Wedding Wednesday!

I'm happy to announce that all bridesmaids have accepted and are accounted for! :) And really, that is the only update I have for this week! I've been spending a lot of time with my family and my future-family so no planning has really gone on. But I'm excited to share how I asked my bridesmaids!

David is really handy with tools and I had him help me create puzzles as the invitation. I started off with this saying:

And attached it to these cute circular boxes with a purple ribbon--one of my wedding colors :)

I wrote each girl a special note about how much they meant to me and how I would be honored if they would stand beside me on my wedding day and put it at the bottom of the box and put the puzzle pieces on top! Each puzzle had a picture of us on it and the question "Will you be my bridesmaid?" After they put the puzzle together, they could read the note! I think everyone really liked the puzzles and I was thrilled with how they turned out :)

Now, meet the bridesmaids!

Jess....

Amy (my cousin)...

Leslie...

Vanessa...

Susan (future SIL)...

I'm thinking each week, I'll tell a little about each girl (assuming it's okay with them) so you all can get to know some of my favorite people :)

Post Christmas...Post

Hi all!

Just letting you know I'm still here :) We ended up having a "white christmas" after all--it was absolutely beautiful!

David and I headed to his parents for a few days and that's where I am now. I fully intend on doing a christmas post (and a video...or five--aren't y'all lucky!) but I don't have all the pictures yet and I'm waiting on the good ones ;) Until then, I'm really enjoying reading about all of your wonderful holidays! It looks like we have all been very blessed this season.

On Christmas Eve, they sang a song and I just fell in love with it. It was a song about Mary singing to her baby boy who had come to save us. I thought it was so beautiful and was so enthralled in the moment of song that I completely forgot the name of it and most of the lyrics after we left! I have been wracking my brain over the last few days trying to figure out what song it was and I'm happy to say that I just found it about 10 minutes ago and wanted to share it with all of you :) I hope it speaks to you like it did to me!

Christmas Eve!

Merry Christmas Eve, everyone! And because I probably won't be posting tomorrow, Merry Christmas!

I was up until 1:00 am baking sugar cookies and cinnamon rolls! By the time I was done, I was exhausted, ha! I think the cinnamon rolls turned out good (we'll know tomorrow morning!) and and I know for a fact that the cookies were good! I might know that a little too well in fact. I'm officially on sugar overload!

* Here's our annual picture from last year...notice Marley sneaking into the picture in his Santa suit.... :)

Today I'll be packing my bag (and Marley's!) and heading to my grandparents house. We'll take the annual christmas picture and then head to the Christmas Eve church service. Then it's dinner and game time...and finally time for bed so Santa can come ;) Word on the street is that it is supposed to snow on Christmas day! It hasn't snowed here on Christmas day in 40 years--I would love a white christmas so I'm keeping my fingers crossed :) I'm sorry this post has been all over the place, I'm kind of in a rush to get everything together! I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and a happy new year! Can't wait to hear all about yours!

Wedding Wednesday!

A little late, but what can I say? It's only 2 days until Christmas so I've got quite a lot going on! :)

But, here is the update on the Roberts-Bell wedding (I get so giddy when I see "Roberts-Bell wedding!! Ahhh!):

• The contract has officially been turned in to the Ballantyne Resort and we were given an upgraded suite for our first official night as Mr. and Mrs. Bell! (Okay, I get pretty giddy about that, too!)
• We have narrowed down who we want to officiate at our wedding. We still have to go through the "interview" process, but I'm thinking positively and that it will work out :)
• We didn't hire a wedding coordinator, but my grandparents have a friend, Judy, who is absolutely wonderful at organization and more importantly, getting people to do what they need to do! We have enlisted her help in the wedding day festivities and I know she will keep everyone on track! I'm so excited and honored that she agreed to help us!
• We've also decided to save money with flowers. We will get a florist to do the bouquets and lapels but another family friend is going to help us do the floral arrangements for the reception tables and probably the ceremony as well. I'm really excited about it because I will be more relaxed knowing people in charge of flowers will actually listen to what I want!
• We are still looking for a photographer. I've looked at a few and really liked their styles, but most of them have been pretty expensive. I'm not sure what I'm going to do but hopefully we will find someone soon--I'm ready to get on those engagement photos!! :)
• I'm not sure if I mentioned this in last week's post or not, but David has started looking at wedding rings!! (Might be a little frightening for him, actually, haha!! I kid...) I'm excited to see what styles he likes.
• One more bridesmaid to add to the list and she'll get her gift right after Christmas! Hopefully Wedding Wednesday will start introducing the bridesmaids. (But I said that last week too, and here we are...)

That's all for now! I'm so glad I can blog about this so I will have this to look back on in the future:) (AKA, when I'm not so stressed, haha!)

A Look Back: 2010

I saw this on another blog (which blog?? It escapes me now, I'm so so sorry!) but I really loved the idea so I'm doing it for myself! Here is a look back at my 2010 year :)

January

David and I rang in the New Year with our good friends Jake and Jess and my cousin Scott and his girlfriend Kylie!

February

February brought our first snow in our first house :) It was beautiful...

and Marley really enjoyed it ;)

March

David and I went with his family to see Brad Paisley--we were so close to him!

And I celebrated my 23rd birthday with clothes

and a trip to the beach...

...with some good friends

April

The nursing girls celebrated Vanessa's birthday on the first warm day of spring!

We also all walked in the March of Dimes walk and made our own t-shirts! It was so much fun and such a great cause.

I was also inducted into the Sigma Theta Tau international nursing honor society which was a great honor. I've definitely worked hard for my nursing degree!

May

What a fun month! We celebrated Scott's graduation from Georgia Tech! I'm so proud of my cousin.

*I also started my nursing internship in the MS-ICU and ER...but I never took any pictures of my uniform :)

June

In June, we found our sweet Jovie girl on the side of the road! It's turned out that she's got quite an attitude!

And we also went to a Brave's game to celebrate Poppa's (David's grandfather) birthday!

The most fun was David's family's beach trip. It's turned in to an annual thing and I really look forward to it each year. I hope I get to go next year :)

July

Over the 4th weekend, we headed to the Bell's lakehouse and I learned how to water ski! I've done it now, so I don't have to do it ever again ;)

August

"You know I like my chicken fried..."

David, his sister Susan, her boyfriend Chase, and I all went to the ZBB concert and it was awesome! So much fun and he's such a good musician!

September

Start of football season! We ventured to Clemson many times this football season, but the best part was getting to catch up with my old roomies :)

October

Has turned in to such a loving month! First, David's cousin Russell got married to Jamie. It was such a nice wedding and the reception was amazing! Here is the Bell family...little did I know that I was going to be a part of that family so soon!

Probably the most exciting event of the year for me was getting engaged!! I can't believe I get to marry the love of my life next year and it was such a wonderful, thought-out surprise!

November

David and I ran in our first 5k! I am very proud of myself and can't wait to run in some more races!

I was also asked to be in my friend Vanessa's wedding as a bridesmaid! What an honor, and I can't wait to stand next to her and support her in her wedding!

And of course, we can't forget the trip to get the christmas tree :)

December

David and I celebrated 4 years together--I can't wait to see what the future holds for us.

I touched my very first zebra, haha :)

And tried my hand at home-made cinnamon rolls--which turned out quite delicious if I do say so myself!

What a wonderful look back :) A lot of wonderful, wonderful things have happened to me this year and I can't help but feel so blessed and grateful! I hope yours was just as great!

Busy Bee!

I have been a busy bee the last few days! I've had a bunch of crafty things to do since David was at work and let me tell you, I've been rocking it out! I made 2 pillow cases on Wednesday. I won't bore you with pictures of those, you've seen enough of my pillow cases to know what they look like :)

Then I got to work on a project I was really excited about. This will be Jovie's first christmas and she doesn't have a stocking. It would have been very easy to just go out and buy one, but I thought I'd try my hand at sewing one! I think I did pretty good on it. I ran out of batting on Thursday and had to get out in the nasty weather to go get extra. Then, I proceeded to break two needles...and was so frustrated I just had to quit. I finally got up the nerve to finish today ;) And here is the final product! What do you think?

I think it's pretty girly! I love it!

David and I went shopping today for my christmas present. I have been wanting a pair of skinny jeans so that's what we did! I ended up getting three pairs of BKE's from Buckle--one of which is a pair of skinnies :) When we got home, these babies were finally waiting on me!

David and I celebrated 4 years of being together on Thursday and he ordered me flowers which never came. But they were here today and he was so excited because they are called "candy cane lilies"--love it!

And finally, for the last few hours, I've been working on the Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls! At christmas time, my family usually has bacon and cinnamon rolls so this year I decided we were going to have homemade cinnamon rolls :) Tonight was just a run through but I think they turned out pretty good! David enjoyed them! Here they are before we cooked some of them:

Here is one batch just out of the oven!

And the delicious topping :)

I made mine with cream cheese frosting instead of her maple frosting, but I'm sure that's just as delicious! Tomorrow I am tackling some sugar cookies--David's request :) But I think I'm done for the night, haha! I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Charlie Brown

Ugh. I have been in a mood most of the day and I have no idea why. There is no reason for me to be in a mood but I am. Jovie has just been such an evil girl today and Marley has been extremely whiny and doesn't want to leave my lap. (I'm not sure, but does that sound like parenthood to anyone??) It has been pouring rain, cold, and icy all day here so I'm sure that has something to do with it. Not to mention I have been working religiously on a little christmas present for Jovie (yes, I am one of those pet people...) and I ran out of material so I had to get out in the nasty weather....and then proceeded to break 2 needles while I was sewing! I only had 2 needles, therefore I am out until I find a Bernina store around here that sells needles. Bah humbug.

David came home early today (a good thing, yay!) and got really mad because apparently he had ordered flowers for me today. It's our 4 year anniversary today (I sure do love him!) and his flowers never arrived so then he was in a mood too, haha! So I gave up on my project for the night and we made chocolate chip pancakes and bacon for dinner. And a glass (or 2...) of wine! Now Marley has made his way on to my lap and David and I are watching "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and life seems a whole lot better :)

Tomorrow I'm venturing out to find the Bernina store for some needles--hopefully some that will stand up to my project-- and David and I are heading to a Christmas Zoo thing that his cousin and girlfriend know about. I'm excited because I think we get to pet a zebra! Anyway, I hope everyone has a wonderful Friday and a great start to the week before Christmas! I can't believe it's almost here!

Wedding Wednesday

Normally, I participate in Wordless Wednesday, but since something pretty exciting is happening next September, I've decided that for my own sake I'm going to make Wednesday, "Wedding Wendesday" for me for a while! That way I can look back and remember all the planning I put in to our big day! So hopefully every Wednesday will be an update on what's going on wedding-wise.

So far:

• I have narrowed down and found the place I'm going to get married! My ceremony and reception will be at the same place :) It will be held at the Ballantyne Resort and is such a beautiful place!
• We have decided on a date: September 24, 2011! I can't wait :) It sounds like a pretty day to have an anniversary, doesn't it?
• I have decided on my maid of honor and bridesmaids! As well as a very cute way to ask them! I haven't officially asked all of them yet, so I can't post my idea or pictures yet, but as soon as everyone knows and accepts I'm going to let you guys know! David has also narrowed down his best man and groomsmen, but hasn't asked them yet. He said, "I'll probably ask them in like January or something..." --what a guy haha!
• We are now in the throes of finding someone to do our ceremony for us ( I think we know who, we just still need to ask!), a photographer, and a dj. In case you didn't know--these are all expensive. Which stresses me out.
• We are also deciding on a live string quartet for our ceremony. What do you think about that? Any pros and cons from the blog world?
• I have decided on my colors! They will be purple and cream. I think it's going to be so, so pretty!

That's about it for now. Maybe by next Wednesday all the bridesmaids will be accounted for and I can start introducing them to you! :) Happy Wednesday!

Breast Cancer Awareness

Hi all! I haven't updated in a while because, really, there is nothing to update on. I have really enjoyed the beginning of my break and doing absolutely nothing during the day! :) I am starting to work on some crafty things though so hopefully I'll have something to update you with soon! Oh, I am visiting with my fiance for a week! He's got a couple food things he wants while I'm here so maybe I'll liven up my blog a bit with some pictures of it haha!

Anyway, I saw this video and it really touched my heart. Maybe because I'm a woman, maybe because I'm in the caring field of nursing, I don't know, but I do know that I started crying when the survivors take their place in the video:) It's an awesome video and I just wanted to share it with all of you! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!