Goofy pictures

The M&M's have arrived!
Eat your heart out Carolina fans!! Orange, Purple and White. Go Tigers!

The is Chris' attempt at trying to determine the height and width of our ice sculpture. From the top of the brown box to the floor. This was about all we could come up with to help us get a visual picture of the size. We still haven't decided for sure if we are going this route. Check out our final decision at the wedding. It will be a surprise!

I just had to include this

Chris and Dad packing up the car.

The final outcome. Somehow they managed to get everything in the car AND my dress. I had to bring it back to Greenville since my final fitting was yesterday. Now, I couldn't see out the back but Chris helped me change lanes.

Updates 4 of 4

Alright, this last post should get you as up-to-date as we are. Yesterday was so productive. We got confirmation from our officiant, scheduled the sound man and organist, picked the music and solos, reserved the videographer, applied for our marriage license, and picked up our wedding bands. Whew...what a day! I really am beginning to think that this event will actually happen. There was a kink thrown in our plans on Monday though, don't let me fool you that everything has gone smoothly. The reception site has changed their policy of sparklers to "not allowed." As most of you know, Chris and I had planned to use sparklers and had ordered them online just last week. One night I was stressed out that we had so much left to do so Chris sat me down and we just went through step-by-step and took care of some items on that list and one of them was ordering the sparklers. When we arrived home from our Christmas vacation, the sparklers had arrived. Yesterday Chris took them to the post office and mailed them back. Now we are thinking about using biodegradable snow that dissolves when water hits it. I'm so sad about the sparklers because I thought that would be fun and look great in the pictures. Oh well, fake snow it is. For those of you that have been long time blog followers, you may remember me ordering the matches for the sparklers. Now, just feel free to take a book of matches home to light some candles up there on the mantle...
If anyone is interested in ordering sparklers for their next big event, check them out here.

Updates 3 of 4

The BIGGEST news of the season...Lawrence and Ann got engaged! We are so excited. Everyone in the family just adores her and she does a great job of taking care of Lawrence. Right now they are debating dates for the wedding since they would like to have the wedding at the chapel on the campus of The Citadel. Can you believe it?? My little brother getting married...and I couldn't be happier.
Let me guess what you all want to know...How did he pop the question?
Well, I'll try to give the shortened version. He came home from work after having gone to the $1 store to get an ornament that he could open and put the ring in. When he got home he gave Ann the ornament to hang on the tree and said it was from "the roofers." By the way, Lawrence is a project manager for a roofing company. After they got ready to head out for 2 parties that night, Lawrence asked Ann to take the ornament off the tree and throw away the snow that was inside the ornament. She did as asked, although not understanding why this was all of a sudden very important to Lawrence. Why couldn't that be done after the party? Once the snow was out she saw a note and pulled it out. "Will you marry me?" was on the note and Lawrence was on his knee. She said yes and the celebrating began. Below are some pictures I have of them over the past year.

1 hour and 10 minutes later, I have only made 2 updates. But, it's bedtime folks. Happy New Year's Eve! Enjoy yourself and remember that when you are counting down to 12am tomorrow night, that we are too...except more in celebration of the fact that we have FINALLY arrived at January!!

Updates 2 of 4

Have yourself a merry little Christmas! Now that it is over, I hope you all enjoyed your time with friends and family. Chris and I had a whirlwind tour of the state. The festivities started on Monday night. One of many traditions is having a party with the original Citadel group. My brother had 2 roommates (Colby and Oliver) and their families get together for a celebration with the families. The Howells hosted this years and Melanie fixed us the most amaxing stuffed turkey. Yum! Chris and I left Grenville Tuesday afternoon after the high school girls 14th annual brunch (see earlier post) and a meeting at the reception hall that afternoon in Columbia. Christmas Eve was spent picking up a few last minute gifts and then to church for the 6pm service. After church, we have a fun tradition of celebrating Christmas Eve with neighbors at the Hogan's home. And as always, this year was so fun. I took some great pictures last year, but I'm sorry I don't have any to post from this year. Unlike last year, Chris spent Christmas eve at my parent's house and woke up to the HOHOHO from Santa Thursday morning. He eventually took over the role of Santa and started passing out gifts. We both got some great things from my parents. My mom had our wedding invitation framed and it is gorgeous! We also got some Clemson goodies, china, super-small video camera and case, shoes, and a more than we can mention. My dad also gave Chris a pair of Clemson cuff links that had belonged to my grandfather when he was on the Board of Visitor's at Clemson. Chris said that was the best gift of all. Oh yeah, I gave him an ipod to use when he is running in the mountains. I can't imagine not having my ipod. For lunch we headed over the the Love's next door, another Christmas tradition. Their daughter, Laurie Ann is a Junior Bridesmaid in the wedding and this family has just been so special to us through the years. I'm sure my brother would say that Mr. Love probably had the biggest influence in Lawrence attending the Citadel, and now that might be the campus is which my brother says "I do." Yep, you read that right, Lawrence got engaged!! More about that later. That deserves it's own post, don't you agree?
Christmas afternoon we headed to Estill, SC to be with Chris' family. We had a much slower pace for those next three days, but spend most of our time on the road checking things off the to-do list with his family. Mrs. Georgia (Chris' mom) and I went to Charleston to pick out her mother-of-the-Groom dress. On Saturday we all loaded up and headed to Savannah so that Chris' brother could get measured for his tux and then ended up doing a little shopping. On Sunday in Walterboro I was able to meet some of his extended family, finally! They are really a sweet bunch of folks. After that we went back to Columbia for the night and then another appointment on Monday morning at 9am with the reception hall. OK, enough about out Christmas. I'm getting worn out just thinking about what all we did. It definitely wasn't a relaxing week, but a fun and festive one. We couldn't ask for anything more...to be surround with family and friends, hugs and kisses, traditions and laughter!

The 3 Citadel roommates and their fiance and/or girlfriend.

Lawrence and his girlfriend, Ann. Little did she know he was

popping the question in less than 24 hours.

The other girls of the 3 boys: Moms and Sisters

No, we didn't get another puppy. This is Melanie's lemondrop beagle.

Updates 1 of 4

OK, So Shoot me! I know I haven't posted alot of really good stuff. I probably won't be able to post it all tonight anyway, but I'll try. Right now it is 11pm so forgive me if some of my words don't make sense. I might start dozing off, but we all know that can happen at anytime during the day. :)

2 of my Enterprise best friends hosted a "Gotta Have It" wedding shower on December 13th in Columbia. We had such fun. The girls that came were ones that I have worked with at ERAC for years and are a fun bunch. We had bloody mary's and mimosas with our delicious brunch food. Thanks to Christine and Jessica for a fun time and the gals that came to celebrate!

I know this picture is interesting and for those of you that aren't familiar with the tradition, let me explain. Many brides-to-be will collect the bows for the gifts at the shower and mount them on a plate to use as her bridal bouquet at the rehearsal. Well, until this shower, I didn't know that there was another tradition, I think more popular in Yankeetown, in which the bride uses the plate of bows as a hat. As you can see, I modeled the hat option for my dear friend Christine from Long Island, NY! Love ya!

I am so thankful for friends

On Tuesday, my high school best friends got together for our 14th annual Christmas party. How fun is that? This is such a great group of girls and I'm so glad that we have been able to stay so close over the years. I'm attaching a photo from the brunch, but I have much more to share in another entry. Right now, I need to run and change clothes for Christmas Eve Service. We are leaving in 15 minutes....

Reminder

Please remember that the discounted rate at some of local hotels will be expiring soon. If you decide that you want to stay in Columbia overnight, please remember to make your reservation. Our website has the contact information for some hotels around the area as well as the reference code for the wedding weekend discount.

On my wish list

Have you ever tried this lotion or hand soap? I love it. It has such a nice scent for the winter, nothing real sweet. For those that know me well, you know I hate anything vanilla. It's hard to find a good lotion this time of year that doesn't smell like sugar cookies. I highly recommend this for yourself or as a gift for a friend, neighbor, maid, sister, aunt, etc. Don't be surprised if some of you get this gift under the tree.

Be on the lookout!

The invitations were mailed yesterday. Can I get a "HipHipHooray?" As you open your invitation, remember that they were stuffed, stamped, and delivered with love. My mom and I picked them out, with Chris's approval of course. My brother, Lawrence and his girlfriend helped me stuff them. My grandmother handled all the response cards and envelopes. Mom sealed them and dad put stamps on them and hand stamped them at the post office. So, when you open it, know that this was truly a family bonding experience.

The first contact I had that the invitations had made them into family and friends mailboxes was from Marianne Bruner Baur. Thanks Mari!

Okay, I have a couple of things I need some help on. If you can contribute a tip, suggestion, or thought about the things listed below, please send us a message.
1. Hair: Do you know of someone in Columbia that can do a hairstyle the day of the wedding.
2. Birdcage: Does anyone already have one that we could borrow for the gift table. Kind of a costly item to only use 1 night.
3. Transportation: Any ideas on how to get from the church to the reception in something other than a limo.

Also, be sure to share with us any special requests you may have for songs to be played at the reception. We want everyone on the dance floor!

I will update pictures as soon as possible. I'm headed off to bed shortly. I am dog sitting Jennifer & Stewarts dog, Baxter. He is sacked out on the floor now.

Rumor has it that I have posted pictures of mexicans on my blog instead of pictures from the tailgate shower. I am in the process of correcting the slideshow, while also cooking some fudge. Yum! Who wants to come over and help wrap? I'll feed you fudge and hot chocolate!

A Christmas Decoration Shower

Last Saturday, 2 of my mom's sweet friends hosted a Christmas Decoration shower in our neighborhood. Mom and I both had so much fun. This was like a mini-teacher reunion for her. There was lots of reminiscing of teaching stories and such. I am so excited about the adorable Christmas goodies that we will be able to display next year. Chris was excited about the x-large ball of mistletoe that we received as a gift. A big thanks to Mr. Ashleigh Brown from Chris (and me)!

Yes, we really do...

...have a Clemson Christmas tree. Since I was accepted to Clemson for college, my parents have given me a Clemson ornament for Christmas. Since I have a good number of them, my mom encouraged us to have a Clemson tree last year. We loved it and had to do it again. After Halloween, we stocked up on the orange and purple lights that were marked down 80% and then bought some purple balls and baseball, basketball, football ones also. Below are some pictures of our fun night decorating the tree. We had Christmas music playing and we were sipping on hot chocolate in our orange mugs! Go Tigers!!

Just getting started

me showing off our final product!

I gave Chris this ornament the night we were engaged. December 1, 2007

Tailgate Shower

Yeah! I finally got the pictures from the shower. I had not charged the batteries for my camera so Marianne was nice enough to let me take over use of hers for the night. There are so many great ones, that I put them all together on this slide show. Enjoy! Thanks again to Jennifer and Stewart for hosting this fun BBQ!

I need to update!

I know it's been a week since I last updated this blog and I have lots to share! I'll try to do that tonight. I did want to let everyone know that our engagement announcement was in The State paper yesterday. Since Chris and I don't get that paper, please cut it out and save it for us. I would love a hard copy and so would his parents, I'm sure.

Thoughts...

Tonight Chris and I started entertaining the idea of NOT having a candy bar (I know this is a sad thought for all of the other circus peanut lovers like myself). We thought this would be a great idea to share some of our favorite candy with everyone, but at this point we are kind of tired of the idea...and it's been used alot. Alot more now than when we initially planned to do it.
So, what do you think about a popcorn bar? With toothpicks and floss provided, of course! We could still have our favorite flavors: mac&cheese, dill pickle, jalopeno, ranch. Well, we really wouldn't have those flavors but there are plenty more to choose from. Would you rather have a favor that you take-and-go instead of having to prepare yourself? Help!

Congrats to Dabo

Chris and I are thrilled with the selection of Dabo Swinney as the new head football coach of the Clemson Tigers! His press conference was awesome. If you didn't listen to it, be sure to check it out. This guy is the real deal.

Sweet, Sweet Victory. Go Tigers!

31-14

Black Friday

and I'm off to shopping. A few minutes after I had planned, but I'll be sure to let you know of any GREAT deals I may get. :)

Are you?

Are you getting up at 4am to go shopping in the morning? Hmmm...I'm debating. There are a few good deals I would like to take advantage of, but I think I'll wait until 8am to drag myself out of a warm bed and fight the crowds. I'm already planning to prepare some hot chocolate and hit the stores by myself. Chris will be sleeping since he is on night shift and will go into work at 6pm Friday night.
My mom and dad, Ann and Lawrence all came to Greenville today for Thanksgiving dinner at the Spaulding Farm Clubhouse which was hosted by the Bloodworths. This was the 3rd annual Thanksgiving feast and it gets bigger and better every year. I promise to update pictures once I get them from mom. Oh yeah, for those of you that don't know yet, my mom (Rosa Caudle) is on facebook so make sure to send her a friend request. She is excited about her new internet friends. :)
After Chris and I left, we headed to the movies to see the new Christmas movie with Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn, 4 Christmases. It was so funny and I highly recommend watching it this month. I must admit, we were reminded quickly why most of our date nights don't include a trip to the theatre and why a $9 netflix membership seems like such a good deal. For those that haven't been to see a movie lately, brace yourself...$9.50/ticket! Good thing we didn't have to pay for dinner or a babysitter. We might have had to take out a loan.

Also, I need to pick up the pictures of the tailgate shower we had last weekend that was hosted by Jennifer and Stewart Bloodworth. Once I get those, I'll be sure to add them to the blog. We had such a fun time hanging out with friends and staying warm by the fire. Thank you to those that came and to the Bloodworths for hosting another great party. They are pros at this stuff! Jennifer had Sticky Fingers cater the party and some tiger paw cakes for dessert from Publix. Yum! Be on the lookout for pictures. Should I post them in the form of a slide show? Is that easier to view? Leave a comment and let me know.
Happy Shopping to all!!

Jennifer & Stewart

Happy Thanksgiving!

To all our friends and family,
We are so thankful to be sharing this special time in our lives with you. Thank you for being a part of every step along the way. Sunday is two months before the big day and Monday will be a year anniversary since the day that we were engaged. We are so appreciative of your love, encouragement, and help. Words cannot express just how much each of you mean to us. Enjoy your Thanksgiving with family and friends. We love you!
Chris & Amy

The engagement photos are here

Visit the blog for our photograher, Kim Deloach, and check them out!

Getting to know your friends

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper. I have the cutest polka dot paper!

2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial

3. When do you put up the tree? Weekend after Thanksgiving

5. Do you like eggnog? No

6. Favorite gift received as a child? a real fur coat in the 3rd grade

7. Hardest person to buy for? Dad

8. Easiest person to buy for? My Mom, she loves to give me a list with all the details of exactly she wants. :)

9. Do you have a nativity scene? No. Chris has one that we will display as a family.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I can't received a really bad one that I remember. I do return some gifts.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Home Alone, National Lampoon's Christmas vacation, and A Christmas Story.

13. When do you start shopping? Actually all year long. It makes December not too hectic.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? no

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? anything chocolaty and sweet

16. Lights on the tree? orange and purple...I have a Clemson tree!

17. Favorite Christmas song? Let It Snow, Jingle Bell Rock (for all you Nursery Road alumni) :)

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? I would prefer to stay home once we have a family.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer,
Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, RUDOLPH

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Star

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Mean people out shopping

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? apple green and red

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Anything we eat for Christmas lunch with The Love's.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? for everybody in the family to be healthy.

This weekend in Clemson

Of course we were in Clemson this weekend. The Tigers played Duke and we won! Thankfully we did not have any rain, but it was so windy! There was trash flying through the air inside the stadium. One of the funniest things we saw all day was when a little boy around us decided he wanted to start collecting plastic stadium cups. He came back from his hunt with a full cup and before his dad could stop him, he turned the cup upside down over the side of the upper deck. His dad intended to stop him because there were people below, but at the same time the little boy turned the cup upside down, a gust of wind came and blew every drop of that coke all over the entire section. It was so funny, we had to bury our face in our hands because his dad got mad at him. I don't think there was anybody in the section that was mad. In fact, most thought it was funny too.

Low Country Boil...Yum!

Before the game

During the game. One of our many self portraits!

Enterprise had an employee outing at the game this weekend. for $5 each employee and a guest got a ticket and a great meal, lowcountry boil. Yum, thanks Josh! I have added some pictures from today above. Please forgive the hat. My hair was blowing all around and that seemed to be the only thing that could contain it. The pictures below are from the homecoming floats that the students organizations complete in the week leading up to the game.

Hurry, Hurry

In case you might read this before 12am, click on this link to claim a free photo book from snapfish. Offer expires tonight!

Engagement photos

Here is a sneak peak from the engagement photo session we had yesterday in Clemson. My parents, Lawrence and Ann came also. I can't wait to see all the pictures!

Kim was so fun to work with. Feel free to visit her website and check out some of her awesome photos. You can also visit her blog to see more of her work. The slideshows are just precious.

As I promised

A few weeks ago I blogged about the precious gifts I had ordered the most adorable twins I know. Call it "bridesomnia", but I forgot to take a picture of the gifts as promised. Jennifer took a picture of the gifts and emailed to me. Whew! Thanks, Jennifer! So...are they as cute as promised?

A picture from the halloween party

Don't Forget!

Our weekend activities

This weekend we went to a murder mystery Halloween party. Unfortunately I took my camera, but not my memory card. You should have seen some of the costumes. As soon as I get pictures sent from the camera I did use, I will update the blog. There were smurfs, 2 pippi's, a gingerbread man, hippie, pumpkin, Maverick from Top Gun, Borat and lots of others. I was named a suspect in the murder so I was super excited about that. Everyone had to get to know all the others attendees at the party so that when clues were revealed about the murder suspect, you would have a good idea of who it was. There was a surprise for the 1st correct guess submitted after 10pm.

I'm sure you are wondering...what did Chris and I dress up as? I was a chef and Chris was a mailman. I thought he looked pretty studly. The shirt he wore was from his ultimate Frisbee days in Clemson and it fit a little snug, but he looked good. I'm so proud of him. He is has lost over 15 pounds since moving to Greenville.

On Saturday we attended a wedding for Matt and Lora Hogan. The ceremony was at the chapel at The Cliffs of Glassy. Wow! Breathtaking! I have attached a few pictures of the family outside the chapel once the ceremony was over. My brother was a groomsman. Matt and Lawrence have been best friends since 2nd grade. The reception was in downtown Greenville at the pavilion near The Falls Park. They just make such a beautiful couple. One of the pictures I took of them looks super cool, but really my camera was just acting up and not cooperating.

Update on our wedding plans:

My bridal portrait is on Wednesday.

Caudle Family and engagement portrait is on Sunday.

Invitations came in last week.

Currently deciding on whether or not to use a calligrapher.

Attempting to make contact with the soloist to determine songs.

Talking with pastor about ceremony.

Need to reserve tuxes.

Can you think of anything else?