Wedding...Thursday?

I missed Wedding Wednesday. How come no one told me?! ;) Just kidding! I had my first med-surg 2 exam today and have been studying non-stop for it the last 3 days. I literally left my house yesterday morning at 7:00am and didn't return until 9:30pm--and then I studied until 11:00 pm. So really, I had no time to blog. Which is a complete bummer because I have some exciting updates!

• First and foremost-- I found (and bought) my wedding dress!!!!! Well, actually my sweet grandmother bought it for me and it is the exact one I wanted. I saw a picture in a magazine back in November and have desperately wanted to try it on since then. Really, the dress was meant to be mine. The designer is only carried in 2 stores around here--one close to me, and the other about 30 minutes from where I live. My mom, grandmother, and I went shopping on Saturday to the store closest to us. Unfortunately they didn't have my dress, but I did spend some time trying on other dresses. (I felt like a princess, haha!) We liked quite a few, took pictures of some, and were about to leave when I decided I wanted to head out to the other store, just to see. We arrived at the second store with about an hour left before closing and had no idea you had to have an appointment to try on dresses. So I said, "I really just want to see if you carry the dress that I want. I can make an appointment and come back." As fate would have it though, one of the co-owners had just finished up an appointment, stated that yes in fact, the did have the dress I was looking for and she would help me try it on! I came out with that dress on and actually burst in to tears! (I never thought I'd be the girl who cried when she found her wedding dress...) It's a beautiful dress and I can't wait to show it to you all! But I can't right now in case a certain someone should decide to view my blog ;)
• Now we are in the market for some shoes. I want them to be purple and have the little cupped back on them. But I would like them to be open-toed. Any suggestions?
• Also, here is the dress I'm leaning towards for bridesmaids--what do you think?? (The purple one) It's from Nordstrom's so you can't go wrong there and I'm hoping it's something they would want to wear again. Would you wear it again??
• We are in the process of finding a weekend to go to Clemson to get our engagement pictures taken! I'm very excited about these pictures :) And I think David is getting excited too. He had a really cute idea for Save the Dates on Riggs soccer field. He e-mailed the AD at Clemson and they e-mailed back saying they would love to support us any way they could-- I love my Clemson family!
• We are also starting to plan our rehearsal dinner. We want to do dinner with our bridal party. David has a big family and not all of them are in our party so he's thinking about doing something after with everyone and I like that idea! I like the formality of the rehearsal dinner with the bridal party and then some "party fun" afterwords :)
• Lastly, David and I will be meeting with the woman who (hopefully) is going to be marrying us on February 6th! I've met her before, as she is one of my grandmother's friends, but David hasn't and I think she wants to get a feel for us as a couple. I think she'll decide from this meeting if she will do our ceremony...I'm not worried :)

Now for the bridesmaid! Meet my sweet friend Vanessa:

Vanessa and I met in nursing school, just like Leslie! In fact, all three of us are good friends :) Vanessa is getting married just two weeks before me! She got engaged to her fiance,

named David too, last April. They set their wedding date for 9-10-11, how cute is that!

The day V got engaged :) So excited for her!

She has been so kind and sweet to let me and David share September with her and even more amazing to share it with me! She is so awesome with her running! She has run two half marathons and has motivated me to start running, too!

V, Les, and me on race day!

But she is just awesome to watch! Van is one of the most honest people I know. She is the true meaning of "friendship" in that she wants the absolute best for her friends, and will make sure you are happy, even if that includes having the hard talks. She's had many of these talks with me because I'm so stubborn and helps me see other views on things and I love her all the more for it! I'm so, so glad she agreed to be in my wedding and I can't wait to help celebrate hers! :)

Inspiration Monday

"Beauty is the mark God sets on virtue. Every natural action is graceful; every heroic act is also decent, and causes the place and the bystanders to shine." --Ralph Waldo Emerson

Can anyone sense a pattern here?? It seems that my blogs mostly consist of Inspiration Monday's and Wedding Wednesday's now! I guess we all know school is back in session :) Monday's are my day off to play catch up with all of my school work and anything else that needs to get done. Tuesday I have class and tutoring, Wednesday I babysit from 9-3:30pm and then there are Thursdays....

From now until all of my hours (120 to be exact) are completed, I will be going to class from 8-3:30pm on Thursdays, coming home for a quick 1 hour nap, and then heading to the hospital for my preceptorship! I work Thursday nights 7p-7a, come home and sleep most of the day Friday and get up and do it all again Friday night.

Needless to say, I get pretty exhausted over the weekend and spend most of that time catching up on my rest! When do I have time to do anything else??? Ha! But so far my preceptorship has been good. It's a med-surg floor and really there is nothing interesting that goes on. Most of the women on my floor has sometime of cancer (ovarian, uterine...etc.) and sleep through the night. So mainly I pass meds, help people to the bathroom, and chart. I think I like a little bit more of an exciting atmosphere, but during the slow parts of the night I'm going to start taking my school books to get some reading out of the way. The girls that I work with are all really nice and encouraging and my preceptor has been nursing for 22 years! I'm definitely ready to graduate, but I'm also really nervous about being "out on my own." It's just kind of scary knowing someone's life is in your hands.... haha!

Anyway, I am headed up to school today to talk to the new nursing students about how I have been a successful nursing student--hahaha ;) That should be interesting! Happy Monday everyone!

Wedding Wednesday

Today, I am being a little foolish, a little stupid, and a little upset. I know I'm being selfish, but I can't help it. Believe me, I'm trying not to feel this way, but it's just not fair.

Let me give you a little background information-- David's cousin Russell got engaged a year ago in December. He was married this past October. Everyone was so excited for them, and they should be. It was their time to shine. They were in love and planning their wedding (which was beautiful, by the way) and no one interfered with that. That's how I think it should be. David knew it was their time too, he didn't ask me to marry him until they had been married for almost a month. He didn't want anything taking away from their new beginning and wanted to make sure they had enough time to feel special and really enjoy being newlyweds.

David's other cousin, Van, just got engaged a few weeks ago. Van informed David last night that he and Brittany (his fiancee) were thinking of a few dates but had narrowed it down to labor day weekend or October 8th. (Remember, David and I are getting married on Sept. 24th!) They decided to go with October 8th so they wouldn't be getting married before we did. How thoughtful of you.

I know I should be happy for them. I know I should be grateful they decided to go with Oct. 8th instead of 2 weeks before my wedding. But instead, I'm angry. I'm hurt. And I feel a little disrespected. Instead of 2 weeks before, they are doing 2 weeks after. Like I said, it's selfish and I realize that. But I want that special time to transition into being married. I want to enjoy it, relish it, and grow into this new role in life. I really don't think that's going to happen in 2 weeks. It's almost like this new union will be overshadowed. David was so polite in waiting a while to do anything and that's why I love him so much. He always thinks of others. But I want that same respect and I don't feel like I'm getting it at all. Of all the Saturdays after September 24th, there wasn't one a little farther out to choose? I know I'm being selfish, but I think they are being selfish too. No one is getting married 2 weeks after them so they don't have to worry about their special time being cut short. It's just really hurt my feelings.

With all that being said, I'm still excited about my wedding and my marriage, but today I'm just not feeling it. But luckily there are only a few updates:

• The biggest update I kind of mentioned in last Wednesday's blog. We decided to change photographers! At the beginning, I was the only one who met with OTL (since David and I are apart). We both met with Piper Warlock and since we both met with her in person , I was happier with using her because of that very reason. As luck would have it though, David was here this past weekend and we e-mailed OTL last minute asking if they could meet with us since he was in town. We met for lunch on Monday and before we even sat down to eat David whispered to me, "I'm sold." He really, really liked them :) We talked about it when we got home and just decided OTL was who we were supposed to go with. I'm glad we ended up both getting to meet all parties involved because it made the decision a lot easier to make when he and I could compare together. Lesson #1 learned for the future marriage: make decisions together. Whew! 1 down, a billion more to go ;)
• And the only other update I have is that I think I'm going wedding dress shopping this weekend! If not this weekend, then definitely next weekend. I'm ready to start finding my dress!

This next part makes me feel so much better because I love my bridesmaids! Meet Leslie:

Leslie and I have only known each other for about 2 years, but I've known her dad for a while ;) He was my eye doctor!

We both ended up in the nursing school together and have become really good friends through this process! Leslie graduated from UGA with a degree in Psychology and absolutely loved her time there! So much so, that she goes back to visit with her friends a lot! Her boyfriend Hugh works in Atlanta so they split their time here or there. They are such a cute couple!

After graduation, she hopes to be working here or--surprise! In Atlanta! She really has a heart for pediatrics and NICU so she's hoping to get a job in that area!

And she's going to be an awesome nurse! I can't wait to see what the future holds for her in nursing! I'm also so happy that she's agreed to stand beside me at my wedding. I've really grown to cherish her friendship and wouldn't want it any other way!

Inspiration Monday

Well I'm almost 2 hours late with this post, but better late than never right? Not only is this today's quote, but it's also this semester's power verse (I've picked out a verse every semester to focus on and help me through!) :

"If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Matthew 17:20-21

Oh how comforting those words are to me, in life, but especially in my last semester of nursing school...with a lot of change coming! There is a light at the end of the tunnel (but it's very very tiny!!)

This weekend has been just wonderful. David came up Friday evening and had MLK day off so we had an extra day to hang. We did a bunch of fun wedding stuff this weekend and made a major change in what I posted on Wedding Wednesday of last week.

Just a little background, but in your last semester of nursing school, you do a preceptorship--which is the same thing as an internship--they just have to use a scary term. Most nursing schools allow students to choose a few areas they would like to be in and try to place them there. I think that is a wonderful idea because considering how hard it is to get a job as a nurse right now, if you want to get a job in an area of interest, you have to have some experience there. Unfortunately, our nursing school made the decision to get rid of having a choice. I'm bummed about that because I feel like it's taking away my option of finding a job I will love once I graduate. I know it's not the end all, be all, but it's still frustrating after all of the hard work I've put in. Butttt, I got my preceptorship information last week. For the next 5 or 6 weeks, I will be working on the women's health oncology floor 7p-7a, Thurs, Fri, and Sat.

I have never been interested in taking care of cancer patients. I don't mean that in a mean way, but it's just not my passion. But I'm looking on the bright side, maybe I'll find out that I actually enjoy it? And I'm actually okay with the hours and I've spoken to my preceptor (nurse who I will be working with) over e-mail a few times and she sounds really nice. Whether I love it or hate it, it will only be for 120 hours, or 5 weeks, or 10 days :) ....yep, 10 days sounds the best! And even if I do end up hating it, I have my wedding planning to look forward to ;)

Happy almost Tuesday everyone!

Wedding Wednesday!

This has been a week for the books! I was supposed to go back to school Monday for my last semester of nursing school, but it's day 3 and we still haven't gone! And I am totally fine with that! I'm going to enjoy my last chance at snow day cancellations while I still can. :) I'm still recovering from my crazy illness, but feeling much better now! So much better in fact, that there has been a lot of wedding planning going on around here these last 3 days! So, here is the rundown for the last week:

• The wedding diet/exercise plan has been put on hold until I'm feeling better. I'm still eating apples and bananas ;) but the running and weights has to wait until I can shower without getting tired haha! Hopefully I'll be 100% by next week and start full force again.
• Last Wednesday, we met with our first group of photographers, OTL. (I'm not sure if I posted about this last Wednesday or not, so I'm putting it here just for good measure...) David wasn't here since it was the middle of the week, so mom went with me. We really liked them and they were very genuine and nice!
• Saturday morning I had a meeting with a dj--I was so sick though! The poor guy probably didn't even want to shake my hand, ha! (No worries...I carry around large bottles of hand sanitizer everywhere I go...) And this time, David was here! I love the weekends because I feel like David actually gets to be a part of the planning process :) We really, really liked Joe. He works for Diamond DJ's and has for a while now, but worked in the radio business before, so we know he's good! Diamond DJ's came highly recommended from friends so we felt confident they would do a great job for us. We mainly met to make sure we liked him, felt comfortable with him, and that he would listen to what we wanted. He met all 3 criteria so we went ahead and signed a contract with him!
• I was also supposed to ask my special people if they would be in my wedding on Saturday, but I was feeling so crummy I went to the doctor instead and changed up the date on them. It worked out well though, because they ended up having something else to do that day :) Hopefully that will be coming soon, though!
• Sunday evening, we met with another photographer, Piper Warlick. Again, because David was here, he was able to meet with her! We thoroughly enjoyed meeting her, and I love her creativity and artistic pictures.
• Now, this is the most fun part of the post for me because-- David and I settled on a photographer!! It was such a tough decision because both photographers we met with were amazing. We made a pros/cons list and that helped us not. at. all. ha! But we decided to go with Piper because her style was more of what we wanted. I'm so glad to have that decision made because now we can get on to the fun stuff! :)
• The snow crept in so over the last 3 days, I've been updating my wedding binder. I've got magazine clippings with dresses I like and decorations I love.
• Oh! Also, David and I will officially be married on September 24, 2011 at 6:00 pm!!! We had to set a time for the string quartet and that's the time we settled on...I can't believe it's only 254 days away!

Now, meet this beautiful bridesmaid:

This is my sweet, sweet cousin Amy. She is more along the lines of a sister to me than a cousin, though. We live in the same neighborhood and have our whole lives and when I was little, I would come home from school and stay at their house until my mom picked me up! Amy is a sophomore at UNC and has done so well there!

*Taken from Facebook-Uhlee Oh*

She volunteers at the hospital and is involved in a lot of activities at the school! She goes on mission trips every year and really has a heart of gold.

*Taken from Facebook-Brooklyn Stephens*

She is so kind to everyone and is so compassionate--honestly she makes me want to be a better person and the way she conducts herself is really an example to everyone she knows.

I'm so blessed to be able to call her family (and I'm not sharing!! ;) ) and I'm even more blessed that she has agreed to stand beside me and support me when I marry my best friend. I love you, Amy!

*I know this has nothing to do with my wedding, but I just wanted to say hello to my newest blog follower! Hi Jenna! :) I've been stalking her blog and she is so cute! You should stop by and leave a comment for her!

Inspiration Monday

" Tomorrow is a new day, you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense. This day is all that is good and fair. It is too dear, with its hopes and invitations, to waste a moment on yesterdays."--- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Well I think that quote is perfect today :) Tomorrow should be my first day of my last semester of nursing school, but I'm thinking it will be canceled. The blizzard of 2011 is in full force here and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. I haven't blogged in a few days because I have been sick. David was sick over break with some kind of cold virus and I thought I'd get away with it, but it turns out that I didn't. I did the Hurst Review (nursing girls, have you ever taken that?? It was great!) and on Tuesday I started not feeling very good and by Friday I could barely function, haha! Saturday I went to urgent care to find out that a) my nasal passages were so swollen that is was "nasty looking" according to the NP and b) that I had a pretty nasty sinus infection. I basically spent the weekend laying on the couch, in as dark a place as possible listening to movies and spending time with David. I'm sure he enjoyed it, haha ;) At least I know he will take good care of me when I'm sick and we're married!

I'm on day 3 of antibiotics and I'm just now starting to feel a little better. So this snow storm couldn't have come at a better time :) I have a little more time to relax, rest, and gear up for a healthy last semester! The snow is just beautiful and Marley is having a ball playing in it! Unfortunately, I left my camera charger at David's so I can't use my camera! But I did take a video with my flip so hopefully I'll upload that later.

Right now, I'm going to lay back down on the couch and watch a movie :) I hope everyone has a wonderful Monday, and if you are dealing with the blizzard (like the whole SE...and I think the NE is about to get pounded too!!) then stay warm!

PS- I've got some exciting news for Wedding Wednesday!

Christmas with my Fiance!

And....here are the pictures of Christmas with my boy! Gahh, I love him :)

Our tree!! :) Poor Santa...

Opening our stockings!

Oh, he knows the way to my heart :)

My new, favorite cd at the moment!

David and his big-boy briefcase :)

Obviously, loving this next gift!

My new UGG boots!!

Opening his new tool box, full of tools!

I think he likes it!

Opening a gift from mom....

A Clemson glass pendant to hang in our house!

One of my favorite gifts--a canvas of Marley (although it's not really Marley, just a picture he found that looks just like him!)

Our stash! :)

Christmas...In Pictures!

It's kind of late to be doing my christmas post but here I am, haha! But I'm not going to put long paragraphs, I'll let the photos do the talking for me--with some captions of course--y'all know I can't keep my mouth shut ;)

The grandparents and their grandchildren :)

Aren't they just the sweetest couple?

The whole family on Christmas Eve :)

Marley found his stocking and couldn't wait until morning...

Pulling all of his new toys out of his stocking!

Marley posing with his Christmas stash :)

In his Christmas jammies!

Ready for bed...

Mom and her new camera!

Amy and the hat I made her!

Amy had a special visitor on Christmas day! We all love Tyler :)

Scott's Christmas present to granddad--now he has a shirt for all the universities his grandchildren have attended!

The aftermath!

My beautiful cousin :)

Me and my granddaddy on Christmas morning!

My stash!

Our Christmas snow!

Pretty, pretty :) And still falling!

4 inches...very unusual around these parts at this time of year :)

Melting Marley's snowballs off after he played in the snow ;)