rehearsal dress

i love any excuse to shop.  of course, our rehearsal dinner would be a perfect time for a new dress!  i'm just not sure what kind i should go with?

do i go with something white or save that for the big day?

do i go with something kinda white, like silver?

do i go with something purple-ish to match our theme?  (i really like this one.)

or do i go with something that's just.....fun?!?!

aruba, jamaica...

we booked our honeymoon!

ok, so we're not going to either of those places but we have booked a fabulous 7 day cruise to the caribbean and cozumel!

last summer around this time, johnathan and i took a trip to disney world.

we only stayed 3 days but it was probably the best vacation we've been on together.  while we were there, we saw all these people wearing buttons with sayings like "just engaged!" or "just married!"  we talked about how much fun it would be to go back for our honeymoon one day.

when we got engaged, we were lucky enough to have johnathan's dad tell us that he'd pay for us to go wherever we wanted on our honeymoon.  we thought about going back to disney world but something about it didn't seem right.  i really wanted to go somewhere tropical but not a place that was going to take forever to fly to.  we looked into the disney cruise.  turns out they go lots of places and leave from florida which is close enough to get to!  disney world might be for kids but i think we're going to really have a fun time!  neither of us has ever been on a cruise  OR to cozumel and the carribbean.  the only strange thing will be that it leaves 1 week after our wedding.  so, we'll get married, go back to work for a week, and then leave for the cruise.

now to get our passports!  bon voyage!

a weekend surprise

first of all, i'm sorry this has turned into more of a "house" blog lately and not so much a "wedding" blog.  honestly, other than ordering some small stuff online for the wedding, i haven't been doing much.  the big things are set.  3 out of 5 bridesmaid's dresses are ordered and the other 2 will be ordered in the next week or so.  my dress isn't in yet.  the boys still need their tuxes but that's much easier than dresses!  a few things can be done the next time johnathan and i go to the beach (which will hopefully be this weekend.)  so i kinda feel like we're stalled.

i guess our focus for the last few months has shifted to buying a house!  we closed last wednesday on our house and are very excited!  i've been over pretty much everyday to do something or just walk around and look!

this past weekend, my friend and bridesmaid, sarah, took a little road trip to roanoke rapids, nc for rapids jam...a 3 day country music festival.

before i left, johnathan told me i might have a surprise when i got back.  he loves his surprises.  of course, as soon as i got home i started to ask him about my surprise.  he reminded me that he said i "might have" a surprise.  so after lunch at zaxby's, our plan was to take the VERY heavy kitchen table box over to the house on the back of the wrecker.  when i walked into the living room at my mom's house, i realized the table box was gone.  shows how much attention i pay to things!  it definitely wasn't there last night either!  so, i knew something was up.  we drove over to the house and i noticed he'd sprayed the ant colony that had decided to march up and down our porch column.  i walked on in the living room and there sat the couch and loveseat that we'd decided to buy!  SURPRISE!  i was really happy!  apparently all the furniture got to ride on the roll back thursday night!

after some hugs, we went on with today's project of putting together the kitchen table that i bought over memorial day weekend.  it's super cute and it's counter height so it'll be fun to sit at!

here's a pic of johnathan...aka...bob villa...putting together the table.  actually, he was trying to tell me that the table legs were too short and we were going to have a midget table.  ohhhh johnathan.  :)

it was a pain in the butt but he finally got the whole thing put together!

while he was screwing and tightening, i was decorating!

i just love my canisters from crate and barrel!

it's starting to feel like a home!



happy birthday ananda!!

happy birthday to my bridesmaid and friend, the fabulous ANANDA!!  well...we call her ananda.  she's really amanda!  that name came from another birthday year when leah and i got ananda a cake to celebrate.  we took a road trip to greensboro, nc to visit ananda.  when we picked up her cake, the "m" looked more like a "n" and so the name ANANDA came about!  she thought it was so wonderful that we've called her by it ever since!  i think if she could permanently change her name to it, she would!

anyway...we love you ananda!  wish we could take another road trip....this time to georgia.....to celebrate with you!  i miss you but i hope you have the best day ever and i will see you soon!

-xoxoxo-

happy birthday sam!!

happy birthday to my future sis in law and bridesmaid, sam!  we love you and hope you have a very special day!  we can't wait to celebrate with you this weekend!

the love of family

with all of the crazy planning that comes along with a wedding, the little things like having your family there, is sometimes forgotten.

i've been blessed with having 2 families for the past 17 years....my own family and the quick's.  leah, my matron of honor, has been my best friend for the last 17 years.  we have always been a part of each other's family.  i am an only child so leah has been the sister i've never had.  her parents have always loved me and welcomed me into their family as if i was their 3rd daughter.  i love them more than words can say.

today, the world lost a very special man.  leah's dad, mr. charlie quick, passed away.

i will always remember how funny he was.  he could make us laugh so hard when we were all together.  i'll remember his crazy food concoctions...the spicier the better!  i'll remember our bowling trips and snacks at bojangle's.  i'll remember whenever johnathan would go with me to leah's house, her dad would ask "you bring me any shrimp?"  to which johnathan would reply "no, maybe next time!"  after leah and pony got married, another popular question of his was "so when are ya'll gettin' married?  it's about time!"

it makes me smile to know that although he won't be with us on october 22, he knew that it was finally going to happen.  i know he will be looking down on us that day at the beach...possibly hoping for some shrimp.  :)

we will miss you mr. charlie!  we love you!  i know you'll watch over your family from above.  they are so lucky to have you as their angel.

this is one of my favorite pictures from leah and pony's wedding, of her and her daddy.  so sweet.



the most wonderful time of the year

johnathan and i have always been huge fans of the nc state fair.  we always go at least twice, if not more.  it's one of the reasons why october is my favorite month!  we just can't get enough of the footlong hotdogs, carmel apples, free hushpuppies, i love pickle stickers, and nc state ice cream! 

i just saw where they released this year's nc state fair logo.  it made me smile because it's right around the time of the wedding!  and this year's theme is "love a fair".....get it?  so perfect for the wedding!  our schedule is going to be jam packed with last minute wedding details around that time but i know we'll find time to go to the fair!  it just won't be october 22!  maybe we should've had our wedding on the ferris wheel? 

so until october 2011....here's some of my favorite fair trips from years past!