Monday Chats

Happy Memorial Day! I feel as if our preacher at home said it best yesterday morning at church, It is an honor and our responsibility to remember those who have served. I could not agree more! So thank you to all those who have served our country . Your time, efforts, and sacrifice will never go unnoticed. As I am typing this I am at home and sitting on our front porch. The rain has just started and I have been watching these two squirrels chase each other off and on for the past two hours. One of my favorite things about being home is waking up earlier than my family and coming downstairs to sit on the front porch by myself. By far the best way to start my day. As dramatic as it sounds, these mornings are coming to an end soon and I am really going to miss them. Don't get me wrong, waking up at our new place with my HUSBAND, after we are married, excites me more than anything, but it won't be the same as waking up at home. The place I lived at for 20 years and the place I have been coming home to almost every weekend since I moved out, two years ago.  We are 54 days away from our wedding and it still hasn't really hit me that WE are getting married. I'm not really sure why lol it just hasn't. I am watching so many friends get married (we knew 5 people who got married this past weekend) right now and I just keep thinking to myself, "I can't wait until OUR day" but it still feels so far off. I'm sure it will hit me soon, like when my dress finally gets here!!!! Fingers crossed it's this week or next week! I have been so anxious about it. So much has changed for our wedding, all my "plans" I originally had are almost gone and have been replaced with new ideas. I'm not mad about it, my taste has just changed, as well as being fiscally responsible. I just can't imagine pouring so much money into 1 day. Most of the decorations if not all will be used as decor in our home after the wedding is over. I just can't think about buying stuff for the wedding and then have nothing to do with it after our day is over. So I am working with my aunt to make sure whatever we decorate with at the wedding can be used to decorate our home. Mine and Matthew's 5 year anniversary is coming up this Friday. I still can't believe it's almost been 5 years. Usually I already have our anniversary planned out and his gift, but this year, to save on money, we are keeping it low key. I think we are going to a Sounds baseball game and grabbing dinner somewhere before, and that is perfectly fine with me!  Today's plans include, wedding crafting and shopping for my mom a dress for the wedding! HAPPY MONDAY

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Monday Chats

From first wedding gift to flat tire

This past weekend was a fun one! I spent time with my family on Friday night. We went to dinner and then walked around the square! I absolutely love our little square in my hometown. During the summers they have the farmers market there, and in the winter it's where they place a huge Christmas tree and light it up. There are all kinds of events that take place up there and a ton of cute stores and restaurants on it. The weather was great so we enjoyed just walking around and talking

Saturday afternoon I went to a spring tea with Matthew's mom for his grandmother. She lives in an assisted living home and every year in the spring they have a spring tea for all the women there, and they get to invite female family members. This year was my fourth year going and I have really enjoyed them. I love seeing all the cute elderly ladies that live there get all excited and dressed up for it. All of the ladies that live there got to pick a rose out to take back with them to their room and she had me pick out which one I liked best. I chose pink because it matched my dress!

When I got to Matthew's house to meet his mom to go to the tea he told me we had a wedding present waiting for us to open...Our FIRST wedding present!!!!! How exciting!!!!!

We were so excited to open it that we didn't think about taking a picture so we went back and recreated opening our first present lol

The silverware we picked out! My aunt and uncle from Michigan sent them to us since they won't be able to make it down to the bridal shower, so sweet! We are so thankful for sweet and caring family members. What a fun first gift!! :)

Saturday night my family had our first cookout of the summer...there is nothing better than a good ole cookout with your family! Daddy grilled some delicious burgers and we had carrot cake for dessert...YUM!

Sunday after church I decided to run by Jimmy Johns and grab a salad wrap. I have been OBSESSED with these delicious things. SO good and SO much better for me than all that bread, even though Jimmy Johns has some of the best bread...period. We are having our engagement pictures taken ONE week from this Sunday so no bread for me these next two weeks!

Anyways, while I was there I must have ran over something because as soon as I pulled into my driveway my tire pressure light came on and advised me of low tire pressure. That has happened before so I honestly didn't think anything of it until I parked on our patio and got out. That's when I heard it and saw it, the air was definitely leaking out...quickly. 

I went inside to get my dad and he came out and put the spare tire on for me. So handy, seriously he knew exactly what to do- good thing because I had NO idea. They should teach that in high school or something. 

After he put the spare tire on we looked on the old tire and found what I ran over...

We have no idea what that is other than a piece of sharp plastic...gross!

Daddy told me I couldn't go over 50 mph with the spare tire on. I didn't think it would be too hard until later that afternoon. We were on the way to church and we were on 840 which is a state hwy. The speed limit is 70. Matthew drove behind me with his flashers on but it was just too dangerous, and I knew it would be even worse driving on the actual interstate, at night, trying to get back to Cookeville. I called my mom and she met me and took my car and I took my dad's truck. He took my car to the shop on Monday morning for me so they could put a new tire on and I drove his truck and came home on Monday afternoon to switch back. I am so thankful for my parents!! They helped me a lot and I really appreciated it!!

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From first wedding gift to flat tire

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

My sister's last formal

This past weekend was my sister's last DBS (high school sorority) formal. She has gone the past three years, and it's been fun watching and helping her get ready for them. 

She borrowed the dress from a good friend since she is going to her senior prom next month...dresses are EXPENSIVE!

She went with her boyfriend of almost a year!

The group she was going with went to one of their friends house to make pictures since it is GORGEOUS! It was raining most of the day but the front porch was big enough and made for a great place to make most of the pictures! Seriously, beautiful white porch. 

Mady asked me to do her hair. I thought at first she just wanted to curl it and put it half up, so I agreed. Then she said she wanted to wear it up. It turned out better than I thought but I was definitely nervous about it!!

We actually practiced the weekend before to make sure we found an up-do she liked  and if I could do it lol. We tried on up-do and it was just not working...at all. So we went with another one and it turned out a lot better. I told her she couldn't lay down for the rest of the week until her formal so it would last ;) It was a good thing she chose to do an up-do because the weather was gross on Saturday! Now, I just need to learn how to do this on my own hair and we will be set!

We ended up going on Sunday to get her prom dress...it is so cute and she looked great in it! 

It was a busy weekend but we had a good time!!

I can't believe she is a senior and will be starting COLLEGE next year. Next month she turns 18! #proudbigsister

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My sister's last formal

Productive weekend

Friday night we had our annual back to school night with the SOC. Every year the 1st Friday back from Christmas break we all get together and do something. Last year we rented out the Fit and then went back to the SOC house for life size jenga. This year we had junk food at the SOC house and then went to a local church's gym and everyone played all types of games.  Matthew decided to drive up after work to surprise everyone. I knew he was coming Thursday night and was giddy all day Friday at work. Everyone was definitely surprised to see him and we all had a good time.  They are cleaning out their apartment and Matthew already has majority of his stuff packed up and taken home, so we didn't think about where he was going to sleep. Thankfully his bed is still there with the mattress. He took some extra blankets and a pillow from my apartment for the night lol.
Saturday I woke up and we had gotten a little bit of snow

As much as I HATE winter, it's still pretty. Thankfully it warmed up throughout the day and it all melted :) I made it home in time Saturday morning to watch my sisters second basketball game and then went to lunch with my family. After lunch I hopped on 840 and met Matthew. We were meeting with my aunt to go over wedding planning. She has grown up in the wedding industry and knows EVERYTHING about weddings and the planning process. Which is good for us because we hardly know anything, ha! Her grandmother opened a dress shop up a long time ago and then her mom took over it and runs it now. They have a ton of wedding dresses as well as prom dresses. Kim advised it probably wouldn't be good to go on a Saturday because right now because it is prime time for high school girls shopping for prom dresses and they are usually packed on Saturdays. So Kim's mom has offered to come in on a Sunday and open up the shop just for us so I can look for MY WEDDING DRESS. I am literally so excited I can't stand it. So incredibly grateful.
Kim went over everything there is to know in the planning process. From how many tables we are going to need for stuff to the flowers. I'm telling y'all, I am clueless on this stuff. Also on that Sunday we go look at dresses we are going to the flower place in Nashville, to pick out and price what we want! I honestly just want simple flowers, nothing crazy fancy or crazy expensive. Because let's face it, they are going to die. Which also leads me to the option of fake flowers. She used them in her wedding and I honestly thought they were real until she told me this past weekend. We will have a mixture of both!
Matthew received an email from the leasing manager from our apartment and she said we can come see our actual apartment this past weekend, a week sooner than planned. So after we met with Kim we booked it down there to see them before the office closed. We walked in the front office and as soon as she saw us she started apologizing. She got the apartments mixed up and the apartment across the hall from us is the one that was available to do their walk through this past weekend. BUMMER. We were pretty bummed, but on the plus side we got to see who is going to be living right across from us. They are a cute young couple!! Who knows maybe we'll be friends one day. So we left but decided to drive around the apartment property again since we were already down there. Seriously, so EXCITING.  THIS coming weekend we get to do our walk through and see our actual apartment. So it looks like we will be going back down there this weekend. Woo hoo!

Sunday after church I worked on my bridesmaid gifts. I wasn't able to work on them at all last week so I am determined to finish them this week. I ended up deciding that I didn't like what I had originally worked on so I redid it this past weekend (about 3 hours on Saturday night worth of redoing, but it'll be worth it!). I went Sunday afternoon to get all the stuff to put it together. Slowly but surely these bad boys will be making their appearance to the blog!   
This is a really long post with only one picture, so I will leave you with this...hilarious!! 

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Productive weekend

New beginnings and Weekend Happenings

Another weekend has come and gone. It was a good one! Matthew starts work today!! I am so excited and proud of him. I can't wait to hear how his day went when he calls me this afternoon after he gets off. As much as I was hoping for clear weather it's MESSY. He left early to avoid any traffic delays.   This weekend we got a lot done and were still able to relax.   -Friday night Matthew and I grabbed Subway for dinner before we ran some errands. We went to David's Bridal so that I could get some color samples of the bridesmaid dresses. I knew the color I just wanted some samples to give my girls. Then we went to JoS. A. Banks and Men's Warehouse to see the prices on buying suites for the wedding. We know the color of the suites and the style we just needed to know the costs and compare the two. We also went to the store so that I could get some things for my bridesmaids. I am so excited to work on their small gift I am giving them when I ask them. I have had this picked out forever and now I finally get to actually put it all together!!   -Saturday morning my sisters had a basketball game and won! After that I went to my best friend's house for her niece's 2nd birthday. She is absolutely the cutest little girl and is so funny to watch. Her party was decorated so cute and well planned out.

  After the party I went home and my mom and I decided to make a trip to Hobby Lobby to get some paint that I needed for the bridesmaid gifts. After that I spent the whole afternoon working on them and watching a movie with my family. It was a very relaxing night in.   -Sunday after church I went back home and worked on the bridesmaid gifts a little more. Then I went to see my nanny and visit with her for a little bit. I picked Matthew up on my way home and we were able to spend a little more time together before church that night. After church we ate dinner with his family at Which Wich, yum! I headed back to Cookeville last night a little after 8. It was a little hard driving back last night. I'm used to riding back with Matthew. I so enjoyed our hour car rides to and from Cookeville and will really miss it.

    Happy Monday!!

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New beginnings and Weekend Happenings

Weekend recap: Girls night and home!

Friday night was our first girls night of the semester for the SOC, and the first girls night I was in charge of. I was a little stressed out but we ended up having a great turnout! A couple of weekends ago I went on a ladies retreat with our home congregation and we had a little class and painted this:

So, since I knew how to do it already I decided that's the painting they could do Friday night!

It was so fun seeing everyone add their own personal touches to their painting, I loved it!!

 

Matthew and I drove home late Friday night so that I could make it to my sister's last soccer game the next morning, bright and early at 8:00am :) Love watching them play sports!

 

Saturday afternoon Matthew and I drove to Nashville to meet the rest of the SOC at Sky High and dinner! We went there a couple of times earlier this year and love it! It was definitely crowded but we got some good cardio jumping in :)

It was a BUSY weekend but we had a good time with everyone!

 

Please look at this road and tell me it's not GORGEOUS?!

 I can't wait to drive back down it in a couple of weeks when the leave are changing ;)

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Weekend recap: Girls night and home!

Saturday tea time

Saturday morning we had our Walk4Water bright and early. We had perfect weather for it and overall had a great time! Our goal was $4,800 and we raised $5,005!! We had 80+ people come out and walk with us, such a great group!!

We grabbed lunch right after and then headed home for the spring tea with Matthew's grandmother. This is my third year to go and it is always a good time! Love seeing all the residents light up with their family for this event. Nathan's (Matthew's twin brother) girlfriend, Jenny, got to come this year as well!

 



 

We also celebrated Mady's birthday Saturday afternoon

 

 

We also made a few stops at Sonic this weekend while I was home...

blue raspberry slush with nerds...my new favorite drink!!

 

HAPPY MONDAY!!

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Saturday tea time

Easter weekend at home

The past weekend was great!! So good to see family and have some down time at home. We came in Friday night, I dropped Matthew off at his house and then headed home. Pizza and the movie Frozen is what my Friday night consisted of and I didn't hate it.   Saturday my mom and I went and got pedicures and breakfast with my two best friends and their moms. It was a great morning and we had a lot of fun. IHOP never disappoints that is for sure!

Our mommas! That wind was something else!!

 

 

Love these girls more than anything! So blessed by their friendship over the years.

 

Saturday afternoon we had Easter with my mom's side of the family and Sunday afternoon we had Easter with my dad's side of the family.   My Easter dress...scored a great deal on this dress a couple of years ago and never have worn it. Tore the tags off of it this past weekend and fell in love!         I made my sister's little Easter baskets! Gotta love Target's dollar section :)    Love this picture of us! My sister's are beautiful    

The Easter bunny was good to me this year! I have plenty of candy to last me awhile lol

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend!! :)

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Easter weekend at home