Boo Y'all

Happy Halloween!

via

This day used to be so magical when I was a kid.

Dressing up.

Running around the neighborhood with friends.

FREE candy.

Now I have to buy my own candy when I want it. 

If I knocked at anybody's door now in a Power Ranger's [Pink Ranger, of course] costume, I'd be arrested or shot. 

Cody and I bought Halloween candy last year, but SOMEBODY [Cody.] ate it all before the kid's came to our door. #HalloweenFail

Crossing my fingers that Cody decides to share this year. :)

Everybody have a safe and happy Halloween!

Wedding Wednesday: Engagement Picture Preview

Hi y'all!

Exciting news!

I walked out to my car today after work to find a very exciting email on my phone.

Katie, my photographer, emailed me a preview of our engagement pictures!

It was an unexpected surprise, which completely made my day.

I can't wait to see more, and share them with all y'all.

If you want to see more of Katie's work visit her at Katie Rivers.

Weekend Shenanigans: Fall Festivities

Happy Monday friends!

 Don't you hate when good weekends come to an end?

Good weekends always seem to fly by.

And then here we are, Monday again.

We had a busy weekend, but it was full of fun fall festivities.

So let's recap.

Friday

I took Friday off from work, to solely focus on getting prepared and ready for our engagement pictures that afternoon. I was so glad that I did.

I was able to sleep in a little bit, catch up on some much needed sleep.

Not the normal 5 am alarm, which was so very nice.

Plus, I was able to watch Kelly and Michael, all while painting my nails for our pictures.

My kind of morning :)

I had a hair appointment at 1:15.

Like I said in my Five on Friday post, when I try to do my own hair for a big event, it always sucks. When I do my hair to go to Target, it looks amazing. So I wasn't going to take any risks, and got a professional to do it for me.

However, when I left the salon, I was a tad concerned.

I may have overreacted a little, but I for real looked like Shirley Temple.

Turns out, my curls fell, and I ended up being extremely happy with how it looked.

We left the house around 3:30, and managed to meet our photographer by 4:50.

[Traffic killed our timing.]

I was a little nervous for them, I'm not going to lie.

Cody can ham it up in front of the camera, and I just feel awkward. 

But my photographer is amazing, and Cody helped me relax.

It turned out to be pretty fun, and can't wait until our wedding pictures.

Dummy me, forgot this beeeeeautiful pearl necklace I had bought for my second outfit.

I wanted to cry right then and there.

But since I have the best photographer in the world, she had her husband bring me her own necklaces and earrings, so I had something to wear.

So sweet of her. I couldn't thank her enough.

It wasn't what I planned, but it was better than nothing.

We should be getting our pictures back within the next two to four weeks, and y'all will be the first to see them!

Thanks for all the well wishes last Friday with my engagement pictures!

Y'all are too sweet :)

 Saturday

We headed to the Moonshine Festival with some friends.

Paul & Ashley + Ryan & Tiffany

We went last year, and have decided to make it a yearly ritual.

Cody loves going for the car show, and I love going for all the shopping booths.

And the funnel cakes and carmel apples. 

[Which I did not get by the way. Right Cody? ;)]

That evening, we were invited to a Halloween party.

We were lame and didn't dress up, but it sure made me want to throw a Halloween party next year. We had a lot of fun, despite me not knowing ANYBODY there.

Cody did a great job of including me, and introducing me to the people he knew.

I was hesitant about going, but I'm glad he made me step out of my comfort zone.

And apparently Cody stepped out of his comfort zone too, and borrowed a girl's bumblebee wings and antenna. :)

Sunday

We had an appointment at our wedding venue with our planner to discuss our wedding day layout.

 

The spot I originally planned on our ceremony being, is not what we finally decided on.

The problem with our venue is there are SO many beautiful ceremony spots, it's hard to pick. With everybody's help, I was able to open my eyes and pick the spot for us.

I'm so excited about the ceremony location we picked. 

Eventually, my sweet fiance, who so kindly tagged along, was over the wedding talk after two hours. I can't say I blame him. He was a good sport.

Our weekend was faaaantastic.

Hopefully everybody's weekend was just as wonderful.

Wish me luck that my kids didn't completely trash the classroom with the sub on Friday. :)

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Link up with Sami at Sami's Shenanigans for Weekend Shenanigans! 

Five on Friday

It's Friday y'all!

That means Five on Friday with Darci at the good life and the rest of the gals.
And this week, it's wedding themed.

One

OUR ENGAGEMENT PICTURES ARE TODAY!

I can't believe the day is finally here. 
I've been stressing about this for weeks.
Hopefully, my stress level comes way down and I'm able to relax for the pictures. 
Hopefully, I don't look like Ricky Bobby.

Here's to hoping I know what to do with my hands.

Two

I don't know if I have mentioned this before, but our Save the Date's are going to be a Save the Date/Christmas card. We plan on sending them out the day after Thanksgiving.
Here's some of my Christmas/Save the Date ideas via Pinterest.

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via

Three

I'm going to get my hair done today at a salon.
I have a really good reason for this.

Every time I try to do my hair for a big event, where I want it to look really awesome, it looks terrible. [Of course when I do my hair to go to Target it usually looks amazing.]

I'm trying to save myself the pressure, and let someone else do my hair for me.
I'm just hoping I don't look like Shirley Temple, and more like these ladies:

via

via

Four

Lucky for me, the high on Friday is 54 degrees.
And it's not even January people.
Lucky for me, I picked a short sleeve, short dress with a cute fall scarf to wear for my pictures.
No turning back now.
I have to be brave and suck it up.

Here are a couple of pictures that inspired me for my outfits:

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via

 
Five

I showed y'all two props I bought for our pictures on Monday.

blanket & "love you more" sign

At Hobby Lobby on Tuesday, I found the most adorable pillow to add to the collection.

"I Do" pillow from Hobby Lobby

We also have a strand of Christmas lights and a red checkered quilt.
Hopefully we can work these items in there somehow!

---

Wish me luck y'all.
Pray that I know what to do with my hands ;)

Follow me on

to keep up with our engagement picture preparation and picture sneak peeks!

 

The Bert Show: The Big Thank You 2013

Every morning on my way to work, I tune in to The Bert Show.

It's an Atlanta based morning show.

It's real. It's funny. It's The Bert Show.

As they like to say.

I love it because normally I'm half asleep.

But The Bert Show keeps me awake and entertained when I'm on the verge of passing out behind the wheel.

One thing about The Bert Show that I really appreciate, is their willingness to give back to the community. 

With the holidays coming up, and many of our soldiers still deployed overseas, The Bert Show took on the challenge of making sure every soldier stationed overseas on Thanksgiving will open up a hand-written letter from somebody back home, showing appreciation and thanks for their sacrifices. 

Not every soldier recieves mail or care packages.

Some may not have family at all.

For them to be able to open up a thank you letter, on a day typically celebrated with loved ones and family members, could totally make their day and give them the courage to press on throughout the rest of their deployment.

And that's where The Big Thank You comes in.

My students and I started writing our letters on Monday.

We set up a challenge for the class.

If you write twenty, well-written, heartfelt, and ledgible letters, I buy you an ice cream.

Whoever writes the most letters, will get an extra special treat.

Lunch with the teacher.

We're encouraging students to get everyone in their family involved, including friends.

So far, I have some really adorable letters, that will be sure to put a smile on a soldier's face.

So, I'm going to challenge you next.

Write at least one, heartfelt, handwritten letter to a soldier, and mail it into The Bert Show.

If you aren't from the Atlanta area, no worries!

Neither is Michelle Obama, who also got word of The Bert Show's Big Thank You.

Here are some other drop-off locations/mail in addresses for you to send your letters.

ATLANTA - Q100 (99.7 FM)
780 Johnson Ferry Rd NE
5th Floor
Atlanta, GA 30342

Washington, D.C. - ALL THE HITS 107.3
4400 Jenifer Street NW
Washington, DC 20015

Charleston, SC - 95SX Hit Music Now
4230 Faber Place Drive Ste. 100
North Charleston, SC 29405

Savannah, GA - Y107.9 WXYY 90s, 2K and today!
401 Mall Blvd, Suite 101D
Savannah, GA 31406

Indianapolis, IN - i94 (93.9 FM) 90s to NOW
6810 North Shadeland Ave.
Indianapolis, In 46220

Nashville, TN - i106 WNFN (106.7 FM)
10 Music Circle East
Nashville, TN 37203

Birmingham, AL - 99.5 the Vibe-WZRR  (99.5 FM)
244 Goodwin Crest Drive-Ste 300
Homewood, AL

Fort Wayne, IN - HOT 1079 / WJFX (107.9 FM)
Oasis Radio Group
9604 Coldwater Road, Suite 201
Fort Wayne, IN 46825

Huntington, WV - Hits 97.9 – WMGA
555 5th Avenue
Huntington, WV 25701

Lubbock, TX - 102.5 Kiss FM KZII FM (102.5 FM)
4413 82nd St. Ste.300
Lubbock, TX 79424

Amarillo, TX - KISS FM 96.9 (102.5 FM)
6214 W. 34th
Amarillo, TX 79109

Abilene, TX - Mix 92.5
3911 South 1st
Abilene, TX 79605

Brunswick, GA - Magic 105.9
Golden Isles Broadcasting
185 Benedict Road
Brunswick, GA 31520

For more information, visit The Big Thank You.

Deadline for letters is October 31st.

Happy Writing!

Wedding Wednesday: Meet the Maids {Kelly}

It's time for another Meet the Maids!

And I know I've been a little scattered with these, but this will catch us up.

{Meet Kelly}

Kelly is my bridesmaid that I've known the longest.

(Aside from my Maid of Honor being my little sister)

She lived next door to me from when I was a wee baby until we moved when I was thirteen.

Kelly is a few years older than me, which was trouble when I was younger.

I would have done anything to be like Kelly.

Which got me in a loooooooot of trouble.

It was fun trouble of course.

Like yelling out my bedroom window at my neighbors, and then ducking so they didn't know it was me. Even though they knew it was my bedroom, and I was the only kid around dumb enough to do that. I swear it made sense when I was seven.

Or the time we made my little sister Whitney flick off the neighbors because she didn't know any better. And I probably didn't either. I just knew it was funny cause Kelly thought it was funny.

We had a lot of good times together, but it wasn't like that after we moved.

We lost touch.

We grew up and grew apart.

But lucky for us, we reunited about two years ago, and I'm so glad we did.

We picked up right where we left off, having the most hilarious times together.

Kelly is going to add a lightness and sense of humor to my big day, that nobody else could provide. I'm so glad she said yes, and can't wait to add another chapter to our book.

A Trip Down Memory Lane: My Cousin's Wedding

Two years ago today, my cousin Erik married Emily up in the mountains of Hiwassee.

Whitney and I were talking the other day, that we can't believe it was two years ago today, that we made the trip up there for a weekend in the mountains.

It's always beautiful up there in the fall, which made the trip even more enjoyable.

Here's a look back, down memory lane, on what our trip looked like.

Rehearsal Dinner

October 21, 2011

The groom {my cousin}.

The Bride.

The Wedding Day

October 22, 2011

 

 

 

Cody had a twin.

 Happy Tuesday y'all!