Just Peachy

This morning Chris and I made peach cobbler together. I first went and bought 4lbs. of soft yellow and white peaches at a road side stand this morning. Chris helped prepare the batter while I was cutting up the peaches. The recipe came from one of my favorite cookbooks. I have attached some before, during and after pictures of our delicious dessert.

BEFORE

DURING

IN THE OVEN

THE FINAL RESULT...YUM!

We took the peach cobbler to an Enterprise Diversity Celebration. I have attached a picture of some of our Greenville employees. The weather could not have been better.

Help!

Does anyone have any suggestions/tips about veils? Style, cost, length? I'm not sure if it should coordinate with my dress, blend with my dress, or does it even matter? I have found some great websites that have pretty reasonable prices, but I'm just not sure of the basic fundamentals of veil shopping. Hey Kristie, if your reading this maybe you can go with me! :-)
Any help from our friends will be greatly appreciated. Off to bed, good night!

Smiling Faces, Beautiful Places

His new license plate

Tuesday Chris became an official SC resident! All we have left to do is sell the house in VA and get an (864) phone #. Slowly, but surely he is making the needed changes.

His SC license!

Happy Memorial Day

Sara, Amy and Kristie watching the TIGERS play!!!!

We hope y'all are enjoying the extra long weekend as much as we are. Saturday morning we got up early and went for a quick run and then headed off to the Anderson Jockey Lot. For those of you that have never been, please call us and we can save you a trip. We knew it was a flea market, but still thought that it would be fun to look at all the junk. We didn't even see any junk that we wanted to look at. After about 30 minutes of walking around and doing more people watching than anything, we decided to go to Happy Cow. Now, for those of you that read the blog you know that I am a big fan of Happy Cow, but Chris had never been. After another $30+ purchase of milk and cheeses, we headed home. Chris cooked us some steaks and I fixed marinated mushrooms and corn-on-the-cob. We watched No Reservations that we had rented from Netflix. Chris and I both enjoyed the movie. He was it wasn't too much of a chick flick. It was a great way to begin the weekend.

Kristie

Chris and Kristie at their wedding shower

Yesterday we served in the nursery at church and had about 6 babies, one was 4 weeks old and another was 8 weeks old. They were so tiny, but so precious. After nursery we met up with another couple and went to the lake. They have an awesome boat and we so sweet to invite us to spend the day with them. They just got married in March. Kristie worked with me at Enterprise and her husband, Chris, works with Chris at Duke Power. We all spent about 4 hours on the lake relaxing and looking at huge houses on the water. Chris even got up on skis for a few seconds. The water was cold! BRRR! After we unloaded all of our stuff off the boat and got it cleaned up, we went back to their house and had some delicious hamburgers and watched NASCAR. Kristie has a nurtrition test today which was why we left so get could get some studying in. Good luck, Kristie!

Who knows what today has in store? Maybe lounging by the pool, planting some summer flowers, grilling some shrimp? Funny how so many of our days revolve around food. ;-)

Have a fantastic day and take a moment to remember our troops who serve this country!

Another Decision Made

This morning I mailed off the deposit on the florist. We have decided to go with Leslie's company, Southern Stems. (http://www.southernstems.com) She was really able to put together some arrangements with the few specifics I was able to give her and add some great personal touches. I'm sure she will do a fantastic job. Also, now we are on the hunt for a great band or DJ so if you have any suggestions, please send them our way. We definitely want some great entertainment. We may be having so much fun at the reception that we might not want to leave, although that probably won't be the case! ;-)

For all those Clemson fans out there, keep in mind we play tomorrow at 8pm against NC State. Go Tigers!

To continue the earlier message about the ?? Jr. Bridesmaid, she has officially been notified and is so excited. Laurie Anne is an absolutely adorable little girl, although so not little anymore. Her family lives next door to my parents and I have watched her grow up over the years into a beautiful young adult. I am so excited to have her and her family be a part of all the wedding festivities with us.

BMW Pro-Am

The weekend was another one filled with golf! Thankfully this tournament was practically in my backyard, Thornblade Country Club. Once my shift was over Chris and I walked around the course and we were able to see some Nationwide Tour players as well as some celebrities including Dennis Quaid. The weather was great and we enjoyed just taking our time strolling the course and we both got a little sun on our legs. After we got home we took a trip to the neighborhood pool and then came home and grilled some delicious hamburgers that Chris made and had corn and homemade banana pudding. YumYum! Right now we are watching NASCAR. I would say today is about as southern as you can get! :-)

Home Run!

Tonight Chris hit his 1st homerun playing softball! HipHipHooray! I am so proud of him. His team hasn't won a game all season :-( but he still has fun playing and it's great exercise. Oh yeah, Congrats to Tim! Chris's brother graduated on Friday from Clemson. After an extra couple of semesters and some fun memories playing in the marching band, he is through! Good Job, Good Job!

I have officially mailed off the deposit to secure our photographer for the wedding...(get ready for the drum roll!)...Brooke Turner Photography. She is absolutely incredible and such a sweet person. We are so excited to be working with her and I know she can manage to get some great shots of Chris with his eyes open! We may have to get a pratice session in before the big day. Just kidding!

All of my bridesmaids have been asked and they all accepted! Whew! The dresses need to be ordered by the 15th, so I was definitely pushing it. I am still waiting on one more call back to confirm my Junior Bridesmaid so I'll post her name later. But here they are in no particular order:

Regan McKenzie McCathern
Kristen Longshore Wetmore
Lea Hogue Hardy
Marianne Elizabeth Sease
Ann Bomar (Lawrence's Girlfriend)
Matilda Watson (cousin)
Jr. Bridesmaid-??

I have attached a picture of another type of cooking dish we registered for. Too cute!

Some Pictures

Plans, Plans, and more Plans

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this week I took off from work to spend time in Columbia and make some progress with the wedding plans. Mom and I definitely were able to get lots of details worked out. On Monday, we met with Dupre at Vista Events and decided on a preliminary menu and what "action" stations we are going to have. He has such great ideas and is going to be so awesome developing the food and layout of the reception. We met Hank and he will work with us helping to organize the details of the rental facility, and other small but important details. Monday evening I met my friend Kelly for dinner. It has been way too long since we were able to catch up. She definitely keeps herself busy so I'm glad I was able to get a slice of her time! :-)
Tuesday morning mom and I got up early and went to Belk to complete my registry there. I registered for the cutest dishes. Black and White polka-dot. If Chris was reading this, you would probably see him roll his eyes. He knows I'm such a sucker for anything polka dot, especially black/white, orange/purple or white. Right after Belk we met Hank at Palmetto Party Rentals to reserve the tables, linens, plates, etc. Our next appointment was with Brooke Turner Photography at 3pm. Brooke was a tour guide with me at Clemson, so this has been a great way for us to get reacquited again. Mom and I just loved her. Her pictures are fantastic and she has such a sweet personality. Her website is listed in "our favorites." Check it out! Right after meeting with Brooke, we met Leslie with Southern Stems at Starbucks. She was referred to us by Brooke. Leslie made it so easy to describe exactly what I was thinking regarding flowers. I'm not really big into flowers, but I think the 3 of us (Leslie, mom, and I) came up with some colors and ideas that we hope will look good.
That's about all the appointments we had. I feel so much better that we have completed those and now we are just waiting on proposals and contracts to be emailed. Oh yeah, Chris and I started dance lessons this week so I'll be sure to update y'all on those another night. Until then...

Wachovia Championship

This weekend Marianne and I volunteered at the Wachovia Championship, a golf tournament on the PGA tour and part of the FedEx Cup. We wern't quite sure what we were getting ourselves in on the way up on Friday and felt completly unprepared. Thankfully, we were able to stay at my aunt's house in Charlotte. Her family lives about 1 mile from the course so that saved us some time in the mornings. Marianne's shift started at 7am each morning, but mine did not start until 8am. I was on the admissions committee, which means that for most of two 8 hours shifts, I was at the entrance gates punching tickets and/or scanning tickets for the patrons. You wouldn't believe how many Clemson fans I saw coming through. I guess because Lucas Glover and D.J. Trahan were playing. Over the 2 days that I was volunteering, I was able to see some great golfers including Lucas, Anthony Kim, Vijay Singh, Jesper Parnevik, Zach Johnson and my favorite golfer...Phil Michelson! He was within about 3 feet from me. That definitely made the weekend worth it.
All of the volunteers that I met and worked with were great and everyone had such great attitudes, except there were a few bossy ones but we just laughted it off and remembered that this was a volunteer event, chill out :-). At the end of the weekend everyone said "see ya next year!" Will they? I'm not 100% sure yet. Some of the sweet ones that I worked with want me to bring back my husband next year if I do it again. Yep, by this time next year he will be!
Out of a committee of 60 people, only 10 of them were 1st time volunteers. The organizers really do make sure everyone has a good time and wants to come back again and again. I would definitely recommend volunteering and/or attending the tournament. If you do decide to volunteer, they give you 2 free tournament passes that you can use on days you don't volunteer or can give to friends or family. Feel free to visit http://www.wachoviachampionship.com/ to learn more. Volunteers sign-ups begin in November.

OK, so what was Chris doing this weekend while Marianne and I were in Charlotte? Let's see, I think he studied, went to church, ran and...had a great steak dinner prepared and a dozen roses waiting in the kitchen. The dinner was delicious and he even had picked up a Key Lime Pie from Publix. For those of you that love Key Lime Pie you definitely need to try it from Publix. Their's is the best because it is not too tart and it is only about $8.

I'm off Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday this week. In a few minutes I'll start getting dressed and packed to drive to Columbia. Mom and I are scheduled for some wedding appointments today and tomorrow. I'll be sure to update you all on some of the decisions that were made about the photographer, florists, menu, etc. Until then...have a great week!

Happy Cow Creamery

Today on my way home from Greenwood, I pulled into a place I have been wanting to visit for a while now...Happy Cow Creamery! What a great place. The customer service there was fantastic. If you haven't tried their milk out, you definitely need to. They have so many different varities of cheeses as well as dressings, meat, etc. I got Chris a couple of surprises :-) A 1/2 gallon of chocolate milk (which tastes like melted chocolate ice cream), buffalo wing cheese, and harvari jalopeno cheese. All of these are d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s. He tasted them all before I left his apartment tonight. I drove all the way to Seneca to see him play softball, but after 6 outs the game was over. Oh well. Anyway, back to The Creamery. The prices are fair, but again...the customer service was great. What other farm has a drive up window for you to get your milk and eggs? They also have a place to pick your strawberries. $34 later, I'm on the road with a bag full of cheese and milk and as happy as a lark :-) I will be going back soon, but next time I'm taking someone with me. It's too good not to share! I have listed a couple of comments from their website below (http://www.happycowcreamery.com/).

-There is a place on Greenville County's south side where the fields are green and lush, the milk is fresh, and the cows are always happy.

-"You can't even get into the store on Saturday," he says. "You have to wait on people to come out."

-A point of pride is that his milk travels only 48 feet - and only makes one trip - during the processing from pump to bottle. "No one else can say that," he says, adding that many larger milk companies pump the product through miles of pipes up to 20 times.

Driving Miss Amy

My precious Chauffer for the weekend!

Road Trip

This past weekend Chris and I took our first road trip back to VA. We finally hit the road a little after 6pm and had to stop by Gaffney first :-) I can't ever pass by Gaffney without doing some shopping! By the time we made it to Chris's house in Chesapeake it was close to 2am! On Saturday morning we met with the realtor to review some changes Chris was making and then we got back in the car and headed to Williamsburg. Ever since I had started visiting Chris in VA, he always promised one day we could go Williamsburg. Colonial Williamsburg is about a 45 minute drive from his house. They also had some great outlets that we spent a couple of hours at. Although Chris isn't much of a shopper, he is still a great sport about it. I'm so lucky! Since Yankee Candle has a special place in my heart, he took me to a huge store there in Williamsburg. One of the pictures above was in the Christmas section of the store and it was actually snowing. The lady that took the picture asked if we were on our honeymoon. Honeymoon? Wow...to think that is only 9 months away. Fun stuff!

Sunday morning we did a few last minutes touch-ups to the house and then loaded up. Chris was able to pack a few more of his clothes and bring home some movies he had boxed up. Hopefully with the warmer weather, real estate activity will be improving. We have a landscaper coming out next week to help with the curb appeal. I'll try to remember to take pictures next time we go back, which we both hope will be for the closing.

We have painted a room together and survived a road trip...2 tests we have PASSED!

Family Night

Tonight the company Chris works for in Seneca had "Family Night." I was able to meet the other guys in his training class as well as see their family. We ate some BBQ and then they did a tour of a simulator room. Quite interesting! It was great to see where he spends his days as well as being able to place faces with names of his co-workers. I'm so proud of him! :-)

I Love Lucy!

I checked in with mom this morning to see what she thought of the blog. Well, being the school teacher that she is, she recognized some spelling errors I had made. Yes, I am the worlds worse speller so I'm glad she caught those so I can get them corrected. She then reminded me that I needed to make sure I updated the blog with the "Latest on Lucy." So here goes a special segment that I will try to do periodically throughout the blog.

Lucy has not officially lived in my house for almost 3 months. Instead of living in a crate at my house, she stays in Columbia and has 2 best friends to play with all day, Romeo & Juliet. Lucy has somehow managed to make her way into my parents bedroom and is now sleeping in the bed with mom, although the others dogs still sleep outside. Lucy was adopted from the Humane Society in Greenville and has been absolutely the best dog. She is such a lover and is very mild mannered for a beagle. She loves to be rubbed and likes to snuggle. I'll be sure to keep you all posted as to if Lucy makes it back to the upstate, but the odds are not looking too good. :-(

I have attached some cute pictures of Lucy. Lucy in 1 picture with Keith and 1 with Marianne.

Both great friends of ours.

OK...I added some pictures below. These are from the night we got engaged. As you can see, we were in front of Tillman Hall at Clemson. One of the pictures we took ourselves, one was on a timer, and one my brother took back at my house. We were worn out! My brother's girlfriend gave us our first wedding gift, the cutest Clemson chip and dip bowl. My parents came up the next day and took us to lunch. I'm not sure that I was even 100% aware of what had happened at that point. I can assure you that now I am fully aware of what happened and I've never been so sure of anything else. :-)

Weekend With The Girls!

This past weekend I headed to Charleston with my best friends from high school. Lauren, Kim, Amanda, and Marianne. I'm so excited that we have been able to maintain our friendship through so many years. 2 of the girls in the group are moms and it was so cute to hear them talk about what size clothes their girls are in, how and when they started potty training, cute things the kids say, etc. My how times have changed!
The first night down there, Lauren and I didn't arrive until after 10. As soon as we unloaded the car, off we went to a bar down the street. I think we were finally "encouraged" to leave the bar sometime after 1am! Can you believe we were up that late? I thought those nights were long gone. The next day we had plans to head to the beach, but mother nature had her own plans. The weather was a little too chilly and too windy to sit on the beach. I ventured off to do my own thing and stroll the market. Of course for those of you that know me you won't find it surprising that I went back to the hotel room and took a nap. Since our reservation for dinner wasn't until 9:30, we all were able to relax a bit. At about 8 we started getting ready. You should have seen the cute outfits they had. Which reminds me...I have got to lose weight for this wedding. As of now, I cannot breathe in my dress so by January, my goal is to at least be able to do that. Just kidding, it's not that bad, but I do need to shed a few lbs! Maybe if I update my progress on the blog, I'll be more encouraged to be more consistant with the workout plan. So, back to the story. We ate at a great restaurant, Coast. DELICIOUS! Saturday wasn't a late night. By the time we got back to the hotel after eating, it was already 11:30 so off to bed we went. After leaving Charleston we stopped for one last bite to eat together at Rush's in West Columbia. It was packed, but definitely worth the wait in line. I'm so lucky to have such fun and cute girlfriends that still like to have a good time! :-) Oh yeah, while I was in Charleston I saw a guy I work with from Augusta and a girl I used to babysit in Cedar Grove. I love seeing familiar faces out of town.
Once I got home from Charleston, Chris had dinner cooking...pork, green beans, and velveeta shells & cheese. He actually already had a load of clothes washed and folded. Although he doesn't fold the clothes perfect, it sure is precious to see his attempt! What a great catch!
I have been so bad about updating pictures on the blog. I'll try to add some soon because I always love looking at pictures from other friends blogs.

Bridesmaid Dress Confirmed

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions! I have decided to take a few days off at the beginning of May and go to Columbia for some scheduled appointments with florists, photographers, DJs, bands, etc. It is definitely time to start signing contracts and be permanently on the books instead of "penciled in!" :-) Today on my way back to Greenville from Augusta, I met mom at a bridal store to get one last look at the bridesmaid dress I had picked out. We confirmed that was the one the girls will wear and then found out that the order needs to be placed by May 15! That's less than a month away. I have been trying to think of a cute and creative way to ask my best friends to be in my wedding, but almost 5 months after the engagement I still haven't thought of a great way. Oh well...I guess the phone call will have to do. While at the store, I tried on vails. Can you believe how expensive those can be? Some are over $200! Yikes! I plan on taking it off after the ceremony and letting loose at the reception, so $200 would be a waste of money. I have a budget to stick to!! :-) Gotta check out ebay...
Oh yeah, the dresses will be platinum (definition from dictionary.com: a light, metallic gray with very slight bluish tinge when compared with silver.). Appropriate for a nightime winter wedding, I thought.

Welcome!

This will be my best attempt at keeping family and friends updated on the latest wedding plans and details as they develop. I will also be sure to share fun things that we are doing as we begin this exciting journey together! Be sure to visit frequently as I will be uploading some past pictures and plans that have already been made. Too bad I don't have any pictures from the cake tasting. Chris definitely enjoyed that! YumYum!