My Story, My Song

I'M BAAAAACK!

2011-11-30T20:14:00.003-06:00

I don't even know where to start. I finally have a moment that I am sitting at home alone and I have about a million other things I SHOULD be doing, but I felt like writing tonight. This is the first real length of time I have had alone since the wedding and I spent most of it picking my toes and cleaning out my ears. I have to leave a few things to the imagination you know? Besides, Randy couldn't take the hotness that is me picking my toes.

Let me start with the wedding. It was seriously the best day of my life! I was so blessed to have some wonderful friends go up with me on Friday night and help me prepare for my big day. Annette, Brock, Mary and Becky: You will NEVER know what your support meant to me! I love you guys so much!

Saturday morning I woke up and I was so calm just like I had been all week. Everyone with me kept saying "You're getting married! Why are you so calm?" I had no answer. Of course, having the warped personality that I have, I started to think something was wrong with me for not freaking out. My uncle put it best later on in the day when I said something about that and he told me that it just meant I was doing the right thing and marrying the right man. I think he was exactly right.

Some people think you shouldn't see each other until the wedding, but I wouldn't change the fact that we saw each other before. It was just such a sweet time for us. I know there were other people around and the photographers were there, but for me, it was just us. I felt like we were the only two people on earth right then.

After pictures I went off to the side into hiding. Just as my uncle and I were having the above conversation, my other uncle delivered the bad news that he didn't think my brother was going to make it. It turns out he forgot about the time difference. That calm feeling. Yeah. It left. Fast! He had the drinks, he had the music and he was walking me down the aisle. I spent the next hour stressing over whether he would make it or not. They screached in the parking lot at 2:00 on the nose and came running down the hill to where I was waiting. Our conversation going down the aisle was not sweet and sentimental AT ALL. It was more like me telling him how many ways I'd like to kick his behind or kill him.

When I finally made it to the other end of the aisle all of that didn't matter anymore. I am also pleased to report that I didn't laugh the whole time or cry like a baby. My calm took back over and everything was great.

I have to say another big THANK YOU to my wonderful friend and pastor, Bryan. His mother had a heart attack and quadruple bypass surgery and he still came to the wedding to marry us. Words can't express my grattitude to him.

After the ceremony we had cake and Stephanie and her mother outdid themselves. The cake was awesome! I have heard a hundred compliments on the taste and the look of the cake. It was perfect. Thank you Stephanie!!

I can't wait to share pics from the day. The pics that I have been able to see so far are beautiful. As usual, Jamie did a wonderful job.

I'll be back soon to share some other exciting changes going on. I just wanted to share a few details from the big day!

HERE COMES a word from THE BRIDE.....

2011-11-19T00:00:00.006-06:00

Most little girls dream of their wedding day. They imagine the dress, the flowers, the cake, the big church and all the other typical things that go along with weddings. I can't say that I ever sat and dreamed about all those things. I always wanted to just go somewhere and get married. Since my first trip to Disney World in second grade, I have always wanted to either get married in their wedding pavilion or do a simple ceremony and go to Disney World for the honeymoon. I'm getting neither of those things. I am, however, getting my dream come true.

When I was little, I had an imaginary husband. I can't believe I just admitted that, but it's true. Most kids just have an imaginary friend, but I had a husband. My number one goal and dream in life was to be a wife and mom. In the last few years I had started to think it just wasn't going to happen for me. In the past couple of years, I have slowly turned over area by area of my life to God to handle. I am a control freak and it was hard to let go of those things that I so badly wanted to dictate the outcome of. One of the hardest things to let go of was my marital status. I finally realized that in God's perfect time, things would happen and I began to enjoy life as a single person.

It's true what they say. When you stop looking, he'll come out of nowhere. The day I got a friend request on facebook from Randy along with a message changed my world completely. To be honest, I didn't think anything would come of it. We had already chatted back and forth online 2 years prior and nothing happened. To this day, I still don't know why I even bothered responding because "What's the point?" honestly went through my mind. We agreed to meet and I came very close to cancelling because I was a nervous wreck. I am the first date wonder so it wasn't like it was going to be a big deal if I didn't go because I was never going to see this guy again.........or so I thought.

Our first date was the best first date I had ever been on. There was nothing over the top or flashy about it at all. That may be why it was so great to me. From the first moment we were together, I was at ease. I felt like I had known him forever and no one made me laugh like he did. The whole way home I remember telling myself over and over "Stop being so excited and happy. He's never going to call. You'll never hear from him again. Don't be an idiot." In case you can't tell, I'm a big supporter of myself...lol.

Imagine my surprise when he called Monday night.....and Tuesday night....and again on Wednesday....Thursday.......and on Friday he invited me over Saturday night because he was going to cook for me. What? A man offered to cook for me?? I continued to remind myself not to get excited. It wasn't going to last. I liked him way more than he was ever going to like me and I told myself that over and over. On the drive to Monroeville I kept thinking "Have I lost my mind? This man could be a serial killer for all I know and I'm going to his house." I told my friend, Kerrie, and my brother where I was. I was hoping that one of them would notice my absence if I went missing. We spent forever talking that night and it was easy. We didn't run out of things to talk about. I could have spent all night at that table running my mouth.

Date after date, I just remember thinking he was going to bolt and run at any minute because he was to good to be true. When I started to realize I was in love with him, I was scared out of my mind. I was entering dangerous territory because I was at risk of really being hurt at this point. All of my friends said they knew I was in love when I told them I went fishing with him.....ha!

He will never let me live down the day he brought up the subject of marriage. I told him it didn't make me sick or hyperventilate. Okay, I know that was probably not the emotional response he was looking for, but that had happened before when an ex-boyfriend brought up the subject. In my defense, I had no idea he was going to ask me to marry him. It took him 8 dates to kiss me. I certainly didn't expect him to propose in 3 months. (I hope he doesn't kill me for saying that!) I was figuring on 3 years for a proposal...ha!

Yes, that's right. We dated for 3 months and then we were engaged. That seems fast to some people but for us we just knew. I know that there is no one more perfect for me than him. I can't imagine life without him and it's hard for me to remember how things were before him. I have had some definite freak out moments during the whole wedding planning process. My wedding day may not have turned out the way I dreamed of or imagined it my whole life, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Today, I will marry my best friend and the love of my life.

When I decided to type a post for today, I thought I was going to type out words to express my love for Randy. It turns out, there are no words. That is why I told you parts of our story instead. I also want to encourage all the single girls reading this that your day WILL come. I hated sitting back seeing everyone else so happy and in love while I was wondering if it would ever happen for me. It seemed like everyone I knew was already married and on their third child. I know everyone says this, but just relax and enjoy where God has you right now because before you know it, your love will come along and life will never be the same.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a wedding to go to...............MINE!!!!!!!! The blog will be down for a little while for obvious reasons ;-) . I will be back with wedding photos and a Thanksgiving update. Keep a check on here for updates and lots of pictures!

Random

2011-11-15T08:24:00.005-06:00

My brain has officially become a pile of mush at this point in the game which renders me unable to form any type of coherent sentences that actually go together and mean something. That's really not any different than a usual post from me though is it? Instead I am going to share a list of things going on this week.

1) I am a combination of a bundle of nerves and excitement beyond words. I'm quite sure that I'm pure joy to be around right now.

2) I am going to start training to become an insurance agent the week I get back from my honeymoon. I thought enough wasn't changing in my life so I added one more thing.

3) I unhooked my satellite this morning to take the boxes to Randy's for my service to be transferred there. When the picture disappeared, panic set in. I may have a small attachment to television and I'm already wondering what I will do with my time. Never mind I still have quite a few things to pack up. I'm not going to have my tv y'all! This is serious! I could have taken it over the weekend when I was moving everything else but that would have meant I would miss Real Housewives of Atlanta and we all know that would never work.

4) On my way to work this morning I turned on my Christmas playlist on my ipod. A Hanson Christmas song came on that made me think about in 8th grade when I was obsessed with them, my mom made me a birthday cake with their symbol. I can still see it now. I had a moment of nostalgia. (This random thought proves I have no pride when it comes to what I share on here. While I'm at it, I also was a big fan of the Spice Girls.)

5) There will be a wedding day post on the blog. I won't be linking it up through facebook though like I usually do. You're on your own for this one.

6) I am still looking for someone who would love to have two ferns ride in the car with them to Callaway Gardens.....and then back home. I promise they are very quiet and won't ask to stop at every restroom you pass and they are very cheap eaters. Any takers??

7) I am curious about what type of emotion I will show during the wedding. I usually laugh during the most inappropriate times. Funeral...I'll laugh. Someone falls...I'll laugh. Church service.....I'll laugh. I can't help myself. Something is seriously screwed up in the top floor of my body. Just saying. I also have moments of weeping too. I can say without a doubt I will either be laughing hysterically or sobbing. Randy has requested laughter. But like life, Sunni is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.

8) My something old is my pearl necklace my grandmother gave me a couple years ago. My something new is my dress. My something borrowed is a pearl ring from my good friend, Crissy. She and I served together as music directors at Zion Hill and although she is not going to be able to make it to the wedding, I'm really happy I'll have a little piece of her there. LOVE HER! My something blue....wouldn't you like to know? I'll just say that it won't be visible.

9) The night before the wedding I will be staying with some wonderful friends from Zion Hill who are coming to the wedding. Every time I think about all they are doing for me, I just become overwhelmed with emotion. They'll never know what it means to me that they are going to be there for me on the day I need the most support. They are so much more than fellow church members. They are seriously proving that they are my family. Thank you Tammy, Mary, Becky, Annette, Brock and Bryan! You guys are seriously the best friends a person could ask for!

10) My co-workers have seriously been hard timing me about all the wedding stuff. They are taking me to lunch Thursday to give me some "advice." This is going to get interesting. I can't wait to hear what they have to say.

Weekend Recap

2011-11-14T08:32:00.010-06:00

We had a long weekend with no work on Friday. It turned out to be a productive weekend though.

Thursday night we had our final party before the wedding. Some friends from Sunday School had us a party. It was so much fun. It was also nice to have the time to get to know some of them a little better. Several of them told me they read my blog. That's kind of scary. On the bright side though, they know what kind of crazy they are dealing with now.

Friday was moving day for me. I have just enough stuff left at home to get me through the week. It was a crazy feeling Friday morning to go get everything and move it. I couldn't help but feel all day like I was totally invading the bachelor pad and taking over poor Randy's space. I told him that he is officially stuck with me because I was NOT moving all that stuff again. Randy acted shocked that my clothes would be organized by color, then by type going from tank tops to turtlenecks. Hello?! Have we met? I think he is learning that the number one thing to know about living with me is that my OCD has no limits.

I really thought the packing and moving would have been much easier and faster since I just moved a year and a half ago. I am convinced that someone else has been living in my house because I found things I don't even recall how I acquired. I had two sets of false eyelashes and the glue. To the person who left those at my house, they are now in the trash. I have never worn false eyelashes because 1) my eyelashes are already so long I have problems with mascara smearing as it is and 2) I'm pretty sure I'd glue my eye shut if I attempted to wear them. I also had an abundance of two other hilarious items that I won't talk about on here because I just learned that people at my new church read this blog and I don't want to make a worse impression than I already have.

On a side note: If you drive by Randy's house, we have not become raging alcoholics. It just so happened that the only place in Brewton with boxes I could use for moving was the liquor store. I don't make any promises about one or both of us becoming an alcoholic though AFTER we are married.

Saturday we went furniture shopping and actually found something we agreed on. Anytime you make a major decision that goes off without a hitch, I count it as a major score. I think Randy is hoping for a couch that will not make me want to go straight to his living room and lay down on and practically die. Every time I go to his house I seriously lay down on the couch and pass out. It's a very romantic relationship we have. After we left the furniture store, we did a little more shopping and finished in time to watch the Alabama game. Roll Tide!

Sunday was a weird day for me. I have gone back and forth about what to share on here but I want this to be a true account of what has gone on during different times in my life so I feel like I have to share the whole, honest thing. I woke up in a good mood and made my way to the bathroom to start getting ready for church. I could not stop thinking about all the changes happening in my life right now: getting married, changing positions at work, moving to a different town, different church.....you get the point. It made me wonder why they only offer lamaze to pregnant women because I was seriously in some need for a deep breathing technique. Several people in our Sunday School class had special prayer for us and they have no idea how much I appreciated that. I really needed to hear that people were praying for us and encouraging us. I haven't said much on here about it, but my family has not been involved with the wedding planning at all and I will take all the support I can get elsewhere. By the time we made it to the worship service, I thought I was going to have to put my head between my knees or something. I was seriously feeling a full blown panic attack coming on. I had all these thoughts rushing through my head. "What if he regrets marrying me? What if I drive him nuts because I'm sure I'm not an easy person to live with? What if he really does negotiate a deal with my brother for me to live with him during the week because he can only stand me for the weekends? What if? What if? What if?" Y'all. I was on full meltdown mode. No joke. I'll tell you how serious it was. I didn't eat lunch. Someone should have checked my pulse. Every insecurity I have surfaced yesterday. I doubt there is anyone else on this earth with more insecurities than I have and I made a mental list of them yesterday. It wasn't pretty. I headed home after church and on the way, God gave me a serious dose of reality. He reminded me of that verse in my window. He knows the plans He has for me. He certainly wouldn't have brought us together and then walk away. God has seriously blessed me with my other half. This week as I face every emotion in the book, I will remember Jeremiah 29:11. I will remember that God knows the plans He has for us and I will trust Him to lead us, protect us and bless us.

5 days!!! 5! It's almost here!

Weekend Update

2011-11-09T14:48:00.003-06:00

This past weekend was such a fun, laid back one.

I had a day out with Tabitha on Saturday. She is the closest thing to a sister I've ever had and it was so much fun to spend one last day as single girls together. She is also engaged, so it won't be long for her now either!

We picked up my dress from David's where it was being steamed. I was so excited to have it back in my possession again.

We went shopping and she put in to eat at Red Robin. I asked her why since she doesn't even eat hamburgers and she said she wanted to go for the freckled lemonade. Of course! What a dumb question I asked! We did a little more shopping and then I took her downtown Pensacola to the Art Museum for a college art class project she was working on. Sunni+one way streets+art festival with 100s of people darting across the road=a recipe for disaster. Luckily, we escaped and no artsy fartsy people were harmed during our trip.

I arrived back in Monroeville in time to watch the big Alabama/LSU game with some friends. To take a line from Forrest Gump: That's all I've got to say about that.

Sunday morning we went to church and went for our usual walk behind the college after lunch. This week I am happy to report that thanks to walking with Dana during the week, I didn't feel like I would pass out or die. I was actually able to keep up with Randy instead of being 25 feet behind him. Yay me!

Sunday night we went to see Courageous and it was just as good the second time. I wish there were more movies like this!

It was a great weekend and now the countdown is ON! We are 10 days from the wedding and I'm so stinking excited that I'm even getting on my own nerves...ha!

Last Weekend Update

2011-11-07T14:22:00.005-06:00

I am a week behind in posting this. That is because of 35% laziness and 65% I didn't have the pics from Randy's camera.

Last weekend some sweet ladies from First Baptist threw us a Mexican Fiesta. Here are some pics from the weekend.

I love him so much! I can't say it enough! I'm so excited to be marrying him!
If I had to pick a highlight of the night, it would be looking over and seeing Matt in this getup. His gear had me convinced it was going to start snowing any moment. HA!

These were the lovely hostesses. They were so sweet to throw the party for us!

We had a great time with everyone and I will be back with an update from this weekend tomorrow!

Weekend Update

2011-10-25T10:35:00.005-05:00

Our weekend was actually a pretty good one. I spent Friday night decorating a Cars 2 themed birthday cake for a special little guy. I have already decided that I have been the cool aunt. I may be the lazy mom and order our kids' birthday cakes instead of making them. That's a time consuming thing to do!

Saturday morning I got up and went over to Mom's to decorate for the party. Luke and I escaped alone and went to my house to finish up some laundry. He knew we were going out for a special birthday lunch alone and I guess I took too long on the laundry. When we were finally heading out the door he told me, "It took you long enough!"

I asked him where he would like to eat and he told me Pizza Hut. I asked what kind of pizza he wanted and he looked at me like I had a second head growing out of my ear or something. "I don't eat pizza," he said. I asked him why we were going to Pizza Hut then. This was followed by another annoyed look for the stupid adult that he was plagued with the company of. "I like their pasta!" Oh! Of course.

We met Randy at Pizza Hut and had a great lunch with a very well behaved little boy. After we ate, we went over to the cotton gin to see my dad and give Randy a tour. It was so great seeing some of my old co-workers too! I seriously LOVE where I work now, but without a doubt I loved that group of people more than any other group I've ever worked with. I really miss them!

After that, we went home and got ready for the party. He had a great time and scored some pretty cool gifts.

Ben with his daddy and Starla.

The cake. Not my best work, but he was happy and that's all that matters to me!

Some new Cars pajamas from Gran-Gran!

A new Thomas movie and Cars 2 game for DSi from Nunni and Randy.

Sunday was definitely a great day. It is no secret that anything involving staying at home is a great day. We went to church Sunday morning and since there were no services that night, that gave us an entire afternoon to do nothing. Randy did some cleaning and I helped by flipping back and forth between Lifetime and Real Housewives of New Jersey. As much as I loved Teresa and Caroline the last two seasons, I want to slap them both. They are both as classless as you can humanly be. I won't go on a tirade about that, but I will say that they both have some fault in the issues that are going on.

I did finally offer to shred some of the papers for him that he was sifting through, even though it did affect my ability to hear everything that was going on.....ha! Sunday was one of those days that I seriously hated leaving Randy. Those alone moments have been few and far between on weekends that have been full of parties and other stuff. It was nice to spend the day just laughing and talking. I seriously can't wait to marry him. In case you haven't caught on, I really love him! ;-) 25 more days!

A week is better than a year!

2011-10-23T21:48:00.010-05:00

I guess it didn't take a year after all to get the pictures from Randy. Of course, that might have had something to do with me just uploading the pictures myself from his camera instead of waiting on him to send them to me. Ha! As promised, here are the pics from the party last weekend at Stephanie's.

This is Stephanie, our beautiful hostess.

Me with Sonja and Rhonda.

Stephanie and Lia.

This is Ray and Sarah. These two are seriously one of the cutest couples ever. I loved watching them interact. They still act like newlyweds. I hope we stay like that too!

This was our first attempt at a picture together and Kim jumped in. I had to use this picture even though Randy's head is cut off and Kim's eyes are closed because we didn't get another picture of Kim. Kim is Stephanie's husband. They are another cute couple.

This is Stephanie's brother, Todd.

We didn't manage to get pictures of everyone that was there, but that is the majority of them. I know I said it before, but it was such a fun night. We still have two more in Monroeville and Randy has another one at work. Whew! We are definitely going to be partied out by next month! I will do a weekend update once I have all the birthday party pics uploaded.

Happy Birthday Luke!

2011-10-21T08:15:00.004-05:00

Seven years ago my heart was touched in a way that words cannot express. I held in my arms for the first time a beautiful baby boy that stole my heart. He was perfection.

I remember rushing to the hospital with Madyson and making it there about 30 minutes before he was born. I took her to the window to see her little brother and I remember sobbing like a baby. She was in love with him at the hospital. I took her everyday to see him and she was mesmerized. He was without a doubt the sweetest baby in the world.

When he came home, Madyson was no longer impressed by him. He was called "it" and "that baby" for the first six months of his life. I remember thinking he was broken or something. He seriously never cried and he was always happy. He was the polar opposite of his big sister who came into this world a firecracker. They are now best friends and their relationship makes me so happy. I hope they always stay as close as they are now.

I can't believe it has been seven years already. Time really does fly by. No matter how old Luke is, he will always be the first little boy I fell head over heels in love with. I hope he always stays the sweet, lovable, sensitive guy he is now.

Weekend Recap

2011-10-17T09:33:00.001-05:00

I didn't get around to posting about our weekend yesterday. We had two showers over the weekend. Unfortunately the pictures from Saturday night are on Randy's camera and I may not get those on here until a year from next Tuesday. I haven't had that much fun in a long time though. The party was hosted by Randy's friend, Stephanie. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned on here a time or twenty that I just love her to pieces. She's so much fun. It was a perfect party with several couples and it was very laid back. I had met most of the people at this party at the beach in July. We all joked that we just all looked really different with our clothes on, wearing makeup and our hair fixed. I really do hope I get some of those pictures up this week to share with everyone.

On Sunday we had another shower with some of Randy's family. This group was much larger and I'm pretty sure I remember no one's name from that day. I'm terrible with names and I've met so many people lately that I may never learn them all.

(I should go ahead and warn you that I am featuring my man legs again in these photos. I guess wearing a skirt for pictures one time wasn't enough. Let me torture you once more.)

This picture proves what I've been telling Randy all along. He is convinced he is under 6 feet. I am 5'4" and I'm wearing my tallest heels (about 4 or 5 inches) and he is still almost a head taller. I'm going to measure him on the door frame that Dad measures all the grand kids and see how tall he is. HA!

This is us with Randy's mom and sister. I'm so excited that I'm getting a sister-in-law that I get along with. I've been down the bad sister-in-law road before and I'm so glad we get along.

I'm pretty sure this was taken while we were all picking on Randy about opening gifts. He is into this gift thing now. HA!

This was a gift from Randy's cousin and aunt. It was serving dishes, sheets and a box full of goodies like mixing bowls, spatula, dishcloths, spices, flavoring, etc. It was such a neat gift and I just kept pulling stuff out and handing it to Randy...lol. It was a good time to test and see how much stuff he can hold at one time.

I finally let him open one. I think he opened the last half. At least I know what makes him happy. Opening presents...lol.

He is holding a really nice knife set we received. Although, according to him, he received that. He refers to it as his. Of course, with that being kitchen stuff, I will let him claim it. The only thing I do in the kitchen is bake.

It was a great weekend and we received some really nice things. I can't wait to use those Lowe's gift cards when we start the kitchen remodeling! We'll be sure to take before and after pictures to share with everyone on here.

Please pardon the mushiness. I can't help myself.

2011-10-14T08:15:00.001-05:00

I need someone who is prepared for:

- A million questions
- Uncontrollable laughter
- My family
- My appetite
- Musical Outbursts
- Random dancing
- My friends
- Sad/Happy tears
- Deep talks
- My imagination
- My dreams
- Walk in the rain
- Random texts
- Useless arguments
- and acceptance of the real me

I read that today and it's so exciting to say that I finally found that guy! I love him so much! Only 36 more days until he's my husband!

A day late and always a dollar short....

2011-10-13T09:12:00.007-05:00

I meant to write this post yesterday but it was an insane day of work. The day was filled with calls that went something like this:

"Good morning (or afternoon). The Securance Group."

"Hello?"

"Hello."

"Hello??"

"Yes? Can I help you?"

"Hello?"

click

As much as I LOVE the "Hello Game", I played it just one time too many yesterday. In other words, I just didn't have time to write anything and if I did it probably wouldn't have been filled with kindness because I wasn't feeling it.

Tuesday night the ladies from Zion Hill had a shower for me and another bride-to-be. (I totally typed out bird-to-be at first and almost left it because it amused me so much.) I got some really nice things but I enjoyed seeing everyone even more. Have I mentioned lately how much I love those people?

Once again, I excelled at my inability to get photos worthy of the blog. Sweet Crissy took pictures of me opening gifts, but I wish I had some pictures of everyone that was there. If I'm this horrible at taking pictures of events, my kids will only have pictures of their 1st, 9th and 21st birthdays.

This is Halee and Mary. Halee is the same age as Madyson and I've known her since she was two. I think of her as my second niece. Right after I took this picture she informed me that she didn't like having her picture taken. Oh. Well, I'm sorry you're all having to look at this child who didn't smile from ear to ear because she doesn't like her picture to be taken. Mary is the piano player at Zion Hill and I love, love, love her. Her only flaw is that she's an Auburn fan. Ha!

After looking at these pictures, I immediately regretted my wardrobe choice. I look like I should be having a baby shower instead of a wedding shower. Good grief! I should also pack away all skirts because even after losing 40 pounds, I still have man legs. Geesh!

Our Alabama birdhouse that I'm holding backwards. Lord help Randy. Everything I do is backwards. Ha!

Super cute Christmas ornament for our tree! In an effort of compromising, I am giving up my pink, green, turquoise, purple and black tree with the feathers and glittery stuff everywhere. I am keeping the black and adding red and green. Randy said my tree looks like it should belong to Liberace. What do you think?

I had no intentions of talking about my Christmas tree today, but it happened. That just solidifies me as the most random person ever.

Weekend Recap

2011-10-10T14:28:00.002-05:00

I had the BEST weekend. Lately, any weekend that doesn't have my time dictated by wedding stuff is a good weekend. This was the last free one before the wedding.

On Friday night, I met Randy at an Italian restaurant for dinner and then we went to see Abduction. We were the only two people in the theater. Yes, we behaved. HA! I'm sure the people at the theater wished we wouldn't have been there so they could have left early. It was actually a pretty good movie.

Saturday morning I met up with two of my best friends, Kerrie and Tammy, for a little girl's day out. We saw Courageous and I don't want to ruin it for anyone, but bring a tissue! It was SO GOOD. I highly recommend seeing this one! I want to see it again!

After the movie, we ate lunch, went for pedicures and did a little shopping. I had so much fun with them. I can't believe it was our last girl's day out before I am a married woman! How crazy is that? I still can't believe it.

We got home in time for a little football and I definitely got enough sleep because I'm pretty sure I conked out around 8:00 or 8:30. Is that the first sign that I'm getting old? I just can't seem to get enough sleep these days.

Sunday morning Truth was in concert at church and they were great. If you get a chance to see them in your area, you should go! After church we decided to go for a walk. After 4.5 miles, the underachiever in me was totally content and ready to stop. I think Randy would have gone another 4.5, but bless his heart, he let me stop. I have the strangest pain in my left leg right now and I was pretty sure if I took another step my leg was going to fall off!

This was such a perfect weekend for me. It's no secret that my ideal weekend is sitting on the couch in pj's eating peanut butter or nutella straight from the jar. I like not having any schedule to go by and just being able to relax. I have been so stressed over wedding details that it was nice to be able to relax and enjoy time together. I feel so blessed and fortunate to have Randy and I can't wait to marry him. 40 more days! It's getting closer!

Who wants to save money?

2011-10-04T14:27:00.004-05:00

I love cheap things. Well, that's not entirely true. I love expensive things, but I like getting them cheap. That's why I love daily deal sites and I just stumbled on a new discount site called Handbags.com . Here's the best part: If you sign up, they give you $10 for your first purchase. If you use my link, I can earn credit too! Purses on the site start at $11.99 and they have free shipping. It doesn't get much better than that!

Using sites like this is how I racked up on some pretty great Christmas gifts last year. Of course, I may just end up with a great new purse for fall for myself. HA!

Want to join too? Here is the link for Handbags. Signing up is super easy. It literally takes 20 seconds and your $10 credit arrives in your email shortly after.

While I'm at it, let me give you some of my other favorite sites to buy things for less.

My absolute favorite site for children's clothing is Zulily . They always have the cutest things and for WAY LESS than retail value.

I have also found some great deals at Rue La La. They are a daily deal site so it's hit and miss but sometimes you get something great. I got a pair of Sperrys for my nephew for less than $10 a while back on there. Just check them out everyday.

Don't forget Groupon. This is another daily deal site. I have scored some pretty great deals through Groupon.

All of these links are super easy to sign up for and only require an email address and password to start shopping. Check them out often. Happy Shopping!!

Weekend Recap

2011-10-03T21:06:00.003-05:00

This was another busy weekend that left me wanting to retreat to a corner in the fetal position. I am easily overstimulated and overwhelmed by to many people at once. I do much better in smaller crowds but that was not a luxury I was afforded.

We started the weekend off at Randy's high school homecoming. I didn't take any pics of the night because I was busy meeting the 463 people he introduced me to. Yes, I remember them all. Just when I think I've met them all.....there's another crowd. I don't know how one person knows so many people and even more impressive that he can remember them all and everything about them. My memory is so far from being that great. I am doing good most days to know my own name and know a little about what's going on with me. Maybe when we're married he can keep me straight. That's a big job!

On Saturday we visited one of his best friends, Stephanie, and her husband, Kim. Stephanie is honestly one of my favorite people ever. I don't instantly click with many people, but I did with her. She cracks me up and she helps me gang up on Randy and give him grief!

Saturday afternoon we went to the Troy game with Randy's sister and what felt like about a thousand cousins. He happens to have some pretty fun cousins so it was a good time. I never actually used my ticket to the game because I was busy watching the Alabama/Florida game. It brought me joy unspeakable to beat Florida. Right after Auburn, they are my next favorite team to beat.

These are the only pics from the weekend. Sorry they are so small or not very good quality. I'm improving though. I actually HAVE pictures this time.

This is Randy's sister, Rhonda. She seriously cracks me up. Love her!
This is Jeff (love me some Jeff!!), Amy, Aunt Judy, Michael, Rhonda, Randy and me.

Sunday was awesome because we actually got to sleep in. I must have felt at home at Rhonda's because I've never slept that late at someone else's house. I so needed that sleep. We finally headed back home and it was time for that dreaded Sunday afternoon routine. I'll be so glad when I don't have to leave Randy for the week!

The votes are in....

2011-09-29T09:53:00.003-05:00

With 66% of the votes, most of you think I should go with the long veil. Since the clock is ticking I will get that ordered. Thanks so much for your help! I can't think of anything else to obsess about so you shouldn't have to feel obligated to give me anymore wedding advice.....maybe. I make no promises people! Also, just to give you an update, the shoes have been ordered and should be here this week. Woo hoo! I can't wait to see them! Thanks again everyone!

Same God, Different Church

2011-09-29T08:11:00.005-05:00

Things are changing for me. A lot. Sometimes I just have to stop and take a breath because it feels so unbelievable. I still can't believe I'm getting married! This year has really taken me for a ride. I shared back at the beginning of the week that I had a God moment I wanted to share with you all. Hang in there with me because this one is going to be a long one!

After all the drama with my niece and nephews' custody, I was really close to a nervous breakdown. Anyone who has known me for even a short period of time knows I love those kids like they're my own. At the end of last year, I was in a very bad place. I was so heartbroken over everything that was happening and out of nowhere one day I could hear God speaking so clearly to me. He told me to let it go and stop worrying because He's in control. Am I talking to anyone here? Does anyone else hold onto things like I do? I think we all tend to hold onto certain things in our lives because we think we can handle it. The truth is, we usually make a bigger mess than we had when we started. We tend to criticize others for not "letting go and letting God" but we all do that.

At the beginning of the year I really began working on that in my life. There were several areas that I knew I needed to let go of and allow God to work His perfect will in. I can't tell you it was easy. I can't say it happened overnight. I can't even tell you that I liked letting go. I'm a control freak by nature and it wasn't easy at all. I CAN tell you it was SO worth it! A weight that I had carried for so long was lifted. My favorite verse during that time and for this whole year has been Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." It's plain as day and in black and white. He knows what His plans for our life is and He is not going to do anything that will cause harm. He's going to take care of us. He knows when a sparrow falls, surely I am worth so much more to Him. He knows exactly what I need. I have this verse on a plaque in my kitchen window so I am reminded of it everyday.

I began applying this verse to areas of my life, one by one. I began seeing such a difference. It's just unexplainable. One of the areas that I turned completely over to God was my dating life. I told God I was going to focus on making myself a better person and more acceptable as a potential wife and I was going to leave the rest to Him. He knew the desire of my heart and that I wanted a Godly husband. Imagine my surprise when I got a friend request and a message on Facebook back in April from someone that things had just fallen through and never worked out with before. God's timing is always perfect. He knew I wasn't ready before. I was this time and as they say, the rest is history.

The biggest and hardest change has been changing churches. Most of you know I was the music director at Zion Hill for 4 years. I had attended there for 6 years. I was there during some of the hardest times of my life and there are no words to even say how much I love and appreciate everything the members there have done for me. They were honestly my family. Not seeing them every week is just so heartbreaking. I've cried every Sunday since my last week there. The truth is that things will just never be the same.

Sometimes we would have these amazing alter services where everyone was just free to pray for their circumstances or for each other. I loved knowing there was nothing I couldn't share with them that they wouldn't support me in and pray for me about. I could just really feel that God is in the process of doing some great things in that church and I couldn't wait to see it all.

I remember sitting in church with Randy a few weeks ago and just praying that God would show me that this change was going to be ok. I knew it wouldn't be the same, but I needed to know He was still working in my life. The services are very different from what I'm used to. There's nothing at all wrong with that. Different is not bad, it's just different. I know this sounds silly, but I couldn't help but wonder if I'd ever have that moment again where everyone felt free to pray for each other with abandon and without care that anyone else was audience to the moment.

Fast forward to last week. I got a text from Randy saying our Sunday School teacher was moving. I loved the Sunday School teacher. He was so real and I love real people. Honestly? My first reaction was "Really, God? Seriously?" He gently reminded me that He is still in control and there was something He was working on. Patience is not an area I'm strongest in. Randy has an emotion chart he uses in counseling and he pointed to one of the little girls on it one day with the caption Impatient and said "Look, it's you." Bless his heart. At least he knows what he's getting into.

Sitting in Sunday School this past Sunday God showed up and showed me that things were going to be ok. Just because the surroundings are different and the people are different, He's still the same. The teacher shared with the class how the move came to be and how God worked things out so perfectly that they just knew it was Him. This is when I nearly fell out of my chair. The verse that God had laid on his heart was Jeremiah 29:11.

At another table was the wife of one of Randy's friends. We had gone to their house before and to be honest, it wasn't one of my best first impression moments. I was tired, grouchy and having an overwhelming day. I remember leaving and thinking that they all probably hated me and wasn't sure if they were going to be people I clicked with or not. I don't do well with new people in the beginning. Every insecurity I have usually floats to the surface and I can find about 6-29 more before the end of a meeting, depending on the length of time we are together. All of that changed Sunday morning though. She asked the teacher if he minded her taking time to pray for him and his family. She had no idea how much I needed to know that there were going to be people like that in my new church too. I began to bawl as she prayed. All I could do was thank God that He is in control and even when big changes come our way, He's going to still take care of us.

I'm sure that I've done a very poor job of putting into words the way God spoke to me this week and the way He has comforted me. I'm also sure I may sound offensive when I say what I'm about to say, but please don't take it the wrong way. So many of my friends and family have sympathized with me and listened to me when I was so upset about leaving Zion Hill. I'm trying to do things the way I feel that God expects me to do them. I'm trying to find ways to please God as Randy's future wife and as a Christian. One of those areas is my church. Randy will be the spiritual head and leader of our home. It doesn't make me less important. We will have different roles in our marriage. That's how God designed it. Please don't look at me like I have two heads and nine eyes when I say that in response to your question of why he doesn't change churches. Yes, I am sad about leaving my family at Zion Hill, but please don't ask me why he doesn't change churches. I'm doing what I feel God expects me to do and I know that God always honors obedience. He's already showing me that He's going to take care of those areas in my life that I'm unsure of. I'm definitely where I'm supposed to be.

Everybody's doing it!

2011-09-28T10:22:00.009-05:00

I just looked at the ticker and I am 52 days from my wedding! I can't even tell you how excited I am!! The funny thing is that I'm not alone in the wedding/engagement/newlywed world among my family members. It seems we all decided to jump in at the same time.

Last year in October my cousin, Gerry, married his beautiful bride, Kaitlyn.

This November (52 days from now to be exact) I will be marrying Randy.

Next October, my brother, Robert, will be marrying Starla.

In June of 2013, my favorite couple in the whole wide world will be getting married. I think I squealed more over Tabitha's engagement to James than I did my own. Well, maybe not, but it was close. Randy and I don't believe for a second they will make it to 2013, but we'll see. I can't wait for this wedding!

That's four of the five first cousins getting married within just a couple years of each other. Insane! I joked for such a long time that the reason I wasn't married yet was because I was waiting on Tabitha to grow up so we could have a double wedding. I didn't miss it by much!

Let me throw one more in there for good measure. The wedding we attended a couple weeks ago was Randy's first cousin.

It's wedding mania around here! If you're not married/engaged, do it. Everyone else is!

***Don't forget to vote on the veil in the ride sidebar! Thanks everyone!!***

To veil or not to veil

2011-09-27T08:23:00.006-05:00

Last night was a productive night for me. I'm pretty sure I had about 9 loads of laundry that had piled up since God only knows when. I guess it's a good thing I have so many clothes because I have just honestly not had time to slow down and do anything like that in a while. While the clothes were all washing/drying I mopped the floors. Exciting isn't it? I am too wild for words sometimes. I put a fall scented bar in the scentsy burner and sat back to enjoy the clean house.

I didn't completely waste my time. I have been in a dilemma for a while now. I can't decide whether to wear a veil or not for the wedding and if I do, short or long? I love, love, love a long veil, especially with a mermaid style dress (Spoiler alert *** My dress is a mermaid style). I am just unsure whether a veil would look ok for the venue.

Is a veil even necessary? I have a pearl and rhinestone headband to wear that day. I'm going to do another vote. You helped with the shoes so I'm going to take your advice for the veil. I promise that this is the last thing for my ensemble that is undecided. Everything else is done.

These are the two favorite veils that I've found. The short one has rhinestones and the long one is plain without any embellishments. Or should I not wear one at all? The voting is in the right sidebar like I did with the shoes. Thanks for your help!

The voting will be open until Thursday!

A little bit of everything and a whole lot of nothing.

2011-09-25T22:07:00.004-05:00

***Correction on my last post. I had a misspelling on the link to Initial Boutique. The correct address is www.initialboutique.com . You should check it out! ***

My weekend didn't turn out exactly like I planned. I did get dressed Saturday and I didn't sit around eating Nutella out of the jar. I heard about a lot of yard sales in the Milton area and since we had not been in a while, we set out on a bargain hunt. I didn't find a whole lot but I did get a brand new set of Satin Hands by Mary Kay, a new punch bowl set, a pair of Gap jeans, a sweater, a pair of Dockers khakis and a pair of crocs for Luke for around $15 so it was a pretty productive day I guess.

We made it home around 2:00 and I went to Randy's to watch the Alabama game. After weeks of watching a red tv, Randy decided that Saturday was the day for a new one. I must admit it was way past time. After an interesting dinner that I'll spare the details of (1 waitress for about 10 tables of people...you can imagine), we found ourselves in Wal-Mart. This was one of those experiences that opened my eyes to the different ways we approach things. We are both thoughtful about big purchases but the difference is that I will research something to death online and then either order it or go in the store pick it up and leave and Randy likes to spend 3 hours in Wal-Mart. If he was trying to make me hate tv in hopes of never having to watch Real Housewives, it was a close call. He was about 15 minutes from it to be exact. The whole experience made me wonder what the process of naming our children will be like and it sent me to a scary place that I just can't revisit until that time comes. The funny thing is though, when it was all said and done, there's no one else I would have spent more than 30 minutes looking at tvs with. Love will do strange things to you.

We spent Sunday afternoon putting the tv stand together and setting up the tv. We assembled everything without a fight and without any problems. This has to be a good sign.

We also found ourselves at the school unloading pumpkins for their fundraiser. I told you love would do strange things to you. I have to admit that the dorky side of me came out during that time. I LOVE carving pumpkins so I'm looking forward to getting some pumpkins for our first carving experience together. Unloading two truckloads of pumpkins is something you'll never do at an insurance office!

There was truly nothing eventful at all about the weekend. Strangely though, it was the best weekends I've had in a long time. I love those laid back days. I do have a God moment to share one day this week about something going on but I'm going to get my thoughts together before I pound all that out. I'm so glad God shows up in our lives when we need Him the most!

I love a good bargain.

2011-09-23T13:50:00.008-05:00

Ok. I'm trying to be the happy, perky bride and do the small talk stuff when people ask about wedding details. I'm not going to lie though. I'm sick of it. I'm so tired of my head hurting from all the details. For any of you out there thinking that a small wedding is easier, it's not. There's still an insane number of details to deal with and plans to make. The happiest day of my life will be November 20. That will be the day I wake up married to the best man in the world and the first day I don't have to think about wedding plans. I'm obviously missing that gene that every other woman in the world has that just makes you want to plan a wedding from the day you're born.

I decided to stick to doing everything black and white. I like it because it's classy and chic. Last week I placed an order for our napkins only to receive an email telling me that the black napkins were on backorder....yada yada yada. Seriously? Backordered napkins? Not wanting to risk having to run out the day of the wedding to buy napkins and receive 200 napkins with our names on them the day AFTER the wedding, I cancelled the order and started my search again. I have always loved anything monogrammed and I've seen a lot of napkins in various stores with a "J" already on them but they're always black and ivory...not white. I loved this style though. (Side note: Have I already typed two paragraphs about napkins? God help me.)

Anyway, I totally lucked up today. FINALLY something good happened with the wedding plans. I found black and white napkins in the pattern I wanted. That's not the best part. They were $0.60 a pack. That's 60 CENTS y'all!

I also found some acrylic goblets (wine glasses) on the same site for $1.55! How insane is that? These are the same glasses I found in a store in Monroeville and I wanted for the wedding but they were all out of J's. They are beautiful in person and I didn't even realize they were acrylic in the store until I picked them up.

After I placed my order, I realized they had some acrylic tumblers with a J on them as well for $1.55 and I'm regretting not ordering those now for our everyday glasses. Oh well.

I just had to share the site with all of you in case you like a good deal too. The site is http://www.initialboutique.com/ . Let me know what kind of deals you find!!

Freedom, The Office and Perms

2011-09-23T08:20:00.006-05:00

I am taking a big risk by even saying anything out of fear someone will plan something for me, but I actually have a free weekend this week. There are no words to describe how excited I am. Our lives have been basically planned out for us since we've been engaged and it's the last free weekend until the wedding. I love knowing I can sleep in, wear my pajamas all day if I want to, watch tv and eat Nutella from the jar. Don't judge me because that happens to be a perfect day for me.

Speaking of watching tv. Andy is the new boss on The Office! WHAT? I was totally pulling for Dwight but I'm ok with Andy being the boss. My favorite line of the night came from Andy. "What does Robert California think of Andy? Don't know, super care." HA! I also can't even tell you how excited I am that Pam and Jim are having another baby. Pam and Jim are my all time favorite tv couple.....ever. I like them better than some real couples I know to be honest.

I wasn't able to watch The Office until around 9:30 last night because I was busy putting a perm in Tabitha's hair.

She's going to kill me for this picture. Tabitha, just remember that I love you enough to put off the new season of The Office for 90 minutes! If that's not love, I don't know what is!

Thanks to everyone who voted on the shoes. It was close but it looks like the black flower shoes win! YAY! I have wedding shoes now. I will be ordering those today!

Girl Night

2011-09-22T08:08:00.007-05:00

Last night was such a fun night for me. I met up with two of my favorite girls in the world.....Brittany and Breiah. We became friends because their grandmother and I worked together several years ago. They were just kids then and now they're all grown up and some of my closest friends. Their whole family is seriously like my family. They adopted me and now they can't get rid of me. I love them all so much.

Last night could have been a little dangerous because we had no adult supervision. It was just the three of us. I was in serious need of some girl time and they are the only people who understands and appreciates the humor in sitting around quoting Madea. It's seriously funny people. You should try it.

Brittany has developed quite the social life and I had to be caught up. She kind of did things like me. She stayed quiet and calm for a while and then.....BAM! She blew up and now I can't keep up. I felt totally out of the loop. It was also such a refreshing change of pace to talk about someone other than myself. I liked giving her the third degree and drilling her about every detail.....ha!

Breiah, Breiah, Breiah. It's a tight race between Breiah and Tabitha of who makes me laugh harder. My dream is to get the two of them together and see what happens. Everyone should have a Breiah in their life. I dare you to be around her and not laugh and enjoy yourself. It won't happen.

The last time we got together I may have posted a semi-mean picture of her on Facebook. I took a nice one of her last night though.

She's such a sweetheart, super talented and one of the funniest people I know. Back off guys! I'm not sure there is a nice enough guy for her.

Now, my picture of Brittany may not be as nice. I may have a habit of texting someone else while I'm talking to the person who is with me. I can't just be doing one thing at a time. I need to be doing several things so that's not me trying to be rude, it's just me. Sorry. Brittany on the other hand......well, it took me all night to drag her whole story out because this is what she did all night.

I forgive her though because she shares my love for Madea....and she's my hair twin.

***The shoe voting is still open if you haven't voted yet! It's in the sidebar to the right.***

Shoes

2011-09-20T08:40:00.009-05:00

Ok. So last night may go down in history as one of the weirdest moments at my house.....ever. Seriously. Why? I can now say that my brother put my bra on me. Yeah. It was every bit as weird and awkward as it sounds. In my defense, there was no one else around to help and it was a long line bra that I needed to try on with my dress to make sure everything worked together. He should be permanently scarred.

It's actually pretty funny to think about how he and I fought like cats and dogs growing up and couldn't stand the sight of each other. He's been the one to help me with most of the wedding stuff. He's also the one who will be giving me away. We went over his wardrobe last night. Thank God for his girlfriend. We were in a heated discussion because he was having a moment where he thought he could channel Johnny Cash and wear a black shirt with his black suit. Thankfully, I had another person on my team. Interestingly enough, he is horrible at selecting his own wardrobe, but he does a pretty good job at helping me to pick out an outfit.

I now have everything I need to wear to the wedding except my shoes. For some reason I simply cannot commit to a pair of shoes. I love, love, love heels. I always have. I am not much of a white shoe wearer, so I'm not really going in that direction for some reason. I have found a couple pair I would consider, but I am really leaning in the black direction. The wedding is going to be black and white and I am seriously thinking I'd love to find a really cute pair of black heels. My dress is very simple and plain for my usual taste in things so I want a pair of shoes that reflect my usual taste and style. That being said, no one is going to see the shoes, but I'll know. I'm looking for some help now. Please vote and help me decide on my shoes.

#1 - Black Flower

# 2 - White Rhinestone

#3 - Black Rhinestone

The poll for voting is in the sidebar to the right of the blog. I would really appreciate your opinions! Thanks!

Weekend Recap

2011-09-19T08:38:00.008-05:00

My weekend was a whirlwind to say the least. I'm not even sure where to begin. People who know me well find this hard to believe, but I am extremely shy around new people. To say the least, I am on overload right now. I didn't know one person could know as many people as Randy does. Good grief. We started by visiting his cousin, her husband and daughter. I seriously loved these people. No one puts me at ease like people who are just real. I don't like fake or snotty people and they were so far from either. I had a blast with them.

After that it was on to the wedding. Randy's cousin got married and he was a groomsman. It was a beautiful wedding. The location was beautiful as well and we were able to stay there overnight. I wish I had been a better blogger and taken pictures.

Sunday morning we headed home. I think we were on the road for about 8 hours or more. This included two stops on the way home. We stopped to see another friend of Randy's. She was such a sweet person and I hate we didn't get to stay longer to visit. It's too bad she lives so far away. After that, we stopped by Randy's parents' house. They are so excited about the wedding. Bless their hearts. I've decided to find them a new hobby. I don't know what to do with someone fluttering all around me. I'm used to being ignored in my family....ha.

We finally made it back to Randy's around 8:30 last night. I made it to my house around 9:30. I am exhausted today! That was a whole lot of traveling!

I am also going to have to get my behind kicked back into shape. There was some really good food over the weekend and we all know that if food is good, it's not good for you....ha! My feet will be hitting the road this afternoon for at least 4 miles of walking.