I haven't updated this thing in a LONG time. Most likely because about 498309432943% of my time is dedicated to looking for a "real" job. And because I have nothing interesting happening in my life, basically. After the wedding and things calmed down our lives got seriously boring with a few exceptions.
First of all...being married is fun! It doesn't hurt that we had many years of "practice" while living together, being engaged, etc. There was an adjustment period (for me, actually) and I think a lot of it had to do with my job status and my last name change. My job is actually awesome. I enjoy it, I love that Ava has had SO much improvement over the last 7-ish months, but at the same time it feels...I don't know, stale? Stagnant? That would be due to the fact that it's just a job...it's not my career. It also isn't enough hours or money for the type of lifestyle I would like to be living.
Secondly, Seth and I are both officially back in school. :) Seth is getting his Bachelors of Science in Business Management to coincide with his new job - he made Manager on his FIRST DAY! Isn't that awesome? I'm really proud of him and how hard he works. He's seriously great. But we both agreed that having a Bachelors in Business on top of his Automotive would be ideal for him as far as income and upward potential.
After a ton of debating and hemming and hawing over what I wanted to be "when I grew up" I finally decided. ;) I got accepted into a Masters of Science program in Human Resources Management. I start on May 1! I find it extremely ironic that HR is what I originally had planned to do for my Bachelors degree. With that said, I do not for a minute regret getting my Bachelors in Psychology instead. I learned SO MUCH about myself doing that particular degree (at that particular school, as many are more science focused now) and learning the life lessons I needed to learn being away on my own that I couldn't even begin to regret it. Maybe I wish I had gotten a more practical degree sometimes, but mostly I just wish I could find a job relevant to my Masters and begin my career.
I realize I don't sound like your typical 21 year old, but that's because I'm not. I realized the other day that I graduated A YEAR AGO. That seems pretty crazy. I've been out of undergrad for a whole year... That's kind of what sparked my issues since I hadn't figured out what to do about my future and my Masters and my career. I think I will be quite happy with my choice. The program sounds excellent! I should be done sometime in 2013. I'm going to try and accelerate it like I did my BA and get done by August 2013 at a minimum.
There's really not much else going on. I hope I get an awesome job soon and that a potential employer will see my potential and all that. Oh, we *did* decide that we're going to put off TTC. I'm not sure if I mentioned that in any previous blogs, but yeah. We need more money and we'd like to be done with our *new* educational endeavors before any of that. Though life never goes how you plan and we would feel nothing but lucky if that life-changer happens sooner rather than later. As long as it happens at all...I'm happy. :)
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Friday, March 30, 2012
We Skyped with Jenn!
I know this is being randomly thrown onto the blog in between mass wedding updates but I wanted to write a blog about it. :-)
I'm not sure how much I've shared on here in regards to the fact that my family is adopting again. For those wondering, we adopted my youngest sister almost 4 years ago from China. This new girl is also from China, but a different part. She is older than Ava -- Ava was only 4 when she was adopted, but Jenn (Jennifer) is 13. There is a lot of backstory and a lot of feelings, but the gist of it is that while this is going to be extremely complicated, there is no backing down now! :-)
She is beautiful. I mean, she really is. She and Ava are going to be real head-turners as they grow up. I hope that works to their advantage and not to their disadvantage. She mentioned she likes to read - YAY! She'll fit in with Mom and I. ;-) Also she likes Horror Movies (ahem, Zach) and she likes video games (ahem, Zach & Will.) She also seems to like Ava and that'll be an interesting relationship to watch. Her favorite color is blue and she decided that she does in fact want her own room. :-) Good choice, Jenn. Really. I can't imagine being 13-14 and sharing a room with an 8 year old. I mean they'll share a bathroom so it'll be close enough, right? haha.
I just think my family is so interesting. My Mom is truly an excellent person, though I'm not sure how much she thinks out some things. I know it's going to be hard for her to understand, but sibling relationships are really complicated already...add on top of that two adopted younger siblings, add the age of one of them, add all of that together and of course you get complicated! Of course you get strong feelings! I hope and pray this works out for the better for everyone involved. I hope that Jenn is happy in our big crazy family, I hope Ava gets the big sister that is still young enough to want to play with her, I hope the boys learn to love her - because oddly enough I think they have just as much in common with her as Ava does! I hope that I can be the best big sister, in whatever way it ends up, for all four of my little siblings. <-- I say little, even though Will is obviously taller than me and Zach and I are already the same height when he is 15! Sheesh. I just want the best for everyone. I hope my Mom learns to spend her time more wisely with the amazing children she has and that Mark really involves himself with both Jenn and Ava. I just....well, I'm just hopeful. I'm doubtful, but I'm hopeful. So many little things go into that working out well, but like I always tell myself - it will work out the way it's supposed to. <3
I'm not sure how much I've shared on here in regards to the fact that my family is adopting again. For those wondering, we adopted my youngest sister almost 4 years ago from China. This new girl is also from China, but a different part. She is older than Ava -- Ava was only 4 when she was adopted, but Jenn (Jennifer) is 13. There is a lot of backstory and a lot of feelings, but the gist of it is that while this is going to be extremely complicated, there is no backing down now! :-)
She is beautiful. I mean, she really is. She and Ava are going to be real head-turners as they grow up. I hope that works to their advantage and not to their disadvantage. She mentioned she likes to read - YAY! She'll fit in with Mom and I. ;-) Also she likes Horror Movies (ahem, Zach) and she likes video games (ahem, Zach & Will.) She also seems to like Ava and that'll be an interesting relationship to watch. Her favorite color is blue and she decided that she does in fact want her own room. :-) Good choice, Jenn. Really. I can't imagine being 13-14 and sharing a room with an 8 year old. I mean they'll share a bathroom so it'll be close enough, right? haha.
I just think my family is so interesting. My Mom is truly an excellent person, though I'm not sure how much she thinks out some things. I know it's going to be hard for her to understand, but sibling relationships are really complicated already...add on top of that two adopted younger siblings, add the age of one of them, add all of that together and of course you get complicated! Of course you get strong feelings! I hope and pray this works out for the better for everyone involved. I hope that Jenn is happy in our big crazy family, I hope Ava gets the big sister that is still young enough to want to play with her, I hope the boys learn to love her - because oddly enough I think they have just as much in common with her as Ava does! I hope that I can be the best big sister, in whatever way it ends up, for all four of my little siblings. <-- I say little, even though Will is obviously taller than me and Zach and I are already the same height when he is 15! Sheesh. I just want the best for everyone. I hope my Mom learns to spend her time more wisely with the amazing children she has and that Mark really involves himself with both Jenn and Ava. I just....well, I'm just hopeful. I'm doubtful, but I'm hopeful. So many little things go into that working out well, but like I always tell myself - it will work out the way it's supposed to. <3
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
We're Married!! Massive update.
So I figured it was fitting to finally update that we were married on the anniversary of Seth's proposal. :-) I guess that makes 1,365 days! Or 1,366 since it's leap year? But yes, as the title states - we made it through our pre-wedding week and wedding without any major hiccups. Of course I'm going to go into massive detail so I can have a point of reference in years to come. :-) It's difficult to type with these annoying ass nails on though!
*********EDITED********* Added the random collages. Some pictures are courtesy of Ashleigh Dees photography (the ones with her watermark) and the others were taken with my Mom's camera since we don't have all of our pro-pics back yet.
Week Before -- this week was CRAZY! It was pretty much business as usual as far as us both working and ya-da-ya-da until the Thursday & Friday before. Besides Mom & I going super-organized-chicks on the packing. We labeled all the totes with exactly what was in them. Yes, you become your mother. Yes, I love that idea. ;-) But you know.. That's when things got a little nuts. Also, I had to try and steam the wrinkles out of my dress which turned out to be a HUGE pain in the ass. In the end, Mom ended up ironing it -- I couldn't be in the room because I was afraid it would ruin it! haha. Anxious. But it obviously turned out okay!! We had to pack all the stuff in the room into the Suburban and still pretend like relaxing was a priority when we had to get our nails done. It took forever and they are annoying! I hate having them long. Lol.
Rehearsal -- So the Rehearsal...Oh, well yeah. It happened. Jackie & Danny met Seth & I at our house. I rode with Jackie and Danny rode with Seth so Jackie could bring me home while Seth & Danny went and got haircuts. I had bags to pack and showers to take, darnit! ;-) We all got to the rehearsal on time...but the person supposed to let us in? Yeah, not so much. That was pretty frickin' annoying, but it was fine. We got in and had plenty of time. Mom & Mark & Nanny proceeded to decorate their hearts out while the rest of us were bossed around by Mrs. Coordinator Lady. Some WP members were not her biggest fans. Lol. But it all worked out, Pastor Doug had a good convo with us, no one got too pissy (though Mom got irritated at a non-related person) and we were good. We went to the Rehearsal Dinner Seth's family had planned and had a nice time. :-) Gave the girls their gifts - Yay! :-) They seemed to like them. I know the bag was super useful! Then Jackie and I had a really awesome conversation on the drive back about our friendship and how we're getting old. ;-) She had to go pack for ENGLAND!! Lucky lady. I went and packed for our mini-moon and made sure everything was in order for the next busy day! Took a sleeping pill and I slept amazingly. ;-) ha.
The Morning-Of -- The morning was pretty nuts. Heather met me at our house and Jackie came to pick us up (this made the most sense logistically since my car needed to stay at our house.) It was 7:20/7:30 in the morning when we went on our merry way. :-) Dresses and bags in tow. Seth got up and showered, went and picked up the rest of the GM gifts, and headed over to his Grandma's where he, Danny & Shane were going to be. We got to my Mom's around 7:45. Mark & Ava were up eating breakfast - they had doughnuts and other yummy breakfast food. It was perfect. Tabitha (aka amazingest hair lady ever!!) got there right on time around 8:00 and got started! Jackie's hair was first - and looked perfect with her new bangs! Then Kellan & Mrs. Jill got there for makeup! Yay! So after Jackie's hair, she moved to makeup and Heather moved to hair. Her hair looked soooo nice and pretty! We shuffled in and out of the hair & makeup seats. I was next for makeup and felt sooo pampered and pretty - ya know, cause I am! ;-) Ava was getting her hair done while I had makeup. :-) She loved it and looked like a doll! Elea was doing her own hair, but stopped to come get some makeup from Jill, Will got a blow-out for his awesome long hair, my hair got done and looked incredible! And then Tabitha did my Mom's hair after she'd had her makeup done. It looked SO good! By then it was around time to leave - the boys (meaning Will & Zach) were handsome and ready and Zach's date Kennedy had arrived. We all packed in to our respective cars in true convoy style and were headed out!!
The Day-Of -- At the venue finally! We got there right around when we wanted to at 11:30-ish. We all headed to our respective rooms. The boys got changed, I got my dress and veil on -- eek! It was amazing! I was like holy smokes who is she?! And then the girls were getting ready during our First Look! :-D
Some detail shots:
First Look -- Okay, so you know what I expected our First Look to be? Us seeing eachother for the first time, all giggly and smiley and telling eachother how hot we were. Reality? It was the sweetest moment of our lives, I think. I basically burst into tears and we hugged and laughed and it was just perfect. He cried a little too just so I don't sound like a nut! Our amazing photographers were able to capture these moments and that is just priceless to me! I will never regret that for two reasons. 1. It was so special and emotional. 2. It calmed us both a bit and made us realize what this was all about Us!
Pre-Ceremony Pictures -- So part of the idea behind the First Look was that we'd get most of our family and wedding party pictures done before the ceremony. We got a lot of great shots, but honestly it was kind of a blur! We haven't gotten all of our pictures back yet (we got 25 because Ashleigh & Amy are amazing!) and they look freaking FANTASTIC! We got some of us, some of me & the girls, him & the guys (yes including some with the awesome car), we got big group shots, some with our family. It was good.
Ceremony --After the pictures, we both freshened up, spoke to Doug (our officiant) for a moment and he calmed our nerves and was very sweet. Then it was time to go! Everyone else started lining up (add in here that I had to go to the bathroom and mom had to help me! hahah. So awkward and hilarious.) and all of a sudden, we were upstairs and the music had already started! By the time Seth & I got settled upstairs, the parents had mostly all been seated and the Bridal Party had already started! We were like, OMG! All of a sudden they shut the door so we could make our entrance, we heard our music start to play and the doors opened. I cried, yes, again. And we walked down together, like it should be. :-) It fit us SO perfectly and was so incredibly perfect to walk down the aisle together to OUR marriage ceremony.
The ceremony itself is kind of a blur! Thank goodness for pictures and video! I remember praying and looking over and Ava was still dropping flowers because she hadn't used them all up yet. Haha. It was so cute. I remember making eye contact with Shane and kind of laughing. I remember praying and trying not to fall over, crying through our vows and the ring exchange -- I can't even explain how much my voice cracked or how quiet I was because I was trying not to completely "cry cry." I've heard that Danny, Jackie & Elea cried. I'm not sure about Shane, Will, Zach or Heather? I'll have to ask. haha. Seth's ring wouldn't go all the way on because his hands were swollen because we were both so hot! hahaha. It went by so quickly, as cliched as that sounds. We were pronounced husband & wife and officially kissed and we were out of there! Our music didn't start on time so we got halfway out before there was music. heh. :-)
Post-Ceremony -- After we got out of there, Seth and I hopped on the elevator and went downstairs and had a few moments of "We did it! Omg!" Lol. Then we had a post-ceremony picture session with Ashleigh & Amy and THOSE pictures were just awesome. Seriously we look so good. It was fun to just have a few moments, get pictures of us ACTUALLY married, share some private moments, that type of thing.
The "Reception" -- We entered the reception and everyone started clapping. To be honest, I didn't expect that for whatever reason? hahah. We both felt kind of awkward but it was also nice. We spent the next 20-ish minutes visiting with our guests and trying to say hi to as many people as we could. I know there were some we missed or some that left right after the ceremony. :/ We cut our cake, which BTW was absolutely gorgeous and DELICIOUS! I am not even joking it was fantastic! Debbie (at The Cake House & More!) is excellent! But yeah, so we cut it even though we were, yet again, awkward. ;-) Awkwardly us. We ate a few bites; I was literally about to fall over because I hadn't eaten since like 8 am?? So I had a little food with my cake, I downed like 3 full glasses of water because I was so hot, we took a few more family pictures (mainly the extended family), a few more bridal party, and then.....we danced. Good grief! I hate dancing in public, I really do. This was only the second time Seth & I had danced together and we didn't know what to do. We basically ended up doing what I call the "middle school shuffle" and going in a circle. I mean I know that's what most people do but DAMN! We ended up calling Ashleigh over and seeing if she'd save us from our misery and have the DJ guy fade the song out. For the record, our song was "Never Gonna Be Alone" by Nickelback. I mean, duhhhh. We've seen Nickelback in concert together and the song is perfect. <3
Leaving -- Not too long after the dance we were about partied out. We were tired, we were married, and we were ready to leave for our honeymoon! So at around 5 pm (I think??) we left. People had bubbles and most of the younger people (read: under 30-ish) did them for us. We got into the pretty red car, I believe it was a 1935 Ford 2-Door and after stuffing my dress in there we drove away! :-) Seth liked driving the car, of course! We ended up driving around for a minute even though with my giant dress and us being seriously tall we barely fit in it. We parked it back down near our dressing rooms away from the crowds and went and got out of our formal clothes. I was sad to take my dress off but at the same time I was soooo happy to take the stupid bra off. It left lines all around me! Stupid boning. haha. I was also sad to take my veil off. That thing is SERIOUSLY gorgeous. <3 I love it. We changed into our real clothes and we went back up to make sure everything was being taken care of. By then all the "guest guests" had left and it was mainly bridal party and family. We helped clean up, because we are suckers for helping people and we felt weird not helping, and then we went out to find Seth's truck covered in toilet paper, balloons, writing, putty stuff, etc. Yay? Lol. We had to cut all the TP and balloons off before we could actually leave. Funny fact? Seth got out his knife right? You can tell he's changed me because I then broke out my little pink Browning knife to help! hahaha. It was kind of hilarious.
We're Married! Let's Honeymoon! (or mini-moon) -- We drove away from our wedding happy and cute. :-) We stopped to get drinks and gas, typed directions to Callaway in to the GPS and were off! It took us around 2 hours to get there. We snacked and chatted the whole way there. I haven't been much happier than I was that day in a looooong time, if ever. Once we got there we checked in at the front desk and got the key to our private cottage! Have I mentioned how EFFING AWESOME my mother is?! It was so nice and we are so incredibly lucky that she did that for us. We went in and took our bags and were so thrilled with it. We had our own fireplace! It was in the living room. It also had a kitchen, a patio, and then the bedroom & bathroom. So nice! After putting our stuff down we wanted to find a place for dinner, but since it was close to 9 pm a lot of places were closed. We went to this little restaurant place that I can't remember the name of and ate dinner for the first time as husband and wife. It was nice. :-) We went back to the room and Seth got a fire going while I took a bath. I felt so dirty from the day and I wanted to get all the stuff out of my hair. It was just so nice and relaxing. Afterwards, well *blush* you know... ;-)
We woke up the next morning around 9 am because we didn't want to waste the day! We tried to do EVERYTHING we had access to! We did the scenic tour, we went to the Butterfly Center which was so much fun! We love looking at stuff like that. Got some cool pictures. I swear I'll update this with pictures at some point! We went to the Discovery Center next and looked at all kinds of stuff, walked over the lake, etc. Then we went to the Horticultural Center and were amazed at the flowers, the water falls, the REAL bananas, and the giant koi fish! It is just so beautiful there. We finished our scenic drive and then we had pretty much done all we could do at the actual Gardens. By then it was time for lunch and we stopped at this deceptively amazing southern food restaurant. It looked like a hole-in-the-wall type of place, but as we all know, those are the best! It was seriously good.
Then we went and had a REAL adventure! haha. We went to the Wild Animal Safari and OMG! It was a blast! It is both a walk-through and drive-through zoo type thing with all kinds of crazy animals! We decided not to take Seth's truck, which in retrospect was an EXCELLENT idea. Instead we rented this goofy little Toyota Avalon that was missing a window and was painted to look "like a zebra." Absolutely hilarious! Definitely had to get a picture of that. So you get in this rental car and you can buy food to feed the animals. We got quite a bit of it. The first thing we see is the people in front of us getting bombarded by like a texas longhorn, some bull things, a calf, pigs, deer. It was crazy! We fed them and tried to get away! ha. Then there were some really persistent deer that we fed before we got up to the FREAKING GIRAFFE that Seth fed (it was on his side). Then I got to feed a REINDEER, some more deer and a donkey and others. There was a mean little emu (or ostrich, can't remember) and that sucker was mean! It could take someone's eye out! We drove past the Lions laying out in the sun. Then more deer and cows/calves, a horse, goats, a freakin' BISON! Or was it a Buffalo? It was huge and had a gross tongue. We saw a Rhinoceros, a camel, a gross cow thing, some actual Zebras which were cute, and then back through the Texas longhorn's and others. It was hilariously fun and I'd do it again in a heartbeat! Kind of makes me want to go on a real safari. ;-) haha.
There was also a walk-through zoo that had monkeys, lemurs, chicken/roosters, a couple of black bears, goats, a Liger, a tiger, ponies, hyenas, kangaroo, an alligator. Just all kind of crazy stuff! It was so fun! You could feed them too, btw.
After our lovely adventure, we then headed to Roosevelt State Park and drove through there and eventually made our way back home. :-) We got home fairly late that night and the doggies were so happy to see their legitimately married parents. ;-) It was just nice.
I wish our Honeymoon had been a real, long one, but we will make it up later. I am so glad that we got to do something at all because it made the transition a little easier though I do think it would have been easier to have a whole week to relax and bask in the newlywed glow. <3 We'll make it up though! No worries!
We had an amazing wedding and were surrounded by our amazing family and friends. I have no idea how any of this would have happened without my Mom to donate so much of her time, effort, money and love to us. She helped me plan probably 70% of the wedding, helped and did most of the DIY projects because I am so not crafty, was perfect basically. We are just so lucky, seriously. We had a beautiful wedding and while it was certainly a budget wedding it just goes to show that whether you blow $50,000 on a wedding or you are more frugal with your wedding, it doesn't actually matter. Ours was perfect.<3
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PHOTO UPDATE: Mini-Moon Pictures
*****This is definitely not all of the pictures, but it's a good idea of what went down. Lol.****
*********EDITED********* Added the random collages. Some pictures are courtesy of Ashleigh Dees photography (the ones with her watermark) and the others were taken with my Mom's camera since we don't have all of our pro-pics back yet.
Week Before -- this week was CRAZY! It was pretty much business as usual as far as us both working and ya-da-ya-da until the Thursday & Friday before. Besides Mom & I going super-organized-chicks on the packing. We labeled all the totes with exactly what was in them. Yes, you become your mother. Yes, I love that idea. ;-) But you know.. That's when things got a little nuts. Also, I had to try and steam the wrinkles out of my dress which turned out to be a HUGE pain in the ass. In the end, Mom ended up ironing it -- I couldn't be in the room because I was afraid it would ruin it! haha. Anxious. But it obviously turned out okay!! We had to pack all the stuff in the room into the Suburban and still pretend like relaxing was a priority when we had to get our nails done. It took forever and they are annoying! I hate having them long. Lol.
Rehearsal -- So the Rehearsal...Oh, well yeah. It happened. Jackie & Danny met Seth & I at our house. I rode with Jackie and Danny rode with Seth so Jackie could bring me home while Seth & Danny went and got haircuts. I had bags to pack and showers to take, darnit! ;-) We all got to the rehearsal on time...but the person supposed to let us in? Yeah, not so much. That was pretty frickin' annoying, but it was fine. We got in and had plenty of time. Mom & Mark & Nanny proceeded to decorate their hearts out while the rest of us were bossed around by Mrs. Coordinator Lady. Some WP members were not her biggest fans. Lol. But it all worked out, Pastor Doug had a good convo with us, no one got too pissy (though Mom got irritated at a non-related person) and we were good. We went to the Rehearsal Dinner Seth's family had planned and had a nice time. :-) Gave the girls their gifts - Yay! :-) They seemed to like them. I know the bag was super useful! Then Jackie and I had a really awesome conversation on the drive back about our friendship and how we're getting old. ;-) She had to go pack for ENGLAND!! Lucky lady. I went and packed for our mini-moon and made sure everything was in order for the next busy day! Took a sleeping pill and I slept amazingly. ;-) ha.
The Morning-Of -- The morning was pretty nuts. Heather met me at our house and Jackie came to pick us up (this made the most sense logistically since my car needed to stay at our house.) It was 7:20/7:30 in the morning when we went on our merry way. :-) Dresses and bags in tow. Seth got up and showered, went and picked up the rest of the GM gifts, and headed over to his Grandma's where he, Danny & Shane were going to be. We got to my Mom's around 7:45. Mark & Ava were up eating breakfast - they had doughnuts and other yummy breakfast food. It was perfect. Tabitha (aka amazingest hair lady ever!!) got there right on time around 8:00 and got started! Jackie's hair was first - and looked perfect with her new bangs! Then Kellan & Mrs. Jill got there for makeup! Yay! So after Jackie's hair, she moved to makeup and Heather moved to hair. Her hair looked soooo nice and pretty! We shuffled in and out of the hair & makeup seats. I was next for makeup and felt sooo pampered and pretty - ya know, cause I am! ;-) Ava was getting her hair done while I had makeup. :-) She loved it and looked like a doll! Elea was doing her own hair, but stopped to come get some makeup from Jill, Will got a blow-out for his awesome long hair, my hair got done and looked incredible! And then Tabitha did my Mom's hair after she'd had her makeup done. It looked SO good! By then it was around time to leave - the boys (meaning Will & Zach) were handsome and ready and Zach's date Kennedy had arrived. We all packed in to our respective cars in true convoy style and were headed out!!
The Day-Of -- At the venue finally! We got there right around when we wanted to at 11:30-ish. We all headed to our respective rooms. The boys got changed, I got my dress and veil on -- eek! It was amazing! I was like holy smokes who is she?! And then the girls were getting ready during our First Look! :-D
Some detail shots:
First Look -- Okay, so you know what I expected our First Look to be? Us seeing eachother for the first time, all giggly and smiley and telling eachother how hot we were. Reality? It was the sweetest moment of our lives, I think. I basically burst into tears and we hugged and laughed and it was just perfect. He cried a little too just so I don't sound like a nut! Our amazing photographers were able to capture these moments and that is just priceless to me! I will never regret that for two reasons. 1. It was so special and emotional. 2. It calmed us both a bit and made us realize what this was all about Us!
Pre-Ceremony Pictures -- So part of the idea behind the First Look was that we'd get most of our family and wedding party pictures done before the ceremony. We got a lot of great shots, but honestly it was kind of a blur! We haven't gotten all of our pictures back yet (we got 25 because Ashleigh & Amy are amazing!) and they look freaking FANTASTIC! We got some of us, some of me & the girls, him & the guys (yes including some with the awesome car), we got big group shots, some with our family. It was good.
Ceremony --After the pictures, we both freshened up, spoke to Doug (our officiant) for a moment and he calmed our nerves and was very sweet. Then it was time to go! Everyone else started lining up (add in here that I had to go to the bathroom and mom had to help me! hahah. So awkward and hilarious.) and all of a sudden, we were upstairs and the music had already started! By the time Seth & I got settled upstairs, the parents had mostly all been seated and the Bridal Party had already started! We were like, OMG! All of a sudden they shut the door so we could make our entrance, we heard our music start to play and the doors opened. I cried, yes, again. And we walked down together, like it should be. :-) It fit us SO perfectly and was so incredibly perfect to walk down the aisle together to OUR marriage ceremony.
The ceremony itself is kind of a blur! Thank goodness for pictures
Post-Ceremony -- After we got out of there, Seth and I hopped on the elevator and went downstairs and had a few moments of "We did it! Omg!" Lol. Then we had a post-ceremony picture session with Ashleigh & Amy and THOSE pictures were just awesome. Seriously we look so good. It was fun to just have a few moments, get pictures of us ACTUALLY married, share some private moments, that type of thing.
The "Reception" -- We entered the reception and everyone started clapping. To be honest, I didn't expect that for whatever reason? hahah. We both felt kind of awkward but it was also nice. We spent the next 20-ish minutes visiting with our guests and trying to say hi to as many people as we could. I know there were some we missed or some that left right after the ceremony. :/ We cut our cake, which BTW was absolutely gorgeous and DELICIOUS! I am not even joking it was fantastic! Debbie (at The Cake House & More!) is excellent! But yeah, so we cut it even though we were, yet again, awkward. ;-) Awkwardly us. We ate a few bites; I was literally about to fall over because I hadn't eaten since like 8 am?? So I had a little food with my cake, I downed like 3 full glasses of water because I was so hot, we took a few more family pictures (mainly the extended family), a few more bridal party, and then.....we danced. Good grief! I hate dancing in public, I really do. This was only the second time Seth & I had danced together and we didn't know what to do. We basically ended up doing what I call the "middle school shuffle" and going in a circle. I mean I know that's what most people do but DAMN! We ended up calling Ashleigh over and seeing if she'd save us from our misery and have the DJ guy fade the song out. For the record, our song was "Never Gonna Be Alone" by Nickelback. I mean, duhhhh. We've seen Nickelback in concert together and the song is perfect. <3
Leaving -- Not too long after the dance we were about partied out. We were tired, we were married, and we were ready to leave for our honeymoon! So at around 5 pm (I think??) we left. People had bubbles and most of the younger people (read: under 30-ish) did them for us. We got into the pretty red car, I believe it was a 1935 Ford 2-Door and after stuffing my dress in there we drove away! :-) Seth liked driving the car, of course! We ended up driving around for a minute even though with my giant dress and us being seriously tall we barely fit in it. We parked it back down near our dressing rooms away from the crowds and went and got out of our formal clothes. I was sad to take my dress off but at the same time I was soooo happy to take the stupid bra off. It left lines all around me! Stupid boning. haha. I was also sad to take my veil off. That thing is SERIOUSLY gorgeous. <3 I love it. We changed into our real clothes and we went back up to make sure everything was being taken care of. By then all the "guest guests" had left and it was mainly bridal party and family. We helped clean up, because we are suckers for helping people and we felt weird not helping, and then we went out to find Seth's truck covered in toilet paper, balloons, writing, putty stuff, etc. Yay? Lol. We had to cut all the TP and balloons off before we could actually leave. Funny fact? Seth got out his knife right? You can tell he's changed me because I then broke out my little pink Browning knife to help! hahaha. It was kind of hilarious.
We're Married! Let's Honeymoon! (or mini-moon) -- We drove away from our wedding happy and cute. :-) We stopped to get drinks and gas, typed directions to Callaway in to the GPS and were off! It took us around 2 hours to get there. We snacked and chatted the whole way there. I haven't been much happier than I was that day in a looooong time, if ever. Once we got there we checked in at the front desk and got the key to our private cottage! Have I mentioned how EFFING AWESOME my mother is?! It was so nice and we are so incredibly lucky that she did that for us. We went in and took our bags and were so thrilled with it. We had our own fireplace! It was in the living room. It also had a kitchen, a patio, and then the bedroom & bathroom. So nice! After putting our stuff down we wanted to find a place for dinner, but since it was close to 9 pm a lot of places were closed. We went to this little restaurant place that I can't remember the name of and ate dinner for the first time as husband and wife. It was nice. :-) We went back to the room and Seth got a fire going while I took a bath. I felt so dirty from the day and I wanted to get all the stuff out of my hair. It was just so nice and relaxing. Afterwards, well *blush* you know... ;-)
We woke up the next morning around 9 am because we didn't want to waste the day! We tried to do EVERYTHING we had access to! We did the scenic tour, we went to the Butterfly Center which was so much fun! We love looking at stuff like that. Got some cool pictures. I swear I'll update this with pictures at some point! We went to the Discovery Center next and looked at all kinds of stuff, walked over the lake, etc. Then we went to the Horticultural Center and were amazed at the flowers, the water falls, the REAL bananas, and the giant koi fish! It is just so beautiful there. We finished our scenic drive and then we had pretty much done all we could do at the actual Gardens. By then it was time for lunch and we stopped at this deceptively amazing southern food restaurant. It looked like a hole-in-the-wall type of place, but as we all know, those are the best! It was seriously good.
Then we went and had a REAL adventure! haha. We went to the Wild Animal Safari and OMG! It was a blast! It is both a walk-through and drive-through zoo type thing with all kinds of crazy animals! We decided not to take Seth's truck, which in retrospect was an EXCELLENT idea. Instead we rented this goofy little Toyota Avalon that was missing a window and was painted to look "like a zebra." Absolutely hilarious! Definitely had to get a picture of that. So you get in this rental car and you can buy food to feed the animals. We got quite a bit of it. The first thing we see is the people in front of us getting bombarded by like a texas longhorn, some bull things, a calf, pigs, deer. It was crazy! We fed them and tried to get away! ha. Then there were some really persistent deer that we fed before we got up to the FREAKING GIRAFFE that Seth fed (it was on his side). Then I got to feed a REINDEER, some more deer and a donkey and others. There was a mean little emu (or ostrich, can't remember) and that sucker was mean! It could take someone's eye out! We drove past the Lions laying out in the sun. Then more deer and cows/calves, a horse, goats, a freakin' BISON! Or was it a Buffalo? It was huge and had a gross tongue. We saw a Rhinoceros, a camel, a gross cow thing, some actual Zebras which were cute, and then back through the Texas longhorn's and others. It was hilariously fun and I'd do it again in a heartbeat! Kind of makes me want to go on a real safari. ;-) haha.
There was also a walk-through zoo that had monkeys, lemurs, chicken/roosters, a couple of black bears, goats, a Liger, a tiger, ponies, hyenas, kangaroo, an alligator. Just all kind of crazy stuff! It was so fun! You could feed them too, btw.
After our lovely adventure, we then headed to Roosevelt State Park and drove through there and eventually made our way back home. :-) We got home fairly late that night and the doggies were so happy to see their legitimately married parents. ;-) It was just nice.
I wish our Honeymoon had been a real, long one, but we will make it up later. I am so glad that we got to do something at all because it made the transition a little easier though I do think it would have been easier to have a whole week to relax and bask in the newlywed glow. <3 We'll make it up though! No worries!
We had an amazing wedding and were surrounded by our amazing family and friends. I have no idea how any of this would have happened without my Mom to donate so much of her time, effort, money and love to us. She helped me plan probably 70% of the wedding, helped and did most of the DIY projects because I am so not crafty, was perfect basically. We are just so lucky, seriously. We had a beautiful wedding and while it was certainly a budget wedding it just goes to show that whether you blow $50,000 on a wedding or you are more frugal with your wedding, it doesn't actually matter. Ours was perfect.<3
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PHOTO UPDATE: Mini-Moon Pictures
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| How gross we looked the night after our wedding - hahaha |
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| Our fire in our suite :) :) |
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| Inside the butterfly gardens |
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| Look how gorgeous! |
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| This picture made me so happy that day to see my HUSBAND wearing his wedding ring. <3 |
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| Terrible picture of us at the lake :) |
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| Bananas! |
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| We TRIED to get pictures... |
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| Hahahahaha I still die laughing -- I mean look at this car! |
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| Gorgeous giraffe - such pretty eyelashes |
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| Reindeer! |
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| Hahaha Ew |
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| Seth's face :) |
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
You're In For A Long One, Blog....
I literally don't even know where to begin. There's been a LOT happen in the past week or so.
For starters, we are getting super close to the ONE WEEK mark! Can you believe it?? I can but I can't all at the same time. It feels like it's been forever, but at the same time it's hard to believe that one of the biggest days of our lives as a couple is coming up so quickly. I've been steadily checking things off my to-do list. We finished all three of our pre-marital counseling sessions (which by the way were GREAT!), we got the Mixbook in the mail that I made as our Guest Book (which is adorable!), we've gotten the last linens and utensils ready (YAY!). We've arranged all the servers, we got our marriage license a few weeks ago! Eek! That made it feel real. Also, we've finished DIY'ing our programs AND I've had both my makeup and hair trials! Like, holy cow wedding update, right?
Here's a bit more detail about those things:
Here are my hair trial pictures, done by the fabulous Tabitha. We are going to go a bit "bigger" on the day-of and the curls will be a little more defined as we ran out of hairspray! haha. Would be my luck. It looks pretty damn fabulous as it is though! I loooooove the back! The bangs will also have more TLC, they were dirty that day. Lol. Obviously since my face is so shiny it was after work one day.
P.S. Look how damn long my hair is! lol.
Also, Here is a sneak peek for the few of you that read my blog! haha. This is how our ceremony programs turned out. Super cute for like, $5 don't you think?! :-)
I didn't post the back, but it has all the attendants, parents, grandmothers, and all that jazz on the back. I didn't want to post people's names all over the interwebs or anything if they didn't want me to. :p Granted....their pictures will be plastered ALL OVER this blog in a few weeks. Heh. But they will be FABULOUS pictures, so it's all good. Also there is a memorial message for those that can't be with us. :-(
I'd post a picture of our license up here if I didn't want to look like a total lunatic, but you see... I'm trying super hard to not have this post last forever and a day. It'll be pretty close as it is! ;-)
OH, something super shiny. Here is some ring porn! The camera was awkward, but Seth's ring is actually White Gold and mine is White Gold with Pave diamonds in the band to match my fabulous e-ring. Ring Porn:
Cannot WAIT to get to wear them both together!! :-) Eek! And you see what I'm saying about Seth's ring looking the wrong color? So weird. There will be some non-awkward pics taken by our photog, I can guarantee that.
That about does it for the wedding updates I think!
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Part 2
Now on to some OTHER stuff from this past week. :p
As you all may know, Valentine's Day isn't my favorite. We generally are pretty low-key on V-Day, maybe going out to dinner. Even as a woman who has been in a committed relationship for the past FOUR Valentine's Day's I still do not love it. However...Seth did a marvelously convincing job at making me like it this year. Why? Because it was so incredibly simple and sweet. We decided months ago that we would do Valentine's Day in -- screw the crowds, the awkward "having dinner with 39403 other couples" thing. So here's how it went down: He got me a single red rose and a card to start the day - I found it on my way downstairs that morning on the way to work. "Awww." Then when I got home (since I leave after him AND get home before him) he texts me to look in the cabinet above the fridge. YAY I find chocolate! Lol. When he gets home, he basically tells me to stay out of the kitchen, which I happily do almost every day anyways. I am NOT the cook in our little family. When he's all done, he has made homemade Chicken Parmesan and fettuccine alfredo! It was absolutely delicious and we both agreed that it was way better than going out and spending a ton waiting in lines for the same thing...for more money! Lol. This is our cute little setup. :-)
Then we had a brownie thing for dessert and watched Valentine's Day <-- his choice. Again, 'Awww.' We cuddled on the couch and then...it was bedtime. ;-) Ya know what I mean. I know, I'm being that gross lady. Sorry! But you see, there it is. Did I mention he was playing lovey-dovey music while we ate and such? Lol.
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Part 3
The Bachelorette/Bachelor Parties
Oh, how do I even begin with these? Lol. We'll just say this: The theme of the girl's night was, "So there were 3 girls on a mountain..." Basically in what-could-go-wrong-probably-did fashion. It was, overall, a good time. There were just lots of bumps! The guys seemed to have a fabulous time at Dave & Busters, other than Derek getting lost and missing out. :-( Seth feels terrible about that part. There was a location mix-up that we plan on fixing. Boooo. But the guys had a good time at D&B until the wee hours of the morning. haha.
A little more detail, I suppose, would be good. Not that I suspect any of us will forget anytime soon! But the purpose of my blog is to serve as my "memory."
So, Heather couldn't come. Something about her uncle's surgery and such. So it was just going to be me and Jackie driving up to Blairsville and Elea would be driving in separately since she's actually closer. The day before I remember that my tires have been doing this awkward bouncy thing and I need to take it somewhere. I call a place in Conyers and they say they'll rotate them...when I talk to Seth I realize I need them balanced too. So we take them to Seth's work...They did it all, which was great, but it took forever, putting Jackie and I way behind schedule. We ended up finally leaving and get on our merry way. We drive, just a little traffic but no biggie. Right before we turn on to the road to the house in the mountains my steering wheel starts shaking. Wtf? But we just keep driving because what else can we do? We're on a tiny mountain road.
We pull up and the house is GORGEOUS - it really is beautiful. Elea is already there, so the three of us take our stuff in and begin to settle in. We literally chat for close to 2 hours before we remember that we're supposed to do stuff - like, ya know, eat? And go buy wine? Heh. It was a good conversation obviously, accompanied by the yummy cookies and petit fours that Mrs. Jill got for us! Mm. Well we finally realize what time it is and that we should probably get ready. We freshen up our outfits and hair/makeup and decide to go to a restaurant called Fatz's <-- basically Blairsville's version of Applebee's or Chilli's.
Well, on the way down the mountain my tire is acting straight up stupid. The wheel is turning and we realize that it may be a flat. Yes, even after the hours we spent trying to prevent any retardedness, it is still there. We pull over into a fairly creepy gravel driveway and inspect it -- during this time, Elea and I are trying to pretend we know what to do and we don't realize that Jackie is having a conversation with her brother about an earlier argument. :-( She was trying to keep it from ruining my night; I felt bad. :-( But back to what was happening: I call Seth and tell him I have a flat. My tire's PSI was a 16! It's supposed to be like 36! Both Elea and I checked it to make sure we weren't being dumb, but there it was. So we carefully make our way back to Jackie's house going like 4 MPH. We make it, somehow, and hop into Elea's car. Thank goodness she drove too!
So we're in Elea's car. All is good right? Eh. It's started to rain and her windshield wipers are crap. So we make it to the restaurant but it was a slow drive since we couldn't see! The restaurant was good - yummy food and a free cake thing since it was my Bachelorette! Lol. The server took a few pics for us, which I will post as soon as I get them! Also during this time we realize that Jackie is not doing so well. :-( We figure out why (an argument, we'll say) and we all attempt to smooth it over to the best of our abilities, but none of us really know how to handle it. Have I ever mentioned that we are all pretty weird/awkward in strange situations? So we leave from there to head to Wally World - why? We need wine and we need junkfood...and windshield wipers.
We pick out a Pink Moscato (yummy) and some Arbor Mist (not so yummy), got some popcorn, some yoohoo's and Coke's, and some candy. Then we go figure out the windshield wipers. Thank goodness there was a little book telling us what size and type to get! After we figured out what a "J-Hook" was, we pick out some hopefully good wipers. We go through the checkout and we're outside...it's starting to rain a little harder so we *know* we need to get the windshield wipers in better order before we try and make it back. So there we are...three girls who have never changed windshield wipers, in the Wal-Mart parking lot in the rain. Lol. I'm sure it was a sight. Two of the highlights: While figuring out how to get the J-Hook off the stupid wiper, I almost broke Elea's fingernail! Yikes! But we did get it off... lol. Then a lady asked us if we needed any help, to which Elea replied, "Do you know how to change a windshield wiper?" And the lady said, "No," so Elea said, "Then no." <--- Heh. Too funny. Did I mention that at this time Jackie had to run back inside to the bathroom and we wanted her to bring somebody with testosterone out with her? haha. We finally managed to somewhat figure it out, but we only did one. It was starting to pour and we didn't want to chance the other one.
So we make our way back to Jackie's with one working windshield wiper. But hey! We did it! We get back, unload the leftovers and the Wal-Mart goodies and then we realize there is a weird beeping. At first we think it's the alarm, but it can't be. It was disarmed! Then we are checking smoke alarms, motion sensors, pretty much anything...and realize, alas, it WAS the alarm. Because the battery was going dead! This is what Elea and I refer to as our "Nancy Drew" moments. We can't turn it off because that could disarm the whole system! Eek! So we heard a beep-beep-beep-beep-beep sound every few minutes. Lol. It was pretty comical by the end.
We decide to open the wine and head downstairs with our snacks for a chick flick - we decide on The Proposal and watch it. I love that movie so much! lol. We go back upstairs and by now it's like 1 something in the morning. We're all tired but end up having a "come to Jesus" meeting in the living room. We're all being pretty damn honest...that usually happens after a long day filled with all kinds of stuff and being tired. Perhaps the wine didn't hurt that either. We end up chatting until like 3 in the morning and all go on to bed at like 3 or 3:15? That is, after we ghetto-rigged the alarm to attempt to muffle the beeping so we can sleep. We're geniuses. ;-)
The rest of this is pretty mundane, but here goes. We get up the next morning, Elea is having an allergy issue but has her meds, we pack our stuff up and Elea has to leave before Jackie's dad comes with their dogs (P.S. Bomber and Buford are cute.) We attempt to help with the windshield wipers - all I'm good for is getting them OFF and Elea can get them back on! heh. So, together we earned our Man Cards? So Elea leaves and Jackie's dad saves us! He takes my stupid tire to Wal-Mart and gets a patch thingy for it, fills it back up and puts it on. We're good to go! Saved the day! Lol. So Jackie and I head out, it was a long paranoid drive, but we made it home safely. It was quite the eventful night, huh? :p
Pics soon!
For starters, we are getting super close to the ONE WEEK mark! Can you believe it?? I can but I can't all at the same time. It feels like it's been forever, but at the same time it's hard to believe that one of the biggest days of our lives as a couple is coming up so quickly. I've been steadily checking things off my to-do list. We finished all three of our pre-marital counseling sessions (which by the way were GREAT!), we got the Mixbook in the mail that I made as our Guest Book (which is adorable!), we've gotten the last linens and utensils ready (YAY!). We've arranged all the servers, we got our marriage license a few weeks ago! Eek! That made it feel real. Also, we've finished DIY'ing our programs AND I've had both my makeup and hair trials! Like, holy cow wedding update, right?
Here's a bit more detail about those things:
Here are my hair trial pictures, done by the fabulous Tabitha. We are going to go a bit "bigger" on the day-of and the curls will be a little more defined as we ran out of hairspray! haha. Would be my luck. It looks pretty damn fabulous as it is though! I loooooove the back! The bangs will also have more TLC, they were dirty that day. Lol. Obviously since my face is so shiny it was after work one day.
P.S. Look how damn long my hair is! lol.
Also, Here is a sneak peek for the few of you that read my blog! haha. This is how our ceremony programs turned out. Super cute for like, $5 don't you think?! :-)
I'd post a picture of our license up here if I didn't want to look like a total lunatic, but you see... I'm trying super hard to not have this post last forever and a day. It'll be pretty close as it is! ;-)
OH, something super shiny. Here is some ring porn! The camera was awkward, but Seth's ring is actually White Gold and mine is White Gold with Pave diamonds in the band to match my fabulous e-ring. Ring Porn:
Cannot WAIT to get to wear them both together!! :-) Eek! And you see what I'm saying about Seth's ring looking the wrong color? So weird. There will be some non-awkward pics taken by our photog, I can guarantee that.
That about does it for the wedding updates I think!
------
Part 2
Now on to some OTHER stuff from this past week. :p
As you all may know, Valentine's Day isn't my favorite. We generally are pretty low-key on V-Day, maybe going out to dinner. Even as a woman who has been in a committed relationship for the past FOUR Valentine's Day's I still do not love it. However...Seth did a marvelously convincing job at making me like it this year. Why? Because it was so incredibly simple and sweet. We decided months ago that we would do Valentine's Day in -- screw the crowds, the awkward "having dinner with 39403 other couples" thing. So here's how it went down: He got me a single red rose and a card to start the day - I found it on my way downstairs that morning on the way to work. "Awww." Then when I got home (since I leave after him AND get home before him) he texts me to look in the cabinet above the fridge. YAY I find chocolate! Lol. When he gets home, he basically tells me to stay out of the kitchen, which I happily do almost every day anyways. I am NOT the cook in our little family. When he's all done, he has made homemade Chicken Parmesan and fettuccine alfredo! It was absolutely delicious and we both agreed that it was way better than going out and spending a ton waiting in lines for the same thing...for more money! Lol. This is our cute little setup. :-)
----
Part 3
The Bachelorette/Bachelor Parties
Oh, how do I even begin with these? Lol. We'll just say this: The theme of the girl's night was, "So there were 3 girls on a mountain..." Basically in what-could-go-wrong-probably-did fashion. It was, overall, a good time. There were just lots of bumps! The guys seemed to have a fabulous time at Dave & Busters, other than Derek getting lost and missing out. :-( Seth feels terrible about that part. There was a location mix-up that we plan on fixing. Boooo. But the guys had a good time at D&B until the wee hours of the morning. haha.
A little more detail, I suppose, would be good. Not that I suspect any of us will forget anytime soon! But the purpose of my blog is to serve as my "memory."
So, Heather couldn't come. Something about her uncle's surgery and such. So it was just going to be me and Jackie driving up to Blairsville and Elea would be driving in separately since she's actually closer. The day before I remember that my tires have been doing this awkward bouncy thing and I need to take it somewhere. I call a place in Conyers and they say they'll rotate them...when I talk to Seth I realize I need them balanced too. So we take them to Seth's work...They did it all, which was great, but it took forever, putting Jackie and I way behind schedule. We ended up finally leaving and get on our merry way. We drive, just a little traffic but no biggie. Right before we turn on to the road to the house in the mountains my steering wheel starts shaking. Wtf? But we just keep driving because what else can we do? We're on a tiny mountain road.
We pull up and the house is GORGEOUS - it really is beautiful. Elea is already there, so the three of us take our stuff in and begin to settle in. We literally chat for close to 2 hours before we remember that we're supposed to do stuff - like, ya know, eat? And go buy wine? Heh. It was a good conversation obviously, accompanied by the yummy cookies and petit fours that Mrs. Jill got for us! Mm. Well we finally realize what time it is and that we should probably get ready. We freshen up our outfits and hair/makeup and decide to go to a restaurant called Fatz's <-- basically Blairsville's version of Applebee's or Chilli's.
Well, on the way down the mountain my tire is acting straight up stupid. The wheel is turning and we realize that it may be a flat. Yes, even after the hours we spent trying to prevent any retardedness, it is still there. We pull over into a fairly creepy gravel driveway and inspect it -- during this time, Elea and I are trying to pretend we know what to do and we don't realize that Jackie is having a conversation with her brother about an earlier argument. :-( She was trying to keep it from ruining my night; I felt bad. :-( But back to what was happening: I call Seth and tell him I have a flat. My tire's PSI was a 16! It's supposed to be like 36! Both Elea and I checked it to make sure we weren't being dumb, but there it was. So we carefully make our way back to Jackie's house going like 4 MPH. We make it, somehow, and hop into Elea's car. Thank goodness she drove too!
So we're in Elea's car. All is good right? Eh. It's started to rain and her windshield wipers are crap. So we make it to the restaurant but it was a slow drive since we couldn't see! The restaurant was good - yummy food and a free cake thing since it was my Bachelorette! Lol. The server took a few pics for us, which I will post as soon as I get them! Also during this time we realize that Jackie is not doing so well. :-( We figure out why (an argument, we'll say) and we all attempt to smooth it over to the best of our abilities, but none of us really know how to handle it. Have I ever mentioned that we are all pretty weird/awkward in strange situations? So we leave from there to head to Wally World - why? We need wine and we need junkfood...and windshield wipers.
We pick out a Pink Moscato (yummy) and some Arbor Mist (not so yummy), got some popcorn, some yoohoo's and Coke's, and some candy. Then we go figure out the windshield wipers. Thank goodness there was a little book telling us what size and type to get! After we figured out what a "J-Hook" was, we pick out some hopefully good wipers. We go through the checkout and we're outside...it's starting to rain a little harder so we *know* we need to get the windshield wipers in better order before we try and make it back. So there we are...three girls who have never changed windshield wipers, in the Wal-Mart parking lot in the rain. Lol. I'm sure it was a sight. Two of the highlights: While figuring out how to get the J-Hook off the stupid wiper, I almost broke Elea's fingernail! Yikes! But we did get it off... lol. Then a lady asked us if we needed any help, to which Elea replied, "Do you know how to change a windshield wiper?" And the lady said, "No," so Elea said, "Then no." <--- Heh. Too funny. Did I mention that at this time Jackie had to run back inside to the bathroom and we wanted her to bring somebody with testosterone out with her? haha. We finally managed to somewhat figure it out, but we only did one. It was starting to pour and we didn't want to chance the other one.
So we make our way back to Jackie's with one working windshield wiper. But hey! We did it! We get back, unload the leftovers and the Wal-Mart goodies and then we realize there is a weird beeping. At first we think it's the alarm, but it can't be. It was disarmed! Then we are checking smoke alarms, motion sensors, pretty much anything...and realize, alas, it WAS the alarm. Because the battery was going dead! This is what Elea and I refer to as our "Nancy Drew" moments. We can't turn it off because that could disarm the whole system! Eek! So we heard a beep-beep-beep-beep-beep sound every few minutes. Lol. It was pretty comical by the end.
We decide to open the wine and head downstairs with our snacks for a chick flick - we decide on The Proposal and watch it. I love that movie so much! lol. We go back upstairs and by now it's like 1 something in the morning. We're all tired but end up having a "come to Jesus" meeting in the living room. We're all being pretty damn honest...that usually happens after a long day filled with all kinds of stuff and being tired. Perhaps the wine didn't hurt that either. We end up chatting until like 3 in the morning and all go on to bed at like 3 or 3:15? That is, after we ghetto-rigged the alarm to attempt to muffle the beeping so we can sleep. We're geniuses. ;-)
The rest of this is pretty mundane, but here goes. We get up the next morning, Elea is having an allergy issue but has her meds, we pack our stuff up and Elea has to leave before Jackie's dad comes with their dogs (P.S. Bomber and Buford are cute.) We attempt to help with the windshield wipers - all I'm good for is getting them OFF and Elea can get them back on! heh. So, together we earned our Man Cards? So Elea leaves and Jackie's dad saves us! He takes my stupid tire to Wal-Mart and gets a patch thingy for it, fills it back up and puts it on. We're good to go! Saved the day! Lol. So Jackie and I head out, it was a long paranoid drive, but we made it home safely. It was quite the eventful night, huh? :p
Pics soon!
Monday, February 13, 2012
Best Day Ever! Hell, it was a pretty good WEEK!
So I know that normally the brides are apparently holy terrors and highly unpleasant to be around during the last month or so of planning...I'll say that I've probably had a few 'zilla moments, but they are few and far between. Sure, I get a little stressed here and there with the actual planning of this day BUT I am used to being stressed so I don't feel that I've been that bad! Others can beg to differ if they really want to! I mean, I feel like I've been pretty damn laid back through this process in general.
Anyways, let's recap my week. On Thursday I spoke with Elizabeth at Mom's school about Grad School - lots of talking later and I realized the program I was talking about wasn't exactly right for me. Now I am considering one at Mercer. Also, I had lunch with Ashley and got to meet Baby Charlie, who was surprisingly well-behaved for a 1.5 month old! P.S. I know nothing about baby gear.
Also that day, we had our 2nd Pre-Marital Counseling appointment. I'll say I LOVE our weekly meetings with Doug. They are really great. I wouldn't mind doing that every week...for forever. Is that weird? Lol. Two things I want to remember for our marriage: Boundaries (re: family sharing) and Communication Techniques (re: saying what you heard before freaking out.) It has been amazing. I also love that he keeps telling us we'll have no problems and are a solid couple. :p Yeah, we're awesome. Lol.
On Saturday, it was Seth's grandma Nell's 75th birthday. We went to Red Lobster - the wait was insane, but the food was good. :) Plus Nell was happy and that is all that matters. Happy Birthday to my future grandmother-in-law.
Today was busssssyyyyyy! In a good way, mostly. :) We had an appointment at 10 am with Ashleigh Dees our photographer. We basically got a more firm timeline for the pictures the day-of and we talked about how we wanted to handle family pictures and things like that. :) I really like her and am super excited to see our photos!!
Then after that, we came back to the house and Heather got here. She and I left and went to my Bridal Shower which started at 2. :) I'll just say this....My Mom and Jackie are super hostesses! It was adorable. The food was delicious - some of my faves: the cake pops, the "lizard guts," Nanny's new chocolate brownie, and the sandwich things. So good! I also liked the cheese wheel and the veggies! I honestly really liked it all. Also, the punch was really good! I am a Sherbet ice cream freak so that helped. ;-)
I only have two pictures so far (one from Mrs Jill's facebook and another from my phone) but they are here for now!
Beyond that, Mom made this AWESOME towel cake thing. It was freakin' adorable!! I'm going to leave it in my dining room until it is deemed socially unacceptable. hahah! AND get this, we're getting an "advice tablecloth." Is she not the most creative lady like....ever? I haven't even mentioned the apron game! That one warrants a picture, I wish I had one already! I'm going to try and upload them asap though. The apron game was basically: I had to wear this crazy embarassing loud apron that had 14 kitchen items hanging from it. The guests got to see it and then I put it up. Whoever guessed the MOST number of items correctly got a cookbook. :) haha. Mrs. Lynn and Elizabeth won that game. Heather won a cookbook too by getting the three questions game right --- Where was mine and Seth's first date; What is my favorite restaurant; What is Seth's favorite restaurant. P.S. Applebee's, Tokyo, Olive Garden.
I had a fantastic time and was really happy so many people came and we got so much awesome stuff! I can't even begin to explain all that. I got lots of fun recipes and my Mom's "famed" cookbook too! I'm a real grownup! haha.
After the shower and after we cleaned up, Me, Mom & Heather went over to Mrs. Jill's house. Mrs. Jill is a Mary Kay consultant (for a loooong time) and she offered to do our wedding day makeup!! So fun. So we went over for some trials. Mom got me this awesome kit that includes the makeup and the cleaners and awesome microdermabrasion kit. Looooove that thing - it makes your skin feel so amazing! I wish I could use it all over. haha. Heather put on makeup for like the first time ever and she looked super pretty too! Mom and I both got our makeup done and we were really happy with it overall! I think there will be a few tweaks made on the wedding day, but it was super fun. My eyeshadow looked awesome! Win! haha.
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PHOTO UPDATE:
In retrospect I wish we'd gotten a big picture with all the people that showed up!
Anyways, let's recap my week. On Thursday I spoke with Elizabeth at Mom's school about Grad School - lots of talking later and I realized the program I was talking about wasn't exactly right for me. Now I am considering one at Mercer. Also, I had lunch with Ashley and got to meet Baby Charlie, who was surprisingly well-behaved for a 1.5 month old! P.S. I know nothing about baby gear.
Also that day, we had our 2nd Pre-Marital Counseling appointment. I'll say I LOVE our weekly meetings with Doug. They are really great. I wouldn't mind doing that every week...for forever. Is that weird? Lol. Two things I want to remember for our marriage: Boundaries (re: family sharing) and Communication Techniques (re: saying what you heard before freaking out.) It has been amazing. I also love that he keeps telling us we'll have no problems and are a solid couple. :p Yeah, we're awesome. Lol.
On Saturday, it was Seth's grandma Nell's 75th birthday. We went to Red Lobster - the wait was insane, but the food was good. :) Plus Nell was happy and that is all that matters. Happy Birthday to my future grandmother-in-law.
Today was busssssyyyyyy! In a good way, mostly. :) We had an appointment at 10 am with Ashleigh Dees our photographer. We basically got a more firm timeline for the pictures the day-of and we talked about how we wanted to handle family pictures and things like that. :) I really like her and am super excited to see our photos!!
Then after that, we came back to the house and Heather got here. She and I left and went to my Bridal Shower which started at 2. :) I'll just say this....My Mom and Jackie are super hostesses! It was adorable. The food was delicious - some of my faves: the cake pops, the "lizard guts," Nanny's new chocolate brownie, and the sandwich things. So good! I also liked the cheese wheel and the veggies! I honestly really liked it all. Also, the punch was really good! I am a Sherbet ice cream freak so that helped. ;-)
I only have two pictures so far (one from Mrs Jill's facebook and another from my phone) but they are here for now!
Beyond that, Mom made this AWESOME towel cake thing. It was freakin' adorable!! I'm going to leave it in my dining room until it is deemed socially unacceptable. hahah! AND get this, we're getting an "advice tablecloth." Is she not the most creative lady like....ever? I haven't even mentioned the apron game! That one warrants a picture, I wish I had one already! I'm going to try and upload them asap though. The apron game was basically: I had to wear this crazy embarassing loud apron that had 14 kitchen items hanging from it. The guests got to see it and then I put it up. Whoever guessed the MOST number of items correctly got a cookbook. :) haha. Mrs. Lynn and Elizabeth won that game. Heather won a cookbook too by getting the three questions game right --- Where was mine and Seth's first date; What is my favorite restaurant; What is Seth's favorite restaurant. P.S. Applebee's, Tokyo, Olive Garden.
I had a fantastic time and was really happy so many people came and we got so much awesome stuff! I can't even begin to explain all that. I got lots of fun recipes and my Mom's "famed" cookbook too! I'm a real grownup! haha.
After the shower and after we cleaned up, Me, Mom & Heather went over to Mrs. Jill's house. Mrs. Jill is a Mary Kay consultant (for a loooong time) and she offered to do our wedding day makeup!! So fun. So we went over for some trials. Mom got me this awesome kit that includes the makeup and the cleaners and awesome microdermabrasion kit. Looooove that thing - it makes your skin feel so amazing! I wish I could use it all over. haha. Heather put on makeup for like the first time ever and she looked super pretty too! Mom and I both got our makeup done and we were really happy with it overall! I think there will be a few tweaks made on the wedding day, but it was super fun. My eyeshadow looked awesome! Win! haha.
___________________________________________
PHOTO UPDATE:
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| Me & My girls :) |
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| The awesome drink dispenser from Jackie & Jill! |
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| The aforementioned (and slightly embarrassing) apron of "stuff" |
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| Sara, Dalas, Maggie & Mrs Melanie Signing the Tablecloth |
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| The cool decorations and some of the signatures :) |
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