oh, beloved

25. Jesus & Adventure. Insta: han.gray

[hannahirenegray]

Merry Christmas Eve! Justin and I are super excited to have our YouTube up and running before our original plan for the new year. As it’s been advertised, it is a movie review channel. But it’s also meant to be more than that. We wanted to create something different in the movie review world. We wanted something for the movie critics but also normal movie goers. We wanted it to be fun and showcase our relationship through real banter and agreements. You may be thinking, that’s not for me, and maybe it’s not. But we made this for YOU GUYS! Our friends and family. We are the movie couple in your life and we wanted you to have easy access to our thoughts and determine whether or not a movie is worth your time and money. Our channel link is in my bio, but you can always stay updated through @thegrayrating instead! We love you guys and this is for you 👍🏼❤️ (Rockie sometimes shows up too 😻) https://m.youtube.com/channel/UC4hcTiIrjtcTolB7DDhA3nw

[teapalm]

[youngadventure]

photography, nature, and the northwest

[hannahirenegray]

Probably whispering “boobs” in his ear lol

Photo by http://www.christineflower.com/

[hannahirenegray]

Photo by http://www.christineflower.com/

[hannahirenegray]

Prayer is the most impactful way to make change and grow closer to God through community.  I would encourage Brides and Grooms to have a time of prayer with their wedding party to ease any anxious thoughts and to be reminded of why you are marrying the love of your life.

Photos by http://www.christineflower.com/

[hannahirenegray]

First look at Vasquez Rock, CA

Photos by http://www.christineflower.com/

[hannahirenegray]

Marriage is constantly striving to forget about yourself. The only selfless part of me is Christ in me. That’s been a prayer lately and will continue to be one forever. Here’s to only 4ish months of being married, it feels like longer but the number is so so small compared to the rest of our lives ❤️ Also trying to make a wedding album and that is way harder than it seems 🙃

[hannahirenegray]

Rose Gold everything please! Finally got my hands on some ears, if you’re looking for them, ask behind the counter! 🙌🏼💖 (at Disneyland)

[hannahirenegray]

My boy and I have been dating for about 4 yrs and we'll be graduating college in less than a year. I've heard he plans on proposing soon! I'm so excited, but when I thought about the bridal party...I honestly got a little depressed. My boyfriend has so many close guy friends he's known since childhood, but I'm over here racking my brain about how many girls I'm close with. I've always drifted apart from my "besties" and now I'm afraid I won't have any bridesmaids + I graduate in May! Any advice?

My husband and I were also dating for 4 years before I graduated this past year! Congrats! The bridal party can be really stressful to figure out. The best thing for the both of you to do is agree upon a number that you both want. Of course you don’t want to force it when trying to figure out your bridal party, but just try to think about the people who have been involved in your lives over the last 4 years. Who has supported your relationship? Who will continue to be there for you after the wedding? Sometimes those people aren’t always the ones you’d consider to be your best friends but they are the ones who are supportive and love you. I had a few of those in my bridal party and I’m so glad I did. Hope that helps a little bit!

[hannahirenegray]

I removed a bridesmaid from my wedding party...

And I removed myself from hers. But before I get into it, this topic has been on my heart for months and I think it’s important for future Brides to know. When I got engaged, I already had my Bridal party lined up in my head. I had my childhood best friends, my church best friends, and my college best friends. Me and my two childhood best friends have known each other for 20 years. There was never a time when we thought we wouldn’t all be a part of one another’s wedding parties. Turns out one of them and I would be getting married a week apart this past October. We asked each other to be one another’s bridesmaids because that’s what we had always talked about and it was expected. This was still an expectation we had for one another even after years of drifting apart and our vastly different personalities and interests. Our lives went separate ways after highschool, but we always still felt like family. She would come to my house to talk to my mom about hard things, she had a lot of toxic things she was trying to work on in her own life and I couldn’t take part in it, causing us to naturally drift apart. Fast forward to her bachelorette party in Vegas the summer before our weddings. I drove up from LA with some old highschool friends I only ever knew through her. Based on that ride alone I knew I was going to have to try my hardest to have a good time that weekend with her friends. During the day we hung out and had a good time before getting ready to go to Freemont Street. For some perspective, I was the only sober person out of the 12 girls there. It was my first time in Vegas with people I didn’t trust so saying I was on edge all night is an understatement. What got me thinking about the whole taking her out of my bridal party deal was how the rest of the night played out. Her fiancé was there with some of his friends and she received a text from one of them that really upset her pertaining to her fiancé. She was very drunk and very mean to everyone, running around Vegas for hours. She smashed her phone and made a lot of harsh accusations. I chose to leave early and go back to house so I didn’t need to deal with it. I ended up going to sleep at 6am when everyone finally got back to the Airbnb. There was a lot screaming and yelling, no one wanted to be there anymore and made threats to leave if nothing changed. I sat and prayed that God would give me a way to go home. I told my other childhood friend that I was thinking about taking our other friend out of my wedding and myself out of hers. I decided then to pray a lot about it and seek counsel from others. The following morning two other girls wanted to leave a day early so I got a ride home with them. While it sounds like the reason was Vegas, there were many more deeply rooted reasons, Vegas was just what sparked it. Here’s what I want other Brides to know so they don’t go through what I went through: do not put anyone in your bridal party out of obligation. I don’t care if you have had a pact with your bff since you were 5, do not do it. It is not worth the hurt and anxiety taking someone out of your bridal party can cause. I had to make a tough decision about our friendship when I made that choice. The people who are in your bridal party should be those who are going to be there for you after the wedding, the ones who will make sure you uphold your vows and encourage you in your marriage. If you can’t picture that for one of your bridesmaids, they shouldn’t be up there. It took me longer to realize that. With this friend, I didn’t picture myself reaching out to her after the weddings. I didn’t picture her being of any benefit to my marriage. There was someone else who I knew needed to be up there with me instead. I wanted to meet up and tell her all of this. I was sick to my stomach whenever I thought about it and I couldn’t talk to her until I got home from camp with the high schoolers. I called and texted her and got nothing back. Our mutual best friend told me she knew something was up and had a feeling of what I was thinking. She didn’t want to talk to me while she was still angry. So I let her come to me. She finally texted me. It wasn’t a face to face conversation, but it went better than I expected and in the end, our friendship grew stronger and more authentic because we let go of our expectations for one another. We stopped trying to be ther person we thought we needed to be for each other. Our friendship is different now than it was when we were in elementary school, and that’s okay. In the end, all the people I needed by my side were there, and same as her. It was the best decision I could have made for myself. I just wish someone else would have told me sooner.

[hannahirenegray]

B. A. B. Y. Baby 🎧😘 (at Pasadena, California)

[hannahirenegray]

Christine Flower Photography

10.01.17

[hannahirenegray]

Debuting that new last name ✌🏼#graytestday2017 (at Blomgren Ranch)

[hannahirenegray]

Less than 24 hours until I'm a wife. Wow. 😳😍 #graytestday2017

[hannahirenegray]

Today we got the keys to our first apartment together, a month from today I will have a groom forever 👰🏼❤️

[hannahirenegray]

25 years this amazing man has been on this earth. I'm thankful you were born this day because life wouldn't be the same without you and people wouldn't have been blessed to know you. Thankful to be able to call you my husband forever in just 43 short days ❤️

[hannahirenegray]

I remember thinking in February 'in August I'll start searching for apartments and getting all the final details of the wedding put together'. Where did the time go? Seriously I want to know! Being engaged has been the weirdest and greatest season of life. With only 2 months left I'm not really sure how to cope with all the REALLY big changes coming my way. But I know God has me where He wants me and having a life long partner like Justin to be by my side through it all is my greatest blessing. #GRAYtestday2017