monday's memory: so many dresses!

i think one wedding post a week should be enough, right?

so today i'll take you on a journey of finding the dress.

i actually went to david's bridal less than a week after becoming engaged
stopping with a friend to get donuts on the way, because while i wanted to lose at least 25 pounds before the wedding (and i DID!) i was determined not to be completely overwhelmed and driven by that.

i tried on a few dresses that day.  here are a few of them:

 (thank goodness for my lovely friends brittany and natasha who were there for me in spades!)

after my front-runner for that day was spotted several times on facebook by myself, i decided i wanted no part in that dress.  and i didn't REALLY love it that much anyway.  so back to DB i went...several months later and about 10 pounds lighter...with my friend natasha.

several dresses were tried on.  we had a list of favorites, and we texted pictures of the ones we really liked to people who weren't able to be there.

the top runners were these:

and two days later i was back.  and not only was natasha there, every one of my local bridesmaids joined us.  plus anthony's mom, two of his aunts, and his granny.  oh, and plus two of my cell group girls.  if anyone is counting, that's 11 people including the 2 year old flower girl!  quite a party :-)

only 3 of our top 5 dresses were no longer there.  i decided to put a dress back in the running that *i* had loved, natasha had loved, and everyone hated in the picture.  i thought i may as well give them a shot of seeing it in person.  here's the picture we had sent:

i tried on 2 dresses which were received with "oh, that's pretty..." and then put this one on.  as soon as i walked out of the dressing room i heard gasps from everyone.  it was THE dress, and we all knew it.

natasha and i had a lot of fun telling them that they had ALL voted no on the picture of that particular dress.
;-)

and then it was time for them to find theirs.  i had always wanted matching bridesmaids, but i had such an array of height/weight/body shape in the 7 girls that were standing with me that i knew it wasn't a possibility.  i told them the color, and they all went searching.

5 girls came back.  5 identical dresses in the right color fit them all perfectly and looked GREAT on all of them.  and they all liked the dress.

at that point i texted the two out of state girls and told them the dress was chosen.  if 5 girls in nashville ranging from size 4 - 20 could look amazing in the same dress, 2 girls from indiana could as well.

the flower girl dress was easy to pick, although they didn't have it in the right color.  but we got the general idea ;-)

and the day of?  it was perfect.  the dress was the perfect weight, length and style for our outdoor wedding, the red was the perfect accent, and the bridal party looked GREAT together.  if i do say so myself :-)
(about half of these are candids.  i have SO many great professional pics to show you...but unfortunately do not have the cd of them with me at the moment!)

(i would apologize for this being picture heavy, but really...i think that's the point of the post, right?)

xoxo

it's a great day to learn to dance

or, at least learn how to dance better ;-)

our friend brittany is coming for lunch and to show us a few moves other than swaying and shuffling our feet.  which is good.  maybe we'll actually retain some of the knowledge for a week.

(holycrapaweek)

besides that both anthony and i are logging in extra hours at our respective offices, i'm babysitting for sweet finn, and hopefully i'll have time to do a bit of cleaning and straightening up around the house.

hope you have a wonderful weekend!!

it's a great day to...probably do more wedding stuff :D

yeah.
wedding stuff is eating my life these days
but it's ALL good :-)

in the next couple of weeks i'll show you some of the stuff we've come up with for the ceremony, reception, and gifts for the wedding party.

i can't wait to share it all with you...but i promise to not go into overkill wedding mode.  there will be other posts too :-)

hope you have a great weekend!  i'm off to try on our wedding bands and have lunch with a new friend...babysitting tonight...shower at church on sunday.

exciting and quite busy times!

much love,

what i'm loving wednesday (9.21)

i'm loving that i got to spend last friday night with some of my best girlfriends.  my maid of honor and bridesmaids threw my bachelorette/lingerie shower and it.was.a.blast!  truly, i was just happy to spend time with some of my favorite people...the rest was a nice bonus!
i'm loving that my future husband makes a mean lasagna, and that we have leftovers to last us quite awhile!  can we say comfort food?
i'm loving that baby g's favorite thing right now is to grab the nearest soft blanket or stuffed animal and call for "snuggles?"
i'm loving the flex hours with my office job.  i get to take babysitting jobs, which means more income, and work from home, and pretty much waltz into the office when i feel like it.  i try to the majority of my hours in AT the office, but it does mean that most of the time i can go into work at 10 am and miss the craaaazy traffic.  and feeling professional 3 out of 5 workdays a week is A-MAZING.
i'm loving that pumpkin delights are back.  ahhh, and that the stores near me carry them! (last year i only found them in one store!)
i'm loving fitting comfortably into (most of) my size 6 wardrobe.  there are some outfits that just won't work yet, but i'm so happy to say hello again to some of my professional clothes...
i'm loving thrift store finds.  i have bought a gazillion glass pieces for the reception for less than $50.  bonus is that i don't have any sentimental "hold" if something gets damaged or lost!

thursday's ten: the 'meep' edition

we're at 23 days, people.

and so? here's the skinny on what is done for the wedding since the last time i posted!

1.  chair rental is taken care of. 
2.  invitions are ordered and on their way
3.  engagment photo session is done
4.  cake selected
5.  flower place chosen, working on the order
6.  dress alterations begun (it had to go down a couple of sizes...)
7.  centerpieces for reception in process
8.  most of the food for the reception is purchased
9.  wedding coordinator person booked
10. moving most of both of our stuff to the house (i still consider that wedding stuff, since it'll help s be more settled and less stressed on oct 8 to be all moved in!)

what's left?  well, nitty gritty details (like the exact music, program order, etc) and paying for stuff.  lots and lots of stuff.  sigh.

hey, it's ok (tuesday)

hey, it's ok

...to really not like yogurt. like, at all.
...to sometimes wish that all the batteries would disappear out of the noisy and annoying toys
...to reaaaaallllly be ready for the new iPhone to be released already.
...to totally lay down on the couch and take the shortest catnap* ever while the baby is strapped in her chair eating breakfast. it was an early morning and it's the only time she's contained! ha.
...to be excited about the gifts for my bridesmaids. i'd get detailed, but a few of them read this blog...
...to have found it a total blessing that the second family i was working for switched childcare options on me. it has made my mwf schedule completely flex, and i can now babysit those days as well as working in the office. frankly, i'd rather work for clients i know and adore than the people who "broke up" with me via a text message!
...to be really looking forward to my lingerie shower/bachelorette party this friday. mainly because it means most of my best girlfriends will be in the same place as me for several hours! the other stuff is just gravy :-)
...to have hung out in the room with all the guys instead of the girls this past sunday afternoon. hey, football was on. just because my trams both lost doesn't mean i don't watch!
...to still be getting used to the new look for blogger dashboard.  but i like it?
...to be ready for naptime. for baby g. and who am i kidding...for me too :-)

*by "catnap" i mean i laid on the couch with one eye kind of closed and relaxed for 10 minutes while she ate the healthy and nutritious breakfast i'd made for her.  i just needed to rest! :-)


go here and see the original "hey, it's ok!" (and to read some pretty awesome other posts...)

settling in

at the end of june, anthony found out that his job had an expiration date
which was the end of august

clearly, not the BEST timing in the world's eyes
but we couldn't help think
that God was probably up to something

(little.did.we.know.)

we struggled for a few moments whether to apply at the townhomes we were interested in
finally settling on applying as we had planned
only stepping back if no job prospects had materialized for him by the time we were supposed to sign the lease in early september
a step of faith

and we continued tithing and giving beyond that when we felt so inclined
feeling that God has SO blessed us
that there's no reason to hang onto money that's not even ours
out of a spirit of fear

life went on
anthony began the job hunt
we were thankful that they had given him 2 months notice
but there were still some fearful moments

and then, in mid-july
i was driving home from job #1 on a friday when he called me
and the conversation started like this
"you are not going to BELIEVE the conversation i just...
actually...YOU'RE going to believe this."

he proceeded to tell me that our friends who had recently moved out of state
had been wanting to rent, rather than sell, their home
and that they really wanted us to live there
so much that they had low-balled the rent to $100 less per month than we'd be paying at the townhome.

when our friend T, the realtor handling all this
called him to tell him this
he explained that while that was an INCREDIBLY good deal
and one that would be perfect
we just weren't in a position right now to do that
because of his job uncertainty
and while we would obviously hate to not be able to pay rent at an apartment complex
we would REALLY not want to do that to friends

at that point she said "it's interesting you mention that..."
and explained that for some time these friends of ours
had been feeling that God might be asking them
to use this house as a ministry
to let people who are struggling financially
(just lost jobs, just starting out, paying down debt, etc)
stay in the house for a very reduced rent
or even free

we went to see the house the following sunday
and were absolutely floored
easily 3 times (at least) the size of the townhouse
(it's like God said "ok, I'll see your townhouse and I'll raise you...")

at the end of a cul-de-sac
facing the woods...
it's perfect.

and it's perfect for so many reasons

our mission statement that we had to write in our marriage prep class went something like this
"our mission is to serve and love families through hospitality, writing and teaching."

we thought it would be years before we'd be able to REALLY put that hospitality thing to work
but this house?  completely enables us to not only host large gatherings, but to offer beds and rooms to guests and friends for extended periods of time.  it's SO our heart to do that, and God just handed us the perfect place to do so.

anthony loves to tell people that before we were ever engaged we talked about "dream homes" for WAY in the future.  our list included the following *small* details

- a window over the kitchen sink (my wish)
- no tile tubs/showers (a's wish)
- a deck and nice backyard
- close to an interstate (a must in nashville) but a quiet neighborhood
- family friendly neighborhood
- a fireplace
- a big tub (me again)
- a HUGE kitchen
- lots of natural light
- a bonus room for a man cave (guess who ;-)

guys.  this house?  has every.single.detail and more.

my favorite part of the story has to do with a prophetic word that one of our pastors gave me a few months ago.  he was talking about my life and the things that had been taken unfairly.  and he said "there's a verse in the Bible that says that when the enemy steals something for you he has to repay it 7-fold" and that he really felt i would see fruit of that verse over the next several months, in every facet of my life.

when the mortgage company made that huge error last spring, i ended up with 10 days to move out of my condo

the other day i got a bit curious and decided to count the number of days from the day T had said "yes, absolutely start moving your stuff in the house whenever you'd like" to our wedding date.

i re-counted after the first count.

because the number?  was 70.  exactly 70.  7 times the amount of days i had to move a year and a half ago.

if i hadn't already been sure this was God...i certainly would have been at that moment.

meanwhile, anthony is working a temporary gig for the next several months
but we've been told to not pay a cent of rent until after our wedding.

God.IS.Good
don't you ever, ever doubt it

thursday's ten: choose your own adventure...

um.  it's been WEEKS since i've posted.  so today's thursday's ten is going to be a choose your own adventure.  each number is something i need to tell you about/update you on.  so...comment with a number or two and that will determine which order i go in!





1.  our housing situation...the amazing God-story
2.  anthony's job
3.  my new job(s)
4.  the recipes i've been trying lately
5.  how much weight i ACTUALLY lost on the diet :D
6.  wedding updates
7.  our indiana shower
8.  pinterest ideas that i've actually used
9.  women of faith in atlanta
10.  our friend's visit this weekend

SO.  all will be talked about (geez, i'd better get to typing), you just choose which ones first :D

and...yeah.  i promise i will get to my google reader now and start commenting on all your lovely blogs that i have truly missed SO MUCH.  in my defense i've been moving for the last 2 weeks and just got internet TODAY at the new place.  :-)

what i'm loving wednesday (8.10.11)

i'm loving that my schedule is getting ready to switch up for the FINAL time this year.  i'm going to have a 'normal' weekly schedule which means it will be SO much easier to actually schedule in a life ;-)

i'm loving fresh tomatoes from my garden (and from my dad's since i brought home an entire box last weekend!)

i'm loving the lifestyle changes that this diet has brought.  in my future i see stevia-flavored sweet tea, lower carb menus (at least 2-3 days per week with very few or no carbs), different approaches to cooking in general, and more balance between protein and veggies/fruits

i'm loving getting into a more realistic sleep schedule

i'm loving that we had a fantastic trip to indiana last weekend -- saw people i hadn't seen in years, some great friends, and ended up spending an impromptu evening with some great friends

i'm loving already meal planning with my future hubby.  i think we've come up with a system that will work so that we incorporate favorite recipes, have easy dinner nights, try out new recipes, and not get bored.  oh, and eat out once in awhile too :-)  our 'practice' month will be september

i'm loving our save the dates that we finally emailed a couple of weeks ago.  (feel free to visit our website if you so choose)