Happy New Year!

Theses are just some pictures from Christmas in Florence with my family. We just got back from Ohio last night a little after 9 and I will be posting pictures and all of that good stuff soon!! Right now, we're just being lazy and unpacking !


Here is Brendan carving the turkey. He had to take Randy's (my step-father) job this year in doing this because he, too, had a yucky virus! I think Brendan did a great job! This is my beautiful mother and my amazing great grandma!
Kaleigh and I. We do this picture every Christmas. Unfortunately, I was not 100% from that icky virus so I look pretty rough but my Kay-Bug is absolutely beautiful! Look at those eyes!
All of the great-grandkids and great grandma! Well, I take that back, Farrah and Mandi are missing in the picture! Unfortanely Farrah lives in NY and Mandi was at the beach with her dad and family.
My Papa and all the grandkids. My brother is the only boy! I have NO idea where he got his height from!
So Christmas came and left. It's so hard to believe! Every year, I'm amazed by how much preparation goes into Christmas and how fast it leaves! I suppose I need to take down all the decorations soon. Maybe I'll do it today. I can't wait to display/talk about our trip from Ohio! We had tons of fun and I loved meeting everyone! OKay, I will stop at that because the Talty's and Clark's are a whole new blog in itself! Happy New Year everyone! Be safe and very careful!

Why are there so many Scrooges?

As it seems lately, no one has the Christmas Spirit! I love Christmas! It's such a happy, remarkable time AND it only comes once a year so enjoy it!! I've noticed that there are quite a few people who's spirits have been that of Scrooges! This makes me awfully sad! "Put a smile on your face, make the world a better place." ((Yes, I can be a corn ball on occassion)) :)

Don't get me wrong, I'm not overly peppy, but I want people to be cheerful! So please, be cheerful. Santa is NOT liking all this grumpiness! That is all for now. OH! Pictures to come later of the house all decorated!

Just for no good reason at all...

So not much to really update on as far as wedding stuff goes! Brendan and I did pick our invitations out and they are going to be pretty simple. We chose something a lot similiar to the picture here that I posted. We have to figure out the wording since it's a little more complicated with me- with my parents being remarried and all!


Wow, only 10 more days until Christmas!! I am so excited! I am not only excited about Christmas, but also about going to Ohio, my cousin Kristen's wedding, the Christmas party we are having this up coming weeked, and of course it FINALLY becoming our wedding year! Woo Hoo for 2009! This is such an exciting time! I can't even begin to tell you how thrilled I am about hving a break from work! Although, with all the festivities, it's not going to feel much like a break, but rather constantly on the go! Remember how I told you in a much earlier blog about how many people have gotten engaged since Brendan and I have, well, we are starting the year off with a wedding! haha My little cousin is getting married at the beginning on January. So exciting!

Hmm, let's see what else I can talk about. Oh yea! I am completely, 100% DONE with ALL of my Christmas shopping! Yes!!!!!! My kiddies keep asking me what I am going to get them for Christmas! I'm like, I'm helping you build life skills and learn all kinds of exciting things,isn't that enough? hahha Of course you know that answer is NO. 6 year old minds this time of year only have one thing on them and I promise it's not how to add and subtract!

I will post some pics up soon of all the decorations! I am especially excited about our latest Christmas decor- Willow Tree Nativity Set! Thanks to Mama Talty! I LOVE IT!

Baby, it's cold outside

My 2nd estimate for flowers came in today and it is less than half of what the 1st estimate that I waited SOOOOOOOOO long for was! So that is awesome news!!!!! Which just goes to show somebody is trying to ripppppppp people off! I'm thrilled about this news! So we've engaged in a forist. I think it is definitely safe to say that! Check that off the to do list too!!


I have also found the guest book, pen, ring bearer pillow, and flower girl basket that I like and want to use! It's at Hobby Lobby and it's way cute! I'm just going to be patient and wait for their sale to happen! :o) So let me know if you hear about them having a sale on their wedding stuff!

Also, I am in search of some wide tiffany blue ribbon for the wedding cake. The cake lady said that the frosting to make it look like ribbon tastes terrible so it's best for me to buy the ribbon to put on the cake. I have looked at Hobby Lobby and Carolina Pottery with no luck. So the search goes on!! Luckily, I have time, but I'm going to try to find it sooner than later!

Also, I think most everyone has gotten their save the date by now! Whoppiie! I'm excited. My colleagues really liked them! I hope everyone else does too! :o)

There really isn't anything else new to update on. OH well, I guess, I could go ahead and tell what Brendan got for his wedding/Christmas/ All Holidays until 2010 (hehee) present. He got a new TV! Woo Hoo. We got up on Black Friday for it and he survived! Good Job, Brendan! haha I was glad to be able to get this for him because he has been wanting a new television for quite some time now.

Okay, I hope everyone stays warm tonight as I think it's going to be freezing! Man, I could NOT make it in the North. I wouldn't last.

Have your cake and eat it too! :)

So we've got the cake lady and we've picked out our cake!!! SO I thought I'd share pictures with you as to what the cake will look like. I'll give explanations so you get a better idea! :)



OK the ribbon along the edge of each tier would be..well TIFFANY BLUE! The cake would be white and it's going to be 4 tiers with 1 tier being a mock tier.

A more upclose picture of what the design will be on the cake. The flowering/decor will be in white though. Although, with the brown and the blue, isn't that pretty?? BUT you know, Brendan may very well shove that cake in my face and I don't want a chocolate face! hehee

So this will be our cake. We love it; hope you do too!! Yummmmmmmy!

Gobble Gobble

Hello!! It's been a full week now since, I've last updated and we have officially passed the 7 months left to go mark and now it's like 6 months and some weeks and some days! Woo Hoo!! But, according to my little counter on Weddingbook, we have 208 days left before we're married!!! Just think, we'll be out of the 200's soon! I can hardly believe how fast Christmas is approaching and you know that whole idea that I had about getting my shopping done BEFORE Thanksgiving...well....it's definitely NOT going to happen. I have purchased and order just one present! Well.....if I really wanted to make myself feel better, I could day 17. I've gotten the Christmas gifts for my 16 babies (students) and then one for my FFIL (in weddingbook terms, that means future father-in-law) By the way, Weddingbook is my new obsession!

Remember I said that the girls and I were going shopping/looking for bridesmaid dresses on Saturday. Well, last Saturday! Well, we went and this is what we fell in love with:



OK, I tried to make this picture as big as I could without distorting but I may have done just that! The bridal shop didn't actually have this exact dress. So my beautiful bridesmaid, Joy tried this one on:

Oh, don't go saying you like that one better because 1- It doesn't come in Tiffany Blue or even a color close to it 2- It's basically the same dress except this one does not have the sweetheart neckline and this one has a ribbon. But anywho, it will be tea-length so the girls can get more use out of the dress. We all liked it a lot. Hope you do too! This brown will not be the color of the dress just FYI. I know I mentioned brown as an accent color but that's not for sure yet.

So the girls got fitted although they were very reluctant but someone made a good point that it was probably best to go ahead now before the holidays get here b/c you know how we tend to stuff our faces with all that yumminess! The dresses have to be ordered by January because of Chinese New Year in February and the company pretty much takes the month of Feb. off and it takes like 3 months for the dresses to get in. This came from the lady in the shop. I just wanted to share in my excitement about the dresses! I'm so glad they like the dress too! That was important to me!

So you know how I called the Florist last week and they did not return my phone call?! Well, Saturday, I FINALLY got my estimate! It's pretty pricey so we'll see what the other estimate is..which by the way, did not come in last Friday like I stated it would. Hopefully soon though!

So here's a little thought to read before I go:

May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have never a lump.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Yippee!!!

Hello!! Hello! So it's Monday. BOOOOO. BUT the great news is, is this is the last full week of school until Thanksgiving!! Next week, the kids as well as myself will only be at school for 2 days!

Today I am in LOTS of pain. It stinks that I can't be "normal" and do "normal" things without aching or being sore for a week! Yesterday,Brendan and I did some yard work. Well, I should also say that I washed the dog and did 5 loads of laundry! So lots of bending and stretching. Well, I woke up this morning in terrible pain. My back. My poor aching back. I've taken 2 muscle relaxers now and it STILL hurts! I know I need to go back to the chiropractor but it's so costly and besides if I would have went today, it's not like they could have done much b/c I am so sore. It just stinks that I can't do things without having back aches like this. It's been over 7 years since the accident and I still hurt. I am worried when the time comes for little Jenns and little Brendans!

So, by now, you're probably wondering why is the title of this blog "Yippee". Well, I have some great news. Well, I may be jumping the gun here. I called the florist again, but he was busy and the lady took my name and number and said he would call me back. But umm....he didn't. So needless to say, I am done with trying to get a response because I've called now a total of 4 times asking for my estimate and I get the same answer "you will have it by such and such date" it never happens!

I spoke to another florist! Well, she used to have her own shop but now she does flower arrangements/weddings/catering/etc./etc/ on the side! So I called and talked to her for a while and she said she should have an estimate for me by Friday! FRIDAY!! Let's hope and have our fingers crossed!! Anyways, I feel like things are getting accomplished. I felt like it was put on a halt just waiting for the flowers and now that I'm moving forward...ahh It feels nice! :o) ALSO, she rents tuxes and for a pretty darn good price! So we'll see. I hope it's not all too good to be true! I shall let you know!

I went to the bridal shop today to look again at my dress. NOT to try it back on...just to look. I love it, but I look online at all these other dresses and it makes me second guess my choice. I'm scared that we purchased it too soon! BUT as soon as I saw my dress, I felt relieved. However, the shop has not fixed the little things like I wanted. She said that they would fix it closer to the time of the wedding. BUT I don't see why they don't just go ahead and do it now, you know?! Also, I talked to them about when the ladies needed to order their dresses and she told me January. You hear..I mean read that, ladies?! January. We'll be road trippin' back to Flotown! Flotown is Florence. (fyi)

Hmm, this is all for now I guess. My muscle relaxer is kickin' in and making me awfully sleepy so it won't be long until I zzzzZzzzZzzzZZzzzzz............

You take the good, you take the bad, and there you have...the facts of life!

Not really much to update but I do have both good news and bad news. AND if you're anything like me, you want the bad first so you can savor the good. :)

So one of my friends who just recently got engaged has set her date. I was so very excited for her and her fiance when I found out they were engaged. I was all like we can plan together and I couldn't wait for her to come to my wedding and for me to go to hers!! Well.....she set a date. AND wouldn't you know it's the SAME date as Brendan and I! :( I'm really sad that I won't be able to go to hers and vice versa! I'm not sure why she would pick the same date. I'm still a little baffled by that. We have been engaged since early June and have had our date picked since June and things are booked so we can't change our date! So I'm happy for her but at the same time, I'm a little sad b/c we won't be able to share one another's day with each other! So, that's my bad news.

So the good news! I am thrilled and so excited-you would not even believe it- that my dear, wonderful cousin, Farrah, will be coming to our wedding!! Farrah, Mandi, Chrissy, and I grew up together. Farrah was closest to my age and we always got a long so well! I miss her so much and now that she has moved to New York, I miss her even more! So needless to say I was estatic that her and her husband, Jason, will be travelling from NY for our wedding and to visit!! SO I asked her to also be an Honorary Bridesmaid and she said......YES! I am sooooo happy, I could burst! This completes my red-headed honorary bridesmaids..haha :)

Brendan's work schedule is not one that coincides with mine next week, so don't be surprised to read a blog with sadness from missing him so much! We've had a great weekend; I hate for it to end! We went over to the Ancone's Friday night and just hung out and played games, yesterday we went over to the Davis' and watched that terrible terrible game between Carolina and Florida, and today, we did yard work. I do believe us being apart, definitely has us appreciating our time together on the weekends! I can't wait to be here permanetly!

Maybe I'll hear from the florist this week... HA! Oh, and I am thinking about changing one of my colors. Keeping white and Tiff. Blue but changing from silver to chocolate brown.

"And on the Eighth Day God made sweet tea"

So it's been more than week since I've last posted so I thought I'd update a little more! AND I actually have some things to update on! Well, I am very excited to announce that the rehearsal dinner location has been booked and the food has been picked out for the reception and the estimate has already been submitted! So that's exciting!! So we are going to have a Southern Style rehearsal dinner! I know my family will love it; I hope Brendan's family does too. I sure do miss MeMa's cooking! I don't think I will ever have food again like my MeMa's. I wish that I would have gotten up early to watch her start Sunday Dinner. She was the best cook and gosh, I miss her so much.

So I got to thinking about all of the girls in the wedding. Wait, let me back up to some more exciting news! I talked to my cousin Mandi-Me. Again with the nick names! AND she is going to be an honorary bridesmaid AND do hair for the wedding!! I am soo happy and excited!! I love her bunches! She's a trip! Back to my original thought. I am going to be the only brunette in the wedding party. Well, let me take that back. I'm going to be the only female brunette in the wedding party! I have nothing but blondes and redheads! haha All of my honorary bridesmaids are red heads! And I have 2 redheads that are bridesmaids! haha Everyone else is blonde. Anywho, I thought that was interesting. You may not think so but I do! :)

Hmm, I think that may be all for now! OH, the girls and I are going dress shopping next Saturday!! I hope we can find something we all like! I gotta tell you, I am so excited about mine and Brendan's wedding! Save the Dates are going out this month too! wooo hooo! We are checking off that to do list in an organized style! Go us! hehee!

A day to celebrate!

There are several reasons to celebrate this significant day in history! Well, for starters - I had to day off! Woo Hoo! A day of relaxing? I think not! I busied myself! I got up, went to the gym, filled up my tank for $2.09 a gallon (keep on going down please! , and then got ready to do my part as an American Citizen!

How awesome is it that WE get to vote in our country?! This is a privilage that so many take for granted. If you would look at other countries who do not have democracy, you would be thankful to live in the country that you do! I am proud to live in America and I walked out from voting today with a smile on my face. I am proud to be an American! AND no matter the results, I will keep in mind that everything happens for a reason. I just pray tonight for our country and hope the right choice was made! ALSO this was my brother Kevin and my cousin Beth's first time voting so great going guys!

ALSO very important today: A very special young lady turned 8 years old! My Kaleigh is getting too old AND her 2 front teeth have grown in which I forbidded to grow until after the wedding, but unfortunately she couldn't hold them back from growing! hehee! So Kaleigh and I went shopping for a birthday present suitable for a girl turning 8! She picked out a game for her DS. haha I love my Kay Bug. She is such a wonderful girl and I hope she know how much she is loved!

I spoke with the caterer today as well! How exciting!!! I checked out the reception hall and I love it! It's going to be fabulous! ALSO, there is no setting up on our part. They do it all! What a relief! They will also do our centerpieces! I am very pleased with how things went with them today!

STILL no word from the florist. Is all hope lost with them? Grrrrr.

Well, tomorrow is the 1st full day of school for the kids since last Thursday. Please GOD don't let that Halloween sugar be in their system tomorrow!

Happy Halloween!

Wow! It seems like I just wrote a blog saying how I couldn't believe it was October and now look - November is here! Can you believe how fast this year has flown by? Only 53 more days until Christmas!! I hope that I will be very smart and do my shopping sooner rather than later! It's going to be a skimpy Christmas! We are saving up for honeymoon/wedding expenses. So JUST about 2 weeks ago I applied for and paid for my passport. Everyone kept telling me that it takes a while to get them so I thought I better go ahead and apply for one now! Well, it came in yesterday! I was so surprised! So Yes!! Another thing to check off the to do list. Brendan still has to get his. His work schedule is not always flexible but he'll get it done!

So last night we had our fair share of Trick or Treaters!! It was so fun passing out candy to the little ones. BUT I do have a few complaints 1- There should be an age limit!! If you're going through puberty, I definitely think you are too old to go door to door asking for candy! 2 - When did kids start using pillow cases instead of pumpkins? Booo. There were some really cute baskets! 3- Kids should always say thank you after you give them candy. I had a few especially the older ones neglect to tell me that. 4- Don't just ring the doorbell and not say anything. It's "trick or treat". 5- When is the cut off time for trick or treaters? It was 9:00 and there were still kids out. I was just curious about these things! It's been a while since I was a trick or treater and I've never really given out candy. So these things may be common and I am just unaware!

After all the giving out candy, Brendan and I got ready to go to our friends, Justin and Janet's. They were having a Halloween Party. There were some really great costumes! I like making my own costume better than buying one. Saved me a lot of money and it was kind of fun! As of Thursday night, Brendan had still not come up with a costume so I did a little research and thought HEY, you could be the Verizon guy! He liked the idea and I went out searching for some glasses and I made him a name tag and viola!- His costume! In case you can't tell what I am - I'm a lady bug. So here we are: Our 5th Halloween together! Awww, that's so exciting! I love my Verizon Guy!! Can you hear me now? Good!

Karen Taylor

Dear World ,

Karen Taylor totally rocks and I love her bunches!

Thanks for being so awesome!!! MUAH!




PS- Today was a MUCH better day! OH and I am making witches hats (snack) for my students for tomorrow! I'm excited. I'll post a pic so you can see em'. Maybe...I might forget. I am SO excited tomorrow is only a half day for the kiddies AND that the weekend begins!!!

Thank you for the comment Lisa, I love and miss you and I really hope to see you this weekend! :o)

Hooray for better-no tear- days!

The end!

I'm having a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day! I think I'll move to Australia!

So as you can tell from the title of this post, this is not going to be a happy blog. I guess I was having too many good and just okay days and it was my turn to get a bad day. BUT it is not great when I have a bad day. I don't know how to deal with feeling overwhelmed or stressed so I just cry and anything can turn on the water works. I'm a basket case!


I have some venting to do but on here is just not appropriate to do so I will just continue to deal with this stress the best way that I know how and cry for a while and then I'll be good as new!

So start off my day which really started out with a crappy night- I woke up this morning still sooo incredibly sleepy that you would of thought I only had an hour of sleep last night. It was just really hard to get out of bed and to start the daily routine.

Next, I got observed today on a lesson in which was completely new to my students and I was already in this blah kind of mood. Needless to say the lesson did not go very well and it was just not a good day to be observed any who!

Then, I called Brendan because I was just- I don't know- in a stressed out mood -and I cried at school! My kids weren' t in the room- they were at PE. Oh and I've only talked to Brendan for 4 minutes today. His work schedule this week does not go with mine and we haven't had a conversation at all this week! :o( So my eyes were all puffy and red and I had to go get my kids and I swear, if someone asks me "are you okay" after I just had a good cry, the works start back up. I really don't have a fantastic reason for crying. I did lose one of my bridesmaids last night which is part of the reason why I was in this funk.

Then mom calls me to tell me Great Grandma broke her shoulder last night. AND that it just the pits! She fell down luckily Shirley was there and heard her and called 911 and they came and helped her. I do love my Great Grandma. She is one amazing woman!!

Oh and I got Ashlyn's veil (my something borrowed) and I wanted to try it on with the dress this week to make sure it went well together. Well, mom asked me if a friend could just go with me. That was mean of her to say! I thought this would be a special time in which she would want to share and savor all the little moments with me. But, I guess not. She really hurt my feelings. I don't think she knows that though. Oh crap, the water works. This is such a depressing blog. I'm so sorry. Ordinarily, I'm not like this. I got this idea that if I were to type out all the stuff bothering me that I would feel better and stop all this damn crying!

Seriously, I don't know why I am being so emotional! I jut want to be happy and not to be away from Brendan so much and to just at least have a conversation with him and I want to stop crying. Please pray that tomorrow will be a better day. Please pray that my Great Grandma has a speedy recovery.

Sorry if I depressed you.

Pumpkin Carving!

Our finished product! Just incase you didn't know which was which..Mine is on the right and Brendan's is on the left. I gotta say, we did a pretty good job! It was a lot of fun but boy!, I did not realize all of the work it would take! This took us about 2 hours to do! I know these pictures are not in order but I am still trying to figure out how to blog/post pics.






Trying to figure out how he's going to carve his pumpkin.


I was excited about my pumpkin!

Ferrell's Fall-like picture. This was the best we could do because of course he was scared of the pumpkin!

My shoes!

You are so Boooo-tee-ful

Already it's the middle of October! Only 1 week and half left in the month! Crazy! Yesterday marked the official 8 months left to go! I gotta tell ya, I am so excited and ready to become a Mrs. I know I've got a great one. My mom said to me the other day that she really likes Brendan and she doesn't doubt that he will be a great husband to me. She went on to say that she was proud and excited that Brendan will be her son in law. :o) That just makes me so happy. I think it's very important that my family loves Brendan too! Believe me, my mom is strong in her opinions and lets it known to me if she agree/disagrees in my choices. I know I've made a great choice.

So with this awesome October weather, comes the allergies and the sniffles and the coughs and the tissues galore! For over a week now, I've been battling this cold! I'm surprised I haven't broken a rib with as much coughing as I've done in the last week! But I think I am FINALLY getting better. I had to stay out of work Monday which stinks. I don't like missing work. I feel like I am neglecting my kids of their learning. Crazy, I know. BUT we have a lot to cover and with report cards going out next week, it was just not a good time to be out!

So back to it being October! How crazy?! Time is ticking away! Just think how close Thanksgiving and Christmas are and then there's New Year which means it is then 2009!! Whoa!! YAY!!! So excited in case you can't tell!! So Halloween is approaching and Brendan and I are going to pass out candy for the first time at the house. I'm excited. I'm sure Brendan wishes that there would be a limited amount of Trick or Treaters so that he can eat all of the left over candy. OHHH and we got the good stuff- reeces, twix, hershey- that whole mixture! We are not going to be THAT house that gives out boxes of raisins. Booooo! So with Halloween comes such fun activities such as carving pumpkins! I'm so excited about doing this! I have never carved a pumpkin! I know!! In all my 24 years, not a once! So Brendan and I are carving 2 pumpkins this weekend. I'll post pictures afterwards! ALSO, Halloween costumes! This year we are not feeling over the top festive to dress up! We are doing home made costumes. Well, semi-homemade. (Sandra Lee...my fave) Last year Brendan was the Hamburgler....you know from McDonalds. His costume was awesome! He worked hard on it and it looked so great! I was a pirate- not very creative. This year I am going to be Lady Bug! Which happens to be the only bug besides a Roly Poly that I am not afraid of! I am making it though. Brendan is still pondering his costume. Pictures to come too!

I know this blog has little to do with wedding planning so I'll throw in some updates now! :o) I'm kind of an ebay fanatic. I don't buy often, but Ebay can be addictive. I find the greatest teacher supplies on there. BUT, Saturday, I was looking on Ebay and came across a lady who had closed her bridal boutique and was auctioning off some of her left over items! So I looked through and saw some fantastic shoes! So I put in my max bid and I won them yesterday for $5.50! Yay!! Oh and of course they are NEW IN THE BOX. I'm not going to wear some shoes from some stranger! eww

More wedding planning news. I am getting frustrated with the florist. It's been 2 months almost and still have not recieved an estimate of the flowers! I called twice! I'm going to call again and if nothing comes of it, then I may just have to go elsewhere. Dillon is so small that this was my only choice in Dillon so I am going to have to go look out of town now if this florist doesn't come though.

So that's all for now. I know this turned into a lengthy blog-sorry! Have a spooktacular night! :o)

Bridesmaids!

My girls are the best! I really love my friends and bridesmaids! It was hard to choose the bridal party because we have such wonderful friends but somehow, we were able to narrow it down! So I was just in the mood to write about my amazing bridesmaids.

Well, first there is my Maid of Honor, Cook. No, her real name is not Cook..it's Danielle. I don't know how or even when I started calling her Cook but it stuck and that's what I call her...even my mom refers to her as Cook. Anyways, she's one of the funniest people I know. She's also insane which is just another reason why I love her crazy butt! We went to high school and college together. We even shared a roommate who is NASTY so we decided to let it just be us. I miss those time. We had SUCH a blast living together. Ohhhhh the memories!

Then there is my dearest and oldest friend, Jill. We have been besties since we were 5! We went to the same preschool and lived across the street from each other. Her mom is our wedding director which just makes things that much more special!! Anywho, Jill is also one of the funniest people. She's such a beautiful person inside and out! We have our inside jokes and tons of memories growing up with one another...she's even got videos that I hope never get leaked. Seriously, you thought I was country?! Listen to me at 5 years old. I ALWAYS knew that I wanted Jill to be apart of my wedding. So basically I told her if she refused to be in the wedding then I refused to get married. haha I was kidding. But I do love her like a sister and am extremely happy that both her and her mom are apart of our special day!

Next is my Joy Belle! Her name is Joy not Joy Belle. Can you tell I like to rename my friends? haha I don't know how or when this started either! We've been friends since High School. We cheered together too! She is my gossip, tanning, lunch partner. She's such a great friend and I'm so glad that we've remained friends throughout college...even if she went to Clemson! :) It's okay, she's at USC now in grad school for Speech Pathology. She will graduate next year. I'm so excited for her!

Of course there is Karen. She is probably one of the wildest and craziest people I know! I've known Karen for a few years and we've managed to become really close. I know I can count on her for anything. She's such a wonderful friend and if you don't have a friend like Karen in your life well...then you're missing out! She keeps me in stitches-from all the laughing! I am blessed and thrilled that she will be apart of mine and Brendan's day!

Janet! I don't have name for her. Hmmm, maybe I should work on that. haha I met Janet when she started dating Justin, her now husband. And since Justin and Brendan are such great friends, us girls hung out quite a bit and of course we became great friends too! I know I can always go to Janet for anything. She is a great friend and I feel so lucky to call her one of my besties! I was honored to be apart of Janet and Justin's wedding this past summer and I'm so honored that they both are going to be apart of ours! It's wonderful to have these two in our lives!

Last, but not least there is Ashlyn!! Ashlyn is probably the friend MOST like me. I know, you already love her now, don't you? haha I met Ashlyn actually before I even met Janet! (We're all in the same circle of friends) Ashlyn and her husband, Keith are also apart of our wedding!! Ashlyn and I became really good friends when we decided to go to grad school together at Columbia College. Sitting in boring classes 8 hours a day on the weekend, can bring one close to another. Haha We took personality quizzes in class and found out how similar we were and even analyzed our friends! We had a lot fun in those classes and believe it or not, I really miss it!! That was our bonding time! Ashlyn is so wonderful and I am just soo excited she and Keith are in the wedding!

So these are my lovely, beautiful bridesmaids. I know they will look stunning in whatever dress we all pick out! haha This is just a BRIEF introduction of how I know them and what they mean to me! I love you girls!

Inspiration

Just some ideas/things I like/inspiration for our wedding.

Wedding Toppers

Just for laughs, I found some pretty funny wedding toppers and some cakes...in no way are we using these! I just got a laugh out of them!

For the alcoholic:

For the pyschotic:
For the ones who resort to violence:


For the ticked off bride:
For the mean husband:


For the CRAZY:
For the not so in love and happy:

For the WILD:


For the silly:

For the Golf lover:


Anywho, I thought they were fun! We haven't quite decided what will be on top of our cake. Apparently there are quite a bit of options..Monogrammed letters, plastic people who "favor us", flowers, decorations..hmm, we shall see!

"Oh you've got plenty of time"

On occasion I can be a procrastinator! Yes, it's true (especially when it came to school work)! BUT when it's a project I'm in charge of or if others are depending on me, I'm one to get things done and to be organized. I would almost say it is a little annoying as to how organize I can be! hmm, maybe.

This leads me to the phrase "you've got plenty of time". Yes, I do have ..oops, WE have time- 8 months and some change. BUT, look at it this way, I'm going through my formal evaluation year for teaching (which adds stress to my life daily wondering when and if I will be observed today) and come January, I've got to start out in my adventure of trying to find a job teaching in Columbia. That is kind of a lot on one's plate. Granted, it's only 2 things, but they are pretty big things! So what?! I'm getting things done earlier so I won't freak out later! I think it's good to have all the little things done ahead of time and even a lot of the major ones! PLUS it's way too much fun planning so I figured, I might as well get things done while I'm not drowning in work and while I have the energy to do it! :o)

On a wedding planning..(well, sort of) note. I joined the gym! AND it's whipping my butt! I've been at it for a week now. I do cardio 3 days a week, weights 2 days (so I can whoop up on Brendan when he's driving me mad...I kid! I kid!), and I do yoga 1 day a week. By the way, this does not add up to me working out 6 days a week. Those who know me, know good and well that I like my down time! I do cardio on both days I do weights. Okay, I'm confusing myself, Mondays-yoga, Tues.-cardio and weights, Wed.-Cardio, Thurs.-Cardio and weights.
SO you may ask "Why Jenn, why would you ever join the gym with your ever-so nice figure that has even the super models drooling with envy?" HA!!! That was a joke in case you're thinking I'm vain.

Well, the dress has been bought. The dress. The dress. The dress. I am trying to get fit not only for THE dress on THE day but for THE bathing suit on THE honeymoon and THE summer that follows the honeymoon and THE life that follows the honeymoon. BUT back to the dress. I cannot gain an ounce in order to fit into this dress or my mother may just fall out! It was discontinued so the dress in the store was the dress I had to get and it fit, but it fit WELL. So well that no more weight is allowed. I would rather have it taken in anyways. SO wish me luck as my body feels like jello from all the weights so that I may look stunning on such a momentous occasion such as our wedding.

Superstitions and Traditions

I've heard and seen so many superstitions and traditions. Some I have heard of but some, I had no idea about. We're not planning on doing every one of them. I am interested in quite a few! I'm not really superstitious but I think it's fun to play along! Here are some.

-the bride keeps a coin in her shoe so she will never run out of money
-if it rains it's good luck
-if someone steps on your dress and rips it, its good luck. (However, I don't think I would be too happy if my dress ripped!)
- Reasoning behind the father walking his daughter down the isle :
The brides father walks her down the aisle, symbolising that he is giving her away to her new husband. He holds her with the right arm - and since in the olden days, the right arm carried the sword but is now occupied by the bride, it means the father comes in peace. (Neat, huh?)
-At some weddings, the bride often writes the names of her bridesmaids on the soles of her shoes. Throughout the day, the writing wears away and the last name left is the bridesmaid who will marry next. I think I am going to do this!! However, some of my BMs are already married!
-It is customary for brides not to marry before their older sisters, they must wait their turn, if they wed before, their sisters may never marry. No problem there, I have no older sister!
-Grooms are not allowed to see the bride in her gown before the actual ceremony - otherwise it will bring bad luck. I will not even see Brendan until I'm walking down the isle! Ahhhhh, so exciting!!!
-If you're single and you've been a bridesmaid 3 times, you may never be a bride. What a Debbie Downer! I don't think that one is true at all!
- Tying tin cans to the back of the newlywed's car is good luck because the noise will frighten away evil spirits.
- If candles are lit on your wedding day and they go out it means an evil spirit is near by! Uh-oh Emi, maybe you want to reconsider a candle light ceremony! Only kidding!
- White dresses have nothing to do with virginity. In ancient times, cloth was very expensive to bleach and more than 1 bleaching was required. The whiter the cloth, the more affluent the bride's family. Some symbols of virginity/purity are bride's hair worn down at the ceremony, orange blossoms, or a wreath of flowers worn on the head.
- Say your vows when the hour hand on the clock is going upwards. This makes you work together in your married life together. If you say your vows when the hour hand is going down it is bad luck. I seriously am thinking 5:30 instead of 5:00. We shall see. I've heard this one several times!

OKay, if I find more, I'll let you know about them. Obviously, the red is my comments on the traditions/superstitions. I think they are very interesting! I hope you enjoyed reading them!

Hotel update

So I've decided on which Marriot to book for the wedding! The Marriot Springhill Suites was I think the better choice because A) It's newer B) It's right across the street from Hilton Garden Inn C) You have the option of a King size bed or a double bed D) Free Deluxe Conintental breakfast (the other, had a buffet and it was $10 extra).

So here's the thing, the rooms need to be booked by May 29, 2009 before they are open to anyone (not associated with the Cox/Talty Wedding) However, if you call after May 29 and say you need a room and mention the Cox/Talty Wedding, you will still get the group rate- you're just not promised a room! So the room are $89 + tax / night. I reserved 10 rooms with King size bed and 5 with Double Beds. However, I will call them early May to see if I need to reserve more rooms. Same with Hilton Garden Inn!

So that's the update as of today! Can you believe it's already October?! On the site, I have more hotels listed, but I am only going to have 2 that I book with- Hilton Garden Inn and Springhill.

Get outa here with that nonsense!

Passports. I thought that was it. It was all we needed for our honeymoon. A passport. The travel agent even said you'll have to get a passport. BUT when I went to get all the info we needed, it asked if we were applying for a passport card or a passport book. Hmm? A passport. Don't you just have an option for passport. Call me sheltered, but I am not familiar with the whole passport process. I know you have to apply and pay and get your picture made and show proof that you are who you say you are. BUT the card and the book just threw me for a loop! I'll have to investigate more, I suppose. Unless, you know the answer? :o)

adding 1 more to list

Make that 7 people I know who are engaged!

WHOA!

So on a wedding planning note. I bought part of our wedding favors today!! I'm so excited. It was just what I wanted. I was a little hesistant but thanks to my mother-in-law to be and her encouragement " Buy them Buy them" , I got em'! Yippee!! So one more thing down, only 34592375834259 more things to go! (you know I'm dramatic) I'm telling you, our big, fun party (wedding) will be all planned and done by December and then we're just going to be waiting on the date! haha Hope not!! Just thought I would share in my excitement!!

Good Golly, Miss Molly!

Did you know that...........

June 20, 2009 is the longest day of the year next year?! :o) Go Figure!

There are 266 days until our wedding which is 8 months and 3 weeks and 3 days? ( I have a counter, I did not sit here and add up all the days, silly goose! )

There are only 95 days left in the year?

Since Brendan and I have gotten engaged, 6 of our (not all mutual) friends have gotten engaged? We are going to be quite busy next year.

Distance

I'm feeling a little sad. I really miss Brendan when I'm here in Florence. It's still hard to leave every weekend knowing that I won't see him all week. It's a little worse this week because not only can I see my fiance but I can barely even hold a conversation with him! He's having to work all night and when he's not working- I am! I applaud all you ladies who have fellas in the military, or are police officers or fire fighters. I know their work schedule leaves you feeling the way I do tonight. Sorry, I know I'm being a baby. I just miss Brendan.

Hotels

It stinks! It stinks that my little hometown does not have any decent hotels and our out of town guests have to stay in Florence. Granted, Florence is not that bad of a drive from Dillon (all of 30 minutes). BUT maybe it's a good thing our guests have to stay in Florence because if they were bored in Dillon, the only place they could go would be South of the Border (seriously, if you've seen one pink flamingo, you've seen South of the Border) or the ever so wonderful, NEW Super Wal Mart which is cool, but you know.....it's Wal Mart! At least in Florence, they'd be able to go to the movies, to the mall, out to dinner. I'm trying to be optimisic! :o) So I just got a call from Hilton Garden Inn in Florence and I have 15 rooms blocked! They are 99 + tax per night. (It also has a bar in the hotel!) I was really hoping we could do the rehearsal dinner there but when I inquired about the rooms available, she said they were all booked up! :o( This makes for one sad Jenn! I was really hoping for HGI! Oh well! She said that we should really try to find something soon though because things are getting booked fast. She said basically, all of June and July are booked! So Hurry home Lisa, we've gotta book a place! :o) Hurry home, not only for that reason, but also because we miss you!!

FYI- I'm going to block out rooms at another hotel too. Just not sure which one. I'm debating on the Marriot Courtyard or the Marriot Spring Hill.

Friends

As I sit here, I can't help but to feel so lucky. Not only do I have an amazing man in life but I also have the most amazing friends. The best of friends. Brendan and I feel so lucky to be surrounded by such caring, humorous, warm, and loving friends. Our friends do such incredible things for us whether its listening to our problems, lending a hand, or whatever it may be. When we got engaged, they even through us a dinner! They were almost as excited for us as I was. (I was pretty tough to beat in the excitement department.) I just wanted to let our friends know how truly grateful and blessed we are to have them in our lives! We love you tremendously and you mean the world to us!

Engaged!

3 months into the engagement and I am JUST now starting this blog. Am I even a dork for blogging?! I've never really been one to blog, so if I'm sucking at this, feel free to tell me! (only in a nice way..I'm not good with bluntness)

So rewind to June 7 which was the day. THE DAY! The day when my very best friend asked me to marry him. Granted, I had been going on and on (to the point where I just figured it never would happen) about getting engaged. I've known for so long that Brendan was the guy that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. It was just frustrating that a lot of my friends were getting married and engaged and here I was without a doubt in my mind that Brendan was who I was supposed to marry and he was taking his sweet time! That's besides the point. The point is, is that he asked and I said yes, and he's my fairy tale, my happily ever after. Danielle used to tell me that I need to stop comparing every relationship to fairy tales but with Brendan, it is a fairy tale or at least I certainly feel as if I am in one. Everything is right when it comes to me and him. It's the EASIEST relationship I've ever been in. Not to say that we don't have our quarrels. Come on, do you seriously not know me and how moody I can be?! When I say easiest, I mean natural. Everything just seems like-it's supposed to be. Not to be cliche' but it does!

Ohh yea, you may be wondering how he proposed. Right?! Well,I am going to copy and paste here from our wedding website. : Brendan came to Jenn's hometown of Dillon and was going to help her pack up her classroom the following day and put together a bookshelf. He had also told her that he wanted to go with her mother to look at rings. After everything was done in her classroom (it was the last day of school for teachers). Brendan asked Jenn to close her classroom door. He then told her that she needed to call her mother to tell her that they did not need to go look at rings today. Jenn said okay and asked why. Brendan responded that he already had a ring. Then he got on his knee and proposed in the place Jenn loves best-her classroom! Jenn was definitely surprised and speechless. Brendan had to remind her that he needed an answer and of course Jenn said YES! An announcement was made on the intercom to the entire school 'Brendan and Jenn are engaged!'

So here we are. ENGAGED TO BE MARRIED! Seriously, I don't think I've stopped smiling since he asked. He's got to know how incredibly happy he makes me!

Planning: Wedding planning is SOOOOOOO much fun!! I have done quite a bit in the 3 short months that we've been engaged! We've got the church booked, the reception hall, the cake lady, the caterer, the photographer, had our engagement pictures done, hired a dj,picked our save the dates, and most important- found THE dress and purchased it!

Okay, so I am going to hopefully update soon! As for now, I've got to go get ready for some Carolina football!! GO COCKS!

--Jenn