Wedding Day Memories

1 year 7 months and 6 days ago I was getting married to the love of my life! Patrick is an amazing husband and I do not know what I would do without him. I knew that when I met him (almost 7 years ago) that he was something special and would be in my life forever. It's crazy to think that on Christmas night this year I will have known my husband for 7 years and on January 2nd we will have been together as a couple for 7 years!!! Time has flown and I have loved every minute of it. I thought that I would share some of our wedding day with you. My fantastic videographer (TomorrowVision Media), Doug Richards, provided me with some of our incredible wedding video to share on facebook and my charming blog. :) I hope you enjoy watching these just a hint as much as I did. Love!!



Wedding Video Part 1



Wedding Video Part 2



Wedding Video Part 3

Halloween

Just a week and a half late...no biggie, right? :) Halloween was a lot of fun!! We let our inner nerds out for the evening and we had lots of fun with it!! My dear husband LOVES (if this was not capitilized I would be underestimating his passion) Harry Potter. He's watched every movie dozens (ahem-hundreds) of times and always wants to see the midnight showing of the latest movie. In fact, he's probably planning our trip to Universal Studios for their new "Wizarding World of Harry Potter" attraction right now! Needless to say when we were out shopping for Halloween costumes and came across the Harry Potter costume our decision had been made. There was no turning back. We had to find me Harry Potter-esqe costume. We came across the Wizard Wanda (no, not a character, but it passed as one) costume. It was a bit risky but I made it appropiate so all my neighbors didn't see all my business. Eek! Fortunately, our awesome neighbors had their annual Halloween party so we had somewhere to show off our inner nerd. It would have been a shame to sit in our house and give out candy (which we did do after we left their party). I'll leave you with some pictures at the end.

Well, now that Halloween is over I am SO READY for Christmas! Don't get me wrong, I love Thanksgiving and everything that comes along with it...time with the family and good food...I just ADORE Christmas time. Not to mention, Thanksgiving is going to try and kill my diet and exercise I've been doing (I must brag...I've lost 7 pounds and 12 total inches). I am one of the few who loves the Christmas decorations in Macy's in September. I could be in the worst possible mood, walk in there, see the Christmas decorations (and shoes) and my mood is instantly lifted!! I wanted to put up my Christmas tree so bad after Halloween but I refrained from doing so. I still have not allowed myself to give in since we are trying to make and keep the tradition of putting up the tree on Thanksgiving night. You just may have to remind me to step away from the string of lights!! In the meantime I'll just keep listing to my Christmas station on Pandora radio. :)

And on that note here are the Halloween pictures...

Wedding Planning in Mobile

Hi friends! This past weekend was a great, fun-filled, non-stop weekend! I flew down to Mobile/Spanish Fort to help Shana with her wedding. It was so good to see her! Shana and I hadn't seen each other in about a year and when we did see each other it was only for about an hour and a half. Since we lived together our senior year in college a year is a REALLY long time!! Anyhow, I'm the Matron of Honor in her wedding and her cousin Allison is her Maid of Honor. Allison came in town also. It was so good to meet her. I felt like I knew her yet I had never met her. I flew down on Friday morning and flew back early Sunday morning. We had a great time running around looking at venues and trying on wedding dresses. I can't forget all of the delicious food we ate. Mmm, I'm hungry just thinking about it. I definitely broke my diet this weekend and had more than my allotted number of cheat meals. Eh, oh well...vacation, right? :) I hit the gym tonight to get back on track!! I'm happy to say that I've lost 6 pounds now and 6.75 inches. It's coming off slow but my clothes fit better and I feel better about myself. I'll take everything I can get. Anyway, I'm not feeling to creative tonight with my writing so I'm going to leave you with a few pictures. Much love!!

Progress

Hi all!!! I am happy to report that from last Tuesday night to tonight I have lost 2.4 pounds for a total of 3.4 pounds. Yay!! It isn't a huge amount but I feel pretty proud of that amount in barely less than a week!!! I almost did a happy dance in the locker room of the gym. I was afraid I would get some serious stares though so I restrained myself! :) My training classes are going awesome! I am always sore the next day and it's a great feeling to know that I'm really working. Even though the pounds aren't coming off as fast as I'd like I can definitely tell a difference in my body. My tummy is slimming back down, my arms & legs are toning up and my face has even gotten a bit thinner. I guess I should attribute the low number of pounds lost to how fast I build muscle. It's a blessing and a curse!! Anyhow, if anyone has any tips to keep me motivated I'll take them!

This past weekend was a fun weekend even though my hubby was out of town for half of it. Patrick went to Destin to go deep sea fishing! It was a successful trip!! His cousin Jack won a fishing rod & reel, his cousin Drew won 1st place for the teen division with a 33.5 lb amberjack, his Uncle Randy caught a 6 foot shark (eek!) and the rest of them just got some yummy grouper and amberjack. I'm looking forward to firing up the grill and heating up the oven! While he was gone I hung out with my wonderful neighbors (in case I haven't mentioned it, they are the BEST) on Friday night. Saturday, Sara and I went wedding dress shopping. The day started out bad from RUDE people in one of the shops but it progressively got better since we found her wedding dress!! It's absolutely beautiful!!! Afterwards, my mom and I got a pedicure. It was so relaxing and much needed. Finally, Patrick got home and then I went to dinner with Alli. It was a great Saturday! On Sunday, Patrick and I spent the day together. We met up with his mom and niece Kierstin to go bowling and go to the Halloween store. Kierstin beat them! :) I wasn't able to bowl since I had a migraine and I didn't want to risk messing up my shoulder. We made our second to last stop at Red Robin so Patrick could get his free burger and ice cream sundae for his birthday! I was a good girl and got a lettuce wrap burger and salad...although I did steal a few fries and 2 bites of ice cream. A girl only has so much will power! Last stop to my parent's house to move some furniture.

Anyhow, here are a few pictures from this weekend...yes, I have a camera now...my awesome husband surprised me with it the other day...isn't he wonderful?!

Our niece Kierstin! Isn't she precious?!
I was a great spectator and cheerleader
Kierstin in her Sharpay costume. What a little diva! :)

SOOOO BUSY

Wow! Long time no see!!! Things have been completely hectic in my life recently. It hasn't been in a bad way, just a crazy busy way.

I have been working my normal Marriott job M-F...working with my mom and her company at many Provider Fairs...getting ready for Patrick's birthday (which was a success...more to come on that)...trying to squeeze in some quality time with my hubby and maybe be able to see my friends...AND trying to lose weight! While all of this has been going on 3 of my friends have gotten engaged. Congrats to Sara, Shana and Leslie!! I feel very honored to be in each other their weddings. Leslie is getting married April 17th and I'm a bridesmaid Sara is getting married July 31st and I am the Matron (sounds so old) of Honor. Shana hasn't picked a definite date yet but is likely to be getting married on October 2nd or November 6th and I am the Matron of Honor. I don't know how I got so lucky to have such great friends but I feel very blessed!!

We celebrated Patrick's birthday this past weekend and I think it was a definite success! We had over a bunch of family members (14 people to be exact)! I made chicken cacciatorie (Patrick's favorite) and everyone else brought something. He even had 2 birthday cakes!! It was definitely a full house but it was completely worth it. Unfortunately, I STILL haven't gotten a new camera so I took these 2 pictures with my phone. They aren't the best quality, but at least it's something. The two other people in the pictures are Patrick's niece, Kierstin and his mom's husband, Steve.

So another thing that's been going on is I'm desperately trying to lose weight!! I've changed my eating habits and have been going to the gym for the past month or so and have only lost 4 pounds!! Ugh! I started this new class at the gym called Body Transformation. It's basically a group personal training class with about 7 or 8 people. I have only had 2 classes so far but I really think it's going to help a lot. I know he's definitely giving us a workout because I was VERY sore after both classes. I need all the motivation I can get so if you have any encouraging words or things that have worked for you PLEASE share them!

Here are a few pictures from Labor Day when our dear friends Baylor & Adam came to visit! We took these pictures at my parents house when we went over there to grill out for Labor Day!

I think that's all for now! I WILL write another blog tomorrow or Thursday. That's a promise!! :)

I'm slacking!

Okay, so I have been REALLY slacking on the blog front. I just feel like I haven't had much to say recently. Work has been pretty normal...home life is great...we've actually had a few calm weekends recently. I guess the only unusual thing is my shoulderS. Yes, I just made it plural. My left shoulder (the bad one) is feeling great after all of my physical therapy that I've been doing which is great new. However, my right shoulder (the good now bad shoulder) has been really bothering me for about 2 weeks now! Go figure! It's definitely tendinitis in my rotator cuff again. I haven't been to my orthopedic but I know the pain and it's definitely tendinitis. Blah!! So I've been nursing that shoulder back to health. We also got punched in the stomach when we received our bill for my MRI. Evidently, I haven't met my deductible yet and I have to pay that. How annoying?! Oh well!!

My camera broke not too long ago and we are without one until we can afford the one we want (SLR) or buy a temporary one until we decide to fork out the money on the SLR. Any suggestions on a good camera??

Ah, I guess this could be exciting to some if you are a shoe fanatic like me...I bought my 100th pair of shoes on Friday...and then proceeded to buy 101 & 102 on Sunday. Haha Thanks to my handy camera on my phone here's a pic! Maybe one day I'll take a picture to share of my shoe room. We have a spare bedroom that has become my shoe/ironing room! :)

Also, I thought I'd share a few pictures of some flowers on next to my back patio. I"m so pleased with how they are growing. They are impatiens, double impatiens and new Guinea impatiens.

Sorry for a boring post but I figured something was better than nothing!

Have a FABULOUS Friday Eve!!

Delays

So it's been a while and I thought I would update you on my "adventurous" business trip to Detroit, MI. Everything was pretty routine (except for waking up at 5:15 am to catch my flight on Thursday) with meetings and such. The adventure started on Friday afternoon when we got out of our meeting early. Since we got out early we (Me, Mauri & Mike) thought we would try to catch the earlier flight at 5:25. Naturally, when we got there it was sold out. We also found out that our planned flight at 7:10 had already been delayed until 7:25. Not too bad, but annoying, right? Since we had some time to kill we ate some dinner at Max & Erma's. I had a fabulous Philly cheese steak. After we got done eating we got comfortable by sprawling out in our chairs and stretching our legs to sit on our suitcases. As we continued to wait for our plane to arrive we realized that we weren't going to be leaving at 7:25. Our flight continued to be delayed until 8:10 and then 8:25. Our flight finally arrived but there was some sort of medical emergency with a passenger on the previous flight. Fortunately, she must have been okay because they brought her off the plane back into the airport instead of taking her off by ambulance. So, about 8:30 we finally board the plane and get ourselves ready for departure. More waiting... About 9:00 pm they told us to prepare for departure from the gate, turn off all electronics, etc. However, we didn't leave. We sat at the gate for another HOUR until we FINALLY took off for Atlanta at 10:00 pm. That's a 3 hour delay!! Unfortunately, our adventure is not over there. Once we landed in Atlanta we couldn't go straight to the gate. We had to wait on the runway to clear so we could pass. Once we de-boarded the plane it was midnight. The airport was so busy that you would have thought there was a snowstorm and it was Christmas Day! I've never seen so many people. Hard to believe all the delays we caused because of Thunderstorms in Atlanta. Go figure! Eventually, we made it from Concourse B to Baggage Claim (yes, we walked). As we went out to find the shuttle to take us to Park & Ride I realized that we weren't given a slip of paper with the lot we were parked in. Of course! Thankfully, Mauri has a great memory and remembered that we were in Row 27B (not 28B like I thought). We finally made it to our car and we were on our way home. Phew! It's not over there. As we were about 10 minutes from Mauri's house I got pulled over by the police. No, I was not speeding. No, I had not been drinking. Yes, my license plate light had burned out and the officer felt the need to inform me at 1:30 in the morning!! Have you heard such a thing?! I finally fell into my bed at 2:24 am. WHAT A DAY!!! I really hope I don't have another like that any time soon!! My mom told me it was a good thing I had my dad's temperament and not hers because I would have gone batty otherwise. Haha



Now that that's over here's a picture of our team from our meeting. What a great group of people!!

Shoulder update

Well, I had my MRI last Wednesday. It was an interesting experience. It wouldn't have been so bad if I didn't have to SIT on my hand for 45 minutes straight. I wasn't able to move at all so it was tough! My hand started to fall asleep and shoot a pain up my arm. It was super pleasant (note the sarcasm). Anyhow, I got the results back on Friday and I have tendonitis of my rotator cuff. *sigh of relief* Unfortunately, I do have to do physical therapy 3 times a week for the next few weeks. I'm hoping it actually works for me because I have heard several people say the therapy only made it worse. Ugh, how terrible would that be?! My first appointment for PT is tomorrow morning at 8:15. Wish me luck!!

Shoulder...

Well, I went to the doctor yesterday about my shoulder. It turns out I'm going to be getting an MRI done on Thursday morning. I'm glad he didn't think we should go ahead and do another cortizone shot in hopes of it temporarily relieving some pain. He wants to get to the root of it and figure out what is or is not going on. I'll keep you posted on the results of the MRI. Wish me luck!!

Who knew??

Well, I found out this weekend that I'm allergic to bee stings! It's crazy to me that I've gone 24 years of my life not knowing this! This past weekend I went on a girl's weekend to Lake Hartwell!! We had a great time eating junk foods (absolutely nothing healthy), talking as girls love to do and lounging around. We did not enjoy dodging the hundreds of bees that led all the way down to the dock. Baylor & I were the unfortunate "stingees". Baylor knew she was allergic and we were crossing her fingers that she wouldn't pass out when she got stung (she didn't...thank goodness). She now has a "cankle", as we affectionately call her. I have really big girl thigh...Not fun! Oh well, we had a great time goofing off and just being girls. Here are a few pictures!Baylor thought that she could put on sunscreen while still in the water! She resulted in a white-sunscreeny mess! It was pretty funny! Ashley ready to blow up her raft

Baylor & I
The DREADED walk of bees!

Ashlyn refused to get in a picture so we pretended she was standing there!
Ashley & Baylor

Yesterday when I got home I was so happy to see Patrick! He was such a great husband and he completed one of our projects while I was gone! :) He installed our new lights for either side of our front door! NO MORE UGLY BRASS!! Once that was complete we decided that we need a new handle & lock to once again remove the brass! While we were at Lowe's we also decided we wanted to sidewalk lights! I think we got a bit overexcited about all of our new projects. We did get everything done last night and it looks awesome! At least I think so...I'm bias since it's my house. What do you think?

New lights & door handle

Nighttime with the new sidewalk lights, up-lights & door lights

Well, I'm off to the orthopedic surgeon this afternoon to see if we can figure out what's wrong with my shoulder (and knee) this time! Wish me luck!!

What a weekend!!

Goodness, this past weekend was a busy one as usual! I promise one weekend I'm going to do nothing!! Even though it was busy it was very fun!

Friday, I took a half day off work and got ready for Heather's Baby Shower. Saturday morning I had a tennis match! We won in 3 sets, 6-1, 5-7, 6-0. To say the least we should have won in two sets but my knee was bothering me pretty good and affected my play. Naturally, I went 3 sets on the day I needed to be done as fast as possible. Afterwards, I hosted Heather's baby shower at my house and I must admit I think it was a success! We had an awesome spread of food which included chicken enchilada dip, 7-Layer dip and cheese dips. How can it not be an awesome party with those things to eat?! :)

Heather got lots of cute things for Baby Sean. Here are a few pictures from the shower!

Heather's dad made this cradle! How beautiful!!Diaper Cake that I made Mmm...cookie cake!!

Heather's mom made this beautiful quilt!

Diaper wreath I made

Fortunately, after our crazy Saturday, Sunday was a little bit more chill. We slept in (which meant we missed church), ran a few errands, did a little shopping and hung out at home. We got to spend a little time with the animals too! :) This coming weekend will definitely be fun though because I'm having a girls weekend with a few of my best girlfriends at the lake. I can't wait! Until next time...

1st Blog

Well, this is my first blog and I'm not really sure what to write. I've been toying with the idea for a while now about writing one. Naturally, my concerns are what to write, who would read it, would anyone really WANT to read it and do I have time. Regardless of all of my insecurities (you could say) I decided to give it a whirl! So I guess I can tell you about our past weekend for the 4th of July!

This past weekend, as usual, was a busy one! It seems that for the past month of so things have just been crazy!! Not in a bad way, just in a way that things never stop, constantly on the run and trying not to be late to everything! Friday we had the day off! I went house shopping with my friend Leslie (which I'm pretty sure we found the house for her), went shopping with my mom & grandma for the upcoming Baby Shower that I'm throwing for Patrick's Aunt Heather (I'll post pictures after the shower on Saturday) and spent some quality time with my hubby!

Saturday, I had a tennis match BRIGHT & EARLY at 8 am. Unfortunately, my partner & I lost but our competition was just too good! Afterwards, Patrick & I went to a 4th of July Pool Party at my parent's friends house. You would think we would have thought to bring our bathing suits on such a hot day, especially when it's a pool party, but of course we did not. I think we forget to think sometimes! We ended the day by pulling out the sparklers from our wedding and playing with them in our cul-de-sac. Here are a few pictures!

Lastly, on Sunday we went to church, looked at houses (just for fun), I got a manicure with my mom and went to my parents house for a cookout.

Overall, I'd say we had a great weekend! Well, that's all I have for now. Maybe next time I'll have something a bit more interesting to write about! :)