#josh lyford

[tomsmusictaste]

Fall Out Boy // Champagne For My Real Friends, Real Pain For My Sham Friends

Four Year Strong // What The Hell Is A Gigawatt?

[binders-and-beanies]

Four Year Strong // Falling On You

[mleelyf19]

Mrs. Macy Lee Lyford

Hi everyone! I haven’t blogged in quite some time (like literally a year and a half) and let me be the first to tell you that A LOT has happened! I got engaged, became a nurse, and got married! For this piece though, I will be telling you about our wedding day. Of course, if you would like to hear about the other two journeys, getting engaged and becoming a nurse I would be more than happy to share those two experiences with you, but for now, wedding talk.

 I don’t even know where to start. Our colors, our decorations, our venue, our food, our wedding party? I guess I will start with our engagement date! I am just going to brush over this part, but it was so fantastic and would really make for a good blog if I get around to it. So, our engagement! Let me set the scene: July 10th, 2018- Walt Disney World. We had just got done eating at Columbia Harbour House, (they have some delicious Salmon that is not unreasonably priced). We were on a trip to celebrate Cody’s sister high school graduation with Cody’s family. So here we are, our bellies full, walking around Disney. I saw the sign to go meet Merida, the princess from Brave, and asked if we could go see her! (Just remember that I was 21 at the time). Gail, Cody’s mom, suggested that we should just walk around and let our stomachs setting before really committing to doing anything. So, we walked past the wishing well, which is located on the back-right side of Cinderella’s castle. We stopped to take some photos and SURPRISE, this is where Cody and I got engaged!

 Okay, now that you know a little snapshot of our engagement story, on to the super good stuff, THE WEDDING!

 First, we had to decide where and when we wanted to get married. We knew that we wanted to get married in the Bangor area, but we really didn’t know where. We explored two different venues, and venue number two, Camp Roosevelt, was the winner. As you will see in some of the photos, we had an outdoor wedding (which I really wanted), and the building itself was a log style venue with a ton a space. Once we decided that this was where we wanted to get married, we asked for the dates that they had left for the summer of 2019.  They gave us the last date that they had left for the “early” summer and we snagged it right of the water! Of course, we needed to do some housekeeping business before we stole it such as when I would take the NCLEX and when Cody was supposed to go on clinical, but after housekeeping was done, we had our wedding date! July 6th, 2019 was the day that I married my best friend.

Just a little side note, on the way into Camp Roosevelt, there is a red barn the name Lyford across the top! Why was that there do you ask? I guess if use to be a state reps. Barn or still is, I’m not sure. I remember driving into see the venue, seeing the odd sign with my to-be last name on it, looking at Cody and saying, “Are we supposed to get married here?”. I can picture God looking down at us on that very moment saying, “Why yes Macy, it is!”.

 Fast forward to July 5th 2019, at 11pm. The day before wedding day. Or should I say, the day that I was up late worrying about the weather, laying on my stomach, on my bed looking at the hourly forecast for our wedding day. I will never forget looking at that forecast. Do you want to know how a to-be-bride feels looking at the forecast for her wedding day and it was reading 90% thunderstorms from 11am-5pm when all she has dreamed about for years is an outdoor wedding in the beginning of summer? Well, let me tell you, I was a little bit anxious, but I knew better than to put those feelings on myself. I texted Cody and told him that they might want to set the ceremony up inside because of the forecast. And then do you want to know what I did next? I prayed. I prayed so hard and I gave those feelings to the Lord. I knew that the Lord had our wedding day already planned out and that he had saw it before I was even born. WOW! If that doesn’t blow your mind, I don’t know what will. Giving those feelings to the Lord was the best thing that I could have done.

 The weather was fantastic!

 Wedding morning! July 6th, 2019. The day that I had been waiting for since my freshman year of high school, when I met Cody. My mom, Maid of honor, Kiara, and sister, Mindy all went to a Salon in Ellsworth named, Hairbenders. We got our hair done, as well as my nails. I remember eating only two chicken nuggets (only because I was so nervous, because trust me, I can eat!) and feeling sick to my stomach. Traffic back to Eddington from Ellsworth was a nightmare but we made it with plenty of time to spare! The girls got ready, took pictures, and then the guys got ready and it was time for our first look.

 Oh man, the first look. I have never felt more anxious in my whole entire life! I have seen Cody time and time again, but there was something about that moment, seeing YOUR groom right before you get married with no distractions but just love? Wow. I recommend everyone doing a first look with their future wife/husband. It really could have been one of my favorite moments of the whole day, (other than getting married of course). After he saw me the last time before I married him, we got to spend a few moments with two people who have had a huge influence on our relationship with each other and our individual relationships with the Lord, Josh and Amy.

 Then it was wedding time! 3pm came and we were walking down the aisle! Once I finally made it to Cody, the rest of the wedding really was a blur. It was very sweet and sentimental to us and to our faith. I know what we did, and I have vague memories of it, but it is a good thing that I have a copy of the ceremony outline! I am sure as time goes on; more memories will come back to me! A few moments that I will share with you that I remember very vividly. There was a moment that Cody looked at me and said, “I’m pretty sure my mom is crying” and I responded with “That’s why I’m not looking at her”. Another moment was when I was trying to place his ring on his finger, and it was a very tight fit. The words that I spoke while I was placing the ring on his finger got very slow very fast! The last moment that  I will share with you that I will not forget was we were standing at the altar, ( I really don’t know what was happening around us or going on) but Cody looked right into my soul and said, “I love you”. What a moment to have as a couple before our friends and family and before God. It was so special.

 Our ceremony took about 30 minutes and then we had to scramble for pictures because not even 10 minutes after our ceremony, Heavens gates opened, and the rain let loose! It poured! However, it was a good rain. A rain that everyone anticipated but no one saw it quite yet. It also cooled everything down, which was nice because let me tell you it was HOT!

 We danced our first dance to “This is it” by Scotty McCreery” (this is a no brainer), Josh gave the blessing, Dakota and Kiara did their toasts, we ate dinner (which was fantastic!), did the father/daughter and mother/son dances (which I loved because part way through the song we invited other mother/sons and father/daughters that were present to come and join us on the dance floor).

 One of the activities that we did that I really loved was our cake in the face. Cody and I each had a jar with our names on it. Whoever had the most money in their jar by a certain time would get part of the wedding cake in the face. This was my only fighting chance to get Cody with the cake. Well, as the tale is told, we both had the same amount of money (or so they say). This was so fun, and it was an activity that I found on Pinterest. I had never seen it done before, so Cody and I took a shot in the dark with it!

 We were all packed up and ready to get home around 7. By the time everything was unpacked, and our apartment was a mess, it was around 9pm. This worked out perfectly. Our flight for our honeymoon was for 5:30 the following morning, therefore after going through our gifts and cards it was around midnight! We got about 2 hours of sleep and we were off to Walt Disney World!

 As I finish writing this post, I am overwhelmed with the love and support that we have received up to this very day. Cody and I have had our ups and downs (even before we were married), but to have a group of people watching out for us and praying for and with us really has made a world of a difference. Gods timing is always prefect. I love sharing little snapshots of our lives with others. It is a good reminder that no one is perfect and everything that we have is truly worked hard for.

 I would love feedback, if anyone would like to know more about our day, or has any questions about wedding planning, please feel free to ask! I cannot answer every question, but I sure can do my best! Once again, thank your for taking the time to read (if you got this far) and for having a little snapshot of our wedding day!

 The new Macy Lee Lyford

[apboston-blog]

Foxfires, fronted by former Four Year Strong member Josh Lyford, has premiered the first song off of their upcoming album. Follow the link to check it out, and read what Lyford has to say about the song!

[lets-get-read-to-rumble]

Fou Year Strong 

[tomsmusictaste]

Four Year Strong // Go Down In History

[binders-and-beanies]

Four Year Strong // One Step At a Time

[pupfresh]

FOUR YEAR STRONG ARE BACK IN THE STUDIO

Eep! It appears that Four Year Strong are back in the studio. Check out the evidence below.

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@jacksonmass bangin

A photo posted by Dan O'Connor (@danfys) on Out 10, 2014 at 3:40 PDT

[brewcitytransfer]

I seriously never acknowledged fitzs' job before charlie. He will, forever and always, be the personal aide to the president.

[acidtrapgiraffe]

Four Year Strong - Wasting Time (Eternal Summer) (Acoustic)

easily one of my favorite acoustic renditions of a song. the twist they put on this song is fucking perfection but they do suck now without Josh Lyford. Foxfires is fucking dope though.

[tomsmusictaste]

Four Year Strong // Enemy Of The World

[binders-and-beanies]

Four Year Strong // Be Good When I’m Gone

[propertyofzack]

POZ BandsOnBands: Foxfires On Hot Water Music

Mondays mean BandsOnBands, and we’re excited to be posting the PropertyOfZack feature today with Josh Lyford of Foxfires. The band just released a great new album called new 7" called Golden Age via Escapist Records.

In this week’s feature, Josh discusses his love for Hot Water Music, a band that helped shape his musical identity and open his world up to new ideas and music all around him. Listen to songs by Hot Water Music here and check out what Josh had to say about one of his biggest influences below!

From Josh Lyford of Foxfires:

[joshlyford]

Self Realization at 3am.

Every once in awhile I experience this brief period of self-realization where I am conscious that I have everything I want in life, everything I need. This fleeting moment, where I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that if I were to die, I could do so smiling, because I have accomplished more than I could ever imagine in the years I have been walking this earth, simply by breathing through a toothy smile. This moment where the sheets on my bed are a black hole transporting portions of my soul across the universe and I beg myself to remember the lessons that I have learned in the night when the sun comes up. I close my eyes and pray that when the sun rises, I will remember that I am more than anxiety's aphrodisiac, that none of us were put here to wallow in misery from the zz-zz-zz of an alarm clock, that our worries are limited to baser instincts than the ones that claw from beyond a realm we could not even pretend to fathom. 

I won't. We won't. I will wake up struggling against a reality I could not possibly conform to and will never, ever, ever, ever, ever, understand. I like to picture the stress, the sweat, the riffing clash against a reality that doesn't succumb to logic or honesty, as a final skirmish between a mind too stoney to be smashed and an industrialized personality too soft to be mended.

There is more out there, there has to be more out there. I only hope that those few moments where the dopamine swings its saucy hips through my prefrontal cortex to a rhythm I didn't write do both of us a favor and add up to just enough zest that we won't forget in the morning time; we are enough on our own.

[fouryearstrong4l]

Josh Lyford / Four Year Strong

[tomsmusictaste]

Four Year Strong // Enemy Of The World