Welcome Back to Reality...

We are back from our honeymoon and enjoying every minute of our new lives as newlyweds! Mike made the comment yesterday, asking if it was fun to come home and play house with my new husband. It's TONS of fun, but the best part is that we're not "playing" house...this is our new fun (and real) life together :) It hasn't completely sunk in yet that I am a married woman (already an old married one, according to a sweet lady at work haha) and that I live with a boy in a cute house that we can now call "ours."  But we're 12 days in, and I'm loving married life :)

The wedding was perfect. Not because every detail fell into place (because that certainly didn't happen), but because it was an incredible day filled with family and friends, love and encouragement. Everyone had cautioned that the time would fly by, and they were right; but I do believe the Lord allowed us both the ability to soak in and enjoy every moment that we could. I probably missed a ton, and cannot WAIT to relive the day through photos, but I am so blessed and thankful for everyone and everything. I promise to post more pictures later, but here is just a sneak peak of the day...

Some photos just taken by sweet friends and confiscated courtesy of good ol' facebook :)

Taking a quick breather before I walk down the aisle!

First Dance at Sunset...yeah, it was pretty awesome. 

Cutting the cake...

A couple of "sneak peak" photos from our lovely photographer...I am SO excited to see all of the photos she captured of our day!

So sweet...

Jillian (our photographer) called me "fierce"  hehe :)

We also had an AMAZING honeymoon. It was the exact right combination of rest and fun, and we enjoyed traveling together. More pictures of our beautiful beach vacay will come soon...somehow we managed to take pictures from 4 different cameras haha so we'll need some time to organize those ;)

I'll need some time to adjust to my new work schedule and routine as a wife, but will be sure to document as much as possible in future posts. As rough as my new work hours are, the reality of life with Mike so far is definitely a blessing :)

2...

I'm posting at the end of the day, but things have been busy :) Last night was the Bachelorette Party, which was SO much fun! My sweet bridesmaids took me to a place called Painting with a Twist where we were able to each create our own masterpiece ;) It was fun to be creative and just hang out, talk, and laugh with these sweet girls.

I stole these pictures from Nicki's blog, since she was our photographer for the evening ;)

We then headed back to Sami's house for a little late night swim and girl time. It was the perfect evening of relaxing and just enjoying being with sweet friends. I am so blessed to have each of these beautiful ladies (+ Lauren! who will come into town tomorrow) stand beside me on my wedding day.

My parents came into town today, so we were able to have lunch with them and show my dad our house, since he had not seen it yet. While Mike got ready for his Bachelor Party festivities, we were able to get some errands run and things done around the house. It was a fun day hanging out and relaxing, and I am so grateful that everything is done for the wedding so that I can enjoy this sweet time. Though I did mention at dinner tonight that as much as I am glad I am not running around finishing things up, it just seems to make the time go much slower...Friday is taking too long to get here! :)

days!!!

3...

days!!

I am officially on vacation from work, and it feels AWESOME. Let the wedding week festivities begin...

4...

days

until I marry the man I love :) I'm so blessed. And I'm so thankful!

Countdown in 5...

So today we get to start counting down on ONE hand :)

Things are wrapping up...today is our last Sunday at Woodcreek. It feels weird. It kind of feels like we're just going on vacation and we'll be back in a few weeks. But I know that's not the case. Sure, we will still see our friends and even visit from time to time, but when we get back from our honeymoon, we will be visiting other churches. So today I want to soak in the time I have left. I want to enjoy the people I have grown to love. I want to praise Jesus for the incredible gifts He provided in this church family. I want to thank Him for the time He gave me at Woodcreek.

Tomorrow is my last day of work. Unlike Woodcreek, I will be back to work after our honeymoon. But I get 2 full weeks of vacation, and I plan to enjoy every last second of it :)

And then all the fun wedding festivities begin! Nicki arrives tomorrow night. Tuesday is Bachelorette Party. Wednesday my parents arrive. Thursday is Rehearsal. And Friday is the day we've been counting down for...

days :)

1 Week!

Dear Cough/Cold/Nasty Sickness That Won't Go Away,

I am getting married in

days. Please GO AWAY. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Single Digits

As my dear friend Nicki said...today I get to start counting in SINGLE digits :)

days! :)

Last night we met with Scott and Nicole for our last "session" before the wedding. We enjoyed some yogurt with their adorable kids and then spent some time in prayer. As we went before the Lord with these sweet friends, I was reminded of how incredibly blessed we have been. How blessed we are to have a couple who would sacrifice their time to mentor us. How blessed we are to even get to celebrate with a fun wedding and a honeymoon. How blessed we are to have so many friends and family who love and support us. We're so excited!! :)

The Converging of Worlds

This weekend I worked on the seating chart for our wedding. As I sat down to arrange the tables, I realized how blessed we truly are to have so many friends and family who love and support us, who want to be a part of celebrating with us on our wedding day. And I realized how our wedding day is going to be the converging of many worlds. Several people have made the comment about how fun it is to have all of your favorite people together in one room at one time. I absolutely LOVE that, and that is probably one of the things I am looking forward to the most. Family, college friends, high school friends, childhood friends; family friends who have prayed for us, mentored us, even baby sat us. Co-workers and neighbors, both past and present.  I am so excited to have all of my favorite and most loved people all together. I know that it will be a whirlwind of a day and that the time will fly by so quickly. But how fun is it to know that the people you love the most are there celebrating with you? What a special time!

days!! :)

Hello Wedding Month :)

Today marks the first day of our wedding month! :) It's hard to believe that it's finally here. Back in December, July seemed forever far away. And now it's here!! 

Back in April, I began the crazy countdowns...many of them have passed, but now I can shorten some...

90  3 days until July 4th (and my other work holiday)

97  10 days until Nicki arrives and the wedding week festivities begin!!

98   11 days until my Bachelorette Party

100   13 days until Rehearsal Dinner

101   14 days until our WEDDING!

103   16 days until we're in Cancun :)

I do have a number of things to wrap up at work before I can leave for 2 weeks, so I would appreciate prayers in getting all of it done. I would get married right after quarter end haha. Someone asked me the other day how I was feeling about how busy things are with work and the wedding. My answer: It just doesn't matter anymore how busy things are or how little sleep I am getting. I'm WAY too excited to be stressed out or tired at this point :)

days!!