a little flower power!

Rhonda- bridesmaid extraordinaire- has been working away on my flowers for the bouquets and all. She has far exceeded my expectations for how good they might look! I went to visit this past weekend and this is what I found when I got there:

Don't they look just like something straight form the hands of Martha Stewart!?

And I couldn't wait to put them together into a pretty arrangement and carry them down the aisle...

Some are paper, some are fabric, some are tissue, some are lace. She even tea-dyed some tulle to match my dress! We've been finding little things here and there that just fit right in and make them even better!

How blessed I am to have such great, talented friends! I love them all and they are amazing!

Christmas in Dixie....(sing it with me now!)

For a bit of holiday humor, B-man and I decided last year to attend the Neck Parade down in, well, The Neck. Alas, it was much, MUCH more entertaining than we had ever hoped and so this year we decided to not only attend said "parade" but also to try and be in it. Yes, that's right, be IN it. Brandon has a type of vehicle that would fit right on in should we put a few lights on it here and there and drape around some tinsel. My brother also has a recently fabricated "vehicle" that he wanted to put in as well. So we made that our goal.... for next year. This year our schedules got a little too hairy and so, disappointingly, we didn't get to actually ride down the strip that is The Neck, but we attended nonetheless. We were NOT disappointed with who/what we saw.

I scored some sweet homemade pork skins too!

Fun times were had by all- even my 8-month-pregnant cousin who went with us! Nothing can stop her from some holiday fun!

Tis the Season!

So, apparently I've gotten carried away.... and then WAY behind on this blog! Note to self: I'd love a new blog look! One that is MUCH more picture friendly, and perhaps, PLAIN! I lika da' white space! Any suggestions on where to find such a domain... or a layout?

Now- to the point of today, yesterday, the rest of this week, and for that matter, all this month: MERRY CHRISTMAS! I'd love to post and update on all the goings on this month, including our very first showers!

Earlier this month my very-much-with-child matron of honor and a few of my awesome bridesmaids threw me a DIY shower to get started on all those favors and decorations I'm dreaming of making myself. And several other FABULOUS souls threw us a Christmas party/ cocktail-tease shower! It was an incredibly fun set of inaugural wedding events!

As soon as I get over my lethargy from cookie-induced comas and return from my fat-cation, I will post some Christmas pics from our festivities. Until then... enjoy the rest of your weekend! God bless us! Everyone!

my all time favs!

Here's a few more! There are PLENTY more that I ADORE, but these were the ones that I was able to share. The colors from our Sunday session (daytime pics) are what really makes me go YAY! Thank you SO much to my photographers, Devon and Katie, who gave us exactly what we wanted!

sneak peak!

here's a sneak peak at one of our recent engagement sessions!

I fall absolutely in love with them... and HIM... all over again every time I look at them!

Halloween's been reduced...

.... to nothing more than this

So it's official! The holidays are here!

Halloween to me is the certain beginning of the holiday season and now that has come and gone, I feel quite comfortable saying, "this holiday season" in reference to the present!

I have been minus a voice for almost a week now of this week which made for a very interesting time in the Media Center at Greenwood. Regardless of what was going on with me, students still came in with classes and they still had to checkout books. I can pop in all the movies I want, but the ultimate goal is that they (all 738 of them!) only visit me once a week to get what they need- and let me tell you- that requires some talkin'! If I repeat myself one more time...

I seriously just need to make me some posters and point. That should save me a ton of talk time!

Anyway, last weekend I went to Greenville to run/ walk in the Spinx Runfest with Tara Jane and her hubby, Christopher, as well as my best good friend (and bridesmaid) Rhonda! We visited with some dear friends from college that I personally am so excited to have re-connected with and we all did our best to make it to the finish line, in the rain mind you! But it was a great good time!

And while I was there, Rhonda helped me get started on flowers for the wedding! These aren't the best photos of them, but these are some samples we made to see just how easy/ hard it might be to churcn some of these puppies out. These two are made of tissue paper. She is also going to try some out of paper and fabric to see if they might all come together to be one (8) big, beautiful bouquet(s)!

I am so very thankful for my crafty friends who are so willing to help me! I'd never be able to do any of this without their help and encouragement that my ideas might actually come together and workout! Thanks so much guys!! Love you Rhonda!

Pave' Maria.

I'm sorry, I had to. And if you don't get me on the title, it's because I believe "Ave Maria" to be one of the most beautiful songs ever (and very well re-mixed and danced to for Zumba! :)) and it seemed very appropriate for the subject matter in this post.

Brandon and I went to Christopher's Fine Jewelry in Pawley's Island last weekend to pick out our wedding bands! Being the planner that I am, I, quite naturally, had in mind something of what I wanted (for both he and I no less).

The setting of my white-gold, emerald-cut, diamond solitaire is a Tiffany setting and so the band is actually raised a bit so that it's not flush with my finger. I absolutely LOVE it, as any girl would the diamond that she waited for and prayed for and longed for most of her years on this earth! And what I love most about it is that it is just that, a simple, classic, beautiful solitaire in a simply elegant setting that can be dressed up or down, can be added to but never taken away from no matter what one tries to put with it. So I was rather excited about this trip back to Christopher's from whence this treasure originated!

We showed up, were served drinks by the nice lady who offered to go clean my diamond while we browsed and Brandon and I proceeded to look for bands we thought we should try. Turns out, trying on wedding bands that you are going to wear against your no-less-than-perfect diamond ring for the rest of your life, is not very much at all like trying on shoes, as I thought it might be. First of all because most all shoes in my size look decent and I don't ever have a hard time choosing because I know that there are ump-teen things in my closet that I could pair with them and second, because I know that eventually they will wear out so I can go choose more! :)

This, however, was more like trying on pants, jeans even! Because no matter what size you are, they are always cut a bit differently, made a bit differently, fit VERY differently, and so on. And with jeans especially, when you find a good pair, a REALLY good pair, that fit just right and hug your best features just right and hide your worst features just right, you wanna keep those puppies around forEVER!

We found Brandon's pretty quick. We knew what we wanted, went for it, tried a few more for good measure and moved on.

But for me, I just couldn't quite decide.

I wanted one to compliment, but not overpower.

One that was similar but didn't look like it was made together.

One that was ornate and new, but classic and ageless.

One that was antique, but not dated...

you get the picture.... it really is going to be a tough decision, and I say going to be because I have yet to make it. It's okay, I have time. I did walk away knowing this: the Pave' setting is it. It is the most beautiful against my rock and the one that makes it sparkle and shine the most! Here it is..... Pave'- oh yay!