Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Top 13 for '13

As we all prepare for the wild night ahead of us...
Wait. I just laughed at myself. 

Board games. Eating. Party hats. 
Those are wild in my book tonight. 
But whatever night you plan on having, New Years is a time when we all look back. 
Look back at the good, the bad and maybe even the ugly moments from the concluding year.

Although I've already highlighted the  top moments on my blog with my Cheers to a New Year link-up, I want to count down [because New Years is all about counting down, right?] the top 13 more personal moments of 2013

This past year had plenty of moments that I wish never occurred. 
But overpowering the bad of course, were the good. 

 
13. Birth of a Blog

Peach State of Mind was born on June 1st of this year.
A blog was something I always wanted to try, but finally worked up the courage to start.
After hitting 100 followers, I know I made the right choice. I love the ladies I get to talk to and the support they offer. 
Thanks ladies :)

12.  One Bad Grandma

Back at the beginning of the year, my Nannie was sick.  Very sick. 
It wasn't the way any of us wanted to kick off the new year, but in a way, it was good. 
We saw how much she meant to us. We saw how much we loved her. 
And we also saw how much we still needed her. 
And apparently God thought so too. 

Because she's still kicking butt and taking names. 

11. Free Wine

Cody started a new job  back in September.
Sales representative for a wine company.
It was one of those things  that we weren't totally expecting and took us by surprise.
But we both had a gut feeling it was where he needed to be in order for us to get where we want to go in the future.  (And I promise it wasn't the free wine talking)
We're hoping 2014  proves us to be correct!

10. First 5K - In Color

The Color Run.
One of my favorite days of 2013.
It was my first 5K, and I surprised myself tremendously.
Totally doing it again next year.
Anybody want to  join in on the fun? :)

9. Friends - New & Old

We met a few new faces in 2013, and quickly became good friends with many of them. I love having couples that Cody and I can do things with. It makes life more enjoyable. :)

Also, I reunited with one of my best friends from high school. The distance was something that always bothered me, but I was so glad we got back in touch and went to lunch that day. She's truly a sweet girl, and I hope we can continue reuniting in 2014.

8. Bridal Party

Speaking of friends, Cody and I finally asked our  friends to be apart of our bridal party!
We've hit a couple bumps in the road since then, but I'm so glad we have  the people that we do.

7. Dawgs on [Rocky] Top

We don't get to travel that much, and we really didn't in 2013.
But Cody and I managed to squeeze in a trip to Tennessee for the Georgia game.
It had to be, hands down, one of the most fun weekends of the year!

6. I'm an Adult

I made the biggest purchase of my life in 2013.
I like to say it was the day I became an adult.

I bought my very first car by myself!
And I still love that little baby!

5. Say Yes to the Dress

I also made an important wedding purchase!
I completely unexpectedly bought my wedding dress.

I picked it up  just the other day, and I'm still completely in love with it.

4. The Cutest Tiger in Auburn

Who knew wrist rolls would completely melt your heart!
One of my best friends, Brittany, welcomed her precious little boy into the world over the summer. I've never been so happy for someone and proud.
I love that little guy. Especially his wrist rolls.

3. Second Grade

I was so blessed to be given an opportunity to teach again this year.
I would have stuck it out with 5th grade again, but I truly found my love in 2nd grade.
I couldn't be happier with those little boogers, despite the tears, snot and shoe laces.

2. Engagement Pictures

I still look at our engagement pictures and love them so much.
After being engaged for a year and a half, it was nice to check off such a big milestone in the wedding planning process.

1. Us

This upcoming year marks a huge milestone in  our relationship, but in our life as well.
As Cody and I inch closer to June 7th, I feel completely ready for the adventure ahead.
Our relationship has grown so much within the last year, that I never thought could be possible. We started the year struggling to figure out how to live together under the same roof, to not wanting to be apart [as cheesy as that sounds]. 

I truly can't wait to marry him.

---

I hope everybody has a safe and happy New Year tonight!
See y'all in 2014...

Monday, December 30, 2013

It's A Wrap [Christmas 2013]

We finally wrapped up with Christmas, and although it's normally one of my favorite holidays, I'm glad it's behind us. 

I loved all the encouraging words and emails from all my lovely blog friends, and really writing my feelings out about my Grinchy attitude truly helped. But I did feel a huge sense of relief once all the presents were passed out and all the family gatherings were finalized.

Here's a few pictures [Is it really ever just a few with me? Of course not.] of the festivities.
Christmas Eve morning I decided to wake up early with my little fur babies, wrap some last minute gifts [Ok - All of them. Just call me Miss. Procrastinator] and watch my all time favorite Christmas TV show "The Year Without a Santa Claus." What can I say? It's my childhood.










That evening, we headed over to my mom's house for Christmas Eve.






 


On Christmas, we went to Cody's parent's house, and then headed over to his Aunt's house for his family's Christmas. Like I mentioned in a previous post, it was our first Christmas focusing on Cody's family rather than all mine. And I have to say that it was extremely relaxing not having to rush around. So overall, good choice by us. [We were able to spend the day with my grandparents for a post-Christmas lunch last Friday to make up for it.]

We ended Christmas evening opening our presents at our house with Hank and Maci. It was the absolute perfect ending to our Christmas!


This was Hank photobombing our picture. If you can't tell.
 


 
Maci was pooped after playing with her new toy...so she just laid on it.

Hope y'all had a very merry Christmas!
Now onto New Years!

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Cheers to a New Year {October.November.December}


It's finally the last installment of our "Cheers to a New Year" link-up!
We've looked back on the first nine months of 2013, sharing our favorite moments, and now we're wrapping up with October, November & December.


Thank you to all the sweet, lovely ladies who have linked up with us throughout the month of December! It has been so fun saying goodbye to 2013 and hello to 2014 with y'all!

There's only a couple rules to the link-up...
 You can link-up today, even if you haven't yet before. [The more the merrier!]
Link back with me or my four lovely co-hosts in your post.
Add the "Cheers to a New Year" button.
And last but not least - click around the link-up to make new friends!


My lovely co-hosts...
Ashley @ A Thousand Words

And don't forget to grab the button!
Peach State of Mind

Now get to it ladies :)

---

{ OCTOBER }

We kicked October off right by heading up to Knoxville for the Georgia vs. Tennessee game.
Back when my whole world revolved around Georgia football, away games were some of my favorites. So it was nice to do it again, especially when the Dawgs win!


We took our engagement pictures!



 And we kicked it at home with our pups for Halloween.

 

{ NOVEMBER }

Although we couldn't make it to the game, we had fun watching Georgia beat Florida!
It's great to be a GATOR HATER!


We spent some time with my grandparents.

 

Had a girls night/90's sing-a-thon.


Cheered on the Dawgs in Athens for the last home game against Kentucky!

 

And capped off November with Thanksgiving at my mom's house!



{ DECEMBER }

December was SO SO SO busy with work, it was hard to have time to do much of anything.
Cody had his wisdom teeth out, and I barely squeezed in some Christmas tree decorating.


Whitney and I even helped my Aunt Esther with her tree.

 

I FINALLY got a new engagement ring that has so far [crossing my fingers] stayed together and actually fits. I miss my first ring, but I do loooove this one. :)



And although the Christmas season was a little off this year in our family, we still managed to squeeze in a few good moments.



{More Christmas pics to come...}

That's a wrap folks.
We're counting down the final few days of 2013.

It's amazing how fast time flies by, and it's easy to get lost in what's ahead of us instead of cherishing the moments we're in. 
So in 2014, capture the moments. 
Even the small ones. 
So you can look back this time next year, and know you made each one count. :)

Here's to 2014!
Cheers y'all!



Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Our Last Christmas

Although I did some whining and complaining yesterday, 
 [ which I have to admit, totally made me feel better getting it all out and reading so many encouraging words] I know this Christmas is special despite all the small glitches we've been experiencing. 
This is the last Christmas Cody and I will be spending together as an unmarried, technically "single" couple.  How crazy is that!?! 
 This time next year, we'll have been married for half a year.
I can't believe it.
So for today, I thought it would cute to look back at the last four Christmases, as a dating/engaged couple, and get ready for Christmas #5 - our last one before we are husband & wife. 
Christmas 2009
Our first Christmas together.
Back when we were babies!

Christmas 2010


Christmas 2011


Christmas 2012

Our first Christmas living together. Our first tree. Our first Christmas engaged!


Here's to Christmas #5!
Merry Christmas Eve y'all!