How mad would you be?

I am a huge fan of great customer service and really get upset when I don't receive it. Watch this video...I would be so furious, even Chris agreed. :) On a side note, Enterprise just received another J.D. Power Customer Service award! Go ERAC!

Coupon Time

Again...You all know I love free stuff. Quiznos is giving away 1 million subs. Go get yours!!
Click here.

Something New!! THANKFUL TUESDAY

OK...I'm trying something new. Every Tuesday I am going to list Ten Things That I am Thankful for on Tuesday! Get ready :)

1. A sweet husband that decided to come back to Greer after work today instead of staying overnight in the mountains.
2. A job that keeps me busy.
3. That Chris has a job in an industry that will always be needed.
4. Friends that make time to get together.
5. A wonderful lady that cleans my house. She came today!
6. All the wonderful gifts that we have received from family and friends.
7. That Ian's surgery was successful and The Bloodworths are back in Greenville.
8. My mom...for taking good care of my dad since the surgery on his thumb.
9. My dad...for responding to the surgery well. He never complains.
10. That I talked to my brother on the phone today. Things are going well with their wedding planning.

Alright...that's 10 for this week. Check in next Tuesday for 10 more. This post is a reminder for me to sit down and really think about what I am thankful for. Sometimes things get so hectic and I can get so consumed with the details of a busy week that small blessings are overlooked. Thank you for allowing me to share with you the things that warm my heart. Good Night!

Funny Stuff

First, let me say that I LOVED my wedding cake. Parkland Cakes did a fabulous job and from what I have heard, it was delicious too! I'll let you know on our 1 year anniversary. But, with that being said...some other cakes haven't turned out as expected. Check out this blog...Cake Wrecks. It is filled with cakes-gone-wrong. Just a good laugh for you on a Sunday afternoon.

Red is the color of LOVE

As most of you know, Chris and I serve in the nursery at our church in Greenville. We absolutely love the babies and love the sweet couples we work with. Chris is such a natural at taking care of the babies. When they start getting fussy with me, then he is the one that usually gets them settled down. This Sunday Chris was working so it was just me. I was so excited to get a wedding gift from a couple we work with. I just had to post a picture because it looks just like something I would pick out. She ordered it from Personalization Mall. It is a red wooden bowl that has "The Lacks" etched into the side. I think this would look great on the kitchen table full of green apples during the summer too. This website has all kinds of great gifts. I hope you can find something for that next gift you need to give.Tonight Chris and I are going to an Oscar Night party. We are so excited to get all dressed up and walk on the red carpet...yes, they will actually have red carpet! The event is hosted by the Junior League of Greenville and is one of the few parties across the country that is actually sanctioned by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. To set these parties apart from the thousands of other events taking place on Oscar night, each ONA party receives from the Academy copies of the official commemorative poster and the official Oscar show program. The event is a fundraiser for the charities that the Junior League supports. I'll be sure to post pictures of the festivities and if we win any of the silent auction items.

WOW! You all know I love a good deal, and I love something FREE even better, right? I just received an email from Shutterfly.com. This is an offer to make a free 20 page photo book. I made one for Chris for Christmas and it was really nice. Won't this be perfect for wedding pictures? Let me know if you make one too.

Express yourself.Bring your photos to life ina gorgeous, professionally bound photo book.
Simply choose 20 photosto create your free20-page 8x8 photo book* (a $29.99 value).

Get started
Offer ends March 10, 2009.
Promo code: PHOTOBOOKS

* Free 8x8 photo book includes initial set of 20 pages. All incremental pages will be charged on a per page rate. Licensed premium photo books, Martha Stewart books, Creating Keepsakes books, Adventure books and leather and padded photo books are not included in this reward. Taxes, shipping and handling charges will apply.

What is the CRBR?

It's that time of year! The Cooper River Bridge Run (CRBR) is April 4th. The first time I participated in the race was 2 years ago. I went down with a group of girls and just had a fun weekend. Last year another group of us went down and Chris came too. I was overwhelmed with the number of people participating. There are so many people running/walking that most of the race is running from side to side to get around people. It actually took us about 8 minutes of walking to even cross the starting line! There are some funny sights though. We even saw a proposal at the top of the bridge! Anyway, the race is lots of fun and a great event that keeps me motivated to run...which isn't my favorite thing to do. :)

I am including a week-to-week running program that encourages us couch potatoes to run a 5K in 2 months. Yes, I know the race is 10K and Yes, I know that we have less than 2 months. So?

Below is two weeks worth of training in case you want to get started on training for the race. Chris and I are planning to do the race again so let us know if you want to run along. It's always more fun with more people.

Chris and I after the race eating at The Wreck.

Tips:

Before setting out, make sure to precede each session with a five-minute warmup walk or jog. Be sure to stretch both before and after.
There are two ways to follow this program, to measure your runs by time or by distance. Either one works just as well, choose the option that seems easiest for you to keep track of. If you go with the distance option, and you are not using a track to measure the distances, just estimate. It's not important to have the distances absolutely exact.
Each session should take about 20 or 30 minutes, three times a week.
Week 1
Workout 1: Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes.
Workout 2: Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes.
Workout 3: Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes.

Week 2
Workout 1: Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 90 seconds of jogging and two minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes.
Workout 2: Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 90 seconds of jogging and two minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes.
Workout 3: Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 90 seconds of jogging and two minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes.

**This information was taken from http://www.coolrunnings.com/

A special Valentine's Day

Chris and I have some dear friends here in Greenville, Jennifer and Stewart Bloodworth. If you have been keeping up on the blog, you have heard me mention them before. They have a beautiful set of twins that were born this summer, Ian and Bonner. Before birth, Ian was diagnosed with Tetralogy of Fallot. On Friday, February 13th he had surgery for complete repair of his diagnosis. If you are interested in keeping up with the story of a precious little heart repaired just in time for Valentine's Day, please visit their caringbridge site.
We are excited that Ian is recovering well and we can't wait to see them back in Greenville soon.

Where did we go?

Does it seem that we have fallen off the face of the earth? I feel so out of touch with everyone. I promise to do a better job returning your sweet emails and phone calls. I really do appreciate all the memories you have that you have shared with us. They warm our heart. We are just really enjoying this time together. Right before the wedding we were super busy, so now that the wedding is over we are attempting to catch our breath!

For those of you that raved about the adorable invitations to some of my wedding showers, the rehearsal dinner invitation, and some of the thank you notes that I used, I am posting the link to PJH Designs. Patty Hogan is a dear friend of our family and went above and beyond by helping set up for the rehearsal, printing the program, stickers for the M&Ms, and so many other things. If you can think of it, she can do it. Check out her website and be sure to tell her that Amy sent you!

I'm on facebook now. Check it out!

Pictures from the Wedding!!

http://www.brooketurnerphotography.com/blog/amy-chris-slideshow/

This is a slideshow that our wonderful photographer put together to capture some fun moments of the wedding. I hope you enjoy viewing it as much as we have. I think I have probably watched it about 20 times. :)
**Please leave us a comment and let us know what your favorite memory of our wedding was. ** This just brings a smile to our faces.

Pictures Posted!

Yes, we are still on our honeymoon in Nashville having a blast. Did you think were leaving Thursday? We did too until Chris found out that there was a show at the Grand Old Opry Friday night so he sweet talked to concierge into a GREAT rate for tonight. So...we stayed! I will be updating all sorts of pictures of fun things that we did once we get home and settled in.
Our wedding photographer, Brooke Turner has posted a slide show of the wedding pictures on her blog.
Attached are just a few our of self-portraits we have taken while on the honeymoon. Have a great weekend!

At The Ryman, a.k.a "The Mother Church of Country Music"

at the Country Music Hall of Fame

at Coyote Ugly

at Cooter's, Dukes of Hazard museum

at the Wildhorse Saloon

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.