of fun. We did it last year & had a great time! Next weekend my Grandma is coming for a visit (for my birthday) & staying through the following week. I'm also really looking forward to the weekend of the 20th. We'll be going to Joplin & Dave & Whitney will be taking our engagement photos!!! It will be a blast, I'm sure! The last weekend of the month, my cousin (and matron of honor), Erin, will be coming for a visit & going to order her bridesmaid's dress. I always love spending time with Erin....we end up laughing like little girls whenever we're together, so it should be a great time full of laughter & catching up with one another. Tomorrow, I'm going to try on my wedding dress, which came in this week. Hopefully there won't be too many alterations that need to be made. haha!

Wow! I feel like I've been writing forever. I'm sure there's still much more to talk about, but I'll make sure to keep you updated (or Scott will). Love you all! :)

Weekend Getaway

We had a great time last weekend relaxing at the lake with a bunch of my old college buddies. I can't really summarize the whole weekend, so I'll let the pictures (thanks Holly) do the talking.

Would you believe that we were playing baseball?

Steve and Nate fight over the disc

Yummy.

hanging out

Puzzling

beware of the spoons

it's amazing someone didn't lose a limb

the gang

a little more goofiness

FPU, Weekend Getaway, & Misc. Wedding stuff

Hello, world. How about an update? Here goes.

Wednesday night was our first FPU class. It went quite well (Stefanie loves workbooks). I have no doubt that this will be a huge help in getting our marriage started in the right direction. If you are unfamiliar with the program you can see the first lesson here (free).

We are very excited about the events of the upcoming weekend. We are getting together with many of my friends from college (they are Stefanie's friends now, too) for a weekend at the lake. It will be a great time to catch up and reminisce.

In a wedding plans update, we have tuxes picked out, invitations ordered, and are trying to figure out what the next big item will be.

That's all for now.

Scott

Another Important Count Down

In case you were unaware, season 5 of the office will begin shortly. If you are not familiar with the office, then you only have a few weeks to find the first 4 seasons on dvd and start watching. There are also a few episodes on hulu.

Time Is Flying By!!!

Well, every night before I go to bed, I always check our blog & watch as the time on our "countdown to the wedding" ticks away. If you've been reading our blog, you know that we've done quite a lot already. I realize that the amount of things we've accomplished in comparison with my schedule is very good. We're really ahead of schedule. HOWEVER, I just keep thinking, "well...I've done this, so now I might as well get this done in order to check that off of my list" & as much as I love the countdown, it makes me a bit nervous to watch. I feel like I need to get so much done, & no matter how much I try to get ahead of schedule, I can always think of other things that can be done. WHEW! For some reason I didn't realize ALL that goes into planning a wedding. I was just telling Scott the other day that I am honestly bored with this process (as you can imagine, Scott feels the same way..haha). I'm just ready for the day to be here & to be his wife. As much as I love the idea of the wedding day itself & walking down the isle to him, I'm just ready to be his wife & for him to be my husband. I can't wait to begin this new chapter in our lives. So, in all reality...I guess that as much as I stress about getting things accomplished while looking at the time tick away on the countdown, I'm also excited because it's that much closer to the day being here.


FYI...I think we're closing in on a honeymoon location! :) I'll keep you updated.

One Year Together

Saturday Stefanie and I celebrated our one year dating anniversary. We spent the evening taking in a movie, enjoying a wonderful dinner, and then took in some of the olympics. Looking back, we have had an amazing year together. We've had ups and downs. We've laughed and cried together. I can't help but believe that we've yet to experience the highest highs, and probably the lowest lows. I know that things won't always be easy, but it is a wonderful feeling to know that I've got my best friend by my side.

sorry if you are sick from all of the mushy stuff

One More Thing....

Alright....when I was coming up with my list of things that we've accomplished so far for the wedding, I forgot to list one VERY IMPORTANT (do you see this Dave???).....I mean VERY IMPORTANT part of the wedding that we've already decided on. Our wonderful photographers!!!! Yes, we have chosen our photographers, too (Dave & Whitney Scott). In all honesty, we are really excited about having them because they do amazing work! Choosing them was actually the very first thing that we did when preparing for the wedding, & we are looking forward to the work they'll do. :)

Financial Peace University

On August 20, Stefanie and I are going to start Financial Peace University at a local church. It is a 13 week course focusing on getting out of debt and taking control of your money. We are both looking forward to going through the course and I think it will be beneficial to us as a couple. I don't think either one of us is financially illiterate, but I really believe that we will both come away from this much better off. We've all heard the stats that xx% of fights/arguments/disagreements are about money and hopefully we will avoid some of these as a result of this class.

Here I GO!

Well...it looks as though Scott has taken over the blog. I guess that I'm just a slacker when it comes to this. Here is a current update of our wedding plans thus far.

1.) We have a location (Southside Church of Christ in Rogers, AR) & date/time (Dec. 13, 2008 @ 2 p.m.).
2.) We have a budget set in place & many spreadsheets to help with organization! haha
3.) We have a color scheme selected (raspberry & light pink).
4.) We have my bridesmaids selected (6 in all)....maybe I'm getting too carried away! :)
5.) We have our invitations pretty much done & our guest list is coming together nicely.
6.) We have our wedding cake decided on & working on coming up with a groom's cake plan.
7.) We've decided on what flowers we're going to have (various shades of pink roses, white carnations, & calla lillies in my bouquet....the bridesmaids will have white roses).
8.) We have the majority of our music selected (at least the processional...still working on the recessional).
9.) Oh....I've found my dress!!! Pretty sure anyway. My mom & Roberta are going this weekend with me to finalize it (hopefully they'll love it just as much as I do). :) Scott does NOT know what it looks like. My plan is for him not to see it until the wedding day!

Notice that I've put "we" all through this list. Scott really has been a great help throughout this process! God truly blessed me by bringing Scott into my life!!! I know that sometimes (probably MOST of the time) Scott could think of a dozen other things he'd rather discuss, but he's always willing to listen & nod his head. haha! He's wonderful, as you all already know!!!!

Random YouTube clip (beat the claw game)

Our World in 3D

I was browsing around on the Google blogs the other day when I came across the Google Earth blog. I read a little when I came to this post on 3D campus modeling. Low and behold, look who one of the winners is. Good ole UMR (actually, it's listed as Missouri S&T, but I'll always call it UMR). If you need some time to reminisce about the school that you gave 4 years (or more) of your life to, you can revisit it in Google Earth. You can download a kmz file to open in Google Earth, or you can view the models on the web.

Request for Prayers (UPDATE x2)

UPDATE: Joe was able to come home from the hospital on Tuesday. He is still pretty weak, but is recovering.

UPDATE: Joe is still in the hospital, but is slowly getting better. The doctors are going to try to start him on solid foods tomorrow, which will hopefully help him regain strength. He should be released in another 4 or 5 days.

Stefanie's dad Joe goes in for surgery tomorrow (Wednesday). The doctors are going in to remove a tumor from colon cancer that has returned. Please pray for him and his family. Stefanie is leaving in the morning and will return once her dad has stabilized and the doctors can give them an update. This is a scary time for all of us and again, we solicit your prayers.

Weddings Bring out the Inner Geek

I recently read this post from the official Google blog online. Being the nerd tech savvy guy that I am, I immediately thought "what a great idea" and began to look for ways to implement Google into our engagement. I have been a Gmail and Google calendar user for quite some time now, but I hadn't ventured too much into some of the other services. Now we've started using Google Docs to store our budget, guest list, and other information online (after all, if it can't be put in a spreadsheet, it's not really worth writing down, is it?). That way I don't have to worry about emailing the most up-to-date copy to myself or making sure I have my thumb drive with me. We have obviously started a blog to help share information with everyone. There are many good, free blog platforms out there, but since, I've already drank the Google Kool-aid, I figured it would just be easier (and might have better integration) to just sign up for their blogger service. Hopefully, the blog is useful and beneficial to you. I have already posted a map (under the Wedding Links section to the right) of the Rogers, Ar area with the church, some hotels, and a few shopping areas located. If you have suggestions for other items, please let us know. I hope this didn't turn out to be too much of a Google advertisement, but I wanted to share some of the tech side of the wedding with you. It helps keep me more involved in the planning process, at least. Don't forget you can subscribe to our RSS feed and always be notified when there are new posts.

One Week Later

Well, just over one week has passed since the engagement. Congratulations are still flowing in on a pretty regular basis and initial plans are starting to take shape. Stefanie still loves showing off her ring (I don't expect her to tire of that anytime soon) and I am wishing there was a master spreadsheet out there that would make all of our plans for us (we are making some headway, though). Mark your calendars for December 13th, 2008. The wedding will probably be around 2:00 at Southside Church of Christ in Rogers, AR.

We had a great 4th of July weekend with my parents and extended family at Stockton Lake (see pictures below). This week Stefanie is out at Green Valley Bible Camp for a week of counseling, while I try to adjust back to a full week of work.

We are starting to look at options for wedding invitations, so if you have any suggestions, please let us know.

-Scott

cousins, spouses, and kids

cousins

the little guys

The Engagement Story

Where to begin...we had just spent Friday & Saturday at my grandma's house in Poteau. The funny thing is that my aunt & cousins thought that the reason for our visit had to do with us announcing our engagement to the family (it was not...pretty sure they were disappointed). We left Poteau Saturday evening to head back to NWA. After a pit stop at my parents' house, we stopped at the local neighborhood Wal-Mart to pick up a movie at the AMAZING Redbox (we also grabbed some movie watching snacks....chocolate & gummy bears). We then made our way to Scott's house to watch the movie & hang out. After the movie was over, we were talking & Scott said, "I wonder if it's still clear out?".....I said, (being the gullible person that I am, I thought he was talking about the storms that had just passed through the area) "I don't think it's supposed to storm anymore tonight." A few minutes later, Scott said, "I'll be right back", & he went to his bedroom. He came back out with his flip-flops on & grabbed my hand to go outside. I was a little confused. WHY were we going outside?? It was a gorgeous night outside. The stars were bright & clear, the weather was perfect (cool with a slight breeze), & it reminded me a lot of one of our first dates at his house. We were enjoying looking at the stars, when a car drove by. It was so funny because Scott was like "Ugh...a car's coming"....after the car passed, Scott bent down to "straighten his jeans" & he got down on his knee. After telling me how much he loved me (and more that you're just NEVER going to know about), he pulled out the ring box & asked me to marry him. OF COURSE I said "YES!!". Needless to say, I wasn't expecting anything that night, & I was a little giddy & jumpy the remainder of the night.