Thank you!!

I just want to say a huge thank you to those of you that have emailed us, called us, texted us, etc. this week to offer assistance, advice, support, encouragement and your time. We truely feel that we have the best friends in the world. We would love to take you up on your offer to help, but at this time we really don't even know what we need help with. Just have your cell phones on Thursday and Friday. :)
Tomorrow is my last day at work this week and I'll be spending it in Clemson, how appropriate. I will be at their spring career fair. Chris' last day (night) at work is Wednesday. He will be at my house at 7am Thursday morning ready to pack and load up the car. Other than the clothes we need until Sunday, my dress and the favors, everything else is already in Columbia. Mom and Patty (Hogan) have finished the programs. Mom says they are beautiful. I can't wait to see them. If anyone in Columbia wants to help tie the ribbon on 300 programs, here is your opportunity.
The countdown is 4 days until I marry the sweetest man I know. Chris has been absolutely wonderful through the past 13 months, and more so for the past 2 months. He calms me down when I get antsy about things, he reassures me when I think something isn't perfect, and he sits with me not saying a word while I tell him about all the new plans that were taken care of that day. He even intecepts phone calls that he knows will probably cause added stress. A true dream come true!!
Tomorrow night, some Greenville girls are coming over to help package the favors. I'm ordering pizza and then we will start the assembly line. I'll try to take a picture or two of the fun times. That's all for now. Night Night

Stimulus Package

Quick! Run! Make a made dash to downtown Greenville! Offer expires January 31st. Unfortunately Chris and I can't take advantage of this great deal, but if you will be in Greenville this week then this is a great opportunity to save some money. If only we had known about this earlier in the month, we would have definitely participated. With the attached certificate, the waiter will take $25 off of your final bill AND give you a $25 certificate to use for the month of February and each month through the year 2009, for a total savings of $300. Click here to view and print the certificate to take to a Table 301 restaurant. Be sure to let me know where you went and what you ordered. Soby's is my personal favorite!

Thanks!

Since the blog about making homemade cookies, I have received some delicious recipes. I can't wait to try them out. If they do indeed turn out to be Delicious (with a capital D) then I'll post the recipes on the blog later.
Tonight I was on the hunt for ribbon...I came home empty handed. What else is a girl to do, but jump on the internet and find exactly the ribbon I wanted and then a backup option and then pay an arm and a leg for Express shipping. Oh the joys of the small details.
For the past two days when I got home from work, we had a BB&B box waiting at the door. What fun! Coming home from a day of work and errands to find a present just for us. I'm waiting until Chris comes to the house tomorrow and we can open them together.
Tomorrow I'm meeting with the cake decorator. Up until 3 days ago, I thought the only thing that was left to do was describe how I wanted the different layers decorated, but oh no...they have no notes on anything that we had previously decided on 10 months ago. Back to the beginning. Hopefully it won't take too long so I can get back to Greenville in time for dinner with Chris. I haven't seen him since Sunday.
That's the latest recap. I'll try to update on Sunday. Enjoy your weekend

Awwww shucks

For those of you that don't know, I would love to own an RV one day. For those of you that have visited our website, now you know an answer to one of the quizes. :) I completely understand that I will have to work my way up to owning the BIG DADDY, but there is hope! How perfect would it be to take tailgating, family trips, tour the country? Set up a TV outside, all the food inside, stay warm and dry. Just imagine.
With that being said, I love going to RV shows to see the latest and greatest on the market. Guess what...I just found out that the RV show in Greenville will be when we are on our honeymoon. Of all times! Just in case you are intersted in going too, I have added the link the the RV dealers website.

11 days...

Wow! Really? Only 11 days? YES!!! There are just a few little details that are still being worked on. The most important ones are: buy ribbon for the programs, package favors, newspaper announcement, write thank-yous, plan design for rehearsal, design wedding cake, order grooms cake. Ok wait, maybe there are more things to do than I thought. Yikes! I could still add another 10+ items to that list, but for your sanity and mine I'll stop there. IF you would like to come over next Wednesday to help prepare favors, please do. Just let me know you are coming because I'm ordering pizza. I will be sure to post pictures of the assembly line. I just hope someone else shows up besides me or it will be a lonely night. :(
On the way home from the shower Saturday night, I was trying to think of things to do to keep Chris awake while he was driving. Since the wedding was 14 days away, we each had to say 14 things we loved about the other person. I said something, then he said something, get the picture? I thought it was so funny that one of the things he loved about me is that I find it so fun to play cheezy little games like that. It worked, he stayed awake and we had fun.
Sunday afternoon we had our last counseling session with the couple at the church. Joy made homemade cookies and they were so good. Who else out there makes homemade cookies all the time? I never even think about making homemade cookies. I didn't grow up with my mom baking alot, although she did make great dinners. Well, with that being said, I am going to attempt to make homemade cookies. What kind of mom feeds her kids slice-and-bake anyway? I need to start practicing my after school snacks now so that by the time our future kids are in elementary school, I'll be a pro at this whole "homemade" thing. Please feel free to share some delicious recipes you have.
I'm off to bed. The best part about going to bed is waking up one day closer to marrying the sweetest man in the world. Night Night

"Tinis and Tapas"

The luminaries that lined the front sidewalk
The martini table

Amy, Regan, Lea

The hostesses of the evening

Such a cute shower theme. Chris and I were so fortunate to have some family friends from Columbia host a shower this past weekend. It was a night to celebrate our soon-to-be marriage, but also my birthday. We had a great time enjoying all 7 or 8 flavors of martinis, the delicious tapas, and of course the great company. Above are some pictures from that night. I didn't take my camera so I don't have too many to post.

Quick Request

I'm excited about the idea that it might snow tight in Greenville, but I'm nervous at the fact that Chris will be driving in the mountains with the ice and snow. Please pray that he has safe travels to and from work while he is on night shift this week. Thank you!

Oh What A Night (just a sampling)

What happens at the cabin, stays at the cabin :) Dori was crowning me Queen for the Day Greenville Girlfriends Queen for the Night too! My My My My My Boogie Shoes Arn't we cute? Dancing with the Band

Back to reality

What a fabulous weekend! The bachelorette party was so much fun and the house we stayed in was so nice. I will try to post some pictures once they are downloaded and sent to me. The craziest part about the house was that the driveway was probably about a 50degree incline straight up. I screamed the whole way driving my car to the top. I have never seen anything like it.
The lingerie shower was so much fun and we had lots of good laughs. I really appreciate the 3 girls that spent so many hours planning the weekend and am thankful for all the sweet friends that came to celebrate the weekend with me. You will never know how much it means to me that you left your husbands, babies, etc. to come and share this exciting time with me. I do have the best friends!!
On a side note, I'm not changing cake vendors.

A few more things taken care of

I crossed two more things off of the master to-do list. 1. mail check to church and 2. find shoes.
The problem that I have with bridal shoes is that most of them would look weird if you ever wore them again with anything other than your wedding dress AND they are terribly expensive for just 1 night. I kept my options open and was willing to even go with a fun color if need be: blue, orange, etc. Well, I found a pair tonight and they are just about 1 or 2 shades darker than the dress and they weren't in the bridal section so I assume that means I could possibly wear them again although I don't know what I have that matches them. OH, an excuse to buy a new cocktail dress after the wedding. :)
Today I had lunch with a sweet friend in Greenville. We were talking about wedding traditions and she told me about a friend of hers that had her wedding party write their names on the bottom of her shoe in blue. Too cute! I already have a "blue", but I like that idea too. Can you have two "blues?"
This is probably the last post before the Bachelorette Weekend! I'll post a few pictures, but what happens at the cabin...stays at the cabin. Hahaha!
Oh yeah, am I crazy to be thinking about changing cake vendors? Just curious what your thoughts are because I think I'm nuts to even be considering this. I have to keep it exciting, all the way down to the wire.

Really?

I know we have all seen the reindeer accessories for your car that gained in popularity this holiday season. I think they are so cute and if I had a station wagon or SUV full of kids, then I know I would be "that mom." But, I do think the idea has gone a little too far. Today I was out running errands and walked right by, but quickly turned around to see car accessory kids for Valentines Day, St. Patrick's Day, Halloween and Easter. I even said "oh my goodness" out loud in which another lady commented on the craziness of it too. A little too much for me, but a big pat-on-the-back to those of you that spread cheer and a giggle to the rest of us on the road.

While I was on that website getting some graphics for the car kits I saw today, I found these outlet plugs. So many of you that read my blog have kids so I thought I would share this super cute item: Animal plug safety covers. Only $3.99 for a set. Great shower gift!

If you haven't already...

...please mail in your RSVP card. A big thanks to those of you that understand how helpful it is to get them in. :) Also, if you are planning to stay in Columbia and need to make hotel reservations I have information posted on our website under out of towners.

I had to share

This article was posted on another blog that I read. I just had to share it with you. There are some foods on here I'm dying to try (okra soup, devil's food donut, beef jerky), curious to try (boiled peanut cotton candy, kool-aid pickle) and ones I would rather not try (pig ear sandwich, pork neck bones and rice). Enjoy reading!

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!