A Married Woman

Well it is official (and I am late).  We were married on the COLDEST day October 4th has ever seen, a day with snow and hail, gray skies, and of course, a very happy new couple.  We were supposed to be married outside, but were instead married in a very romantic indoor ceremony that could not have been more perfect.  We felt surrounded by love and could not have dreamed of a better "party" to celebrate our love for one another. 

Here are some of my FAVORITE moments from the "Best Day Ever"

1. jumping on the bed with your favorite ladies is a MUST on your wedding day! I feel so blessed that the "getting ready" part of the day was honestly stress free! I was nervous and couldn't eat much, but we certainly weren't running around doing anything and I wasn't worried about things not getting done.  It helped to have the best wedding planner (Cynthia @ Bosc and Brie!) and great friends who oversaw some things for us at the venue.


2. riding the trolley to the venue was seriously a blast! I was getting nervous (not about marrying my man, but silly me was so stressed about wanting my guests to LOVE my wedding and I was stressing about it being perfect for OTHERS) and this great trolley (Columbus Trolley) had some mood lighting and jammed out some jams for us! It was the best, basically. (mood lighting not pictured...)

 

 

 3. Walking down the aisle with my dad was basically the best thing that could have happened, and at precisely the right time.  I was, again, nervous about all the people who would be looking at me and judging me (I'm not skinny enough, my dress isn't pretty enough, etc etc stupid girl worries) and my dad gave the best advice "when we turn the corner, you don't look at anyone in that room.  You find christopher, lock your eyes on him, and never move them".  Wow! I listened like the straight A student that I am, and it was the best decision I made! 

4. Seeing my groom was such a thrill.  I had missed him all day and was so excited to be standing by him.  Our ceremony was seriously the most romantic thing ever.  We wrote our own vows (please please do this) and it was an incredible thing to hear the man I love tell me how he loves me.  The other best part of the ceremony was my dear friend Katie singing such an important song to me.  It is the song I sang to my mother while she was on Hospice in our family home, over and over and over again.  And a song that continues to help me see that God is Love, and from Him comes all Love.  I loved singing it to my groom, and honestly during these few minutes I forgot the hundreds of people watching us.  

5. The dances were SO fun! I loved rocking out with my dad, and snuggling close to my man friend.  I loved gettin' down with my girls, and twirling my favorite little boys.  The dance floor was certainly where to be.

 

Basically it was just fantastic.  Hope everyone loved our wedding as much as we did!!

Happy New Year--2013!

Never have I been so grateful to leave a year behind me!  I have had a countdown to 2013 since September, and I am so glad to be saying goodbye to 2012 tonight, though I am not saying good-riddens exactly how I had planned.  I have been fighting a silly cold since right after christmas and am not able to visit my mom in the hospital.  My mom and dad will be ringing in the new year together in the hospital, and Zach and I will be ringing it in here at home, that is, if I can stay awake!

2012 has been rough for many reasons; countless health battles for my mother, countless emotional struggles that my family has had to overcome including the death of my my papaw, and simply watching my mom fight so hard every single day.  On top of that I have had long work/school days, my dad has as well making schedules complicated, my sister is likely VERY sick of her car and the drive from MI to IN, and Zach is likely sick of people asking him how he is doing and asking him about his grades.  My boyfriend moved across the country to SC and I miss him all of the time. BUT there have been GREAT things too...

Great 4th of July memories at the boat, great Seabrook memories, an incredible man I have truly fallen in love with, a family that I will forever be grateful for, a brother who is now driving an AWESOME jeep, a mother who has shown me what strength really is, a papaw who left this earth not before showing me what generosity is, a life of endless learning. 

I am really hoping for a 2013 that is full of health, prosperity, generosity in this nation, beauty, happy changes, and man and I living in the same zipcode!!!

My 2012 final thoughts is something that has struck me lately, which is how often people tell my momma to keep fighting, or to stay strong, and while I understand that these words are meant in good faith, they are actually quite inconsiderate.  Well I think they are, I haven't had the courage to ask her what she thinks because I would likely cry.  I think they are inconsiderate simply because it takes her strength to wake up, to move her legs from side to side, to move in her bed, when she has to ASK to get up, to take her 20+ pills twice a day, etc etc etc.  The strength she has is more than any of us have, and she already has that strength...AND that strength has nothing to do with the outcome of her illness.  She is fighting, as are the doctors, as is her family, but the outcome of her illness, her prognosis, if you will, should never be a reflection on her; and words like "keep fighting" or "stay strong" implies that she has the option to not do that for one, and two that the result of not doing that would be failure.  I'm sure people may disagree, but I feel that applauding her strength and incredible tenacity would be much more appropriate, I just don't think we as a culture know these things unless you have experienced it personally.

Christmas List

Madre and sister yelled at me for days about making a list.  So I finally made my Christmas List.

It's hard to name things as I have gotten older because if I need something I simply go buy it.  Since I make my own money, I am in control of where that money goes and how it gets spent.  This is freeing for many reasons, dangerous for others, of course.

Living at home has equated to having very little expenses and lots of money to go shopping with.  Luckily I don't have much free time.  I am excited to go shopping this holiday season for my family.  I love to give.  I love to shop.

#81: I love Christmas.  I love the decorations, the music, the gifts, the food....
#82: Looking forward to Britt's Christmas Party.  Adult Christmas Attire!
#83: Looking at old Christmas lists.  I found one I wrote to Santa in first grade.  I asked for a basketball and erasers for my best friend Taylor.  Social Worker for life.

Room Chaos

NOT THAT BAD!!!

My sister was home this weekend, and one of the first things she said upon entering my room was that it was utter chaos! And even though I feel like it is fine and relatively neat, she was completely correct.

I have stacks upon stacks of books, dirty clothes, clean clothes, plants that need watered, shoes that don't fit in my closet, and little things laying all over the place.  It is SO hard to manage my room at the moment because it seems like I have no down time.  Time spent cleaning my room is time that could have been spent on homework, exercising, or blogging.  DUH.  Just kidding.  Not really.

Since it is fall break, I decided to give my room some TLC.  I spent an hour tonight picking up trash, going through stacks of paper and deciding what to toss and what to file (ie what folder for school it goes into.  I don't file.  My father wishes I did.  I don't save receipts, dad.  I NEVER WILL...I just got blacklisted, fyi).  I also switched my clothes around....

maybe one day?

For those of you that don't know, I was blessed with an amazing closet last year.  It had TONS of folding space, shoe space, dirty clothes space and storage space.  I don't hang much, but it had some room for hanging, too.

Since I moved home, closet space has been an issue.  I bought two under-the-bed storage containers, that held all of my bulky sweaters up until today.  I went through and took out all of my summer-only clothes and put in all of my bulky, wonderfully warm sweaters.  It was both sad and Christmas-like!!  I had forgotten about how many wonderful sweaters I own and now I am so excited to wear them all! But not starting tomorrow, because tomorrow I'm wearing a shirt my sister got me for my birthday.  It is super cute.  Yes I lay out my clothes the day before.  If I don't, I'd show up to work in pj's, friends.  No joke.  It has happened.

#18: Thankful for CLOTHES.  I take them for granted, complain about having too many, and not enough at the same time.  They keep me confident, warm, and safe.  THANK YOU.

Birthday Fizzle

I have a sister.  Her name is Brittany and it is her birthday.  June 22...the second official day of summer!  This past weekend we celebrated her birthday while on the houseboatizzle. (in the izzle mood).  Though we celebrated with gifts we were forbidden to celebrate with decorations, a party, or cake/ice cream.  Why you may ask?  My hermana is hung up on birthdays.  Not *just* about the age...peeps she's only 25...but mostly about the expectations she has yet to live up to; the milestones she thought she would have reached by now but hasn't.

I don't get it.  I don't really have expectations for myself..and even when I do I don't really think about it.  Yeah I wanna save money, I wanna get good grades, find a great job, find a great husband, etc etc.  But there isn't a due date on these things and if I fail...well the sun still comes up tomorrow.

Is this a birth order thing? Or maybe just a personality thing.  All I know is I wish only HAPPINESS for my beautiful sister.  I love her lots...and look up to her in so many ways!

Happy Birthday Brittany! 

Shopping Hell

They say Black Friday is the #1 day for shopping...I want proof! Today, my sister Brittany and I went shopping at my all time favorite mall, Twelve Oaks. I've been to malls in several countries..but Twelve Oaks has every store I would ever want to shop at...which is awesome!

The problem? Everyone and their mom was there today. From itty bitty babies in massive strollers to the elderly walking oh so slow...everyone was out shopping. I have to say though, the sales were incredible! And I was able to find presents for my dad, mom, and brother!! I only need a couple more things for my sister and I'll be ready for the holidays :)

Lucky for me, the trip was full of hysterical happenings. My sister is hilarious; we laughed, complained, whined and counted down until we were finally home. It was great, especially considering she is now 4 hours away. It was fun, and though it was a crazy marathon of shopping, full of dodging people and allergic reactions, I wouldn't trade it for any other kind of shopping!