focus focus focus

That is what I need to be doing but I cant.  All I want to do today is sleep.  Curl up in my big bed with my fur-babies and my honey, to cuddle and sleep.  Are any other brides out there lacking focus leading up to your wedding.  All I want to do is just not worry about anythign for a while.  Working out, work, cooking, cleaning, nothing.  I just wanna be lazy for a little bit and do completely nothing but honestly I just dont have the time to do nothing.  I still have a few things left on my to do list for the month and I hope I can knock a couple things out this weekend.  That being said, it would be so nice to just lay around and lounge all day Saturday.

My work focus is completely shot lately.  I have no motivation to even be there let alone try to work and be there.  All I keep day dreaming about is weddings, invitations, planning, etc.  I am hoping that this will be my fuel once the wedding is over. 

Ring "Bear" Pillow

A little boy was in a relative’s wedding.

As he was coming down the aisle, he would take two steps, stop, and turn to the crowd.

While facing the crowd, he would put his hands up like claws and roar.

So it went, step, step, ROAR, step, step, ROAR, all the way down the aisle.

As you can imagine, the crowd was near tears from laughing so hard by the time he reached the pulpit.

When asked what he was doing, the child sniffed and said,

“I was being the Ring Bear.”

This reminds me how cute kids can be as well as the darnest things they can say.  I am so excited that my precious nephew will be my Ring "bear" as I now like to call it.  He is super excited too.  I recently completed his pillow and took it over to show him.  I have to admit he pretty much knew exactly what to do with it.  He held it upright and just walked around with it.  He will be a cuttest little ring "bear" ever.

Here is an inspiration picture I got for my pillow since I knew there was no way I could afford it.  I decided to do my own:

ETSY

My sister was kind enough to give me her old pillow but i mostly just used it for the shape and the filling.  I completely re did it and this is how mine turned out.

I am pretty happy with the results.  As it matches the look were going for a little more so than the Etsy one does.  But a little inspiration never hurts anyone, right?

So ladies, tell me.  Are you going to DIY your pillow and do you plan on having a Ring "Bear" roar his way down your aisle as well?

Where Is The Time Going?

Like Seriously?   We are at 88 days out now. I cannot believe we are less than 3 months away until we are married.   Like MARRIED, as in my name will not be what is was, is, today!  That is just Crazy!!

Thanksgiving was amazing this year!  It was so nice to finally have our boys home- Aaron and Bubba.  I mean the holidays without them just aren't the same.  We did everything up big this year.  Had 3 turkeys, tons of pies, and cookies, and sweets galore!  All the trimmings, mashed potatoes, yams, green bean casserole (my favorite) deviled eggs!  You name it, it was on the table. 

I even made some tasty homemade rolls I found off of pinterest.  They were superb!!  Everyone loved them so much I wish I grabbed two!  When I went back for a second the only thing left were those yucky freeze rolls my step-mom bought.  Bleeeh!  I even had everyone write a couple things that they were thankful for and then wrapped them up inside.  It was a hoot for everyone to try to figure out who wrote what.  I think my favorite one was from my brothers girlfriend Rachel

                          

  "I am thankful that people here know what they are doing, and how to cook because I don't have a clue!!" 

Needless to say it was a fun day- that and I got a ton!  I mean a TON of flowers done for the wedding.  Wanna see??

That's just about half of them.  I ended up making 176 flowers with 2 days combined!  oooohhhh Yea!!

So now I think I am at about 400 flowers total.  My lovely Christineebeanie is helping me out too and I heard she had a flower making party the eve of Thanksgiving.  I love that everyone is helping to contribute to my fabric flower craze!  I promise that whoever helped, wherever you are I will help you in anyway with whatever you need after the wedding!  Scouts honor!

So other than my flower craze I haven't really worked on anything wedding related.  I feel that everything is coming along nicely and I wish I could just sit back and relax but I know that is not the case.  I still have quite a bit to do.  And with Christmas around the corner now I really don't want to do anything wedding related.  I want to spend gobs of money at Hobby Lobby decorating our house, but I know I can't.  :( hurmmmmph!

So instead I am trying to focus my time on losing this last 10 pounds.  Damn you thanksgiving and your deliciousness for putting me back a good 3 pounds.  That means extra gym time for me!!

Aaaaaand... I am trying to focus on being a better wife, I mean future wife.  You know its bad when the FI is telling you he is out of underwear!  I know I know, I just loathe Laundry!  Can't there be a pretty little laundry fairy that takes care of that for us daydreaming brides?  Hey, a girl can dream!



125 Days Out

So if you remember this post I was going a little crazy.  I have really tried to start prioritiziing things that need to get done and I am making progress.  I made myself stay home yesterday afternoon and we knocked out some more of the invititions.  Those are taking a while but not near as long as those crazy save the dates.  I think we may make our target of November 1st.  I hope anyways.  I just need to really focus on them this week and I think we will be good!
So I started with this and now I have a few things checked off...hallajeuah!
- Finish Corsages for moms, grandmas and speakers,
- finish last 3 bouquets and 1 toss bouquet
-Make "Here comes the bride" sign
-Make appoinment for Bridal pictures
-Book Baker
-Order and complete construction of Wedding Invitations
-Pick out Grooms/Groomsmen Atire-Pick out flower girl and Ring Bearer Atire
-Get Passports
- Aaron's Ring!Ok, so not really.  But I got 3 things done.  I am wondering if I can get the rest done by the end of this month. 
I have to admit though.  With the new addition of our family. I am having a hard time focusing when all I want to do is lay around and cuddle with my fur babies.

Custest fur-babies ever! 

So I plan on knocking this list out of the ball park this week.  OH and I am super excited because we have our engagment picture shoot on Wednesday.  I am really going to try to watch what I eat the next few days so I am sure to look my absolute best!

Yall have a great Monday!

Its time For a Shower...

My Bridal Shower that is!  Ah, I was so excited about my shower today and I just could feel the love from all the wonderful women in my life.  I had a such a good time hanging out with everyone and laughing and drinking yummy punch!

I'll let the pictures do the talking.....

I was so excited that so many family and friends showed up. And I was so excited to share my special day with them and for some to finally meet my future hubby.  He popped in at the end to help load up all the gifts and grace all of us ladies with his good looks :)

I Spy Game

About a month ago when I met with my Wedding Cordinator from Lovely Weddings.  Kayleigh had suggested I make an ISpy Game to put on my tables since I am basically DIYing a majority of our wedding.   I decided to give it a go one day when I had some down time and this is the result. 

I have them all printed on cardstock and when I recieve my shipment from cards and pockets I plan on adding a lapis cardboard to the back to add a boarder.  Do you think our guests will actually partake in this ISpy game?  Do you think they will enjoy?

I sure hope so and I am hoping they can catch a few memorable shots!  Thanks Kayleigh!

Engagement Inspiration

With our engagement pictures right around the corner I have kinda gone into panic mode.  What do we wear?  What "look" are we going for?  Do I wanna wear a dress?  Should we dress casual?  Where should we take our pictures?

So many questions and only a few weeks to decide.  That being said I had some down time yesterday so I came up with a few inspiration boards for our pictures.  I am hoping that we can get kind get pictures that a cute, classy and fun.  I also want a  few that are casual, relaxed, and us!

So I present you our outfit options:

1. DSW, 2. Modcloth, 3. Express

4. DSW, 5.Overstock

1. Modcloth , 2.Payless, 3. Express

4. DSW 5. Regaliasilver

JCP and Express 

Charlotte Russ and Express



As you can tell, I really like Mod Cloth, DSW and Express.  The reason I chose so many outfits from the same stores is to save on shipping charges.  I am not a big gotothestore shopper.  I prefer to online it if I can and as much as possible.  If it doesn't fit or look right I have no problem returning it.  But, lucky for me most of the time, items I buy are dead on perfect~ is a gift!!

Of the inspiration me and Aaron are really diggin on the first and the last.  I think the pops of yellow and blue are perfect and I have the most amazing blanket that will work perfect for some cute picnic pictures perhaps!

The last slide with the grays are perfect as we both look great in gray because of our blue eyes.  And I think any man in flannel looks good!

You think I am on the right track with our engagement shoot or I need to keep on looking? 

145 Days to Go!

I can't belive we are at the 145 day mark.  We still have a ton to do but I must say I am feeling accomplished!  This week we need to get our passports and then Sunday me and the Mr. are going to check out some suits for him and the groomsmen.  I also still need to make like another 200 flowers.  Well...hopefully not that many but I am pretty sure that I will need about that for decorations.  The plan is to make them the next few Sundays while Aaron watches footbal. 

With time ticking away I know I need to keep on top of things.  On the top of my head all of this needs to be complete THIS month before the hustle and bustle of the holidays start.
- Finish Corsages for moms, grandmas and speakers,
- finish last 3 bouquets and 1 toss bouquet
-Make "Here comes the bride" sign
-Make appoinment for Bridal pictures
-Book Baker
-Order and complete construction of Wedding Invitations
-Pick out Grooms/Groomsmen Atire
-Pick out flower girl and Ring Bearer Atire
-Get Passports

So we have a lot left to do.  Lets hope I dont go insane this month!

Via

Catch It In a Mason Jar....

So you treat your love like a firefly, like it only gets to shine for a little while
Catch it in a mason jar with holes in the top and run like hell to show it off
Oh, promises were made when we'd go walkin', that's just me and Charlie talking- LOVE. THAT. SONG!

Mason Jars, oh how I love thee too!
There are so many beautiful pictures that fill the pages of wedding blogs of mason jars.  These are really the "in" thing right now.  I knew with the chic, rustic, vintage theme that we have going for our wedding I hadtohavethem too!

I just made a great purchase today from none other than Etsy and I am grabing about 170 mason jars tomorrow at none other than Walmart.  Check out these lovelies!

ETSY, image via seller The Party Fairy

Aren't they just adorable?  I can't wait to have all of our guest put these inside their mason jars to drink their sodas and cocktails, maybe even their beer?  Ya never know, it could happen!

Here's some inspiration pictures I have found with straws and mason jars.  I am hoping our photographer will catch a couple so we have some of our own.

Image via This Adventure Called Life

Via Southern Weddings, Photo by Patricia Lyons

Via Style Me Pretty, Photo by Beaux Arts Photographie

drinks in large mason jars, styling by Amorology, image by Gideon Photography via Green Wedding Shoes}

I just can't wait to see these pretty's in action.  The Paula Dean in me is also thinking that after the wedding I can possibly try to make some homemade jams with all those jars.  Lovely thought, but reality could be a disaster.  Until then....we shall see. 

Ring "Bear" Pillow

A little boy was in a relative’s wedding.

As he was coming down the aisle, he would take two steps, stop, and turn to the crowd.

While facing the crowd, he would put his hands up like claws and roar.

So it went, step, step, ROAR, step, step, ROAR, all the way down the aisle.

As you can imagine, the crowd was near tears from laughing so hard by the time he reached the pulpit.

When asked what he was doing, the child sniffed and said,

“I was being the Ring Bear.”

So this weekend I finally got the fire under my arse and started working on some much needed DIY 's that need finished before the Mr. gets home this thursday.  I completed the pomanders. FINALLY. And I made Colt's Pillow.  I have to say it turned out much better than I had thought.  Here was my inspiration from Etsy.

ETSY

And Here is my creation. 

Image via Crystal's Crappy iPhone

While it may not be as elegant as the one on ETSY.  I still love it. I think it turned out great.  Colt thinks so too.  I showed it to him and it is the perfect size for his tiny little frame without overbearing him or coving his cute get-up too much.

Friday night Lights

Tonight the FSIL and FMIL decided to come over and we worked on some signs to place around the neighborhood for when Aaron finally arrives home.  I cannot believe that our wait is finally over.  This year has been a whirlwind of ups and down, in and outs, stress, fear, fun, laughter, cryings, sadness and strength. 

We first started out with some delicious dinner complementary of this chef here.  I decided to make my new favorite recipe; Chicken Tortilla Soup.  Super duper easy and super duper yummy.  So yummy in fact I have no left overs!

I also decided to treat us ladies with some homemade brownies from a box with some reeses pieces mixed in.  They were to die for!!  So. Good!

Then we topped off everything with some freshly blendeds strawberry daqs. Yumm!  I mean you can't have a ladies night with delicious adult beverages. 

So we layed an old sheet on the living room floor and sprawled out with our paint, markers and glitter. Glitter makes everything better and started our creations and I have to say they did turn out great....

Take a gander!

We are going to place these around the entry way to his mom's neighborhood and then our neighborhood to welcome him home! I think he will be pleasantly suprised that we made these ahead of time and he will know we really have missed him.

This weekend I was a busy little bee.  I have been trying to finish up all of my major DIY projects before the Mr. gets home.  I cannot believe that he will be here in 2 weeks!  2 weeks!!!  I could seriously dance all over the place but I have too much to do so dancing will have to wait.

So here are a few beauties I made this weekend to hold you over until I can show you the rest of my beautiful creations.  These totally came out better than I could have ever imagined.  Thank to my crafy Auntie and my sister this weekend for getting these started.  I really had to idea how to put these things together but once they showed me I wrapped them up with twine and I was good to go.

And now for the pictures.....

If you notice on FI's bout (the white one) there is a ring attached.  I had thought it would be a sweet way to have my FI's father close to him by attaching the ring that FI got his dad and has kept it since his passing.  I think his dad would love that we are remembering him in this special way and Aaron will have his dad close to his heart the entire day.  Could it get better than that??

The Perfect Venue: Boulder Springs

If you've miss out on the journey catch up here and here.

After visiting Lindsay Lakes I have to admit I was pretty adamant on going with Amber Springs, but I couldn't shake the feeling of checking out Boulder Springs to make sure that Amber is what I should go with.  If you remember, Linda had told me they were opening a brand new facility in Magnolia, TX, May of 2012, and that it would look almost identical to Boulder Springs.  Everything she said except the landscape; Crystal Springs is being built on an old tree farm.

After a few phone calls trying to beg someone to take a 3 hour road trip with me just the check it out my FMIL agreed.  We set out one hot early Sunday Morning and after approx 3 hours of listening to stories of Aaron's "little boy" stories and about how much he really REALLY loved me we were finally at our destination.

Photos Via Boulder Springs Website

After looking over the entire facility I couldn't help but fall in love.  The white stone, the elegant, yet, rustic, country feel this place had was unbelievable!!  My heart pitter-pattered in excitement that our wedding venue could look like this! 

That and I was sold on the doors. 

*All photos Via Project Wedding

The Iron detailing, the scroll work.  Ahhhhhh! This place had stole my little Texas heart!  I'm actually upset because I had my FMIL take my picture in front of these very doors and a few months ago my iphone was lost by my ding dong handsome fiance with them inside. This makes me a sad bride, a very, very sad bride.  But...on the bright side, I can drool over pictures like this knowing that Aaron and I will have amazing photos in front of them.

Image Via Onewed ; Photography by D Coleman Photography

Photo Via Cory Parris

 I keep falling madly in love with door pictures like this and I couldn't help but day dream that me and Aaron could have pictures like that to swoon over for years and years to come.

Another detail that did not and will not go unnoticed is that of the stairway....

* photo Via Project Wedding

I can just see us now as the DJ annouces us as a couple for the second time of the day and us prancing down these stairs with the biggest smiles on our faces to welcome everyone to our crazy-fun reception.  Can you see it now, like I do?

Photo Via Kells Irish Pub

Okay, okay, enough day dreaming.  Lets get down to a few more pictures of the rest of the place shall we?  I can day dream all day if you'll let me.

The Gazebo

Bridal Suite (I can see me and my ladies playing dress up in here now)

*All photos Via Project Wedding

That Monday I went up to Amber Springs to discuss the details with Linda and put our deposit down.  I later called Aaron to tell him the news (of course I got approval first ya'll)  and told him "There's no backin' out now babe!!!"

So ya'll what do you think?  Do you think Crystal Springs has everything a bride could ever dream of for her wedding day?   I would say so but I may be a little biast just because of the name !!

Now I just had to wait until May when the darn place is done being built and hope I didn't make a huge mistake.

Did any other brides out there choose a venue before it was even built?  Please tell me there are a few of you out there.

The Hunt...The Dress Hunt That Is.

Back in November 2010 ( I know that seems like forever ago) just a short month into our engagement I had been talking to BM HL about all the fun wedding plans to come.  We were talking about colors, ideas, themes, and of course dresses.  She had asked me if I had any idea what I had wanted and when I was planning on going shopping.  Honestly, I hadn't really even thought about the dress shopping yet and quite frankly I was scared to death to go shopping for a dress.  Especially, "THE DRESS."  I was planning on putting it off until oh like July of 2011. 

The reason is because the last 4 years I had gained a hefty 40 pounds and I was not looking forward to it.  I just hadn't felt comfortable in my own body for quite some time.  I had this vision of this perfect self in my wedding dress.  This perfect image and that image was not what I looked like at the time.  So wedding dress shopping just didn't sound like fun.  Excited yes, because I was getting married but I just wasn't giddy about it like I thought I should be. I was almost even worried that their sample sizes wouldn't really fit. And if it didn't how embarrassing would that be?  I mean really I was not huge but I was sitting comfortably in a size 14 and that is fairly overweight for my 5'7 frame.  I really wanted to loose some weight and actually feel beautiful before dress shopping.

Well about a week or two after this conversation with BM H she called me back one day telling me she had a brilliant idea.  If you know BM HL her ideas are always brilliant so I was hooked before she even spilled the beans.  Then she spoke the words "Why don't we go wedding dress shopping on your visit to Buffalo!!!???" (You see I was going to Buffalo, NY for Christmas this year to visit my family). I could tell she was so friggin excited so I of course mustered up some excitement and said that that sounded great.  I really did think it would be fun to go and try on dresses with my best friend in the entire world.  With her and BM CB being so far away it would be the one aspect of the wedding they could share with me and be a part of.   After talking a bit more about it I had convinced her to let me bring my sister and BM CB and my cousin SB.  With that being said we were set.  I was going to try on dresses over Christmas vacation with my best girls!!

After a bit of this sinking in I decided it couldn't be too bad.  I mean all I was going to do was go and play dress up for my girls.  There was no way I would actually buy a dress in NY while I was on vacation.  Duh I live in Texas why would I buy a dress living that far away.  How would I get it home?

Well the date was set and BM CB was great and made all my appointments.  First up was LaRue's Bridal.

Upon arriving we were greeted by a sweet woman who told us to look around and we could start trying on soon.  She told us to go upstairs where the gowns were and pick out whatever we wanted.  I think my girls had a field day as there were nearly 20 dresses in the room before we decided that was enough.

I don't exactly remember all that I tried on but I tried on a lot.  I tried on nearly every style but unfortunately I just wasn't feeling any of them.  One I did like but I just liked it- I wasn't in LOVE with it.  We decided to write down the style number and price and go on to our next appointment.

Up next the Bridal Chateau.  When we walked in from the freezing rain, we were greeted and the lady asked who the bride was and shook my hand.  I immediately fell in love with a gown on the mannequin in the front so she took it right off so that I could try it on. 

It Looked something like this....

image via Shibawi.com



As we were walking she asked what I had thought I wanted my dress to look like. I told her, I like lace, I like vintage charm, and nothing too modern but still elegant. Her eyes lit up and she said she would be right back.  Meanwhile, the other girls had already wandered off to start their search.  BM HL and I started digging our way through more gowns and then our angel appeared.  She had this dress in her hand and said "How's this!" I think me and Heidi about fainted. Our jaws had hit the floor.  How could she pick that dress just by the few words that I spoke.  I had completely forgotten about mannequin dress and followed her to the dressing room.

I undressed and slipped into the beauty.  She was elegant, beautiful, charming, stunning.  I was in complete awe. I walked out into the main area and made my way to the pedestal.  I stepped up and looked in the mirror.  I felt like I was dreaming.  I felt beautiful.  I turned around to see that not only was BM HL in tears but so was BM CB and cousin SB.  My sister is a crier but not over gushy stuff but she even had a look of satisfaction on her face.  Then I turned back around to picture myself walking down the aisle.  I pictured Aaron at the other end looking at me in this dress and I knew it was the one.  At that moment I started tearing up and asked the girls what they thought.  They all nodded in agreement that this was the one.  BM CB even said "I don't know if I should say this but you look sexy!" We all kinda giggled and I told the lady I would take it. 

After getting dressed I asked her who the designer was and she joyfully proclaimed the words Maggie Sottero.  I was going to wear a Maggie.  I could not believe it!  I had ooooggled over her dresses the last few weeks and now I actually had one!! 

What you think I'm gonna give the actual name of my dress away?  Dream on ladies.... you still have to wait!

The White Dress Talk

So I realize I have talked about many things that are going into this wedding planning fun many things that is, except for the dress.  You know, the big, white, beautiful dress that all brides dream about trying on.  The most beautiful, and expensive dress one girl may ever wear. 

Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images via About.com

Well there is a reason for that.  And the reason is because I am trying my best to keep it a secret from the honey.  You see, he is quite snoopy. He keeps begging me to let him see a picture of it.  Or if I will tell him what it looks like.  I know he means well and I am really not sure if he would turn away if he knew I was writing a post on my dress.  He just may peek.

So to prevent that from happening I am going to postpone from telling y'all about it.  There are a handful of people that have seen my dress.  Those being my mom, bridesmaids and a few of my very close aunts.  I really really just don't want there to be any temptation for him to even have the inclination to look at it.

I keep a picture of it in my phone so that on those rough days at the gym I can browse at it on that skinny model to remind myself why I am working so hard to look as good (if not better) in that dress.    One day he was going through my pictures and when I realized what he was doing I snatched it out of his hand and went to go delete it.  I just hope he hadn't come across it before and he says he hadn't so I believe him.  I just don't want him to see it.

I want him to see it on me for the first time.  I want to take his breath away and for me to feel like the most beautiful girl on the earth surprising her love for the first time in a beautiful dress.

So with that being said I will refrain from showing you until we get back from our honeymoon.  So y'all have to wait just like the mister has to. 

Are there any other brides out there blogging that refuse to show their dress due to a peeping fiance?  What did you do to keep it a secret until the day of?

I will let you in on my journey of finding that perfect dress in my next post.  Stay tuned ladies!

Choosing the Perfect Venue: Lindsay Lakes

After visiting Amber Springs I really had felt like I had found the place for me and Aaron to marry but I knew that I should price other places and just see for myself just so that I was 100% sure in our decision. 

One Saturday morning me and MOH Sister had made arrangements to go and tour Lindsay Lakes.  The location was ideal.  It was in Cypress which is approximately 40 minutes from where most of our family lives in Spring give or take.  So we decided to check it out.

Upon arriving the place seemed fine enough.  There were a few buildings and we made our way to the main office where we were met by one of the coordinators.  I wish I remembered her name but what I do remember was not good. This lady talked.  And by talked I mean, talked and talked and talked and talked.  She didn't really give us time to interrupt with questions and she was very very pushy.  But putting that aside we ventured off with her to take a looksey at everything.

Traveling by golf cart we first rode out to the gazebo with the lake.  While this was very nice to be over looking a beautiful lake much like that of the venue in Austin I was so in love with there was one thing in the background I did not like...

See that thing on the Right?  The windmill.  Well while many Texas brides may like this little display of charm I did not.  I am not really into the "ranchy" feel.  I Just thought that it was one element of our wedding I could really go without.  As for the ceremony site though, this picture here below is pretty breathtaking and feels completely dreamy. 

Then after moving closer to the lake and taking in the scene I noticed this spring of water just sprouting up from the middle of that lake.  Call me crazy but I was not a fan of this.  It just didn't look natural.  I am all for water fountains and such but if its a fountain let it be a statement not just some sprinkler hose shooting water in the air. I had asked the coordinator about shutting it off and she said we could but there would be this ugly looking pump sticking up out of the water.  Nah, I'll pass.

Finally we made our way over the reception hall.  When we walked in she had all the lights already set as if  a wedding were about to happen and everything was set up for that evenings event. The tables were all decorated and set up ready to go.  It was beautiful. 

** All photos Via Lindsay Lakes**

I loved the open space and I loved the stone accents with the fireplaces flanking both sides of the room.  There was even built in up lighting that is normally an outrageous extra charge.  I really started to fall in love.  Could this be the place where We would share our first dance and our first meal as a married couple? 

After all was said and done we went back to talk to Ms. Talkative Coordinator and she broke down all of the pricing for us.  I loved that they had a full package including cake, photography, DJ, food, etc and they were running a one time special for the next few days that if  I booked soon I would get this incredible discount.  I took the packet and me and my sister left.  While it was still reasonable in our budget I just really wasn't feeling it.  Back to the drawing board.