Wedding Planning + A New Car

This weekend was pretty busy. Friday night was great until I got completely lost...we'll get to that in a minute. I mentioned Friday that we were going to have a singing night in a cave (Cumberland Caverns). We got there and started singing and it was INCREDIBLE. There aren't many words to describe it. I am just so glad we were able to go and do this. We had a really good size group go, too!

I drove to the caves instead of taking the bus so that I could just drive home after. 

Long story short I have no idea where my GPS wanted me to go but it took me down a bunch of back roads and I ended up going in a complete circle a couple of times. I hit the same possum, twice. Got pulled over and completely lost it in front of the cop because I was so stressed out from being lost. The poor thing probably thought I was a basket case, and decided to just let me go. I finally made it home about an hour and a half later than it should have taken me, and crashed as soon as I hit my pillow that night. 

I have gotten turned around plenty of times while trying to get somewhere but I have never been completely lost like I was Friday night. I have always depended on the GPS on my phone but now I am having some trust issues with it!!

Saturday, I woke up in a better mood than Friday night. Thank goodness!! My parents had bought my sister a new car as an early birthday/graduation gift. The car she has been driving was my old car I had all through high school. It was O L D, had way too many miles on it, and sounded like it was fixing to fall apart. She will be commuting abour 45 minutes to and from for college in the fall so they knew there was no way her car was going to make it.  My dad got it last Wednesday and kept it hidden at our Nannie's house in her garage until Saturday! Saturday he brought it home to give it to her. He asked her to come outside and help him get something out of his truck and when she walked around the side of the house there it was! I got her reaction all on camera and it was priceless!

 It's a used car but it has low mileage and my parents got a good price on it!

  Later that day all the groomsmen were coming to town to get their suits for the wedding sized and ordered. Matthew's dad grilled hamburgers for everyone and his mom fixed dessert! We all headed to Men's Warehouse after to pick out everything. Matthew had picked the suit out online already and it was buy one get one free. So the $500 suit was now $250 for all of them. This is the same Men's Warehouse where Matthew's family always gets their suits so they know the guy there and he is always so much of a help to them. Well, he ended up knocking down the prices of the suits to $199 each! So our guys are buying a $500 suit for $199 for our wedding, and the best part...they get to keep it!! We decided not to go the renting route because all of the groomsmen will wear this suit again, for work or to church, so it was just smarter for them to buy than to rent it! We also picked out the ties. I wish I had gotten a picture to share but everything was happening so quickly that I wasn't able to. I am very relieved that we were able to get all 6 groomsmen in at the same time and able to get that checked off the list!
117 DAYS!!!!!! 

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Wedding Planning + A New Car

Friday Ramblings

Happy Friday! Since I have a lot to share I'll share in list form - Tonight I am going with the SOC to The Cumberland Caverns for a singing. I haven't been there since I was in the 5th grade so I am excited to go and see it again. Even better, a singing night, if y'all have been around here then you KNOW singing nights are my favorite.  Singing in a cave...can y'all imagine how that's going to sound?! Here are some pictures I found online of Cumberland Caverns

- We are going Saturday to pick out the groomsmen suits! Well, we already have them picked out we are just going to get them. They are on sale at Men's Warehouse so they are getting a pretty good deal! - Matthew and I HAVE to get our passports this weekend. I don't know why we but we just keep forgetting about them.  - I am hoping to finalize our guest list by the end of next week, so I am going to work on it this weekend when I get some free time. I designed them and we are having them printed through Vistaprint and they are having a good sale going on. I have already priced them and with this sale we can get our invitations and RSVP for over $100 cheaper so we will be ordering them before this sale is over! Also,Vistaprint sends plain white envelopes for free! -The weather this weekend is supposed to be really nice and I am so looking forward to that! Bring on that warmer weather and sunshine!!!! - HAPPY 1ST DAY OF SPRING!!  Can't wait to break out my sandals and white pants :)

- Today is food day at work, and this months is a salad bar. I am a little too excited about this! Currently counting down the minutes until it's my lunch LOL - P-Hood (what Matthew and I call it) or also known as Parenthood...we are obsessed!! I remembered hearing a lot about it back in January when the finale aired so over the snow days I decided to start watching it. As of last night I am in the middle of season FOUR! It is so good and I got Matthew hooked on it, too! I usually can't get through an episode without tearing up lol

- Kirkland's...I can't stay out of that store!!!! We bought a mirror there this past week and it was on sale! I absolutely love it and can't wait to get it hung up! I'll share more on that next week! :) Have a good weekend!! 

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Friday Ramblings

Zumba + Smoothie King

Tuesday night we had our SOC girls night and it was so fun!!  My old roommate became a certified Zumba instructor over Christmas break and offered to instruct a class for us for a girls night. So Zumba class it was!
Surprisingly, this was my first Zumba class. I definitely feel like I got a workout and really enjoyed it!! Bri had great songs and moves and kept us going the whole class!!

After some of us went to Smoothie King. I had never been there either so I wanted to try it. It took me about 5 minutes to order because I had no idea what I wanted or what I would like. Here lately I have been on a pineapple kick so I went with the Pineapple Surf. Seriously one of the best drinks I have ever had. I saw they have 32oz for $5 on Fridays so I am going back tomorrow to grab one for lunch! 

Last night we walked out of church and the snow was coming down and everything was starting to turn white. We decided to still have our late night singing. Everyone headed over to the SOC house and we had yet another incredible singing. After the singing we all went outside and everything was completely white. Absolutely beautiful. There ended up being a snowball fight and of course pictures that needed to be taken ;)

This snow is definitely the kind of snow everyone wants. Perfect to build a snowman and snowballs, but you can still drive on it!

My drive to work this morning. 

As ready as I am for summer and warmer weather, you just can't help but realize how beautiful this is. I left early this morning in case the roads were bad but they were just slushy. I was able to take my time and not rush. It was a very peaceful drive with a pretty great view. 

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Zumba + Smoothie King

Christmas time // Pinterest addition

I love this time of the year and I love decorating for it. I often spend too much time on Pinterest looking up gorgeous decorations I can't afford right now lol.   Here is what I'm currently pinning/day dreaming of...

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{Source}      It really is the best time of the year! Monday night we had free s'mores at the SOC house and last night we had pancakes as a study break for all the students taking finals. We had great crowds and all the food was gone very quickly!   3 days until Matthew graduates!

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Christmas time // Pinterest addition

December goals

Because I'm always late about posting my goals... ;)     November goals   - Start blogging more  I think I did pretty well until last week ;) -Work on Christmas shopping  I have almost everything finished, just need to grab a couple of things online! -Continue working hard on something that I have coming up! YES I can't wait to share with y'all what I have been up to! -DOLLYWOOD  We went. We conquered. I didn't throw up ;) We had a lot of fun! You can read about it here -SOC formal   Formal was a lot of fun. Getting dressed up, Christmas decorations, best friends and good food. Couldn't ask for a better night! You can read about it here! -Enjoy the moment  We have been just going with the flow. We usually don't have plans we just hang out with friends each night at the SOC house. It's a joy to be with your best friends all the time.     December goals   Celebrate Matthew It's graduation week...he graduates in FOUR days! He picked up his cap and gown a few weeks ago and it came with that pretty hood ;) He took his last final yesterday and has 2 more papers and then he is DONE (for this semester). He actually has to take one online class next semester but they are letting him walk in the December graduation since he is starting work next month. Which is great because his twin brother, Nathan, is graduating this Saturday as well. I am so glad they get to walk together one last time! We are going to dinner Friday night and maybe a movie, to celebrate just the two of us. Saturday after graduation we will celebrate with our families!   Completely finish Christmas shopping and wrap everything I have a couple of things I need to order online and then I am completely finished! Now I just need to wrap everything. I found some wrapping paper and boxes that I bought last year that I had forgotten about...score!   Take pictures of my apartment decorated for Christmas and share I blog a lot for myself, selfish? Maybe. but I want to be able to come back here and remember the small things that I blogged about. Even now I go back and look at some of my first posts and love it. I mean a lot has happened since I started blogging. I also blog for friends and family that don't live close. It's a great way to share what's going on. And we ALL know how much I love my little apartment so of course I want to share it with you, especially now that it's decorated for Christmas :)   Purge I promised myself when I moved out of my old apartment that I wouldn't keep as much stuff and sale/donate throughout the year, so that when it comes time to move again I don't spend DAYS packing stuff that I don't even need. Well, I need to sale/donate some stuff now lol. I honestly don't know how I end up with all this stuff but it has got to go! I love my little one bedroom apartment but I can't wait to have more storage space one day. Seriously, I have extra dishes up under my bed because I don't have a lot of  cabinet space lol working with what I have!   Enjoy this time of the year It's so easy to get caught up in the busy day to day activities with this time of the year but I want to slow down and enjoy it. Everyone is leaving throughout this week to go home for Christmas break and won't be back until the middle of January so that means all SOC activities are basically over after this week until we start getting ready for next semester. We already have the schedule for next semester planned and it's just as full as this semester. So I am wanting to really take advantage of some down time. Watch all the Christmas movies that we can, drive around and look at Christmas lights and just enjoy the last few weeks Matthew has here in Cookeville. We made a Cookeville bucket list at the beginning of this semester and we haven't been able to cross much of it off so maybe we can work on that lol.   Share what I have been working on I shared last month that I have been working on something for awhile now and this month I get to share it with y'all! I am so excited I just can't stand it!!     Since it's so late to share monthly goals I have already read most of y'all's lol. Happy Tuesday!   4 days until Matthew's graduation 16 days until Christmas Day 23 days until the New Year!

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December goals

Catching up // a week of lasts

I'm alive ;) I took an unexpected week off from blogging. I still read all of yours, I just didn't blog myself. Thanksgiving was good! I am very lucky the company that I work for is off Thursday and Friday. As soon as 3:30 rolled around on Wednesday afternoon I was homeward bound. I packed my car that morning so I could head straight home.   Matthew's family does lunch for Thanksgiving and my family (on my moms side) does dinner so it works out perfect. My dad's side of the family does Thanksgiving on Friday afternoon. We had three Thanksgivings and it was great! My sister and I went shopping on Black Friday. We left our house around 5:00 and went straight to Old Navy. We didn't have to search for a place to park or wait in line to checkout, which was a HUGE surprise. Since stores open on Thanksgiving night now everyone had already been through. They still had plenty to look through. I ended up with a new pair of boots and a cute dress and comfy shoes! After we eat dinner at my mema's on Friday we all load up and go shopping to see if we can find anymore deals, without the crowds. This year we went to Mt. Juliet to shop...and that's where I was introduced to Home Goods. I don't know how I have never been there before but it was wonderful.  

This week is a week of lasts. Matthew graduates THIS Saturday! He is going to be back and forth between Cookeville and home until he starts his job in early January, but everyone else will be going home for Christmas break throughout this week. When they come back in January he will be living back at home and working. Sure he'll come up on the weekends some but it won't be the same. So we are going to try and make the most of it. We usually spend every afternoon/night with everyone at the SOC house and we usually find something to do. This past year and a half up here in Cookeville with Matthew has been so much fun. I only wish I had moved up here sooner. As much as I don't want him to go, I know it's what's best and the next phase in life. It just came so soon. We had our last tacky Christmas sweater party with the SOC last Thursday. It was a lot of fun and there was good food!

    Matthew got his new car! His brother works at Volkswagen so he is able to lease it through him. He put his car on Craigslist and other various websites to sell to locals and had talked with a lot of people. It blew my mind how many people tried to drop the price so low...as in almost $1000 less than he was asking for. He finally had someone look at it the Saturday after Thanksgiving and they bought it. He called the following Monday and his car was ready. What a blessing that was! So proud of him, he deserves his new car and he looks good in it too ;)   This weekend was very calm and relaxed. Matthew had to work a little bit of the TSSAA football tournament that was held here in Cookeville, just for a little bit for his econ class. We hung out at the SOC house most of Friday night. Saturday I wanted to clean my apartment and finish any Christmas decorations. I slept in until 9:00 which is SO unusual for me and then laid around until 10:00, I don't even know who I am anymore. I got up and started cleaning finally and then I heard a knock on my door. Matthew was standing there with a pizza and my favorite drink from Starbucks. He is so thoughtful and sweet!

We ate lunch and started Prison Break...oh my goodness we are hooked. We watched 4 episodes. He left to go to the SOC house and I finished cleaning and then headed over to the SOC house.   I finally hung up the clock Matthew got me a little bit ago. We found it at Essex's for $20! I found a similar one at Hobby Lobby for $80. So we were more than happy with the $20. I also picked up some Christmas placemats!

 

 

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Catching up // a week of lasts

SOC formal

I was able to get off at lunch on Friday so I would have time to get ready and not rush. So of course I celebrated with a large lemonade from Chick-fil-A. That stuff is INCREDIBLE. I could drink it for every meal

 

I curled my hair that morning before work just in case I wasn't able to get off early so all I had to do was touch it up and re-do my makeup. Matthew picked me up at my apartment and Ethan met us over there as well and we headed to the church to meet up with everyone else. We ended up having to drive separately since we had so many people going, but it worked out because all three of us were going to Murfreesboro after.

We stopped at Demos in Lebanon and had to wait a little bit so they could clear our a whole room for us. Demos chicken and rice soup...so delicious!! I ordered the fettuccine but next time I will be ordering the endless soup and salad for sure!

 

My handsome date :)

We headed to Opryland hotel after and made a huge group picture on the grand staircase and then we all split up and make our own pictures and got to walk around to see the lights.

some of the SOC guys

 

The lighting in there was terrible as always. We did have some made on a nice camera. These are all made from our phone. When I get the group picture and ones from the camera I will share!

The Christmas lights there are always so so pretty! And there are a ton of them!

 

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SOC formal

F R I D A Y

Is finally here! I have been counting down the days until THIS Friday would get here! I mentioned the other day about SOC formal, and it's tonight!! I am SO excited! I was always a little disappointed that I only got to dress up for some formal event in high school once. Most of my friends went to multiple proms and multiple formals. I absolutely LOVED getting dressed up for prom my senior year and making pictures. When I found out we were having a formal this year I was super excited and was on the look out for a cute dress! A couple of weeks ago I found my dress at a local consignment dress shop back home. The price was GREAT for what I was getting AND they will buy it back for the same price. HOLLA!   We are leaving this afternoon and heading to dinner and then to Nashville. We are going to look at the lights at Opryland hotel and make pictures. Have I mentioned how excited I am? Dressing up and making pictures with my good lookin man and some of my closest friends?! Seriously, what more could a girl want?! ;) I get off from work at 3:30 and we are leaving at 4:30 so I have asked to take off a little early, praying we are slow enough that I can!!   Make sure to follow along on my Instagram to see pictures tonight!

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F R I D A Y

Thrifty Thursday

Every Thursday we do what we like to call Thrifty Thursday. I look forward to it all day while I'm at work and everyone else loves it, too!   Thrifty Thursday... It's where a big group of us from the SOC get together and go shopping/looking/eating.   Our first stop is Essex. If you don't have an Essex's it's a bargain store. They basically have everything there. A lot of there stuff is name brand just at a much cheaper price. They put dates on all their products and the longer it's there the cheaper it becomes ;)

{Source} Sometimes we find things at a great price and sometimes we just don't see a thing. I personally enjoy looking at their furniture and homegoods. They also have clothes! A few of the guys that go with us have found great items at great prices and then sold them on Ebay for their original price.   Our next stop is none other than Goodwill. We usually don't stay there too long becuase it does have a pretty bad smell in there, but a few people have been able to find some pretty cool things! The Goodwill in Cookeville is pretty big and usually has a lot of furniture. I love looking at the furniture, it's where my desk came from! I also like looking at their antique plates and picture frames. And sometimes we try on old dress over our clothes, becasue why not?! Look at those sleeves ;)

Our last stop is Sam's Club. If you don't have a Sam's Club in your area, then it's similar to Costco or BJ's, I believe. We don't go there to shop necessarily. We go there to EAT! Matthew and I can both eat there (with a drink) for around $8.00! We both get the pizza combo (2 pieces of pizza and a large drink) The only bad thing about their food...it's awful for us! Not healthy AT ALL. We know that but once a week isn't too bad (right??) and who wants to miss out on thrifty Thursday and CHEAP food with some of their closest friends?! Not to mention that pizza is delicious. The people there actually recognize us now because we come in once a week lol. Sometimes, depending on the time, we walk around Sam's to see what they have...we usually just go to the furniture section and all the guys sit on the couches while us girls browse the store or we just try out all the furniture :) 

  So that's what Thrifty Thursday is! We've had anywhere from 5-10 people go with us on Thursdays. It's a lot of fun. Today is our last one before Thanksgiving break and then after that we only have 2 left this semester. I'm hoping we do this next semester, too!

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Thrifty Thursday

Weekend recap: Sunsets and bridesmaid dress shopping

I had to go home this past Friday night to get my bridesmaid dress sized and ordered for my best friends wedding next fall. I love our hour drives to and from home with Matthew. We talk about anything and everything. And most of the time it's without any interruptions, we don't get cell service most of the way ;) We also get to enjoy theses views. I probably have about 50 pictures on my phone of sunsets, they just keep getting better and better!

Kathleen had a $20 off coupon for all of us to use on the bridesmaid dresses...score! After that we went to one of our favorite pizza places in town, Sir Pizza. Seriously the best and we ended up talking for so long we were the last ones there! It's always so good to just catch up with your best friends over good food ;)

Saturday was busy and I didn't stop until that night. I went to my sisters basketball practice for a little bit and then headed down to Nashville to pick up my contacts at my eye doctor. Then ran a few errands back in town. We were having girls and guys night with the SOC that night so we had to head back to Cookeville that afternoon.

Again with the sunsets...I just can't stop!!

The girls night theme was spa night and the guys were having a video game tournament. It was a lot of fun and very relaxing for us girls! I picked up some face masks at the store and made a lip scrub. I cut up come cucumbers as well ;) we watched Safe Haven and had pizza.   The guys had a pretty intense night of basketball and football tournaments/playoffs I heard...

  Sunday it rained ALL day long. A group of us went to lunch together after church and then after that I was out. I took a long nap and it was GREAT. The perfect weather for a Sunday nap after church. Seriously, those are my favorite. After church last night I cleaned my apartment some and washed my sheets. There is nothing better than climbing into bed with clean and warm sheets fresh out of the dryer. I was out like a baby last night!   There is talk of some snow showers today, it is very cold and windy. I am missing the fall weather. I feel like we went straight from summer to winter. I am hoping and praying for good weather this Friday! We are having our first ever SOC formal! I have been counting down the days for this! I got my dress a couple of weeks ago at a consignment dress shop back home! It was a great price AND they will buy it back for the same price! The lady told me they had just gotten the dress in that week, so I was pretty darn excited! I have never worn this color (with a formal type dress) and I have been trying to decide on makeup options that I want to do! I'm just working with what I have but of course Pinterest is helping ;)

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Weekend recap: Sunsets and bridesmaid dress shopping