After all is said and done ...

I'm not sure if anyone is still reading this. I wanted to add a couple things just in case someone is still following along. The honeymoon was amazing! Jamaica was beautiful, hot and sunny everyday. We had a blast together and it was definitly worth the plane ride and bus rides. We took a combined 650 photos of everything. I was trying to find some way to share the good ones with everyone so I uploaded them to my long lost flickr account. I still have another camera to upload from which is mainly underwater photos from our stingray snorkeling adventure and fun ones from the pool and white water tubing. Those will be uploaded at a later date and I will be sure to let everyone know. In the meantime, enjoy our dry land photos! http://www.flickr.com/photos/18991016@N06/

The BIG day! =)

Here it is, the day I've been waiting for, well basically my entire life but definately for the past year and a half.

It feels different than I imagined.

Here I am sitting at my desk, writing thank you cards and listening to Nickel Creek trying to cherish the small moments and absorb the reality of the day.

I am so excited and my excitement is also shadowed by my crazy nerves that seem to keep me shaking at all times.

I have not seen Brett today and that feels very weird, him and Lukey being away make for a very silent home. I am not much for silence.

Tonight is coming, its coming so fast! I will see you all in just a short while. I hope I don't fall up or down the stairs =) I don't want to end up on You Tube Monday morning, haha.

Until next week.

1 more morning until the big ceremony

It is practically our wedding day. It has been now for 33 minutes and its all still kind of like a dream to me. Time flies by so quickly that I am not sure how it feels like I just woke up and we are here already. Today was a typical day before the big day. It was most of how I would have imagined it to be. This morning we dropped Luke off at the kennel and said our goodbyes for the week. The leave was made easier by his willingness to go to the play area alone and without trying to follow me out of the door which always breaks my heart and makes me feel like a terrible person to leave him like that. He went right in and didn't look back, he even kind of looked excited about it. I have to say that I miss him like crazy already and have thought about him at least a hundred times since this morning. Brett and I then ran a few errands and Bonnie and I went off to have our nails done and for me to get my first pedicure, which I did enjoy actually!

Afterward I locked myself out of the house and my mom had to come let me in because Brett didn't have his phone on him, which was pretty embarrassing but humorous nonetheless.

Then we had rehearsal and Uncle Tony and John helped us move chairs and the stage just right. They were a tremendous help for us!

Rehearsal went well and had its funny moments, especially when Brett and I were asked to say the pledge of allegiance in replace of our vows and we both got it wrong! (sorry America)

Then came rehearsal dinner which was amazing. We all had a great time and meshed so well together as one big family. My mom was actually in the same room as my dad's family for the first time in about 20 years. That was a huge deal for me and it felt great.

Brett gave a great toast and we all had a nice meal.

Of course in all of the laughter there is always tears and those surely came for Brett and I when we opened Uncle Paul and Uncle Tony's gift to us. It was 3 gorgeous paintings that Paul had painted and picked out to bless our home just as they had their home for so many years. Those paintings mean so much to both of us and we will truly find the perfect spot for them to be cherished by all that visit. I know that Paul will be there with us tomorrow to share in our day. I am so glad to call this family my own. We really love you all so much and cannot begin to express our gratitude for everything that you have done for us.

We are so excited about the future together.

I will see you all very very soon =)

Until next week ...

2 days and thats it

I looked at the clock today at 8:00 and thought omg in less than 48 hours we will be married.

When did we get so close? It feels like yesterday that I noticed we were under 100 days on our wedding countdown.

I have been so exhausted today. We've been getting enough sleep but being so busy every single day and running around like I have severe ADD really does take its toll.

I had a list as long as a piece of notebook paper that needed to get done today and some how got it all done and then some by 7:00. I decided that it would be a good day to shampoo the carpets so that we can come home to a nice clean house without carpet stains =)

I sat there with a glass of champagne and my carpet shampooer for over an hour downstairs and was happy with the results.

Brett got the yard mowed and I explained to my brother what all needed to be done while we are away so that my fish nor my flowers are dead when we return.

Also our flowers came in to my parent's house today. My mom says that they are beautiful! Bonnie (my maid of honor) spent the morning with my mom helping her with flowers while I got things done here. I'm excited to see what they look like.

In the morning we are dropping Luke off at the Kennel for the start of his 11 day stay. The longest I have ever been without Luke in 3 1/2 years is 2 days and let me tell you that those were 2 very long days. He has been my right hand pup since he was 7 weeks old and I don't even like to imagine leaving him for this long. I hope that he doesn't think I am leaving him forever.

I do plan on being that crazy person that brings a bag of toys and treats to keep him entertained however =)

Leaving Luke has been the biggest challenge for me, then the plane. I know that Jamaica will surely help to ease my anxiety once we are there. We are both looking forward to a nice vacation.

Until tomorrow ...

3 Days ...

Life is not measured by how much money you make or how successful your career is. It is measured by how many of the people you want to love you actually do love you in the end ... My feet feel like I have been walking for miles. I haven't, I am actually just sitting in a desk chair but that's how uncomfortable my wedding shoes are. I have two separate pairs I have been going between and they both make my feet scream for mercy. I have yet to decide which one I will wear. I picked my dress up for the final time at alterations today. It fits great. I realized that my idea of changing into flats for the reception would not work with the length however so Brett and I went on a hunt for yep you guessed it more shoes! I bought 2 pairs of wedge flip flops for dancing. I also have to decide which one of those I will be wearing. Oh decisions. Can I just say that it is very hard to find vases in this town. Somehow I miss counted the vases and needed 4 extra. Brett and I searched 4 different stores before finally finding some that we could use. They don't match the others but I have begun to understand that if I worry about little things such as vases that I will surely go insane. I don't know what I would have done without my mom during all of this time. She really has gone above and beyond in every way imaginable. I am very thankful for that. I have 3 days to prepare for my first plane ride. Wish me luck. Until tomorrow ...

Whoo hoo 4 days

Well really almost down to 3 days. I forgot to post today and just remembered as I was getting ready for bed. It has gotten so late and there are still so many things that I want to do. Maybe I shouldn't have spent an hour watching recorded Jeopardy's =) I saw a great band show today. Stoney Creek was amazing as always and it was a fun time. If for only an hour it helped take my mind off of all of the things that I should have been doing to prepare for the wedding, but I would have much rather been there and I'm glad that I was. I remember a couple of months ago talking to Brett about how busy he thought we would be the week of the wedding. We both had mixed feelings because all of the wedding blogs I spent reading had mixed answers on the subject. Now I know first hand and honestly I am much more calm than I had expected to be, maybe that's a bad thing and I going to forget something. Someone today told me as long as I had clean underwear and a toothbrush I had nothing to worry about. I liked her advice! Mamaw H. also told me to not "fix something that is not broken" she was referring to my face and not getting all dolled up just because it is your wedding. I agree with her completely and while I will be a little "dolled up" I am not going to the extremes that I have seen before. I am excited about getting my hair, nails and makeup done, its a true pampering and helps make you feel special. We're getting so close, I almost wish I could stop time if only for a little while to just truly soak all of this in and enjoy it for as long as possible. Until tomorrow ...

5 days

Since Brett and I got engaged my friends keep telling me how lucky I am. Not only because I found a great guy, and a good looking one at that! But also because I have gained a wonderful new family as well. People tell me that's not always easy to do and I should feel very fortunate. I always respond with "Believe me, I know how lucky I am, and I thank God everyday for it."

Brett and I both thought that today was going to be an easy day, with a little packing, a couple of errands and maybe a dog walk and we would be done. As easy as that sounded it of course turned out to not be such. Brett started the morning practicing guitar for the show tomorrow, going through the set list and making sure it all sounded smooth, it was nice to listen from the other room as I got ready and just take peace in his music.

We then shared a great lunch at our favorite restaurant and bought a few more gifts and extra wedding items. Once we got home we decided to get the silverware wrapping out of the way.

Let me just say that last week I tried doing this with different napkins while he was working and it took me about 20 minutes to wrap 8 silverware =/ I thought that I was going to go crazy before I got anymore done so I gave it up. Today we got 150 silverware sets wrapped in 1 hour. Somehow we ran out of spoons so we had to drive back to the store to buy more and while we were out we went to a few other stores for honeymoon clothes that Brett needed.

I was completely amazed to have gotten the worst of the weeks chore out of the way in an hour. Not only that but we had a great time doing it. We set up a nice assembly line, he wrapped, I tied bows and we listened to Tony Rice in the background and had a nice conversation. Today was good. I am really going to miss all of this when it is over. I will probably wonder what to do with myself when I don't have lists on post it notes in every room =)

I am really looking forward to the Stoney Creek's show.

Until tomorrow ...