our precious home

it has been MONTHS since i have written!

a LOT has been going on and tomorrow nate and i will be purchasing an IPHONE!!!! so, i feel it only appropriate to blog what i have been up to since the new year to "catch up" in blog world. i will be writing in SEVERAL posts so as not bore you too much!

since then we have found the most perfect home to live in. we were coming home from church one sunday afternoon, which i feel is the most appropriate time to find a home. i remember endless sunday's when i was little driving in the car with my parents after church "looking at homes" = getting into trouble with my little sister and being "restricted" to our rooms when we finally arrived back to our humble abode. we didn't see any houses for rent so we took a back road back to my house and there it was. a tan little beauty with a FOR RENT sign in the yard!

it was nate's turn to call the number and he spoke to a perfect southern lady named Daphney. we met her 10 minutes later at the house and shook hands and had a house! this was the end of january and my lease didn't end until february 28th and his didn't end until march 31st. but, we paid rent for february 1st because we couldn't pass up this "3" bedroom, 1 bath home.

here are a few before and after pictures......





i will add the rest of the "afters" on another post!

lately

We're "tying the knot"!

Well, it has been a while since I have checked in.

Nate and I had the most wonderful engagement session with Paige Ewing. I had told her that we weren't very "posey" people and I was nervous about our session because Nate and I are picture people but he wasn't thrilled about an hour of photographs!

We went to Atlanta and met her at her husband's car dealership. We drove about 100 feet and stopped at a plot of land with some beautiful trees and covered in snow!

It was perfect. I wasn't too pumped when she was telling Nate to kiss my forehead (even though those pictures are my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE!). I was feeling as though Nate and I (mostly I) would look awkward taking pictures such as these.

As you can see, they turned out pretty good, and I don't think that we look awkward at all. Everything was so much fun and I am OBSESSED with the pictures. Paige was so great and we booked her for our wedding. She can pose us, and we didn't feel awkward and we felt like she can organize a large group of people, and with 7 attendants each and Nate being the youngest of 6, that is exactly what we need!

Here are a few more of my favorites:



TTFN.

the ever changing wedding....

Well, this Christmas break several things about the wedding have changed...for the best. Yes, we are still getting married (hahaha) on April Fools Day (I am still pumped about the date). The location has changed. We are now getting married at Houston Station and not The Parthenon. At first I was panic stricken and of course I was driving on the interstate through Chattanooga, Tn when the wedding plans changed. Nate remained calm (of course) and talked me through it and we made it home safely and reserved a new venue for the wedding all in a matter of hours!

We went and met with the wedding coordinator at Houston Station at 10:00am on New Years Eve and were there for 2 hours. We paid the deposit and organized all of the table and chairs and bartenders, valet and pretty much every other detail of the wedding. Nate kept asking me when I was going to start crying because I was so happy (yes, I cry when I am happy - I didn't cry when I got pulled over for speeding, but the tears started flowing when he let me off with a warning - I didn't cry when I realized I left my purse with hundreds of dollars of cash and a brand new camera at a public park in the middle of the city, but the tears were flowing when we drove back and it was right where we left it.) Surprisingly, I did not cry as Nate and I strode happily out of the venue with every detail in order, but I think I was TOO overwhelmed to cry tears of joy!

Since New Years Eve everything wedding has been AMAZING!! I have NOT been stressed and I have been thinking of more and more crafty things that I can incorporate into decorations! It has been so fun and now I understand why people have told me to enjoy the planning process because it sure is fun!

Another happening with the wedding...

I BOUGHT A WEDDING DRESS!! And what is so exciting is that Nate knows NOTHING about it! Before November 14th, 2010 I was totally comfortable with seeing Nate before the wedding and taking pictures. I was SO comfortable with it that I was even going to let him go to the alterations place with me to decide how I should alter my great-grandmother's wedding dress to make it my own. Well, after seeing Daron's face when he saw Sarah for the first time I decided that I did NOT want to see Nate before the wedding!

Now, back to the dress. I went to the alterations place with my mom and my lil' sis' MOH to try on the dress after some of the alterations had been done. DISASTER. I think that I gained about 87 pounds when I put on the dress, the lace slip did not fit and I had to wear jeans, yes JEANS, under the dress, and the plunging "v" in the front was sooooo inappropriate that I could not take my and off of my chest!!!! Well, tears started flowing when my mom told me that I did not have to wear the dress. I wanted to wear the dress, almost more than anything. Lindsay stepped up and went into MOH mode. She was making all sorts of valuable suggestions and trying to make me feel better. We left the alteration place and were planning on going to David's Bridal again to try on the 2 dresses that I had loved so much. Lindsay called my older sister and told her to meet us at the house; she ran downstairs and warned my Dad that I was actually upset and was not pretending as I usually do. The 5 of us, my mom, dad, my 2 sisters, and myself drove to David's Bridal. The place was EMPTY! We had a consultant who was from Nashville, which made the experience even better! I tried on about 20 dresses and the decision was between 2. I am extremely happy with my choice and I stare at pictures of myself in the dress several times a day!

Wedding update #3: I WON A FREE PHOTOGRAPHY SESSION with a photographer that I LOVE! About 53 of my closest facebook friends "liked" her page and she drew my name out of a Halloween pumpkin! I was so excited and nervous about the drawing that I made myself sick (totally worth it). It was the first thing that I have EVER won!! Yay! Nate and I are going home this weekend for our FREE engagement session and for my second dress fitting! I am beyond thrilled!

Well, I have a lot more to post about recent happenings and events in my life, but this has turned into a novel so I am going to update in another post!