My Life As A Wife

Tasty Tuesday's

2011-10-25T13:45:00.001-04:00

Skillet Lasagna (Original Recipe from America's Test Kitchen modified by my mom and I):

1 tablespoon canola or olive oil
1 medium onion, finally chopped
5 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon fennel seed
2 teaspoons dried parsley
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried basil
Ground black pepper to taste
Dash of Cayenne pepper
1/4 to 1/2 red pepper flakes to taste
1lb. lasagna noodles
1lb. browned ground beef, drained
1 tub low fat ricotta cheese
3 - 14oz cans petite diced tomatoes, drained
1 - 16oz can tomato sauce
1 cup reserved pasta water

Pasta Directions:
Break up lasagna noodles and partially cook for about 8 minutes. Reserve 1 cup pasta water.

Directions:
Heat oil until simmering, add onion and lightly salt to cook faster. Once onion are transparent, add red pepper flakes and garlic, saute until onion and garlic are well mixed. Add ground beef and spices, mixing well, then add tomatoes, tomato sauce, and 1 cup reserved pasta water. Mix well and stir in broken lasagna pieces. Cook over medium heat (simmer) for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. When noodles are tender and liquid is mostly incorporated, dollop ricotta on top, remove from heat and cover to heat through (about 5 - 10 minutes). (Some liquid will be retained and that is fine.) Serve with shredded mozzarella and/or parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

Tasty Tuesday's

2011-10-18T16:38:00.003-04:00

Crock-Pot Pot Roast:

Instant Minced Onion
2 tablespoons instant beef bouillon OR 1 packet of onion or beefy onion soup mix
Garlic Powder
Ground Black Pepper
8 small baking potatoes OR 4-5 larger potatoes cut in half
8 medium carrots OR equivalent of baby carrots

Put the roast in the crock pot and sprinkle with pepper and garlic powder (not too heavy). Sprinkle onion and Councillor on top. Place potatoes and carrots around the edges of the roast. Fill crock pot about half full with water, careful not to knock the seasoning off the roast while trying to get as many of the potatoes and carrots under the water as possible. Set crock pot on high and cook about 3 - 4 hours or more until roast is fork tender and falls apart. Reserve drippings in crock pot for homemade gravy. ENJOY!

Pinterest Pick of the Week!

2011-10-14T15:14:00.001-04:00

This week I bring you a beautiful Fall Centerpiece that wouldn't cost much if anything at all!

(Source: Babble.com)

All you need is a cylinder vase, some grape vine (or a grape vine wreath that will fit in your vase), acorns, some beautiful fall leaves and a candle! Stunning centerpiece that would be perfect for your Thanksgiving table!

Tasty Tuesday's

2011-10-11T15:29:00.003-04:00

Chicken Cordon Bleu (Original Recipe from Rachel Ray, this is my take on it!):

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded thin
8 slices ham (2 slices per breast)
8 slices provolone or swiss cheese (2 slices per breast)
Basil
Salt
Ground Pepper
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
You will also need kitchen twine

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lay chicken flat and place ham and cheese on top. Roll each breast and tie with 3-4 pieces of kitchen twine. Heat a frying pan with olive oil over high heat and sear chicken rolls on all sides, about 1-2 minutes per side or until medium brown and lightly crispy. Place chicken on a baked sheet and sprinkle all sides with basil, salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to oven to cook through, about 15-20 minutes.

Allow chicken to rest for 5 minutes before removing twine. To serve, cut each breast at a sharp angle. Enjoy!

Pinterest Pick of the Week!

2011-10-07T14:37:00.003-04:00

So since I'm still in Fall Decoration mode here is another great idea I found on Pinterest that is cheap and easy!

(Source: Eating My Candy)

I decided to give this a shot myself so here's my version!

(Source: Yours truly)

I only have one right now but I'm hoping to make a few more soon! I love how it turned out! I applied the paint extra thick so it really enhanced the wood grain and gave it the look of a real pumpkin.

For the stem I used a piece of wood that I hammered over a nail. To achieve this, use a small drill bit to make a hole in the top of the wood and insert the nail upside down so the point is facing up. Next use some glue to hold the nail in place, once dry hammer your stem onto the nail point. The curly-q's were made using floral wire that I twisted around a pen to get it's shape!

Hope you like this idea it's easy, fun and cheap!

Tasty Tuesday's

2011-10-04T17:21:00.002-04:00

One-Pot Rigatoni:

1lb. browned ground beef
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic (more or less to your taste)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups fresh sliced mushrooms (if desired)
1 - 28oz can crushed tomatoes
2 - 15oz cans tomato sauce
2 cups water
8 cups rigatoni pasta
2 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon chili powder

Brown ground beef and drain off fat. Add onions (and mushrooms) and saute until tender. Stir in tomatoes, water, tomato sauce and spices. Mix well and add pasta; bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer covered about 20 minutes or until pasta is tender.

Top with shredded mozzarella and or parmesan cheese as desired. Enjoy!

Easy Canvas Prints

2011-10-02T11:00:00.001-04:00

Recently I had the opportunity to give Easy Canvas Print s a try. And let me tell you I was more than pleased with the result! Their website is easy to navigate and the photo to canvas process they offer is easy and simple to use. Other websites that offer the same product can be confusing and time consuming. I had my picture turned into a canvas in about 5 minutes including the download time of my image. The quality of the canvas is wonderful, see for yourself!

(Source: Yours truly)

The colors are vibrant and beautiful! Their prices are so reasonable too! And right now they are running a special of 25% off all canvases with FREE shipping! So hurry and go pick out your favorite photo and turn it into a stunning canvas picture!

Pinterest Pick of the Week!

2011-09-30T14:23:00.004-04:00

As of late, I am totally loving all things Fall! So when I saw this on Pinterest I knew I had to share it with you!

Toilet Paper Pumpkins!!

(Source: Chocolate on my Cranium)

They are soo cute and easy! Plus...no one would ever know they are toilet paper! Here's what you'll need:
1 roll of toilet paper
1 fat quarter of fabric (18 x 22 inches)
scraps of green fabric for the leaves
1 brown paper lunch sack

Head on over to Chocolate on my Cranium for the complete directions!

Tasty Tuesday's

2011-09-27T19:00:00.001-04:00

This week I bring you....

Ham-Potato Casserole (Originally from Better Homes and Gardens years and years ago)

2 15 or 16oz cans Sliced Potatoes, drained
1 Cup Shredded Carrots
1 1/2 Cups Cubed fully cooked ham
1 small can condensed cream of mushroom soup (use 98% fat free for a light version)
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese (use low fat cheese for a light version)
1/8 cup milk
2 Tablespoons instant minced onion
Dash of ground black pepper
3/4 cup soft bread crumbs (1 or 2 slices)
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese for topping (use low fat cheese for a light version)
1 tablespoon butter or margarine, melted

Directions:
Layer half the potatoes and half the carrots in a 2-quart casserole dish. Stir together cubed ham, mushroom soup, 1/4 cup shredded cheese, milk and instant minced onion, and pepper. Pour half the ham mixture over the potatoes and carrots in the casserole. Repeat layers.
Topping:
Combine soft bread crumbs, 1/4 cup shredded cheese, and melter butter; sprinkle over casserole. Bake, uncovered at 350 degrees until heated through, about 45 minutes. Makes about 4-6 servings.

ENJOY!

Another New Series!

2011-09-23T14:04:00.001-04:00

So most of you I'm sure are on Pinterest and are just as addicted as I am! So....follow me!

Every Friday I will be sharing my Pinterest Pick of the Week with you all! I have been getting sooooo many crafty/DIY ideas lately for all kinds of things. I think it's only fair to share them with you here highlighting something special each week.

Tasty Tuesday's

2011-09-20T18:47:00.004-04:00

I know I've been MIA for a while now and I'm so sorry! In June the cabin rental place I was working at made a TON of changes that I didn't agree with so that left me looking for a new job. I am now well settled into my new job as a Guest Services Rep. for an amazing hotel in the area. It is the only 4 star hotel in our area and has a Christmas theme which I love! Things have been going great and I truly love going to work each day. It took some time to get used to my new schedule but I'm adjusted now and will try and do better about blogging more often! Now time for another great recipe!

White Chicken Chili:

3 Cans Great Northern White Beans
3 Cans Pinto Beans
1 Brick of Pepper Jack Cheese, Grated. (I use Cabot Reduced Fat Pepper Jack to make it lighter.)
1 16oz tub of Sour Cream (I use fat free to make it lighter.)
1 1/2 Cup Salsa
1 Teaspoon Minced Garlic
1 Medium Onion, Diced
1 Teaspoon Ground Cumin
1 13oz Can of Chicken Breast in water, drain water
Red Pepper Flakes to taste

Directions:
Saute onion with chicken until onion is soft. Ever so lightly brown the chicken. Add garlic and cumin. Pour in beans, salsa and sour cream. Stir well, add grated cheese and heat through while stirring frequently to prevent cheese from burning to the bottom of the pot. Once cheese has been melted and all ingredients are incorporated, enjoy!

I love this chili sooo much all year long! It is also great to eat using Scoops Chips!

Recaps Part 8: The Ceremony Part 1

2011-06-09T20:36:00.010-04:00

Back to the recaps we go and we are now on to the ceremony!! I really wanted to be able to include all of the wording or at least parts. However our Pastor's computer crashed and burned and it was lost. :*( Can't wait until we get our video back from my Uncle so we at least have that. I do have some wording elements from the wedding but for the most part, they were lost. Anyways, enjoy!

My Gram and Granddad

Charles mom Jennifer

Javi

Lindsey and Maggie

My Granddad and Mom walked me down the "aisle".

Opening prayer by Eddie Perryman

Maggie having fun with her parasol. :)

This arbor and the urns with flowers were not planned and were added by surprise...pleasant surprise...by the owner of the bed and breakfast where we were married! It took my breath away when I saw it!

My brother from another mother and Pastor Leonce doing his thing...preaching!

We had some rain drops. Thankfully there were only a few and they felt so good when they hit my shoulders! I thanked the Lord for crying tears of joy but asked that He refrain from pouring.

Stay tuned for part two of the ceremony recaps in the days ahead!

Tasty Tuesday's

2011-06-07T23:55:00.006-04:00

It's Tuesday again so you know what that means...another delicious recipe coming your way! Today I bring you a delicious recipe for "Pizza Pasta" enjoy!

8 cups pasta noodles (any variety)
1 pound reduced fat sausage
one medium chopped onion
1/2 t. ground fennel seed
1t. minced garlic
2t. chili powder
3t. oregano
1t. basil
2t. parsley
black pepper to taste
2 15oz cans tomato sauce
2 15oz cans petite diced tomatoes

Cook pasta in its own pot. Brown sausage and saute onion, fennel and garlic. Once sauteed, add other ingredients and cook until warm. Once pasta is fully cooked, strain off water and add noodles to sausage and tomatoes. Top with Parmesan cheese and/or mozzarella cheese.

Tasty Tuesday's

2011-06-01T23:52:00.004-04:00

So this is a day late (man I'm not getting off to a good start)! I'm very sorry. Yesterday was a very busy day for me. My mom flew back into town from a trip to Boston after being there for over a week and Charles and I picked her up from the air port. While she was gone her air conditioning unit died so last night I helped her install two window units in the house to help temporarily until the big unit gets replaced. I promise to do better from here on out!!!

For the first post in my new series I bring you a quick and easy recipe that Charles and I love!!

Easy Parmesan Garlic Chicken
1/2 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 Envelope Italian Salad Dressing Mix
1/2 tsp. Garlic Powder
6 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts

Directions:
Mix cheese, salad dressing mix and garlic powder together in a shallow dish. Moisten chicken (if not moist from juices) with water; coat chicken with cheese mixture. Place in a shallow baking dish (9x13 works well) and bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Makes six servings.

This chicken is incredibly moist and delicious! It's perfect with salad and a baked potato or also great with long grain wild rice!

Enjoy!!!

Something New

2011-05-22T12:21:00.002-04:00

I've decided to start a new blog series where I share some of my favorite recipes with all you lovely ladies! I will be calling it "Tasty Tuesday"! I hope you follow along and copy down your favorites and leave me some love! Look for the first post in this series on Tuesday!

Anniversary Trip

2011-05-20T23:12:00.001-04:00

We had a wonderful anniversary trip in Hilton Head! Thank you so much for all the well wishes and congratulations!! The weather was wonderful and there wasn't any rain at all until the day before we left so we took that opportunity to do a little shopping! Here are some more pictures from our trip.

Our beautiful FREE condo unit!!!

The kitchen.
The living room.
Our bedroom...we loved the green walls!
Our bathroom with insane wallpaper! lol Wish I had a tub like that at home!
The second bedroom.
The view from our balcony!

Charles had never had a "real" (as in nylon not plastic) kite in his whole life so we found this awesome one at Walmart and had a blast with it!

Wedding cake for dessert! My mom did a great job wrapping and packaging it up in the freezer so it tasted wonderful just like it did on our wedding day!

Coolest kite ever!

Looking back at our resort.

We did a little thrift store exploring and came across the biggest GoodWill we had ever seen!

After our one year anniversary dinner! <3

Skull creek...outside Hudson's on the Dock where we ate dinner.

Skull Creek

Vintage Lace Trim for Sale!!!!!

2011-05-19T19:18:00.003-04:00

Hello crafty ladies! I have a TON of vintage lace trim that I am currently selling on Ebay! Take a peak and check for new listings often as I still have a huge box of lace to sort through and list. Spread the word to your other crafty friends if you think they might be interested!! Incredible starting auction prices, all different designs and various colors!

My Ebay Listings

Recaps Part 7: Wedding Portraits 2

2011-05-14T21:25:00.011-04:00

hahaha my silly man!!!

One of my favorite shots from the day!!

Happy Anniversary!!!!!

2011-05-01T22:45:00.005-04:00

I simply cannot believe it has already been a year! The time has FLOWN by and I'm hoping it slows down in the years to come or we will be old and gray in no time! We are in Hilton Head Island, SC enjoying the vacation we won and loving it! We got here yesterday late evening and once again the area does not disappoint! Today we spent the day in Beaufort, SC at the Marine Corps Air Show and had a blast! This was Charles' first air show and he loved it so much. It was a great day and boy were we worn out when we got back to the condo. Here are a few pictures for you!

The Blue Angels were awesome, as usual!

"Fat Albert"

Blue Angles

The view from our condo balcony!

More pictures from our trip as the week continues!

Recaps Part 6: Wedding Portraits 1

2011-04-29T21:47:00.011-04:00

Sunday is our one year anniversary and I cannot believe it! Today I bring you part one of our wedding portraits, enjoy! :)

Wedding Items for Sale!

2011-04-21T18:52:00.000-04:00

I have listed some of the things I still have left form the wedding on Ebay and am trying to sell them. Take a look and if something interests you place a bid!

I also have a second listing of thank you notes here as well.

Recaps Part 5: The Girls

2011-04-20T20:10:00.013-04:00

Back to the recaps, enjoy!

Our flower girl Maggie!
Isn't she a doll?

Me and my bridesmaid Javi. These pictures were taken towards the end of the reception and unfortunately you can see how tired and how much my feet hurt in these pictures. :(

Me and my matron of honor Lindsey.

For as much money as I paid to have my dress altered/hemmed I was very disappointed when the day of the wedding came. Just look at all that fabric pooling on the ground! I was tripping on it all day long. When I went for the fittings everything was ok and it wasn't an issue at all. However I guess because I was on uneven ground outside it was a serious issue the day of the wedding! It looks terrible pooled on the ground to me but oh well. For all you future brides getting married outdoors...make sure your seamstress knows what he/she is doing when it comes to the outdoors and uneven ground. Apparently my dress should have been hemmed much more than it actually was. Oh well, I still look beautiful! :)

Eek!!

2011-04-14T20:43:00.009-04:00

I cannot believe it's been a month since I've made a post. I am SO sorry ladies! The time has just gotten away from me. I am going to try my hardest to begin to post more often.

A few things you should know...

-We are coming up on our ONE YEAR anniversary and I simply can't get over how this first year of marriage has gone! What a blessing it has been for us. We are so excited to see what else the Lord has in store for us as we continue on in our journey!

-We won the vacation contest we were in!!! Thank you so very much to those of you who voted for us, we couldn't have done it without you! Because of this amazing contest, we will be able to spend our one year anniversary in Hilton Head Island, SC! This is such a blessing for us and we are so excited to get to go back to where we spent our first week as husband and wife!

-While I have been absent from posting I have been very busy here at home and of course with work as well. Here are a few of the things I've been working on lately....

Solar landscape lights my mother-in-law gave us. The left hand side are the before shots. The left are the after. They were spray painted with silver paint and then I put a clear coat on them for protection. Now they look new and they look great along the sidewalk to the front door!
My flower bed! I absolutely LOVE gardening!! And when Home Depot had a huge sale on their summer annuals I knew I had to get some. The large pink plant on the left is a candy stripe creeping phlox and it was planted last year and has more than tripled in size! Besides the Phlox, there are Petunias, Violas, a yellow Gerbera Daisy, Dianthus, Celosia, and two different varieties of Hosta.
Charles also picked out this beautiful Dwarf Rhododendron and he also picked out a Cherry Tomato plant so we are hoping that does well so we have them to snack on this summer!

I designed this mosaic stained glass table top, cut the pieces to fit, glued them down and then grouted it!

I've been enjoying spending time with my niece Daisy when I am able to...love her tons!!

And this beauty has adopted us and we are trying to find him/her a home as we cannot afford to have a pet right now. One of Charles's co-workers is considering taking "kitty" (my name for him/her).

So that's a quick look at what I've been up to lately and so much more! I'll restart the wedding recaps in a few days so stay tuned!

Lulu.com Winner

2011-03-14T13:20:00.005-04:00

Good afternoon ladies!

I made an excel spread sheet with the entries listed below:
And then used Random.org to get the winner....
I'm am please to announce that Making it in Madison has won the contest for the FREE lulu.com photobook! Making it in Madison, I need you to leave a comment below with your email address so I can pass it on to Lulu.com!

Time for a Giveaway!

2011-03-09T11:10:00.001-05:00

A while back I was contacted by Lulu.com and asked if I would be interested in doing a review and Giveaway for them. I was more than happy to do so! They have a program, Lulu Studio where you can create your own photo book so I thought I'd give it a whirl and let you all know what I thought of the process. So on to my review...

The process was very easy and I found the Lulu Studio to be very user friendly. I sat down and had the book completed in one evening. They have many different templates/design layouts that you can choose from that can go with any occasion. The challenge for me was picking out what photos to use out of all of our beautiful wedding pictures! This website and program do have similarities that other photo book programs have. But I do think this program and website would be great for first time book creators as there are not so many bells and whistles that can be very confusing at first. The end result is beautiful and I am so happy with how our wedding photo book turned out! See for yourself....

And now on to the giveaway...the Giveaway is for one (1) 8.5 x 8.5 square 20 page hardcover book! Good luck!

How to enter:

Let me know what you would use your photo book for in a comment below with your name and e-mail address so I can contact you if you are the winner!

Extra Entry Possibilities (please post a new comment for each possible entry):

1.) Blog about my giveaway and be sure to include a link to my blog in your post. (Leave me the link to your post about the giveaway.)

2.) Become a follower of my blog or let me know that you're already a follower. (Become a follower through Blogger. I have to be able to "see" that you are actually a follower. Sorry Google Readers!)

*There are a total of 3 possible entries per contestant.

*Giveaway starts on Wednesday, March 9th, 2011 and ends on Sunday, March 13th, 2011 at 12am.

*Winner will be chosen using Random.org and will be announced on Monday, March 14th, 2011.

Recaps Part 4: The Guys

2011-03-07T12:32:00.007-05:00

John the best man, Charles and Chris the groomsman.

Recaps Part 3: First Look

2011-02-22T19:50:00.009-05:00

Everyone was ready and waiting and I was finally in my dress feeling much better and ready to see my man! I know "First Look's" are popular now a days and also still frowned upon by many. I knew while planning the wedding that my stomach would be in knots so I knew I would need to see Charles before hand, he is such a calming force in my life. And I also knew that because we were spending so much money on our photography that I wanted a "First Look" so we could get in as many pictures as possible. Let me say that if we had not scheduled and planned on our First Look that things would have been a huge mess the day of the wedding. It allowed me more time to begin feeling better and take my time while trying to get ready. Unfortunately it did cut into the time we had for pictures but we still ended up with plenty to remember our day by. So without further delay, our first look!

Trying to remember to breathe!

Finally I get to see my handsome soon to be husband!!

Up next, more recaps and a giveaway from Lulu.com!

Recaps Part Two...

2011-02-04T20:12:00.008-05:00

The Guys Get Ready!

The cuff links that I gave Charles as a gift the day of the wedding. He loves guns so I knew he would love them. They were a huge hit with the guys!

Playing pool waiting for me to get better so we can get the show on the road!

My man checking out his wedding day duds.

The ties and socks I bought for the guys.

Chess anyone?

Time to get ready!

My mom pinning on his boutonniere.

Love them!

Charles with his God-Daughter Maggie who was our flower girl.

Stay tuned for more recaps and a Giveaway post!

Let the Recaps Begin!!!

2011-01-24T16:03:00.014-05:00

Getting ready for the most important day of my life....

I'll begin the recaps with us girls getting ready for my big day.

To fill you in on some happenings of the morning, we got off a little behind schedule but that worked out for the better initially because it meant the photographers were there when my mom was doing my hair and originally that wasn't supposed to happen. Secondly I got sick...VERY sick, just after I had a little something for my breakfast. I've had problems with my stomach for years and the doctors can't seem to pinpoint exactly what the problem is so I was concerned that I might have trouble with it the day of. Well, I did and ended up throwing up on my big day. I was so sick, it was terrible and it took over an hour before I even felt like I could get in my dress. There is no doubt in my mind that if my Uncle Bernice (who is a doctor) hadn't been there nursing me and giving me medicine to help that I would have never made it in my dress. During this whole ordeal, my poor hubby-to-be was so worried something was wrong. That put everything way behind and our portrait time scheduled before the wedding got cut a lot. And unfortunately that means that I don't have many pictures with my ladies on my big day. :( But at least we were able to get the ceremony started at 3pm as scheduled. Anyways, on to the pictures!

Mom doing my hair.

My bridesmaid Javi getting ready.

My matron of honor getting ready.

Me getting beautiful for my big day!

The only dress shot I got. Not gonna lie, I'm was and still am a bit disappointed with it but it was the only picture (or lack there of) that I was disappointed with from the whole day so I guess that's not so bad. But after drooling over so many amazing dress shots I felt like mine didn't even begin to compare. Oh well.

The lace and crystal detail.

Can you tell this is about when I started feeling sick? My poor ladies ended up getting kicked out of the room so I could have peace and quiet, I felt so bad about that.

Post throwing up. The kleenex box was used for me to breathe into so I wouldn't hyperventilate.

That's my Uncle Bernice the doctor who went above and beyond to help me feel better!!

Our flower girl Maggie taking a look at herself in the mirror.

Finally in the dress and trying to breathe and not get sick again!

I really wish I hadn't been feeling so awful, these pictures would have been much better.

Covered in prayer and surrounded by love.

Mom placing my hair comb above my veil. This is the comb I made, for details check this out.

I'm a bride!!!!

Heading downstairs for our first look!

(All photographs courtesy of Hope Photography)

Hope you all enjoyed this recap! Up next: The Guys Get Ready

A Chance to Win A FREE Vacation!!

2011-01-14T17:40:00.005-05:00

Charles and I have entered a contest that's hosted by the company that we rented our Condo from for our honeymoon. Through the contest, we have a chance to win a free vacation...this would be perfect for a 1yr. anniversary trip in May! Will you help us??? It's oh so easy!

Just follow this link and vote for us!!!!!!!

Thanks by the way. :)

The contest ends 3/30/11 and the couple with the most votes wins!

Keep an eye out for upcoming wedding recaps! I finally have all the wedding pictures resized. Here's a teaser image for you....

(Source: Hope Photography)

Our First Christmas

2011-01-05T13:02:00.000-05:00

We were so excited to celebrate our first Christmas as a married couple and really enjoyed our time together starting what will be our family traditions. Here are a few pictures...

Our stockings were hung on the wall with care. Oh how we wish we had a fireplace!

And the gifts were all under the tree waiting to be opened.
How cool is it that our first Christmas was a WHITE Christmas!? We loved it and when all was said and done, we had 10" of snow! It was beautiful!!
The spread!

So a little info about our Christmas traditions...
Charles's family didn't have any traditions when it came to Christmas so we adopted a lot of traditions that my family had in place ever since I can remember. They are things I've always loved and I can't wait to share them with our children when that day comes.

- Christmas Eve growing up and all through the years, my brother and I were allowed to each open one gift...Charles and I continued this tradition as well and will when we have kids.
- Another tradition from my family: Christmas morning while breakfast is cooking, we open our stockings. Then when breakfast is done and the stockings are open we eat breakfast.
- Next we open the presents under the tree.
- For lunch and dinner Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, I will not cook (just as my mom never did). I do not want to be in the kitchen away from my family during such a special time. So instead we have snack foods that can stay out all day long and when someone is hungry they can go help themselves.

The other tradition that we will have once we have kids is that on Christmas Eve once the kids are asleep in their beds we will place on gift at the foot of their bed that they can open immediately when they wake up in the morning.

The other thing Charles will do is sign the letter the kids leave for Santa with the cookies and milk. He will sign it "S.Claus" in red ink.

Daisy Gail

2011-01-03T21:21:00.004-05:00

So this is late but due to the craziness of the holidays, I just wasn't able to get it posted sooner.

Daisy Gail was born on December 17th, 2010 at 12:24 AM. She weighed 6 lbs 13 oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. It was a very long night for us all but so worth it after seeing her beautiful face!

Congratulations to my baby brother and his wife on their little Christmas blessing baby!

Waiting for Daisy to arrive.

Daisy Gail looking up at her mommy.

My mom, Jessica, my brother Daniel and me holding Daisy!

She is seriously the most beautiful baby I've ever seen and I'm not just saying that because I'm her Aunt! :)

A Beautiful Flower Blooms Today!

2010-12-16T13:47:00.007-05:00

My brother and sister-in-law are in the hospital awaiting their little girl Daisy!!

Jessica's water broke this morning! She hasn't gone into labor yet and is still dilated 2.5cm and is 80% effaced (which hasn't changed from the other day). So I am waiting on a little more progress before I head on to the hospital!

I cannot believe my baby brother is going to be a daddy and that I'm going to be an Aunt!!!!!Daniel and Jess in Cades Cove in the National Park taken in October I believe.

Jess and Daisy (who is looking an awful lot like a bowling ball) on Dec. 8!

This is Daniel and Jess and their dog Tinkerbell on Dec.13 in the 9.5 inches of snow they got!

Thankfully I am able to get down our driveway after the ice storm we had last night...

The power lines covered in ice. Thank goodness we didn't lose power!

The ice was and still is beautiful, I'd never seen anything like it in my life!

Pictures of Daisy to come as soon as she has arrived!!!!!

I'm Still Alive!!

2010-12-09T00:50:00.007-05:00

Sorry I've been MIA for so long. I've started a new job, been busy with Christmas things and just plain tired most of the time because I've been running like crazy so much.

I have good news though......we were finally able to get our image CD from the photographers!!!! Slowly but surely I have been working on organizing and re-sizing all 963 images! It is taking longer than I expected though but stay tuned because I hope to be able to have recap posts ready for the new year!!

I also thought I'd share with you our Christmas decorations! Everything that we have I had bought before we were married when I saw things here and there on sale. I am sooo glad I did that or we wouldn't have squat for decorations! We are so excited to celebrate our first Christmas as a married couple and start our own traditions!

This little ceramic tree was made by my grandma.

The decorations in the guest bathroom.

Pom-pom garlands on all the doors in the hallway.

The living room decorations.

Some decorations in the kitchen.

More decorations in the kitchen.
The decorations on the top of the china cabinet.

Our beautiful tree!!!

Our polar bear...he's so cute!

The big wreath we have outside.

Our outside lights!

Our Fall Decorations

2010-11-09T23:51:00.010-05:00

I'm itching BAD to put up Christmas decorations already and will probably end up putting them up before Thanksgiving. But before that happens I thought I'd share my fall decorations with you. I don't have much but it's a start. Now Christmas is a different story...I have TONS of Christmas decorations!

Our fall display as seen from the road.

Our fall display as seen from leaving the house.

Our other fall display! We got all of the things for our displays for FREE!!

Found this cute little guy at the dollar store for like 6 bucks!

These little cuties were a gift from my mom after Charles and I babysat the animals and mom's house while she was on vacation. They are from Bath & Body Works and they are candles!

Grabbed this pretty garland from Big Lots for $6!

Had to decorate the stove too!

Some of my fall stained glass sun catchers in the kitchen window!

These fun little guys were on clearance for $3 each!! I love them!

The hand made pottery jack-o-lanterns Charles bought me!

My ceramic pumpkins. Found these at Walgreens several years ago for a steal. The little ones were $1 each and the big one was maybe $5 or $6!
Found this funky thing at a cool shop in Downtown Asheville, NC. The music box in the lid was broken but I replaced it and it works now. I have no idea what it originally supposed to be but I love it as a candle holder!

And the best part was that it was only like $10!

Found this guy at Walgreens also for $3!

Full view of the coffee table.

All of these gourds and little pumpkins were FREE as well! The little Harvest sign was $4 at Walgreens.

Love this little pumpkin!

Well, that's about it! I can't wait to start decorating our house for our first Christmas together!!!

It's All About Daisy...

2010-10-22T12:41:00.015-04:00

Baby Daisy that is! My niece who will be here in December! The shower that I co-hosted for my sister-in-law Jessica back on October 2nd was also hosted by Jessica's other sister-in-law Betsy. I was in charge of all the decor and games and Betsy and Wendy (Jessica's mom) handled all the food and beverages. Since I was handling all the decor and games I had to get creative with my projects in order not to spend a fortune but still make cute things.

What baby shower is complete without a Diaper Cake? I knew I had to make one. It would double as decor and a huge part of my sister-in-law and brother's gift from me and Charles. I saw several different tutorials on how to make them but decided to do it my own way. I used 1" strips of paper taped in place to roll the diapers because I was afraid rubber bands would ruin them. For the base, I cut a piece of heavy cardboard to size and wrapped it in wrapping paper. I had some Glue Dots on hand that were left over from various wedding projects so I used those to help hold the various items onto the base. Jessica had registered for receiving blankets and I purchased those and used them to wrap around the bottom and middle layer of the cake to hide the paper around the diapers. On the top layer, I used ribbon I had on hand. The only ribbon I bought was the large purple polka dot ribbon used to hold the cake in place and for the bow on top. All of the other ribbon was on hand and left over from wedding projects. It was perfect that Jessica and Daniel decided to use purple in Daisy's nursery and I had all that purple ribbon on hand!

(Source: Yours Truly)

I absolutely LOVE how it turned out and had so much fun shopping for all the items and making the cake! Items used on the diaper cake: 90 newborn diapers, 4pk receiving blankets, desitin, washcloth lollipops, 6pk terry cloth socks, 3pk pacifiers, bottle brush, 2 small bottles, baby lotion, baby shampoo, baby powder, custom made "Daisy Gail" cross-stitch piece made by me.

(Source:Yours Truly)

This banner was a last minute project that I decided to make two days before the shower. It was so simple and fun to make. I used power point to create it and then just punched wholes in the letter pieces and used ribbon to string them together.

(Source: Yours Truly)

I decorated the flower pot using rub on letters I had on hand and some acrylic paint I also had on hand. I used the pot to hold the daisy flower favor pens I made for the shower guests! I just love flower pens, they make me smile and they are so cute and easy to make! :)

(Source: Yours Truly)

For the games I wanted something fun and unique. When I stumbled upon the candy game, I knew I had to do it for the shower! It was a little on the expensive side because even shopping at dollar stores, candy gets expensive but it was worth it! Jessica actually ended up winning it but since she was getting all kinds of gifts already I selected the guests with the next highest amount of correct answers. To make things easier on the guests, I created the card below using power point.

(Source: Yours Truly)

The Candy Game Instructions: Buy the following candy bars (or at least 10 of them)and tape them to a large piece of poster board. (I used a big piece of cardboard and covered it with wrapping paper white side out. Poster board isn't strong enough to hold the weight of the candy.) Hand out paper and a pen to each guest. Begin reading off each clue and have guests write down which candy bar goes with each clue. The guest with the most correct wins a prize, or a candy bar! If more than one person wins, have them each pick their favorite candy bar.

Contractions: Whoppers
AND/OR: 11 pound baby: Whoppers
Grandparents: Lifesavers
AND/OR: Epidural: Lifesavers
Boys' Names: Mike & Ike
Umbilical Cord: Twizzlers
Father: Sugar Daddy
Baby Fat: Chunky
Girl's Name: Baby Ruth
Cover Baby's Face with These: Hershey's Kisses
College Fund: 100 Grand
Time Alone: Zero
Lull-a-Byes: Symphony
Hospital Bills: Payday
First Year of Parenthood: Rocky Road
Dirty Laundry: Mounds
Night of Conception: Skor
Sweet Infant: Sugar Babies
Breast Feeding: Milky Way
Poopie Diaper: Tootsie Roll
Contractions: Now & Later
Triplets: 3 Muskateers
Teething: Crunch
Cool Mom: Peppermint Patty

(Source: Yours Truly)

For the other game I really thought "Don't Say Baby" sounded fun! We played for the entire length of the shower and I think the guests had fun with it. I liked the idea of the diaper pins/safety pins for each guest that would be taken away when they were caught saying "baby" but I wanted to put a little creative spin on it. So while at Dollar General, I found some cute pink plastic pacifiers meant to be used as favors. I bought one box which had enough pieces for the number of people attending and placed one on each safety pin. So instead of the safety pins getting taken, the pacifier was taken. My mom ended up winning this game! I bought some balloons at Dollar Tree (gotta love that place...Mylar balloons with helium for $1 each!) I placed these outside to greet the guests and then had two more that I put on the back of the chair Jessica sat in. (Source: Yours Truly)

The favors in action the day of the shower. (Source: Yours Truly)

The banner hung on the mantel at the shower location. I love how it turned out! (Source: Yours Truly)

Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of the paper flowers before the shower so these are the only pictures I have of them. I had all the supplies on hand so it didn't cost a thing to make them...gotta love that! And they were so cute, I loved how they turned out! Jessica did to so I let her keep them all...they are in Daisy's nursery in the hand painted flower pot I made for the favor pens! (Source: Yours Truly)

More of the paper flowers I made. They were a lot of fun to make and are too cute! (Source: Yours Truly)

The food table missing the mini quiches Betsy and Wendy did a great job with the food and the cupcakes Betsy made were a huge hit! (Source: Yours Truly)

All of the gifts waiting to be opened! You can see the "clothes line" in the background. LOVED this idea! I used some ribbon from the dollar store and clothes pins from the dollar store as well. I decorated the clothes pins by adding little purple bows to them! (Source: Yours Truly)

Jessica opening her gifts. (Source: Yours Truly)Jessica and all her goodies! (Source: Yours Truly)

Me, Jessica and my mom.

I had a blast planning the shower and got sooo many compliments from the guests! I was a little nervous going into it since it was my first shower to plan but it came off great and I had several people tell me they thought I was a pro. :) So what do you think?

From Drab to Fab!

2010-10-21T12:36:00.004-04:00

So we still don't have our image CD yet and still no idea when we will be able to afford it. :( So in the mean time, I have decided to share some of the crafty projects I've been working on lately with you. To start things off, I'll share my fall wreath project.

I found this wreath at Big Lots for $20. I like the flowers, leaves and pine cones included on it however it was missing something and wasn't full enough. So I went on an acorn hunt at my moms house and found a ton of acorns that I could add to the wreath. I also found some silk sunflowers and a beautiful bow and a few more pine cones in my moms craft stash to add to the wreath. It only took me about two hours to complete and I took everything that came on the wreath off and completely re-did the whole thing!

Here is the before and after, I just LOVE how it came out!! What do you think?

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Up next, the details of the baby shower I planned for my sister-in-law!

Our Wedding Album

2010-09-21T15:22:00.004-04:00

Back on August 31, Charles and I went to meet our photographers to pick up our wedding album!!! I absolutely LOVE how it turned out! Here are pictures of it!

When All Hell Broke Loose Part 2

2010-09-07T10:47:00.001-04:00

So I last told you about the nightmare with the flowers which ended up working itself out thank goodness! Now I bring you the fiasco that was getting our cake and cupcakes.

After we left Food City and had the perfect flowers in hand, we headed on to Knoxville to get the cake and cupcakes we had ordered. Let me set this up a little for you....

For those of you that have followed me for a while, you know that I didn't want and couldn't afford the traditional wedding cake. So I opted to go with cupcakes and use a cupcake tree! You can see how I decorated the cupcake tree here. (It is up for sale by the way so if you're interested in it let me know!) Even though I was going the cupcake route, I still wanted Charles and I to be able to have a cake cutting ceremony so we need a cake for just me and him. This became a much harder task than I ever though it could be! Apparently grocery store bakery's don't do square cakes!? I never expected that one. And since the top of the cupcake tree is square, it had to be a square cake. Another complication...the monogram cake topper I bought had like 4" long stakes that were meant to go do into the cake. That meant it had to be one tall square cake. And last but not least, the cake couldn't be more than 7" square in order to fit on the top of the cupcake tree!

All of that said, local grocery store bakeries couldn't help me in this area. We turned to Sam's Club and spoke to the manager of the bakery and were first told they couldn't help us either. But after my mom talked to him a little longer, he finally said they would make an exception and do it for us! A huge weight was lifted off our shoulders at this point! We made an appointment with him to go in and discuss exactly what we needed done. Seven inch square layer cake with 4 layers, solid purple icing to match the 125+ cupcakes. The manager was so nice and said he was happy to make this exception to help us out, we were so thankful!

A few days before we were supposed to get the cake, my mom called Sam's to speak with our contact Brian just to confirm everything before it was to be made. This is were we started running into problems....my mom was transferred to several different people while trying to reach him and then was finally told he no longer worked for the company. Commence FREAK OUT!!!!! I was beginning to panic. What on earth would we do!? My mom spoke with another manager who said they would go ahead and honor our order for the cake even though custom cakes aren't something they are supposed to do. She said everything would be done for the same price and done exactly as we had discussed it with Brian. Relief yet again.

So on Thursday the 29th we headed to Sam's to get the cake, rolls and fruit and other items we needed for the reception. We went straight to the bakery when we got there. The girl that "greeted" (I use that term loosely as she was a JERK and had a major attitude problem) brought out one box of the cupcakes. My heart sank, the icing wasn't put on them correctly and they looked horrible. I wish I had had my camera with me so I could have taken pictures. The icing was supposed to have been swirled all the way around the cupcake and reach a pretty little peak in the center. Instead, there was no peak and the icing didn't even go all the way around the cake of the cupcakes! We asked to speak with the second manager my mom had talked to on the phone because when we tried to tell the girl they were done wrong she gave us major attitude! I was about to loose my cool and go Bridezilla on her butt!!

While we waited for the manager to get back to the bakery, we asked to see the cake. Again, my heart sank even lower and I almost began to cry right then and there. If it hadn't been for Charles and my awesome Uncle Tom and Aunt Cindy, I would have lost it and it wouldn't have been pretty. The cake was supposed to be iced solid purple with smooth sides. The only emblishment to the cake was to be a "smooth ribbon" of icing around the base of the cake, this was to be in the same purple used everywhere else as well. What I saw however was a hideous WHITE cake with a purple ribbon around the base. COMPLETELY wrong and totally unacceptable!!!

I couldn't believe what I was seeing and further more, I couldn't believe how they could have screwed everything up so much! Brian took amazing notes and wrote down everything we wanted and even asked the lady that would actually ice them to come into the conversation as well! She told us she clearly understood what we wanted.

The manager finally arrived and asked what the problem was and we politely explained. She started giving us trouble by saying the only reason they were doing this was to honor what Brian had said and she rudely reminded us again that they shouldn't have done it to begin with! My mom did all the talking...because I'll be honest, if I had it would not have been pretty. She calmly explained that the wedding was in TWO DAYS and said we had no other options to turn to. That Brian and the other lady clearly knew what we wanted and this wasn't it. She finally agreed that they would make it right. Yay! But then discovered they didn't think they had enough purple icing left to ice the cake and re-do the cupcakes! OMG WHAT!? How can you not have enough purple icing going into an order like that??

At this point, I had to walk away. I couldn't handle it anymore. My mom and Uncle Tom said they would take care of everything and make sure they made it right. So Charles and I took off in the opposite direction and being the wonderful man he is, tried to encourage me that everything would be fine and tried anything to make me laugh!

I know this is long so I will sum it up. Everything did work out and Sam's did have enough of the purple icing to fix the cake and all of the cupcakes!! And they were all BEAUTIFUL!! I had bought some silver pearlized sugar to sprinkle on the cupcakes and for our cake, I had bought some purple edible glitter to sprinkle on it. Until we get our image CD, this is the only picture I have of our cake and cupcakes....

I know the icing looks blue, however in our pro pictures it is the correct color...purple!

So there you have it, the things that nearly turned me into Bridezilla just days before the wedding! Thank the Lord that everything worked itself out and was more than ok in the end! All I can say is expect things to go wrong. And expect it to be more than one thing at a time too.

For those of you still in the planning process....make sure you have as much done before the wedding as possible! Besides setting up the day of, I didn't have any projects left before the big day. That made handling these situations a lot better!

When All Hell Broke Loose Part 1

2010-09-02T12:07:00.002-04:00

So we still don't have all of our professional pictures yet. And it pains me to say that I have no idea when we will be able to afford the image CD. So in the meantime, I thought I might as well start a few recaps of things that happened before the wedding.

As you might guess from the title of this post, not everything went smoothly leading up to the wedding day. I knew things could and would most likely go wrong but it all seemed to happen in a three day window right before the wedding and that stressed me out majorly! I didn't expect it to all happen at once!

My mom and I had been working closely with the Food City floral department manager Olivia (she's amazing by the way and works at the Sevierville location). I went in knowing what I wanted, a deep yet bright purple carnation. I had seen some in an arrangement in a local restaurant and she said she had placed the order for them and knew exactly what I was talking about! Still to be sure, we had her order a few stems so that I could be 100% positive that it was in fact the correct color purple. The stems we ordered came in and they were PERFECT!!! I was sooo happy...you have no idea. So we placed an order with her for the number of stems we needed for my bouquet.

On Wednesday the 28th of April, my mom and I were to pick up the flowers for my bouquet at Food City. When we arrived and the worker pulled the carnations out of the cooler I almost cried. They were absolutely without a doubt not the right color! They looked maroon, not purple!! I was beginning to freak out. The wedding was Saturday, what would we do!? Olivia wasn't there that evening and the lady that was working didn't know anything about the order because Olivia had handled it all from the beginning. She was so sweet and so worried and offered to do anything she possibly could to help.

Since my mom had worked in a floral shop when she was younger, she knew there was little possibility that the carnations could change so drastically in color and become the correct color. But we had to try it. So my mom requested that the stems be freshly cut and placed in warm water to make the blooms open faster. We were to go back in the following morning while on our way to Knoxville to pick up the cake.

To our astonishment, the carnations did open up more and change into the correct color! It was amazing, my mom had never seen or heard of flowers changing so much in color....especially overnight, neither had Olivia. I was sooooo relieved!!! As were my mom and Olivia. Poor Olivia was stressing about it as much as I was, she's so sweet! So all was again well with the flowers and the panic attack I was about to have vanished.

Here are some pictures my Aunt got of my mom making my bouquet and the toss bouquet. Making my bouquet turned out to be a two person effort that kept us up until about 2am the night before the wedding!!! I was so tired, as you can see from the pictures. It had been a very long day for me. My mom was up even later than I was working on the bouts for the guys. She's amazing I tell ya!!

The darker carnations are for my bouquet and the boutonnieres. The lighter shade of purple carnations were used for the toss bouquet. We ended up getting that bunch for free because they weren't very fresh. But for the toss bouquet, that didn't really matter. The baby's breath was also originally only for the toss but I loved what my mom was doing with it so much that I wanted the baby's breath in my bouquet as well. We also purchased a Peace Lily from Food City for $9.99 and used the leaves from the plant to frame the bouquets.

My amazing mom making the toss bouquet.
Mom and I working on my bouquet.
The finished product!! It was everything and more that I wanted in a bouquet!! Purple, full and absolutely stunning!! I even took it on our honeymoon in a cylinder vase so I could enjoy it even more! I tried to dry it but unfortunately because the flowers were so tightly packed, it began to mold and I had to throw it away.
My bouquet in action! More pictures to come when we can get the image CD! (Source)
Charles's bout also made by my mom. She made I think around 8-10 bouts. She used one large carnation, some baby's breath and some english ivy leaves from our backyard. They all looked awesome and held up very well throughout the day! (Source)

Next up we head to Sam's Club in Knoxville to pick up the cake and cupcakes!

Wedding Project FAIL!

2010-08-29T14:23:00.007-04:00

Way back in May of 2009 I posted about my desire to have photo sharing cards and my design for them. I was so excited about this project and couldn't wait to see the beautiful pictures we would get back from our guests!

Well, only one problem with that project....it was a big fat HUGE failure!! Apparently I'm not the only bride who has had this problem either. Born to Be Mrs. Beever aka Thoughts of the All Consumed Bride blogged about her fail with this project as well. And I'm sure there are many other brides who had the same problem.

I'm not going to lie, this was a huge disappointment to me. We only got 149 pictures uploaded to our site. Now I am thankful for those 149 pictures, don't get me wrong. But most of them aren't even from the wedding itself. They are weird shots taken during the rehearsal dinner, reception and hustle and bustle going on at my mom's house in the days before the wedding.

To my knowledge, only two people even uploaded anything to our site...TWO! They were both sets of my aunts and uncles on my mom's side of the family. I know other people had cameras and were taking pictures and I saw them doing so. I just don't get whey they didn't upload the pictures for us.

This project ended up being a big waste of time and money and if I could go back and do it over, I wouldn't have done this project at all! So to all of you ladies still in the planning process and considering taking on a project like this, you might want to re-think it!

One of the most frustrating things...I can't figure out what went wrong, why more people didn't upload their photos. Oh well, I can't change it now and I did get these pictures out of it....

Our beautiful ceremony site the morning of the wedding.
My Maid of Honor Lindsey with our adorable flower girl Maggie!
Walking in with my grandfather and mom. Such a special moment!
My Pastor Leonce who is like a brother to me trying not to cry as I came up the aisle.
So happy to see my man waiting for me at the front of the gazebo after a long walk in!
Placing Charles's ring on his finger!!

I have some more pictures from flickr as well but will save those for another time. Another good thing that came out of the flickr account was that these pictures were the first wedding pictures we saw. So in that aspect, this was a wonderful project. I just wish more people would have posted their pictures but oh well.

Sticker/Label Giveaway Winner!

2010-08-28T10:28:00.004-04:00

I created an Excel spreadsheet as shown below with all of the entries in the order they came in.
Then I used Random.org to get the winner....
And so the winner is....AKMilo43!! I need you to leave your email address in a comment below so I can email Uprinting your information so you can claim your prize! If you don't leave me this information by Sunday night I will have to pick another winner. Congratulations!!

UPrinting Label/Sticker Giveaway! Hurry, 1 day Giveaway!

2010-08-25T11:39:00.006-04:00

Hello my lovely ladies! I'm excited to bring this Giveaway to you!

Have you been in need of some address labels with your new name? What about shipping labels for your new company? Or how about some fabulous labels/stickers to use on your favors or out of town bags? They even have roll stickers that would be perfect for that personalized bottled water! Uprinting has amazing printing services that can take care of all of these things for you! They are also a wonderful outdoor sticker printing company so be sure to check them out.

Giveaway Prize:

250 Stickers/Labels on 70lb Label Matte
2×3.5" or 2×4" or 3×3"
Full Color Front and Blank back
Limited to US residents; 18 years old and above

How to enter:
Leave me a comment telling me how you would use the canvas print. Be sure you leave me your name and e-mail address so I can contact you if you are the winner!

Extra Entry Possibilities (please post a new comment for each possible entry):
1.) Blog about my giveaway and be sure to include a link to my blog in your post. (Leave me the link to your post about the giveaway.)
2.) Become a follower of my blog or let me know that you're already a follower. (Become a follower through Blogger. I have to be able to "see" that you are actually a follower. Sorry Google Readers!)

*There are a total of 3 possible entries per contestant.
*Giveaway starts on Thursday, August 26th, 2010 and ends on Friday, August 27th, 2010 at 12am.
*Winner will be chosen using Random.org.
*Winner will be announced on Friday, August 27th, 2010.
*Winner will be contacted by the giveaway hosting company with details on how to claim your prize. Details on how to claim your giveaway are usually emailed on or before the end of the month.
*If you fail to provide your email address, another winner will be selected.
*I have not received any compensation for hosting this giveaway, all opinions expressed are mine, I will receive a blogger appreciation prize for hosting this giveaway.

JammieGirl Winner!!

2010-08-07T11:46:00.005-04:00

Sorry I couldn't get this posted yesterday, I had a crazy day at work and didn't get home until late!

I created an Excel spreadsheet as shown below with all of the entries in the order they came in.

Then I used Random.org to get the winner....
And the winner is Jenn over at Love, Life & Laughter with Jenn! Congrats Jenn, I hope you love your new jammies!! Be sure to send me (glasslover84(at)gmail(dot)com) your mailing information and the size you need so I can pass it on to JammieGirl and they can get them out to you in the mail!

Jammie Girl Giveaway!

2010-08-02T19:02:00.010-04:00

Several weeks ago I was contacted by JammieGirl.com and asked if I would write a product review. After taking a look at their website, I was more than happy to! They have some of the cutest pajamas ever! With cute nighties, cami & panty sets, flannel sets, and so much more there is something for any occasion.

(Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4)

These would make great gifts for the lovely ladies that stand by your side on your big day, for yourself, for your best friend's birthday, anything!

JammieGirl was also kind enough to write up a post about me and my blog on their blog Coffee Break with JammieGirl. You can take a look at what they worte about me here!

I asked my contact if they would be interested in allowing one of you lovely ladies to WIN a pair of their pajamas and they said sure! So thanks to their generosity, I have another giveaway to bring your way! Be sure to check them out on Twitter and Facebook too!

Here are the details. The Giveaway is for a FREE pair of their Malabar Bay 100% certified organic cotton and vegetable dyed pajama set! There are two options depending on the size needed for the giveaway winner.

For size small and medium, they have offered the Sea Stars Blue Pajama Set - by Malabar Bay. This set retails for $49.00 and shipping to the winner is FREE!!!

(Source)

And for size large, they have offered the Flamingo White Pajama Set - by Malabar Bay. This set also retails for $49.00 and shipping to the winner is FREE!!!

(Source)

How to enter:

Go to JammieGirl.com and take a look at their cute pj's. Then come back here and tell me what your favorite item is. Be sure you leave me your name and e-mail address so I can contact you if you are the winner!

Extra Entry Possibilities (please post a new comment for each possible entry):

1.) Blog about my giveaway and be sure to include a link to my blog in your post. (Leave me the link to your post about the giveaway.)

2.) Become a follower of my blog or let me know that you're already a follower. (Become a follower through Blogger. I have to be able to "see" that you are actually a follower. Sorry Google Readers!)

*There are a total of 3 possible entries per contestant.

*Giveaway starts on Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010 and ends on Friday, August 6th, 2010 at 12am.

*Winner will be chosen using Random.org and will be announced on Saturday, August 7th, 2010.

*The winner will need to email me their mailing information and size needed so I can get it to JammieGirl.com.

*JammieGirl.com is responsible for product availablility and delivery of product.

Exciting News!!

2010-07-28T11:53:00.004-04:00

I'm going to be an AUNT!!!! My brother and sister-in-law are pregnant with their first and are due on December 18th!! They just found out today they are having a girl and I couldn't be more excited!! Time to get crafting some special things for my very special niece!

My brother and sister-in-law Jessica on their wedding day. April 18, 2010. Jessica has started a blog called Oh da Baby! to journal her thoughts during the pregnancy, check it out!

I cannot wait! <3

Rolled Canvas Giveaway Winner!!!

2010-07-21T12:16:00.004-04:00

I created an Excel spreadsheet as shown below with all of the entries in the order they came in.
Then I used Random.org to get the winner....
And so the winner is Jennifer over at A Beautiful Day!! Congratulations and I hope you love the rolled canvas print! I will send your information on to Large Format Posters and they will contact you about how to claim your prize!

Superior Nut Company Review

2010-07-20T11:58:00.008-04:00

A little over a month ago I was contacted by Superior Nut Company and asked if I would be interested in doing a product review for them. After taking a look at their amazing website and blog, I knew this was something I wanted to do! They have a HUGE selection of candy, nuts, dried fruit and so much more and their prices are so reasonable!

I was asked if I had any requests and sent a list of four items and told my contact Mary that whatever they wanted to send would be great and I was looking forward to working with them. Last night when I got home from work the box was on the front porch! I came in the house and opened the box and found this...

(Source: yours truly)

They sent me all four items I had mentioned! And these were not tiny sample bags as I had imagined them to be, these were full sized 1lb. bags of each item! I had listed Watermelon Jelly Belly Jelly Beans, Pecans, Dried Cherries and Pistachios and they sent us all four. I couldn't believe it! Not to mention they arrived in beautiful gold re-seal-able bags with detailed labels with the contents and ingredients used.

(Source: yours truly)

I couldn't wait to taste everything!! I ripped open all the bags and tried a little of each. OMG! Everything tastes simply incredible! The flavors are so pure and everything tastes so fresh and crisp! The cherries and pecans will be perfect to make some homemade trail mix with and I can't wait! And the Watermelon Jelly Belly's are sooo yummy and addictive! The pistachios are so delicious and my hubby is just going to love having them around the house!

I wish I had been able to have a beautiful candy buffet at the wedding, I had dreamed of one, but there was simply no way we could have done it with our budget.

(Source)

So many of you out there are planning on having one and I cannot recommend Superior Nut Company enough!! They have just branched out into the wedding candy business as well and have anything you could possibly want or imagine on your buffet including never before seen colors of certain items! If you aren't having a candy buffet but are instead doing prepackaged candy favors, I promise they have what you're looking for!

They have specialty pretzels, chocolate covered espresso beans, gummy candies, chocolate coated sunflower seeds (color coating), Jelly Belly jelly beans, Jordan Almonds (in the widest color range I've ever seen including black, dark green, red, deep purple and more!), and so much more candy types and colors. And if you're looking for a particular color, you can shop by color!

(Source)

Need favor bags for your guests to put their candy in!? They have those too, check it out! They even have a special running at the moment..."Order any 5lb bag of Jordan Almonds and get 50% off Organza Party Favors"!

If you've already gotten married then be sure to check out their dried fruit and nut selections that are perfect for using in recipes or just to have on hand for a healthy and delicious snack! And they also have gift packages that anyone would just love to get in the mail! And they have a huge selection of items that have FREE SHIPPING right now!

I know this is a rather lengthy post but I just don't have enough good things to say about this company!! Be sure you go check out their website and all of the incredible things they have to offer. While they have an extensive site, it is very easy to navigate and find exactly what you're looking for!! While you're there, take a minute to read about the company's history, it is so neat to hear where and how they started! And make sure you check out their blog because it is full of delicious recipes! And with a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee, there is no risk so go pick out something yummy and order it today! I promise you will not be disappointed!!!

In review, I give Superior Nut Company an A++!!

Don't forget you have until midnight tonight to enter my Rolled Canvas Giveaway!!

Rolled Canvas Print Giveaway!!!!!

2010-07-13T13:57:00.006-04:00

I have been waiting a LONG time to be able to host a giveaway for a canvas print and now that wait is up!
Have you been dreaming of having one of your wedding or engagement pictures as beautiful large canvas print or as a large format poster? Dream no longer. Enter this giveaway and you have a chance to win one! Today I bring you a giveaway for a FREE 16x20 Rolled Canvas Print from Largeformatposters.com! Be sure to check out their website and take a look at all the wonderful and easy to use services they provide!

Giveaway Prize:
16x20 Rolled Canvas Print
Limited to US Residents; 18 years old and above

How to enter:
Leave me a comment telling me how you would use the canvas print. Be sure you leave me your name and e-mail address so I can contact you if you are the winner!

Extra Entry Possibilities (please post a new comment for each possible entry):
1.) Blog about my giveaway and be sure to include a link to my blog in your post. (Leave me the link to your post about the giveaway.)
2.) Become a follower of my blog or let me know that you're already a follower. (Become a follower through Blogger. I have to be able to "see" that you are actually a follower. Sorry Google Readers!)

*There are a total of 3 possible entries per contestant.
*Giveaway starts on Tuesday, July 13th, 2010 and ends on Tuesday, July 20th, 2010 at 12am.
*Winner will be chosen using Random.org.
*Winner will be announced on Wednesday, July 21st, 2010.
*Winner will be contacted by the giveaway hosting company with details on how to claim your prize.
*If you fail to provide your email address, another winner will be selected.

Happy 4th of July!!!

2010-07-03T11:02:00.006-04:00

Hello Ladies!! I hope you have a wonderful and safe 4th of July weekend!! Check out this awesome cake I made for Charles to take to his work 4th cookout that they are holding today!

(Source: yours truly)

I totally cheated and used cake mix instead of making it from scratch but I just didn't have time for that! I also had to cheat and use regular frosting instead of cool whip which is normally used for a cake like this because the cool whip would have melted in the heat! For my first 4th of July flag cake, I'm happy with how it turned out!

Beautiful Corsages

2010-06-30T13:43:00.009-04:00

Before the wedding I simply ran out of time to fill you in on some of the last minute details that came together so I'm going to start catching you up!

My amazing mom who wore so many hats throughout the whole planning process made some beautiful corsages for the special ladies that would be at the wedding.

This beauty was for my Grandmother:

(Source: yours truly)

And this one was for my now mother-in-law:

(Source: yours truly)

And these were made for my now sisters-in-law:

(Source: yours truly)

Unfortunately I never got a picture of the one my mom made for herself however once I'm able to recaps you'll see it. Other corsages were also made for people who were doing us a huge favor by helping in various areas the day of the wedding. Those corsages were simpler featuring only one bloom but were still beautiful! I also found out later that the morning of the wedding my mom made another corsage for someone that had been forgotten!

All of the corsages were made with the same preserved orchid blooms that I used in the reception centerpieces.

Giveaway Winner Announcement!

2010-06-23T15:29:00.004-04:00

I created an Excel spreadsheet as shown below with all of the entries in the order they came in.
Then I used Random.org to get the winner....
And so the winner is An Aqul Juel!! Congratulations and I hope you love the business cards! You MUST leave me a comment with your email address so I can pass it on to Digital Room!! They will then contact you with instructions on how to claim your prize!

Last Chance to Enter My Giveaway!

2010-06-22T12:36:00.003-04:00

The giveaway ends at 12am tonight so if you haven't entered to win the 500 business cards you still have time! Just go here to enter! The winner will be announced tomorrow!

Wedding Shower Pictures!

2010-06-18T15:54:00.001-04:00

Today I bring you pictures from my wedding shower which was held back in February. I shared the shower invitations that I made here so if you haven't seen them, take a look.

I had a wonderful time and we got some amazing things for our home. However, I was feeling veryyy sick. I believe I ended up with a 24hr stomach virus...NOT FUN! In a number of the pictures you can tell I wasn't feeling well...so bummed about that so please excuse how terrible I look.

My best friend and Matron of Honor, Lindsey made the 7hr drive into town to be there for the shower and that meant sooo much to me! In addition, she was able to come into town the day before the shower so we got some quality girl time in! We went lingerie shopping and had a blast and stayed up wayyy too late talking. It was awesome!

My mom, Javi my bridesmaid and some of my moms friends did a great job with the decor and I loved how it turned out! I'll let the pictures do the talking for the most part...
My mommy setting things up!
The spread!
Drinks and desserts!
My delicious cake! Just wish I had been able to eat more than two bites of it!
The guest book.
The tags for the shower gifts. I had a blast making them! The hearts were made by using a heart shaped whole punch and then gluing them to the tags.
Heart shaped cheddar cheese crackers my mom found, they were so cute and yummy!
My beautiful mom pining on the corsage she made me.
My Gram (grandmother) and I. She and my granddad (grandfather) made the 2 hour trip despite the fact that about a week before the shower my Gram had serious shoulder surgery.
Some of the most comfortable lingerie EVER!
Me and my ladies! Javi (left) and Lindsey (right).
Lindsey and me with our moms. They are great friends too!
Old home-school buddies.

One of my best friends, Javi. She was my bridesmaid and we've been friends for about 11 years.
Opening the Noritake Platinum rim China I inherited from my Gram and Granddad. It is BEAUTIFUL!
Three generations...my Gram, mom and myself.
My beautiful mom and me!

So Long "Planning My Purple Wedding"!

2010-06-16T23:30:00.003-04:00

Please excuse my mess!!! I'm in the process of switching over my blog from a planning blog to a married blog. So please hang in there while I re-do everything! What do you think of the new name? My creative juices have been lacking lately and it's all I could come up with...at least it rhymes. lol What about the background?

Giveaway for 500 Business Cards!!

2010-06-16T11:31:00.005-04:00

Hello dear readers! I have another great giveaway to bring your way....

Giveaway Prize:
500 Premium Business Cards
2 x 3.5”, 2 x 2” (square card) or 1.75 x 3.5” (slim card)
14 pt gloss cardstock, 14 pt matte cardstock or 13 pt recycled uncoated cardstock
Full Color Both Sides
Limited to US residents; 18 years old and above
Working on some DIY projects and need a little help? Looking for some cheap business cards to use for that last minute project you've been putting off? Still need to design your Photo Sharing Cards, your Table Numbers, Escort Cards or anything else? If so this is the perfect giveaway for you brought to you by Digital Room! They have some amazing printing products that are available so be sure to check out their website!

How to enter:
Leave me a comment telling me how you would use the Business Cards. Be sure you leave me your name and e-mail address so I can contact you if you are the winner!

Extra Entry Possibilities (please post a new comment for each possible entry):
1.) Blog about my giveaway and be sure to include a link to my blog in your post. (Leave me the link to your post about the giveaway.)
2.) Become a follower of my blog or let me know that you're already a follower.

*There are a total of 3 possible entries per contestant.
*Giveaway starts on Wednesday, June 16th, 2010 and ends on Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010 at 12am.
*Winner will be chosen using Random.org.
*Winner will be announced on Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010.
*Winner will be contacted by the giveaway hosting company with details on how to claim your prize.

For SALE!

2010-06-02T16:12:00.003-04:00

So if you've fallen in love with something I've posted about on my blog then pay attention! I have a ton of things that I'm trying to sell. I am in the process of listing them all on Ebay. Here is what I have listed so far....

Purple Dollhouse Flats, Size 10

72 ct. bag of Pearlized Purple Balloons, 12" Helium Quality

72 ct. bag of Pearlized White Balloons, 12" Helium Quality

50 Pearlized Purple Balloons, 12" Helium Quality

50 Pearlized White Balloons, 12" Helium Quality

Lot of 18 used 7" round mirrors

Glass Apothecary Jar, 18-2/4" Tall, New

100 ct. box of 5-3/4" x 8-3/4" Grip Seal Greeting Card Envelopes

Used lot of 4 Large, 18" Silver Paper Lanterns

Used lot of 11 Small, 10" Silver Paper Lanterns

Lot of 6, 20ct luncheon napkins & 4, 24ct beverage napkins, purple

Stay tuned for other items such as our cupcake tree, a rhinestone bracelet, a 2.5 gallon beverage dispenser, a box of forks, some tulle, invitation kits, program kits, and a whole lot more!

More Pictures!

2010-05-23T18:18:00.015-04:00

So I thought I'd share the other pictures our photographers posted in their full blog post about our wedding. This post went up on the blog on Thursday and they were kind enough to send me a text message with a heads up. I was sooo happy they did because I was able to see them before I went into work!

You can see the full post with Wes's captions here. Late that night, Charles and I were able to look at all 961 pictures from the wedding on the online gallery. In slide show mode, it took us over two hours to see them all! But it was well worth it! I cannot wait until we can get the image CD and I can start framing these babies and doing recaps for you all! Enjoy.....

Our first look!

Only one of my favorite wedding pictures.....EVER!

Me standing on a swing....totally my idea! Wes wasn't too sure about this at the time. lol

I'm trying to come up with a new blog name since I'm not planning anymore. I'm having difficulty thinking of something catchy to use though. Once I've settled on something I'll let you all know!

Wedding Teaser Pictures!!

2010-05-21T11:45:00.008-04:00

Here are the first pictures we saw from our photographers! They posted them on their blog last week. Charles and I looked through all 961 pictures on our online gallery last night and it took over two hours to see them all! We are incredibly happy with our pictures and I wouldn't have done a thing differently, they are all amazing. But that's because of our AMAZING photographers, Wes & Danielle Hope!

I'll start recaps as soon as I'm able to but it will most likely be a while because we can't afford the image CD just yet so hang in there. In the meantime, I'll try and post on things I wasn't able to get to before the wedding. But first, enjoy these images and let me know what you think!

These were the first professional pics we saw posted on their blog in a teaser post on May 16th. You can see the full post with Wes's captions here. All of the images in this post were taken by Danielle! I've always LOVED her style, here's why....

Well, that's all for now. I'll share the other pictures we saw for the first time yesterday another day. Leave me some love and let me know what you think!

I'm a MRS!

2010-05-02T14:44:00.002-04:00

The wedding was absolutely INCREDIBLE!!! I cannot wait to share all the details with you all! But that will have to wait until after the honeymoon! As I type this, we are headed down Interstate 26 heading to Hilton Head Island, SC! Unfortunately I don't have a single picture I can share with you yet. It will be a bit before the photographer is done editing and none of the guests have uploaded to our flikr.com account as of yet. But you can bet your butt that I will share some with you when I have them!

It's Official....

2010-04-28T10:31:00.003-04:00

Well, in the states eyes it is! Yesterday morning, Charles and I went to the Courthouse and got our marriage license!

This is by no means a great picture but it's a picture documenting the event none the less. It was starting to rain again and we were trying to hurry and also trying not to get the marriage license wet!

Don't get me started on weather though, that brings on a whole wave of things I do NOT want to deal with. Last look at the weather revealed a 60% chance of thunderstorms the day of our wedding. I ended up in tears. I will purposely be missing the weather from now until after the wedding. I can't handle it. Plus, the weather men don't know what they're talking about. I know the true 100% accurate weather man and He knows the desires of my heart. I'm putting all my trust in the Lord for a BEAUTIFUL day come Saturday!

Well ladies, I have a zillion things to do so I better get off here and go do them. I'm sure this will be my last post until after the wedding so I will catch you all once I'm a MRS! <3

Rehearsal Dinner Invitations

2010-04-11T16:00:00.005-04:00

Charles and I worked hard on these puppies and had a lot of fun creating them together! Our rehearsal dinner will be very casual...it will be a cookout!! So fun and we love hosting them at his house. Can't wait until we are hosting one at our house! :) The rehearsal dinner will be held at the bed and breakfast we are getting married at and having the reception at. The cookout theme was a combined idea from him and his mom. It will be fun, low key and easy on the pocket book. Just what we wanted. Here are the post card invitations/notifications we made to send to the wedding party and invited guests....

Ahhhhhh........

2010-04-11T15:10:00.005-04:00

We're under the 20 day mark now and boy oh boy am I feeling the pressure! For those of you who have already been through this, you know exactly what I'm feeling like and stressing about. And for those of you who have yet to reach this stage.....START PLANNING AS SOON AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN!!!!

If I had not been able to start my planning when I did, I just know I would be pulling my hair out by now! And as if all the wedding planning wasn't enough. I started a new job on March 26th! So I'm still in the process of getting used to my new schedule and still learning a lot. But the fact that I love my job and the people I work for/with makes the stress level lower and easier to handle!

Fortunately, I'm not feeling too stressed out just yet but that's because I was able to get sooo much done sooo early on. I can't even begin to stress how important it is for you all to start your planning as soon as you are engaged. And maybe even before you're engaged if you're having a short engagement! Some people thought I was a little crazy to begin planning so far in advance but let me tell you, the only way I would have done anything differently would have been to start planning SOONER! :)

I have SO much I want to share with you all but I just don't have the time to sit down and write about it between work and last minute wedding details. So you'll have to forgive me! After the wedding before I start recaps, I will start with posts that catch you up on all the little things I haven't been able to share with you lately.

I had my first alterations appointment yesterday and it went great! I can't wait until I go back and see the final result of the hem and bustle!

A Tip From One Bride To Another

2010-03-29T20:27:00.005-04:00

Listen up ladies!! If you're still in the early planning stages and haven't mailed out your invitations, this post is for YOU! I have lots of things I want to share with you but I feel this is something I really NEED to share with you.

Once upon a time, I came across some invaluable information from one of the many wedding blogs I was following early on in my planning. I can't remember where I saw it but let me assure you, you're going to want to do this too!

When it comes time to assemble your invitations. Please, please to save yourself lots of headaches take the time to create an excel spreadsheet with all your guests information. Then create a column and assign each invitation a number. Then place the corresponding number for that guest on the back of their rsvp card. It's time consuming and you have to be careful not to mix up the rsvp cards with the incorrect invitation (envelope really since that's what has the guests name on it).

Chances are, they won't even notice the number but this comes in VERY handy when you start getting rsvp cards and no one filled out the name line!!! This has already saved me twice so far and I'm sure more no name rsvp cards will come!

I hope I explained this ok, if you have questions let me know!

Winner Announcement!

2010-03-24T19:56:00.004-04:00

I created an Excel spreadsheet as shown below with all of the entries in the order they came in.
Then I used Random.org to get the winner....
And so the winner is Britteny of Sand Dollars & Sunflowers!! Congratulations and I hope you love the post cards! You MUST leave me a comment with your email address so I can pass it on to UPrinting!! They will then contact you with instructions on how to claim your prize!

Another Giveaway!

2010-03-17T10:06:00.012-04:00

Hello lovely ladies! I have another exciting giveaway to bring you!

Are you looking for some custom designed Recipe Cards, Thank You Cards, Rehearsal Dinner Invitations, Wedding Invitations, Map/Direction Cards or something else? Look no further! Today, I give you the chance to win 100 4 x 6 Postcards from Postcard Printing! They make everything so easy and do such a great job so be sure to check out their other products via print online!

Prize: 100 4" x 6" Postcards - 14pt Cardstock Gloss, Full Color Both Sides; 3 Business Days Turnaround, FREE UPS Ground Shipping. (Limited to US Residents only)

How to enter:
Leave me a comment telling me how you would use the Postcards. Be sure you leave me your name and e-mail address so I can contact you if you are the winner!

Extra Entry Possibilities (please post a new comment for each possible entry):
1.) Blog about my giveaway and be sure to include a link to my blog in your post. (Leave me the link to your post about the giveaway.)
2.) Become a follower of my blog or let me know that you're already a follower.

*There are a total of 3 possible entries per contestant.
*Giveaway starts on Wednesday, March 17th, 2010 and ends on Tuesday, March 24th, 2010.
*Winner will be chosen using Random.org.
*Winner will be announced on Wednesday, March 25th, 2010.
*Winner will be contacted by UPrinting.com with details on how to claim your prize.

If you're a blogger, check out UPrinting's Blog Sponsorship Program. They're very supportive of small businesses and have great prices on business cards and custom postcards and so much more! Plus they also offer tons of great giveaways! :)

Invitations are done!!

2010-03-10T10:45:00.003-05:00

WOOOOO HOOOOOOO!!! So glad to have these puppies done!

This is what our guests will be greeted with when they open the outer envelope...

(Source: yours truly) Our "wax" (glue gun sealing wax, so much easier than the old method!)

And this is what they will find once they open the inner envelope...

(Source: yours truly)

And all the pieces...

Invitation, RSVP card & envelope and direction/accommodation card (Source: yours truly)

Close up of our invitation and RSVP card....

The small writing at the top of the invitation says "Two friends united in love, one love united in Christ."

(Source: yours truly)

I couldn't possibly be happier with how they turned out! These Brides kits from Michael's were a lifesaver. It was DIY but not from scratch. And I'm so glad I decided to change the ribbon color to purple! So what do you think?

Emergency Kits

2010-03-05T09:46:00.001-05:00

Ever since I first saw emergency kits, I've loved the concept of them! So I decided to create one for each of my girls and for myself. I got almost all of the contents for the kits at either Dollar General, Family Dollar or Dollar Tree. Don't ever forget about your dollar stores ladies, they are so helpful for things like this!!

I found these cute and oh so handy collapsible storage boxes at one of the dollars stores. And then made the labels for the lids myself.

(Source: yours truly)

And here is a picture of the contents of the bridesmaids kits....

(Source: yours truly)

And now for the detailed lists:
Bridesmaids Emergency Kit Contents:
-Tissues
-Safety Pins
-Lip Balm
-Hand Lotion
-Breath Mints
-Gum
-Hair Spray
-Eye Drops
-Nail File
-Hand Mirror
-Pain Reliever
-Bobby Pins
-Small Brush
-Small Comb
-Sanitary Napkin
-Tampon
-Wet-Ones
-Hand Sanitizer
-Sun Screen

Brides Emergency Kit Contents:
-Clear Band-Aids
-Tissues
-Safety Pine
-Lip Balm
-Hand Lotion
-Needle & Thread Kit
-Clear Nail Polish
-Gum
-Pony Tail Holders (various sizes)
-Bobby Pins
-Hair Spray
-Wet-Ones
-Nail File
-Hand Mirror (small)
-Tweezers
-Sunscreen
-Antacid
-Pepto-tabs
-Baby Powder
-Cotton Swabs
-Double Stick Tape
-Cotton Squares
-Comb
-Nail Glue
-Pain Reliever
-Tooth Brush
-Tooth Paste
-Dental Floss

Still Need for Brides Kit:
-Tide-to-go
-Note pad
-Pen
-Lighter
-Earring Backs

Hope you ladies find these lists helpful! Are you planning on putting together emergency kits for you and your girls?

Two

2010-03-01T11:16:00.000-05:00

Two months to go until the wedding!!!!! And let me tell you, I can't believe it! I will try and continue to get some posts up for you all but be patient with me. I have LOTS done already but I swear every time I cross something off the to-do list, there are four more things to add to it! ughhh On top of all the wedding planning, Charles and I are getting ready to begin the task of painting every room in the house. It needs it soo badly and will make the place look so much better when we're done. Hopefully we can get it all finished before it's time for me to move all my things into his house!

And today, all of the invitations went out in the mail! I'm so glad they are done and now going out to all our guests! Here are all 168 invitations ready to just before I mailed them! :D

(Source: yours truly)

Bows and Dresses

2010-02-28T13:15:00.002-05:00

Since we're having an outside ceremony, we obviously won't be having pews. However I still wanted to incorporate something that could be put on the aisle side chairs at the ceremony site to jazz things up a little bit. In December of 2008 (I think) mom and I were at Sam's and found some beautiful wide ribbon that we decided would be perfect for making "pew" bows. I'm so glad I bought it when I saw it because it truly is perfect. My mom was a florist and is a master bow maker (she makes it look so easy). Because of her talent, I asked her to make the bows for me. This is what they will look like.....

(Source: yours truly)

We will attach them to the chairs that are along the inside of the "aisle" that my girls and myself will walk down. They are simple but elegant and I think they will look beautiful on the chairs!

That concludes the "bow" section of this post, now on to the dresses! I've already shared the dress options I gave my girls to choose from. Today, I present to you the dresses my maid of honor and bridesmaid picked out! My maid of honor Lindsey picked out this stunning dress and I just know it's going to look fabulous on her!

(Source)

And my bridesmaid Javi picked out this beautiful halter dress that's going to look great on her!

(Source)

I can't wait to see my girls in their dresses! The color they will both be in is called "Grape" and it is a beautiful deep yet bright purple!

Update on my Grandmother

2010-02-25T20:33:00.002-05:00

Thank you to those of you who said a prayer for my grandmother. She is at home and doing MUCH better! She did spend the night at the hospital last night and spent most of the day there today as well. She went through some more testing today and passed all the tests. So she was allowed to go home late this afternoon. However, all indications point to her having a heart attack or some kind of serious "cardiac event". She will be closely monitored in the days and weeks ahead to make sure nothing else happens. Please continue to pray for her. I'm so glad she's ok, I was scared out of my mind last night when we got the call. Thanks again!

Something Old, New and Borrowed

2010-02-25T15:27:00.001-05:00

I've already shared my "Something Blue" with you and today I'll share my something old, new and borrowed.

My something old is something that I wore when I was a baby. A dear friend of my Gram's (grandmother) made me a bonnet out of a lace hanky. I never knew about this until after I got engaged and mom pulled it out of the closet. Inside the ziplock bag it was in was a hand written note from Phyllis Anderson (my Gram's friend). This is what it says....

"I'm just a little hanky as square as I can be. But with a stitch or tow, they made a bonnet out of me. I'll be worn home from the hospital, or on a special day. Then I'll be washed and pressed and neatly tucked away. Then on her wedding day as we've always been told. Each well-dressed bride must have that something old. What would be more fitting, than to find little old me. Snip a few stitches and a wedding hanky I will be. If by chance it is a boy, someday he'll surely wed. So to his bride he can present the hanky once worn on his head."

Now is that an incredible tradition or what!? When I read the card for the first time, tears started to well in my eyes. I'm so thankful to have such a special thing to carry with me on my wedding day. My plan is to attach it to my bouquet so it is with me all day long. And I know it will mean so much to my Gram that I will have it with me! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to quickly find a picture of me with the bonnet on when I was little. So I had to improvise and put it on a baby dolls head. lol

(Source: yours truly)

And this is what it looked like after the stitches were taken out and it was pressed.

(Source: yours truly)

As for the something new, there I countless things that could fall into this category; my dress, shoes, veil, jewelry, etc. For something borrowed, I have no idea what this will be. I guess I won't know until the wedding day when I need to borrow something! lol

Do you have any cool traditions or keepsakes that you'll be using for your something old, new, borrowed and blue?

Giveaway Winner!!

2010-02-24T22:21:00.003-05:00

I created an Excel spreadsheet as shown below with all of the entries in the order they came in.

Then I used Random.org to get the winner....
And so the winner is Heather aka the Bicoastal Bride!! Congratulations and I hope you LOVE your poster print! I will get your information to OnlinePosterPrinting and they will contact you with the details to claim your prize!

And for those of you that pray, I have an urgent prayer request. My grandmother (my mom's mom) was rushed to the hospital tonight with chest pain. Her son (my uncle) is a doctor and fears she is having a heart attack. She is stable at the moment but that is all I know. Please be lifting her up in prayer and my entire family as well. Thanks!

Last Chance to Enter and a Quick DIY Project!

2010-02-23T13:36:00.008-05:00

Don't forget that today is the last day you can enter to win the FREE Onlineposterprinting Giveaway!!!

If you haven't entered yet, be sure to do so before midnight tonight!

Enter to Win!

And to throw in a quick update and DIY project....

I bring you the sign I made to direct guests to the wedding. It's easy to find the Bed & Breakfast the wedding will be at. However, the road "Y's" at the base of the B&B's property and all guests will need to bear right at the "Y". So I knew we would have to have a sign at the base of the property. Here is what I came up with.....

(Source: yours truly)

Early on in the planning process when I was at JoAnn's, I found an alphabet stamp set for only $5! I didn't know what if anything I'd use the stamps for but I knew if I didn't buy them I would need them, so I got them. Turns out, they were EXACTLY what I need for this sign! The letters are actually stamped in purple paint, my camera makes it look black though. The corner accents are rub on decals that I had left over from the "This way to the wedding" signs. And I used a piece of Matboard that the former owners of my moms house left here when they moved. So this sign didn't cost me a thing! I am going to see about having it laminated though, so that would be the only cost.

When I made the above sign, I also made some parking sings as well. I used the same purple paint and the alphabet stamps and just used some lightweight card stock I had on hand from other wedding projects. I then purchased simple (and cheap) black frames from Dollar General for $2 each. I made a total of four parking signs, two with a right arrow and two with a left arrow. So the cost of this project was only $8 and Charles actually bought the frames! Here's how they turned out....

(Source: yours truly)

None of the signs are perfect, but I'm happy with how they came out and they will serve the purpose that we need them for! This was an easy project and I did them all in one evening! What do you think?

Lots of Various Updates....

2010-02-22T20:05:00.001-05:00

I have sooooo many things to share with you guys, it's not even funny! If I did one blog for each thing I need to share I would be blogging for ages! haha So today I bring you a lot of different updates and projects. To start things off, I'll be sharing these beautiful baskets with you...

(Source: yours truly)

This basket will be used for the favors at my shower and then used for the fans at the wedding.

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(Source: yours truly)

And these baskets (there are two) will be used to hold our bubble wands. I'm going to ask my two youngest cousins Katy and Lydia if they will carry them around at the end of the reception so everyone gets bubbles.

All three of these baskets were given to me by a good friend of my moms and myself too. They were all used in both of her daughters weddings so they were a little ragged looking as far as the paint was concerned. But nothing a new coat couldn't fix, add some tulle and some purple (of course) ribbon and they're ready!
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Up next, I bring you the finished look of the headpiece for our flower girl. (Sadly, we will only be having one flower girl as one of the little girls we wanted can no longer be in the wedding.) I showed a sneak peak of the headpiece here. The ribbon roses were hand made by my mom. Now I bring you the finished product.

(Source: yours truly)

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And in an effort to hide this from Charles, I'll post it here. Baby if you're reading this by some chance, you better stop and close this page!!!!! I wanted to get Charles something special as a wedding day gift and I wanted it to be something he could wear. I started looking at cuff links and loved all the creative options I was seeing on Etsy.com. I really wanted something that would speak to his personality and found the perfect pair for him!

(Source: yours truly)

As you can see, they are Winchester 12 Gage shotgun shell end caps. lol With Charles's love of all things police and such, I thought they were perfect and unique! And I think they'll look great with his gray suit!

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And now to close this post I bring you the finished bouquets that my mom made for my maid of honor and my bridesmaid. I posted a sneak peak here and now I bring you the complete look...

(Source: yours truly)

I know that was a lot to take in so I'm sorry! lol Hope you like everything! :)

100th Post and Ceremony Music!

2010-02-19T17:54:00.004-05:00

(Source: unknown)

Well today marks my 100th post! For those of you who have been following from the beginning, thanks! And for those of you who have just started to follow along, thank you too! :D

(Source)

I have finally completed the ceremony music and I am in love with what we chose! Hope this list can help some of you who are still working on this task!

Prelude:
Adagio for Strings Op.11 - Barber
Ava Maria - Schubert
Clair de Lune - Debussy
Bella's Lullaby - Carter Burwell*
Piano Sonata No. 8 in C Minor, Op.13 - Beethoven
Suite for Solo Cello No. 1 in G Major - J.S. Bach
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini - Rachmaninoff
Prelude in C (Harp) - Lorraine Alberts
The Prayer - David Foster
Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring - J.S. Bach
Nocturne No. 2, Op.9 in E-Flat Major - Chopin
Fur Elise - Beethoven
*Yes, that's from Twilight. And yes, I love the movies and books. However that is not why it's in the wedding! From the first time I heard it, I fell in love with this piece of music! It's just soo beautiful!

Seating of Grandparents and Grooms Mother:
Air on a G String - Handel

Processional:
Bridesmaids: Suite for Orchestra No.3 in D Major - J.S. Bach

Bridal Processional:
Cannon in D - Pachelbel

Recessional:
Finale (from Water Music Suite) - Handel

OnlinePosterPrinting Giveaway!!!!!!

2010-02-17T10:00:00.005-05:00

Hello my beloved readers, I have a special announcement to make! I have an OnlinePosterPrinting Giveaway for you!

Have you been dreaming of having one of your engagement pictures blown up to a Poster Size Print you can put on display at your reception? Or would you love to have a Poster Size Print of one of your favorite wedding pictures? If so, be sure to enter this giveaway for a chance to win! OnlinePosterPrinting does an incredible job with Digital Photo Enlargement and Digital Photos on Posters so don't miss out on this!

Prize: One 18" x 24" Poster Print, Paper Stock - High Gloss or Semi Gloss, 1 Business Day Turnaround, FREE UPS Ground Shipping (Limited to US Residents only.)

How to enter:
Leave me a comment telling me how you would use the Poster Size Print. Be sure you leave me your name and e-mail address so I can contact you if you are the winner!

Extra Entry Possibilities (please post a new comment for each possible entry):
1.) Blog about my giveaway and be sure to include a link to my blog in your post. (Leave me the link to your post about the giveaway.)
2.) Become a follower of my blog or let me know that you're already a follower.

*There are a total of 3 possible entries per contestant.
*Giveaway starts on Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 and ends on Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010.
*Winner will be chosen using Random.org.
*Winner will be announced on Wednesday, February 24th, 2010.
*Winner will be contacted by UPrinting.com with details on how to claim your prize.

If you're a blogger, check out UPrinting's Blog Sponsorship Program. They're very supportive of small businesses and have great prices on business cards and custom postcards and so much more! Plus they also offer tons of great giveaways! :)