Jessica's Joys!

Our first Christmas!

2011-01-24T19:38:00.000-08:00

So since its been exactly one month since Christmas Eve,

I decided I should probably document our first christmas as a married couple

before I forget everything! Christmas is my favorite holiday and I love decorating for it.

I began purchasing items of Etsy months ahead of time to prepare for the most wonderful time of the year! I was so excited to have our own little home to decorate.

Our first stop was finding our Christmas tree. We did not have an artificial one yet and thought about getting a real tree. We went to Lowes and decided to buy an artificial and use it year after year. I absolutely love it! Its pre-lit and beautiful! I cant wait to put it up every year!

The rest of the decorations I either bought off Etsy, handmade, or purchased from a local store. I love all of them and cant wait to add to them next year!!

On Christmas Eve's Eve :) we stayed at Charlie's parents house. I love Christmas Eve because its the last day before it all ends. Its the last day of the hustle and bustle: shopping, cooking, wrapping... I just love it! Not to mention its the day we got engaged two years ago! Anyway we stayed the night there and had so much fun just being with family. We woke up to an amazing Kringle Cake that Tippins sent us for Christmas and it was super yummy!! We ate the entire thing for breakfast!

the pioneer woman

We lounged around a bit and then I went over to my parents house to go shopping with my dad.

Each year we do something to help another family in the area at christmas time and this year Dad decided to get some presents for the people at the local Nursing Home.

It is one of my favorite things that we do at Christmas as a family.

I cannot wait to keep the tradition alive with my own family in the future.

We went all around town and mixed in with the other last minute shoppers, i really loved it!

The only place I did not love was WalMart........suuuuper crowded. (duh..)

We got all of our goodies and brought them home to put into their bags.

We finished just in time for Christmas Eve Service.

Charlie met back up at our house and off we went to Church.

The Christmas Eve service is always so amazing. In our town there is a show that local singers are in and some of them go to my church.

On Christmas Eve they sing and we look so forward to it each year.

Tangena is one of the people who sings at the service, she also sang at our wedding and it was just beautiful. Her and her daughter sang at the christmas eve service this year and it was AMAZING! My sister and I always freak out when she sings because we feel like she is a celebrity!

This is from last year, isnt little Sadie soooo cute!!!

We then went back to Charlie's parents house for Christmas Eve dinner. My parents, sister and grandparents all came as well to celebrate. We had an amazing dinner! Charlie's mom always decorates sooo pretty for Christmas.

After dinner we opened presents with Charlie's family.

It was neat to be able to spend time opening presents with them.

It was fun to see their traditions and how they were similar to my families (thank the Lord!).

We opened them one at a time and got soo many beautiful presents.

Charlie's sister got our wedding invitation painted with the scene from our wedding.

It is beautiful!

After we finished up with presents we went back to my house and opened our Christmas Eve jammies!

We got in them and charlie, my sis, and I all cuddled up and watched youtube videos! The best way to spend Christmas Eve!!

The next morning we woke up to Santa and all of the wonderful gifts.

We had soo much fun opening presents and just being together as a family.

After lunch we took all of the gift bags over to the Nursing Home.

My dad had sooo much fun handing them out to everyone.

They were all so kind and gracious.

It was a blessing for all of us to go and visit them on Christmas Day.

We went back to Charlie's house and opened our stockings and found the pickle on the tree!

His mom hides a pickle shaped ornament on the tree and we have to search for it. Whoever finds it gets a special prize. Charlie claims to win every year so I thought I would give him a run for his money.

We all searched and searched for literally 15 minutes until of course Charlie found it...

He won all of the change his parents collected for the year!!!!! Awesome prize and even more awesome that I get to share in the wealth even though I didn't win!

We had a fabulous Christmas spending time with both families.

We are so lucky to live so close and experience Christmas with both of them!

I am already looking forward to next year, but then again, who isn't!

An Etsy Thanksgiving !!

2010-11-21T14:57:00.000-08:00

Woah Thanksgiving!

Slow Down!

I cannot believe it is already that time of the year.

But I am extremely happy that it is!

I love thanksgiving, the trees turing colors, the time with family, being at the lake,

of course the yummy food..but thats a given right?

Everything about this season is so fun for me.

I recently purchased some cute decorations off Etsy and I cannot wait to share them!

They have been set up in our little apartment, but will be making the big trip to the lake to add some holiday cheer!

All of the purchases I plan on packing away to use for years to come!

Fall Banner by makentake

Harvest letters by allysatticcrafts

Turkey Day sign by yourethatgirldesigns

Give Thanks Pumpkin by kellykrockerkreates

I cannot wait to search for Christmas decorations on Etsy!

Hope yall have an absolutely fabulous Thanksgiving!

Oh and if you need help with all that cooking, Ree Drumond from The Pioneer Woman was recently on Throwdown with Bobby Flay! It was awesome!! Be sure to catch it next time its on, it was a Thanksgiving dinner throwdown and there were some ama-za-zing recipes!

Mark 1-6

2010-11-01T09:03:00.000-07:00

I went to a small Christian School for 7th-10th grade.

I had a math teacher, who was also the assistant coach, in the 7th and 8th grade.

He is one of the nicest people I know. His son was in my grade and we became friends in the class.

His son was always talking to me in class, moving my desk up and back during class and i was just annoyed with him. But when I left school in the 11th grade to go to public school, he is one of the people I miss the most.

I was not on a sports team but all of my friends were so I would be at most games and became the #1 fan. Mr. H would always bring me a cookie from a bakery down the street when he would go to the games to coach. He said that I stood out in his mind because I reminded him of his cousin.

He drank mountain dew like nobody's business and i will always remember the little math tricks he taught us in his class.

I recently found him again through the powers of Facebook and each day he posts an explanation to different passages in the bible.

The past couple of days he has been doing the first few chapters of Mark and I wanted to repost them here because the words have touched my heart.

Charlie and I are going through a difficult change, career wise. We are just trying to seek God's purpose in our lives and it is getting very hard to accept what we feel he is telling us to do.

It is hard to change what you always thought your life would be.

Its hard to accept when something is not right but you both want it to be right so badly.

It is time to drop everything around us and listen to God's plan and follow what we feel in our hearts to be the right path no matter how difficult the consequences may be.

These words made me understand our decisions better.

Mark 1-2 We messed up when we stopped calling people to become followers and started calling them to become leaders. Leaders aren't born: they rise up from those who have accepted the responsibility of following upon themselves. When we stopped calling followers, we interfered in HIs process of raising leaders. Follow, first.

Mark 3-4 The day I realized that God knew more about my life than I did, my life changed. I no longer saw God as a law giver but as a Father whose counsel and direction would help me to achieve those things I could never achieve on my own. That day, I stopped looking for a reason not to listen to Him and started to find ways to listen more closely.

Mark 5-6 When we change, the hardest place for that change to be accepted is with the people who love us most. If we change for the good, they find it hard to get past our mistakes. If we change for the better, they are the easiest to fool.

I am so thankful he posted these. Its amazing that what you really need to hear comes in the most random forms!

Please keep Charlie and I in your prayers as we make our most difficult decision thus far.

Blog Award!!

2010-10-29T14:11:00.000-07:00

Whoo Hoo!

So excited about this Blog Award!

Thanks so much Kit and LivKit!!!!

I have loved reading both of these blogs!

To accept the Versatile Blogger Award the rules are:

{1}: Thank and link back to who gave you the award.

{2}: Share 7 things about yourself.

{3}: Pass it along to 7 blogs you've recently discovered and enjoy!

{4}: Leave the recipients a note, telling them about the award.

So here we go! 7 things about me...hmm lets see if we can do this!

1): I am like 100% obsessed with Kelly Clarkson. I love her, she loves me ;) we are practically best friends. I mean I have met her twice and she did smiled in my direction at a concert.

2): I LOVE Sunkist. Even though it is one of the worst drinks for you in the entire world. And the fact that it is galactic, glowing orange probs doesn't help.

3): This is getting hard.... I have inherited a kitty cat. My sister got him for her apartment but she can't have it in her apartment...so auntie jess is now the proud adoptive parent of her nephew kitty. Now I am not a huge fan of cats but Saw Saw is growing on me.. ;)

4.) I Love, Love, Love Ree Drumond. She is amazing. She is going to make my pants stop fitting, but I will LOVE the process. I have her cookbook on display in my kitchen and any time i get a hankering to whip up something in the Kitchen The Pioneer Woman is the first place I turn!

5): YouTube rules my life. I secretly wish I could be a YouTube vlogger but i really don't think my life is interesting enough. I want to be the shaytards when I have a family! They are adorable! I also watch all these makeup videos and.... this is embarassing...when I put on my makeup in the morning I pretend I am making a video on YouTube and describe all of the things I am doing. Charlie has heard me in the bathroom before and come in laughing hysterically wondering what I am doing....

6): I am missing my boo! ;)

7): If I could have any talent it would be singing. I cannot sing worth a lick, but if i could, girls, I'd belt out a solo in the drop of a hat.

whew that was kinda tough...

now its my turn to tag!

I tag:
1):

2):
Southern Girly Diva

3):

4):
Simply Extravagant

5):
Kels

6):

7):
Oh, the Places We'll Go

A Wee Bit of Me Wednesday!

2010-10-27T13:25:00.000-07:00

Just found this on my leigh ashley and I decided to join!

{one} Have you ever seen a ghost?

When I was like 12, me and my friend Lauren were sleeping on a hide-a-bed couch and I woke up and saw a figure of something glowing. Looking back it was probably a dream or the dark playing with my eyes. But i freaked out and ran to my moms room. Lauren saw me and followed me into mom's room and when she got in the door way both me and my mom screamed sooo loud!!!

{two} When was the last time you dressed up for Halloween?

Last year, Charlie and I decided last minute to go to a Halloween party for his fraternity. We both pulled what we had and I ended up being Audrey Hepburn and he was a Canadian Hunter.... It was interesting..

{three} What's your favorite candy?

M&M's and KitKat but honestly, I will eat any candy you hand me except for Almond Joy....

{four} Did you have a favorite Halloween Costume growing up?

YES! I was Cruella DeVille for Halloween when I was younger. My neighbor made a cape out of dalmation fabric, a black dress with sequins and i even glued fake red finger nails to the outside of my snazzy red gloves! Of course my trick or treat bag matched my outfit with the same dalmation fabric an a red silk trim! haha I was stylin' My sister was the Mask! We went to Disney World for Halloween that year and it was also my favorite Halloween I have ever had!

{five} Did you carve pumpkins this year?

no...we painted pumpkins though!

{six} What's your favorite scary movie?

Definitely What Lies Beneath. I remember watching that in high school with 3 of my best girlfriends. We spent the night at my friend Margaret's house and scared ourselves silly. Later a family moved into our neighborhood and Lauren and I called the mom Mary Fewer because she was creepy and weirded us out!

{seven} Haunted Houses or Corn Mazes?

Well i have never done a corn maze before. But i think I would like it. I have been to a few haunted houses. I screamed the whole way thru both of them, walking with my eyes closed and clinging to Charlie for dear life. They were horrible. The Haunted Mansion at Disney is my kind of Haunted House!

{eight} are you superstitious?

nope..

{nine} Have you ever owned a black cat?

nope...

{ten} what are your plans for this Halloween?

I will be handing out candy at my parents house and watching movies! Hopefully making some kind of fun Halloween treat!

Verse I needed to hear..

2010-10-27T09:38:00.000-07:00

"I'll never forget the trouble, the utter lostness,

the taste of ashes, the poison I've swallowed.

I remember it all -- oh, how well I remember --

the feeling of hitting the bottom.

But there's one other thing I remember,

and remembering, I keep a grip on hope:

God's loyal love couldn't have run out,

His merciful love couldn't have dried up.

They're created new every morning.

How great Your faithfulness!

I'm sticking with God (I say it over and over).

He's all I've got left.

God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits,

to the woman who diligently seeks.

It's a good thing to quietly hope,

quietly hope for help from God.

It's a good thing when you're young

to stick it out through the hard times.

When life is heavy and hard to take,

go off by yourself. Enter the silence.

Bow in prayer. Don't ask questions:

Wait for hope to appear.

Don't run from trouble. Take it full-face.

The "worst" is never the worst."

-lamentations 3: 19-30

the message

Found this when reading through my blog subscriptions and had to copy.

Thanks a lovely life for inspiring me today.

Shaytards!!!

2010-10-26T21:21:00.000-07:00

I was feeling sad and sorry for myself and all of the things that put you in just a down right bad mood.

Until shaytards came on my youtube homepage.

As soon as i saw shay, malachi and the cute chillins the sad lump in my throat was replaced by a huge laugh and now i feel about a TRILLION times better!

Its amazing what a cute little family will do for the soul!

along with a little:

and Taylor Swift's new album while the next shaytard video loads makes for a fabulous night for me and the kitty!

It's Fall Ya'll!!

2010-10-25T19:30:00.000-07:00

First off I got a call from Charlie last night!!!

It was a one minute call and he sounded good, it was hard to hear him but he said he was doing good, it wasn't scary and that he wouldn't be able to call back for a while. I wrote him a letter today and it will be in the mail tomorrow. He said they probably wouldn't get mail until next week but it will be there for him when they have the first mail call!

I miss him so much!!!

(photo by Lynn Daly Photography)

The weekend before Charlie left we went with his family to a fall festival.

We decorated pumpkins and made scarecrows that we got to bring home.

Charlie made the heart one and it has our initials on each side and I made the anchor!

So cute!

It was so much fun!

We also saw our second grade teacher.

It was so good to see her and she was so excited to see that Charlie and I had gotten married and it all started in her second grade class.

It really got me into the spirit of fall and am loving it!

Even though we have only had a couple sweater days here, signs of fall are slowly creeping out.

The leaves are changing and scarecrows are in full force!

I bought some mums for our porch yesterday and I just love the way it brightens up the area.

I also love the fashion fall brings.

The tall boots, sweaters, leggings....I love all of it!

I bought these boots on Rue La La a couple of days ago and I cannot wait till they come in!

They are the Jack Rogers Greenwitch.

I got them at 50% on Rue La La!

Whoo Hoo! I love a good deal!

Today my mom, charlie's mom and I went and saw You Again.

It was really cute and funny!

I just love a good movie on a rainy day!

I'm off to bed to dream about cooler weather and my hubs!

Tomorrow its off to a fun day of work and to see this sweet girl:

Navy Bound.

2010-10-24T15:52:00.000-07:00

Charlie left on Friday for Officer Candidate School in Rhode Island.

We had a wonderful week of just being with each other and our families.

I am soo happy to have that time with him and to just be together all day.

Though I am really sad that we won't see each other until Christmas, I am extremely proud of him for following his dreams. He has always wanted to go into the military and he is finally accomplishing his goals. It is something everyone dreams of. He is so strong and I hope I can be a strong support for him. I have no idea about the military so I am ready blogs, books, and others experiences to see what to expect. His time away is going to go so fast and in no time it will be December and I will be at the airport picking him up!

This was the view from his room at the Navy Lodge last night.

He went to Dinner last night with his classmates and he had a Calamari Pizza. I am not too sure what I think about that!

I love Calamari and Pizza, but together sounds kind of nasty! haha

But he said it was really good!

I am going to miss him soo much!

Charlie left Friday morning and his mom asked me to go to Lunch later that day.

We had an awesome lunch at probs my fav restaurant Croissants and then did a little "retail therapy"!

She gave me this awesome wreath that is magnetic and has all different kinds of cute magnets for every season.

The bow was originally red but i painted it Orange for Halloween and Thanksgiving.

For Christmas I will paint it back red and all of the cute christmas magnets.

She got the wreath from Hallmark and they have tons of other designs from this company!

It was a lot of fun getting to spend time with her and I am super excited about decorating my wreath for all the different seasons!

On Friday afternoon Sis and Jan came to stay at my apartment for the weekend.

We had a blast and it was so good to spend time with both of them!

It was much needed!

We watched movies all day on saturday and didn't change out of our pajamas until dinner!

Jan's boyfriend is in the Navy also so she was so helpful in answering questions and just talking about everything.

I had a bittersweet weekend, It was sad to watch Charlie leave but I was so happy i had my friends and family there for me and we had an amazing time together!

Catching up!

2010-07-17T09:02:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!!!!!

I know I am the worst blogger in the history of the world! I'm sorry! I'm trying to get on a regular routine and I want for blogging to be a part of that soo bad!!

I work at a boutique that sells all types of invitations, shoes, and soo much more! I also work at our family's campground with my sister doing a vacation bible school. The VBS is scattered throughout the summer and I just finished week two. I am LOVING it! But soo excited to get to sleep in an extra hour and not worry about planning for the next day! The next camp is in August and Charlie and I are going out of town for the week so poor sis has to lead it by herself.. Don't worry though Jenn! I am making a detailed plan for each day and I know you will do amazing!!

As far as married life goes, its amazing! I have had sooo much fun decorating the apartment and just spending time with the hubs!

For the last year or so Charlie has been discussing joining the military.

It is always something he has wanted to do and at first I was scared out of my mind! (I still am!)

But I have gotten more and more comfortable with the idea and a week before the wedding we found out that Charlie was accepted to Officer Candidate School for the Navy as a Surface Warfare Officer. He was soooo happy! I was happy for him, and us, but still very nervous and scared about what our future will hold.

I am 100% new to this, if there are any other military wives out there, I would love to get into contact with you for some insight!

When we was accepted, we knew he would be be leaving for training within the year.

About a week ago we found out he leaves the 24th of October for 12 weeks of training in Rhode Island.

Fortunatly we think he gets a few days of for Christmas which would be awesome!

Its just a whole new lifestyle we are embarking on and I know that everything will be fine, its just hard sometimes.

Anyway!!

Now that I have updated, I have some adorable pictures that our photographer, Lynn Daly posted on her blog along with the sweetest post!!

I am sooooo excited and cannot wait to see all of the pictures!

It was the most amazing day of my life and I cannot wait to re-live the memories!!

Thank you Lynn for "making our dreams come true!"

I'm back and I'm a MRS!!!!!!!

2010-06-28T11:47:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!! I can't believe i have been gone for over 16 days! So sorry for no updates, once i get on blogspot i can't get off for hours so i took a break to get MARRIED, go on a honeymoon, move in to an apartment, start two new jobs, and get used to this whole being a wife thing!

The Wedding was the most perfect day of my life.

It was more beautiful than I ever could have imagined and everything went off without a hitch!

The skys were a beautiful blue for our outdoor ceremony and our fan programs provided much relief from the heat!

My adorable cousin Addy was the perfect flower girl and the two handsome ringbearers were to die for in their searsucker!

The older of the two ringbearers followed his mommy's direction perfectly and stood completely still with the biggest smile on his face.

While the other, younger brother, ran around behind us picking flowers for his mommy and the photographer and giving a worm to one of the groomsmen!

He provided laughter for all of the guests and the adorablness shot through the roof with the fun he was having!

The most unexpected thing of the day was all of the tears I cried!

I never in a million years thought I would cry at my wedding.

I am just not someone that cries when I'm happy or who cries when your suppossed to!

The waterworks began at about 3 in the afternoon when I walked down to preview the reception.

It was more beautiful than I could have ever dreamed.

But the tears came when I saw a special area with two giant jars of pink and white Susan G. Komen m&m's, a sign saying something like lieu of favors, a donation has been given in your honor, and a sweet picture of me and Mrs. Vicki.

She is such an amazing, strong woman and i wanted to honor her and her continuing fight with Breast Cancer in any way I could.

I just stood there staring at it and the Wedding Planner told me that she had already been down to see it after the bridesmiads brunch she and another woman hosted.

She said that everyone stood and cried when they saw it so of course the tears started streaming down!

I thought i was okay until we got to the Ceremony sight and my mom had already put my dress on and I was putting on my jewelry when my mom gave me my "something borrowed", her orginal engagement ring from my dad.

She put it on my finger and started tearing up, so of course I did too!

I can't see my mom cry without crying!!

Then as soon as I hugged my dad and he placed my hand in charlie's, tears poured out and didn't stop the entire ceremony!

My favorite part of the Wedding (besides of course the actual marrying my best friend part!) was having all of my loving family and friends in one special area.

At the Reception I danced the night away with our flower girl Addy and my other Cousin's Rae and Julian, who were program attendants.

Charlie's cousin's, Vivian and Belle joined in and we had the best time holding hands, jumping up and down, and spinning in circles!

At one point Juilian looked up at me and said, "This is the most fun I've ever had! I never thought this day would come!"

It made me so happy and well worth the sore feet and pulled calf muscle!!

That was probably the thing I will remember the most is dancing with all them.

I am not a good dancer by any means, but I sure can dance with little kids!

I had the best time of my life and can't wait to share all of the pictures and details! I just wanted to get out this post so I could get back on track with the blog world and all my bloggie buddies!!

I will give detailed posts about each part of the wedding when we get the pictures so I can remember it all!

In One Week...

2010-06-04T20:56:00.000-07:00

I will be just returning from our Rehearsal Dinner.

A room overflowing with our family and friends.

A slideshow filled with memories from both of our lives.

Comfort food that will warm my heart and hopefully not fill me up too much as to not fit in my dress...

Recovering from spending the day at the pool with my cousins and family.

Sitting in a hotel room with my parents, sister, and best friend.

Taking a bubble bath in the hotel.

Sinking in to a comfy bed with my two favorite people next to me.

Dreaming about a perfect wedding day with a perfect man.

I cannot believe that in 8 days, I will be waking up to the biggest day of my life...

Lynn Daly Photography

Bachelorette Party!!

2010-05-29T22:40:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was my Bachelorette Party!!

My sister planned an amazing weekend with all of my close friends at the Lakehouse.

We had an amazing relaxing weekend.

Everyone arrived on Friday.

After some direction confusion and an unexpected stop, the crowd from my hometown made it!

Megan came all the way from Virginia!

As did my AMAZING cousin Sandra who I hadn't seen in forever!

It was soo much fun to catch up with everyone and just all hang out together!

Jan was soo sweet and left after work on Friday to get to the lake around 11!

I was so happy she made it safe and sound!

We played some bachelorette pictionary and they gave me a lingerie shower!

We all climbed into bed around 3:30 am after talking and talking and talking!

I slept with my sis and sandra and was woken up at 9 by 4 of my friends sweet smiles!

We got dressed to play on the lake, but unfortunately the skies opened up and it rained the whole day.

except for about 30 minutes, and we made total use of it by hopping in the giant float.

Ashley arrived on Saturday morning with wedding movies galore.

I'm so glad she brought those!

All we did the rest of the day was lay on the couch and watch movies. and of course eat!

Mom came later on saturday and made us an awesome dinner of baked chicken and mac and cheese!

We painted our nails and of course talked some more.

We all fell asleep to the move "The Wedding Date" i forgot how much i loved that movie!

On sunday everyone loaded up and went back home.

It was sad to see everyone leave. We had sooo much fun and i felt like everyone got along so well.

Jan said she was happy everyone could come so the wedding day will be more like being with real friends instead of meeting everyone then.

Here are some pics of the weekend!

Sunday night, Dad, Charlie, and Rob arrived for the series finale of LOST!!!

Who loved it!!??

Cause I sure did!

and I loved the make your own pizza night that went along with it!

This week we picked out napkins for the cake table, ordered the guest book, finalized the programs, and of course continued moving in to the apartment!

I cannot wait to post the "before" and "after" pictures! We have a few more things to do but its looking so good! I can't wait to live there with my husband!!!!!

13 days!!!!!

Pray!!

2010-05-19T20:36:00.000-07:00

Well after i posted yesterday Angie wrote on her blog about complications with her daughter Charlotte that she is pregnant with. The doctors said that she would deliver Saturday, but she went to the hospital today and will be delivering Charlotte on her own birthday tonight! Keep her in her prayers and head over to Bring the Rain to keep updated and read her story about the last couple of days!

I won! I won!

2010-05-18T02:00:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Kelly at Kelly's Korner was sweet enough to do a giveaway for three of Angie Smith's from Bring the Rain: The Story of Audrey Caroline books! Her book is titled, "I Will Carry You" and is about the loss of her fourth daughter and "The Sacred Dance of Grief and Joy".

I have posted on here before how much i enjoy reading Angie's blog and if you have never read it please go check it out. They way she writes is so lovely and her story and strength is truly amazing.

I received the book this afternoon and began reading it when I got in bed.

It is now 4:33 am and I am almost through. It is one of the most powerful books i have ever read.

I wanted to share a couple of quotes from the book and some scripture that jumped out at me.

I really encourage you to pick up this book and read through it.

During her story she goes through scripture and explains it in the way that she felt during that hard time in her life. This is an amazing book for someone who has lost a child or for someone who has a friend who has and can't quite find the right words to say to be a comfort. Angie explains every bit of how she felt in such a real way that it draws you in to every word.

I am completely overjoyed by reading this amazing story of finding joy in the midst of grief.

"We made plans for the forever, like you're supposed to do when you're a family. We were so in love with our life that it was impossible to consider anything else. Just love one another deeply and try ot make each moment count for something. Run the race with joy, and it will be OK.

How could we have known?

And if we had, I can't say we would have done anything differently. We loved without abandon, each day and night filled with the hope and expectation that we would always be together. Whether nestled under a cozy quilt watching a movie or photographing the girls having a hose fight with the neighborhood kids in the backyard, one this was for sure....

We were a family, and everything was exactly as it should be."

"His ways are not our ways and we must believe even when we can't see a way out"

"The peace of God settled into our tiny apartment every night as Todd sang lullabies and I gently rocked the girls to sleep."

Yes I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterword you will take me into glory. Whom have I in Heaven but you? And earth has nothing i desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

-Psalm 73:23-26

"I said the first thing that came to my mind, and I said it with much more conviction than I was feeling. 'I think my Jesus is the same as He was before I walked through that door.' I looked him dead in the eye, willing myself to believe it."

"I slipped into a part of myself I never knew existed. There were voices, movements, questions, and the man I love- all of it. But they were moving around me, and I couldn't figure out how to be present with them. I really believe that the Lord held me together by shielding me from the reality of the situation. I knew it was bad, but through a blurry lens."

I could go on and on! Every word in this book is powerful. I am looking so forward to finishing it tomorrow. I want to end the post on a quote i saw the second I opened the book to a random page in the middle.

"Joy is not the absence of trouble, but the presence of Christ."

Busy Weekend!

2010-05-16T21:35:00.000-07:00

First off, thanks soo much for all of the Congratulations! I am soo happy to be done with tests and papers for a while!! It really is a great feeling!

On to the BUSY Weekend!!

Charlie's sister got my mom, me, charlie, jenn, rob, and her mom tickets to see Lady Antebellum and Tim McGraw in Charleston for Thursday night!

We drove down thursday afternoon after a meeting with the wedding planner and of course went straight to Jim n Nicks for the barbecue!!

Then it was concert time!!

We got down to our seats and they were SECOND ROW!

Caroline is literally amazing and always gets us awesome seats to concerts!

Mom was soo excited to be there and loved lady antebellum.

I was just as excited to see them as I was to see Tim McGraw.

They did awesome and I am officially obsessed with "Our Kind of Love" well the entire "Need You Now"cd i'm listening to it right now and it will probably play through over and over for the night!!

(taken from my iphone so its obvs not very good!)

Ahh another AWESOME song just came on!

"Hello World"

seriously this is an amazing cd!

haha anyway...

Tim McGraw was next!

and i have to say he is one tiny man!!

He is SUPER skin-nay and quite short...

but very cute and muscular!!!

oh and his jeans were soo tight i thought they were going to bust right open!

But of course he was awesome!

I knew almost every song and i love to sing out loud and dance around at concerts!!

He sang the song, "If your reading this" and i have listened to that song a lot of times but never realized it was about a soldier dying...

I mean i guess i realized it, it just never sunk in before.

It was an amazing song and he had some awesome pictures of soldiers going while he sang.

It was beautiful.

and it brought a whole new meaning to me with charlie possibly going in to the military.

It made me sad, but also very proud of him and his courage, strength, and love he has for his country.

and for all of the soldiers and just how truly amazing they are to serve for our freedom..

k lets get back to the weekend!

Charlie's mom has always wanted to go to a Tim McGraw concert and it was on her "bucket list".

So she was definitely in her glory!

There was a catwalk in front of us and she and caroline reached out there hands as far as they could and tim mcgraw grabbed both of them!

So of course they both freaked out and the next time he came over there mrs. diez was waving a pen and notepad in the air for him to sign!

He didn't but she sure was trying!!!

It was soooo much fun!

Oh and they each got a guitar pick!

After the concert mom and mrs diez drove back home and charlie, jenn, rob, and i stayed in charleston.

We woke up the next morning and started packing up things from my apartment.

It was really sad!!

I spent three years in there..but jenn will now have it all to her self and i get to come visit whenever I want!

Charlie and I also picked up our diplomas, which are HUGE!!!!!

Saturday morning we woke up at 9 to head to target for cleaning supplies for our big MOVE IN TO OUR NEW APARTMENT!!!

We are soo excited!

Its a two bedroom two bath in an apartment complex with an awesome pool!!

I took pictures before we moved everything in so i will post those soon!

and of course the after pictures!!

Both families came to help carry a bunch of super heavy furniture up 40 stairs!

another awesome song.."When You Got a Good Thing"

this is probably, no, its definitely my favorite song on the cd...

They were so sweet to work so hard to help us get all moved in.

If charlie and I had to do it alone.....

I certainly would still be pushing the washer up the third stair right now..

We are so thankful for them!

The moving ended around 7 when we ordered a pizza and waited for the furniture people to bring our living room set.

The guys were excited to sit back and eat pizza while other people did all of the heavy lifting!

Today we went back over to hang some pictures and it looks AMAZING!!

I feel like a real live adult!

We also picked out napkins and programs today so I am working on the info for the program!

27 more days..

I cannot believe it.

Before I know it I will be sitting on our pretty light yellow couch in OUR own apartment with a husband!

ahhhhhhh!!!!

Graduation Weekend!

2010-05-12T00:17:00.000-07:00

Warning: It's a l.o.n.g. one! I wanted to remember every detail!

On Saturday May, 8th I graduated from the College of Charleston!

My family came to Charleston for the weekend and we had an awesome time.

On friday, Charlie and I met up with his parents at Jim n Nicks and had some awesome cheese biscuits and fried chicken with macaroni and cheese and cinnamon apples!

It was ahhh-mazing!

My parents arrived that afternoon and we of course spent the rest of the day SHOPPING!

which is always oh so much fun!

We then met up with Charlie's parents at Hank's Seafood!

Yummy!

Then we took a stroll down the market and tried on some awesome glasses!

Kanye style!

And then we ended the night at Kaminsky's of course!

(oh and charlie and I so didn't go there the night before too..no way..we are NOT pigs like that..)

I got the best cake in the entire universe!

mmmmmmm!!!!

I spent the rest of the night packing up my clothes and straightening my hair.

I only really straighten my hair for special occasions because it takes like 2 hours and i end up dying of a heat stroke every ten minutes....but the end result always looks nice!

I finally crawled into bed at FOUR in the A.M. ...

My alarm clock went off like crazy at 7:30 and I began my graduation day!

The gates to the cistern opened at 8:30 which is when we had to be there also.

Our parents got in line at 7:30 and were already about 75 people back.

They ended up getting great seats though!

Oh and did I mention that our OUTDOOR graduation ceremony just had to fall on a record high day in Charleston?? i didn't? well it did...it was H.O.T.

After Charlie and I finished getting ready we met up with the parents for a quick photo op!

I felt soo bad for charlie having to be in all of those heavy clothes!

I was dying of heat and I didn't have on barely anything compared to him!

We then went to cougar mall to rangle (is that a word..? i dont think so, but lets just go with it..) our way thru a sea of white dresses and white jackets!

We picked up our flowers and hugged our friends!

Then we separated into classrooms depending on our major.

Since I switched my major pretty late in the game I don't really know that many people that graduated but i hung close to the one..well maybe two..that I did know!

Here are the Historic Preservation and Community Planning Senior girls!

And the HPCP guys! give or take a few!

and a group shot!!!

After our photo-shoot we lined up alphabetically and headed out the doors to prepare to walk through Randolph Hall.

We waited for about 10 minutes before it was time for the line to start moving.

Finally we went inside the building and went into the main room which is the Alumni room (or something like that!)

When we got in there i saw Charlie!

He ended up being in literally the same spot as me just in the other line!

We got to walk out of the doors together and then separated down opposite stairs.

This was the view of our side right when we walked out of Randolph Hall and before we walked down the stairs.

I ended up in the third row and called Jenn to see where they were.

I was standing up on stage on the phone with sis when they took this pic!

Being on the stage was a lot more laid back than I thought it would be.

We all talked to each other and got to whoop and yell when our friends walked across the stage!

Our commencement speaker was Marco (polo) from boeing of charleston.

He did good..but i felt like it was just a huge commercial for boeing!

Then the senior class president and another student spoke.

They did awesome!!!

It then came time to make our way across the stage!

I was in the third row from the front so i was lucky enough to be one of the firsts to walk and get it over with!

When we circled out of our seats to line up to walk, i got to walk past some of my really good friends that aren't graduating yet!

They were marshals for the graduation!

Here are the sweet ladies!

Stephanie, Melanie, and Jan (one of my bridesmaids!)

I felt soo sorry for them, they had to stand the whole time and then come back in the afternoon and do it all again!

But they rocked it out and if they were not there no one would know what was going on!

anyway

When we lined up they had a photographer there to take two pictures of us and then another one took a picture as we walked across the stage!

The awesome lady with the awesome voice announced my name and i heard "get it girl!" from my lovely man!

And other yelling from my awesome family and friends!

I couldn't stop smiling!

The provost said that I had a huge smile and I must me very happy!

and I was!!

Caroline got an awesome pic of me shaking the President of CofC's hand!

It was awesome!

Then it was back to my seat to wait for Charlie to be called!

His name was finally called I stood up and screamed for him!

He saw me and just shook his head and smiled!

He was very good friends with the Vice President of Student Affairs and we got to shake his hand as we walked also!

But charlie, of course, went in for the hug!!!

The ceremony ended "Charleston Style" with some good old fashion shag music!

and we threw our fake diplomas in the air since we don't have hats!

We exited down off the stage and back out the doors of Porter's Lodge!

We ended up walking out together too!

Charlie and i walked down the street and waited for our friends and family so we could take pictures!

We finally started the long hike to lunch!

We walked to East Bay Street to eat at Southend Brewery!

On the way there the Carriage would see us and explain to the riders about CofC's graduatio and everyone would say congratulations!

It was kind of like being a "P" list celebrity!

bad bad bad joke...

We finally made it through the sweat and hottness to the restaurant!

I ordered the best Pizza everr and everyone had a wonderful time relaxing and cooling off!

After lunch we went back to mine and sis' apartment.

On the way there these two sweet boys told us congratulations!

They were too cute!

We finally got back, changed and ate some yummy cake!

We ate and relaxed and mom, dad, and sis left for the lake!

After they left I laid down on the couch and took an amazing two hour nap.

It was perfect!

We had an awesome night, which I will recap when my friends post the pics!

I cannot believe I graduated from college.

I feel kind of lost and weird, like i dont know what to do!

But im sure things will get back to normal soon!

.....

I take that back..We are getting married in ONE MONTH!!

after that things should settle down a bit!

Charlie and I kept saying what a perfect day it was.

I had the most amazing day and weekend with the fam!

I posted on facebook that morning a line from "I'm not gonna cry" a graduation song by Corey Smith!

"Sure we made a little trouble, but i learned from every mistake, so there's no regret, we've done the best we could..these are the best years of my life, so I'm not gonna cry...now its time to celebrate, its our GRADUATION DAY."-Corey Smith

Happy Mother's Day!!!

2010-05-09T18:45:00.000-07:00

"My mom is a neverending song in my heart of comfort, happiness, and being. I may sometimes forget the words but I always remember the tune."

~Graycie Harmon

I am so blessed God chose to give me the most amazing and perfect momma.

She has shown me what it is to be a wonderful mother and wife.

She taught me to love unconditionally and to help others in every possible way you can.

She has shown me to live by your heart and I pray that my heart is half as big as hers.

I say that every time i speak of my mom, but her heart really is the purest and most wonderful giving love filled heart.

Jenn and I are so lucky to be able to call her our mom.

She is not only my mom, she is also my dearest friend and a wonderful advisor.

She speaks from her heart and everything she says has a meaning behind it.

I wish that I had her ability to think about things before I say them instead of shouting out everything on my mind!

I look forward to the next month as we prepare together for the wedding.

I have so enjoyed spending this time with my mom and am so happy to be moving back 5 minutes from home so I can eat her yummy food and hug her anytime i want to!!

I love you momma with all of my heart and am so thankful for you and all you have done for me.

There is no gift I could ever give you to repay you for the wonderful gifts you have blessed me with.

You are my true angel and I am so thankful for you!

There are so many other wonderful women who have influence me in my life.

I am thankful for each of them and for showing me how to be strong, driven, thoughtful, loving, and caring.

I would never be who I am today without all of these role models in my life.

I am so blessed to have so many wonderful ladies guide me and help care for me.

I wish all of you a Happy Mother's Day!

"A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts."

~Washington Irving

40 days till the Wedding and FIVE days till Graduation!!

2010-05-03T21:52:00.000-07:00

I have officially completed my papers, tests, and exams.

I am officially (almost) a graduate of College of Charleston!

WHOO!!

Today I turned in my final take home exam, completing my exam week!

Then I found my graduation dress:

Vineyard Vines: Seascape Dress

At CofC the girls wear white dresses and the guys wear white dinner jackets in place of normal graduation robes.

I think this is such a classic touch and unique to CofC!

In five days i will be walking across a stage in front of this building accepting my degree from the School of the Arts in Historic Preservation and Community Planning:

I am soo excited!! But soooo sad at the same time!

It is going to be surreal to not have a school to go back to in August.

I cannot believe that I will not be in Charleston everyday for most of the year.

It is just going to be a huge change.

I am excited for the next few days before Graduation when we can go to the beach and just enjoy this amazing city we have grown to love so much.

Charleston has become a part of me and I will never forget it or all of the amazing memories i have had here!

Anyway!

This past week has been spent in the Library preparing for exams....

I had a break from thursday to today and all I did was sleep!

I was up soo late every night last week and the only thing that kept me going was triple venti soy mocha lattes, apple jacks, sour patch kids, and of course my study buddy!

who also gave me this awesome side braid:

Yes, dad, we did also got our work done! I promise!

Tomorrow Charlie has to be up at 3:30 in the a.m. to drive to Jacksonville, Florida.

He is going before the boards for the Army's Officer Candidate School.

It would mean a lot if you remembered him in your prayers as he makes the drive down there and back in one day, and as he interviews.

Its a long tedious process and we are just praying the Lord will move in our lives and help guide us in the direction we are both supposed to take.

FORTY DAYS TILL THE WEDDING!!!!!

we are still trying to find a christian song for our soloist to sing during the wedding.

Any suggestions would be sooo helpful!

Hope all of you have had a fabulous day!

Last College Class ever.....

2010-04-26T22:34:00.000-07:00

So today was my last day of classes for my Senior year.

I only had one class today and it was from 5-7:45.

I had one exam and two presentations...

Luckily, all of it was not as hard as I thought it would be and we walked out 45 minutes early!

I then went to a concert on campus to celebrate the last day of class.

I met up with this fabulous girl:

and saw this amazing man in concert:

COREY SMITH!

now i will be the first to say that my sophomore year playlist consisted solely of Corey Smith songs.

I would listen to them literally every time i turned my ipod on.

Since then I have not really listened as much and I forgot how truly amazing he is.

I was so excited tonight to show of my rapping skills during "Drinkin' again" and finally be able to get all the words right...almost.

He did an amazing job and it was such an awesome end to four years of classes.

He ended the show with "Long way to go".

It was a perfect ending and made me and Christen almost cry thinking about graduating College.

It has been an amazing four years and its seems so surreal that Sociology was my last undergrad class i will ever take.

I honestly, cannot believe it.

During the concert we just kept looking at each other affirming our thoughts on graduating college.

I am ready to graduate, move home, and get married,

but i wish that i could just stop time on the Cistern, under the huge oak trees, listening to "Carolina" and dancing with my friends.

These four years have gone by like a flash of light, I feel like I just graduated from High School.

Change is always something I have had a hard time with.

When I came to college I cried and cried about being TWO hours away from home.

About having the fabulous girl above live literally a few doors down the hall from me and I was soo not happy about it.

I said multiple times how much I hated this stupid city and I how I just wanted to go back to the beach.

(the real beach where you walk to the end of the street, not drive over two bridges and into another city)

I was so ready to give up on all of it but I hung through it all and stayed.

Now I love that two hour drive back home and think the distance is absolutely perfect.

Christen is an amazing person and I cherish all facets of our friendship because it has allowed us each to grow individually and test out true nature.

We are each comfortable with our selves now and that is just what our friendship needed.

This city is honestly the greatest thing that has ever happened to me.

I love every single piece of it.

I love that no matter how many times you look down a street you will always find something new.

A new alley to venture down or a new building that takes your breath away.

I love everything about living here and it is going to be so hard to move after graduation.

I have so much to look forward to, but its going to be bittersweet to leave this chapter and move to the next.

I have a long, long way to go

The whole world in front of me, and time moving so slow.

A long, long way to go...

Happy Birthday Jenn!!!

2010-04-24T23:22:00.000-07:00

My amazing sis Jenn turned TWENTY on April 24th!!!

She shares her bday with our cousin Sandra!

and KELLY CLARKSON!

needless to say, I am completely jealous of April 24th Birthdays!

We spent the weekend at the Lake celebrating and having so much fun.

This morning we all slept in till noon-cause sleeping is one of Jenn's favorite hobbies!

We woke up, ate yummy blueberry muffins and assumed our positions on the couch while we watched tv!

Then we sat on the porch and played with the football until 3 when we could open presents!

(We like to wait till 3 on our birthdays to open presents..why? I have no idea!!)

For the presents from me and charlie, Rob came up with the idea of making her go on a scavenger hunt!

It was so much fun!

Charlie got her The Pioneer Woman Cooks Cookbook!

This is THE most amazing cookbook and blog in the entire universe of the world!

If you haven't checked her out before, be prepared to spend a good 2 hours drooling over her millions of pictures and amazing recipes!!

She then opened the presents from Mom and Dad and she got some DVDs and...

an IPAD!!

Its the coolest thing ever!

She has been playing with it literally all day and it can so much fun stuff!

So obvs we spent like 2 hours playing with it!

Then we had an awesome dinner of Oven baked Chicken, Mac&cheese, yeast rolls, and broccoli and cheese!

yum yum yum yum!!

After dinner we went back to playing with the Ipad and then came time for dessert!

Charlie and I picked up a cake from Kaminsky's in Charleston.

If you ever go to Charleston, SC run as fast as you can to get a piece of cake from here.

It will seriously be the most amazing thing you will ever eat!

We got her a Cookies and Cream cake and it was AMAZING!!

After the cake we all watched the new Sherlock Holmes movie.

(I have not idea how it was cause I fell right asleep from a cookies and cream induced coma..)

Everyone seemed to think it was good!

We are now sitting in our beds on the computer!

It has been an amazing day and I am so lucky to have such an awesome sister who loves me soo much!

She makes me so much happier when I see her and she knows exactly what to say to cheer me up.

She always makes me laugh and never fails at Trivia nights!

I love her soo much and "I'd die without you"!

No Day But Today...

Love you Deef!

Flower Girl Dress!!!!

2010-04-14T19:11:00.000-07:00

This beautiful girl

is going to look fabulous in this dress!!!

The blue will be replaced with a light pink!

I cannot wait to see her sweet face!

Only 56 days till she comes!!!!!

She is just sooo cute and I cant wait to see her momma too!!!!

WHOO HOO!!!!

Bridesmaids: Lauren

2010-04-12T17:17:00.000-07:00

Lauren is one of my oldest and dearest friends.

I went to a christian school in the 6th grade and met her.

We realized we lived literally a street apart and became instant friends.

Everyday after school was spent on her golf cart kicking over cones or just driving around listening to music.

During the summer we spent almost everyday at Myrtle Waves eating cinnamon pretzels and breaking all of the rules in the lazy river.

She went to summer camp every year for two weeks and I literally thought my world was going to fall apart.

We wrote each other every single day and I still have each of those notes.

In 7th grade we both went to another christian school that was thirty minutes away.

Lauren and I carpooled and never spent a morning or afternoon apart.

We loved every minute of it and felt just like sister.

We shared our crushes and secrets.

We skipped school together the day the new mall opened and faked sick together so we didn't have to sit through Mrs. Breault's math class.

We were constantly given "the eye" in class because we could not stop talking.

She became a basketball player and I became the number one fan so i could still hang out with her all of the time!

We shared all of our first days of school and went to both proms together.

And we graduated side by side.

her a bit more distinguished than I ;)

My life would never be like it is today if it were not for her.

She is one of my best friends and will always be so close to my heart.

Her family feels like my family and are still so close.

I would never trade her friendship for anything.

She still knows more about me then almost anyone.

Lauren has the kindest, most gentle heart.

She always gives the perfect bit of advice and is always looking out for others well being no matter who they are.

She still has the most encouraging words and i look back on those notes from when she went to summer camp and it takes me back to some of my greatest childhood memories.

As I mentioned in another post Lauren recently got engaged!

I am so excited for her and the new life she will lead.

Her fiancé Scott proposed in the perfect way for her and she said it was just like a dream.

They got engaged in Disney World where dreams really do come true!

Lauren will make the most beautiful bride and I cannot wait to see her say her vows.

She deserves all of the happiness in the world and it is my prayer that God will continue to bless her and show her smiles, love, and laughter everywhere she turns.

I am blessed to call her my best friend and have her stand with me as I get married.

Bridal Portrait~

2010-04-11T18:43:00.000-07:00

(EDITED: As I was finishing this post, my mom called and said that Charlie (my cousin) was just taken to the emergency room. His daughter lauren had said earlier that he has fluid in his lungs and is in a lot of pain. They are running tests now. Please continue to pray for him and the doctors and his beautiful family. Thank you so much for your prayers.)

Hello everyone! I am graduating in 27 days and school has completely taken over my life...

so sorry i haven't been the best blogger once again, but hopefully after graduation I will have more time to get back to the important things, like catching up with all of my bloggy buddies!

Last week I had my bridal portrait! I was so excited to put on my dress and veil and have my makeup and hair all done like it would be on the day of the wedding. The only time I could schedule my hair appointment was for 8AM. Now i am not an early riser but for some fabulous hair, i was up and ready to get the day started! The guy who did my hair gave me my first haircut and every haircut since then. He was so sweet to come in extra early so he could be a part of every moment of the wedding. Of course i brought in tons of pics of what I wanted my hair to look like, but wasnt quite sure what I really wanted..typical...

He ended up curling it all and putting it into a pretty updo that still looks like its down:

I loved it! But decided that on the wedding day I wanted to just go with my hair down in big curls with my bangs down and pulled half back. Simple, but pretty!

After the hair appointment mom and i of course had to stop by Chick-fil-A for some yummy breakfast before heading to get our nails done. I got OPI "Catch the Garter" on my fingas! I loved it and of course the name was quite fitting!

We then went to the Chanel counter to get makeup done.

We did all of this as kind of a trial for the wedding and I loved the way it all turned out!

I got he Bridal Portraits taken at a home called Snow Hill in Conway, SC. My great great grandfather grew up there and some of my family live there now.

They were sweet enough to let us come and go all around the beautiful property and take pictures.

Mom and I went up and got the dress on and the shoes ,which deserve a post of their own ;).

We went down the huge staircase to meet the photographer and Della. Della brought my bouquet which I LOVED so much!! It was mostly white with some green and a pop of pink tulips. So pretty!

Everything got me soo excited for the wedding day!

Lynn arrived and we got setup to take some pictures.

We started in front of the huge door to the house.

We were their for a while and I started feeling kind of funny.

I thought it was just because i was in front of all of these people having my pictures taken.

But then it got a whole lot worse!

Lynn could tell and came over to me, i had to lay my head on her shoulder and next thing I knew my dad was behind me and lowering me to the ground.

I woke up and realized I had passed out and could not believe it!

Mom and dad were undoing my dress because I could barely breathe and then i felt 100% better.

It was intense!

I finally started feeling better and we continued the shoot and got some awesome shots!

I could not believe I passed out though, I realized that on the wedding day i need to keep the dress not so tight (it has a built in corset) and eat something before the ceremony!

Besides all of that I am looking so forward to seeing the pictures!!!

We ended the long shoot with dairy queen and a much needed chocolate milkshake....

Which will kind of resemble the wedding day in that we decided to have double shot glasses filled with milkshake and mini hamburgers passed around towards the end of the reception!

I can't wait!

62 more days till wedding...

27 till graduation...

(let's pray im ready for both!!)

A wonderful Bridal Shower!

2010-03-21T12:58:00.000-07:00

Update: Thanks so much everyone for praying for my cousins. They are still in orlando, and running some tests on Charlie. We are praying for good results, so they can make plans to come back home!

Last week three wonderful ladies threw me the most amazing bridal shower!

It was so beautiful and perfect!

The shower was held in the parlor of our church, which is already beautiful, but they decorated in such a precious and perfect way.

I was so happy to see all of my friends and family and it gave me a preview of how amazing ti will be to have all of our loved ones together for our wedding day. I could not have asked for a more perfect shower or day and I am so thankful to everyone who helped in giving me such a fabulous shower!

When we first arrived there was a pretty pink balloon and sign letting everyone know where to go for the shower!

As soon as we walked in we all headed right to the amazing cake!

Which tasted just as amazing as it looked!

They had the yummiest food including lemon bars, which are one of my favorites!

They even added the m&ms to the candles to commemorate how charlie asked me to marry him!!

They gave me such a sweet corsage!

It really made it sink in that I was getting married!

Please excuse the hair, i had a minor straightening fiasco...

Two of my bridesmaids, Margaret Ann (green) and Lauren (blue) helped there moms in putting together the shower.

They were so sweet to help and did a wonderful job, it was great to see them again!

(the monday after, Lauren got engaged in DISNEY!!!whoo hoo!!)

Our other friend Christen (purple) also came to help celebrate!

Me and Mrs. Vicki!!!!!!

I received some wonderful presents and it was so exciting to get the firsts of what our home will be filled with!

The hostesses gave Charlie and I a panini press!!!

We are going to get soooo much use out of this! I am so excited!!

Charlie's mom started us out on our bedding with a super soft pretty blue blanket!

Our very first pot!!

A sweet cake plate in our china pattern!

Me and my grandma carolyn! She wanted to stand on her tippy toes and me to bend down so we could be the same height! She is so sweet!

It was such a beautiful shower and a beautiful day.

We received so many amazing things and I cannot wait to go back home and look through everything again!

I am so grateful to such wonderful friends and family!!

Only 83 more days!!