Teacher Shower: Opening Gifts and Everyday Dishes "Thank You!"

It makes me and Aaron feel so blessed o share all of this wedding excitement with so many people! It is so much fun and means so much to us to have these wedding showers. We love getting to see everyone and feel so incredibly blessed to be surrounded by such loving people.

Here are some "gift opening" pictures. (Notice the ones of me opening the canisters that the hostesses got for us....I was a LITTLE excited!!!)

So now.....lets start the "Thank You's!"

First off: Everyday dishes!

We love everything about our everyday collection! Red, Red, Red! Fabulous!

Thank you to the following people for thoughtfully contributing to our growing collection: Ms. Blackwell; Ms. Villines; Ms. Faucet, Ms. Nalley, Ms. Jacobs, Ms. Jordan, and Ms. Elmore; Granny and Grandpa Langley; Ms. Thida; Mr. Dedmon, Mr. Covington, and Mrs. Gattis; Bob, Debra, Jennifer, and Jamie.

Thank you all so much! You will never know the impact your kindness has had on us! I can only hope that my many "Thank You's" will, at least, halfway express how much we appreciate each of you!

*Weekend plans: After work tomorrow, I am driving up to Fayetteville for a 3 day weekend! I'm so excited to be the one doing the traveling this weekend. Aaron has been so sweet the last several weeks by driving in for all of the wedding activities, etc. I'm happy to be able to give him a break because the weekends between now and the wedding are slimming down! Which is exciting, but that means more driving for him. (Sorry, Aaron! I just want you to know how much I apprectiate you! I'm glad you get to take a a break this weekend!)

Our plans include..........LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO LIVE!!! We are both so excited to OFFICIALLY begin the search. Wish us luck!

Teacher Shower: Family Photos!

***QUICK POST***

I'm already up a little later than normal, but I promised to do a better job of blogging! So that's what I'm gonna do!

Here are a few family pictures from the Teacher Shower:

Both of our moms! We love you both! Thank you for all that you both have done for us already!

My sister Leah, my granny, my grandma, Aaron's Memaw, Aaron's Mamaw, and Aaron's aunt Karla.

Aaron and I are so lucky to have such supportive family. They are always involved and willing to help with anything and we are so thankful! We love you all very much!

Teacher Shower: Gift from the Hostesses!

The super sweet Hostesses didn't only plan a PERFECT shower...they, also, gave us an amazing gift! Aren't they fabulous?!? Aaron and I found these canisters at Smith-Caldwell (in Benton) when we first began to register for our wedding. We both love red and the design on these canisters is absolutely beautiful! This was the very first item we registered for and our entire kitchen was put together based off the look of these canisters! (By the way, I still get so excited to call things "Ours!" I can't wait!) The canisters are part of the Drake Design Home Accents Collection. There are several pieces from this collection that we love and have received as gifts at Christmas or at other showers. We decided to mix and match the red and chocolate pieces and its gorgeous!

The Hostesses decorated a beautiful table. Everything was so beautiful and delicious!

Again, I want to give a big "Thank You" to the Hostesses for all they did and for having such kind hearts! We appreciate each of you!

P.S. I realize I did a T-E-R-R-I-B-L-E job of blogging last week! I apologize! We all had a long weekend around here being that it is Memorial Day, which meant Aaron was home. We all know that our opportunities to spend time together are few and far between, so we had to take full advantage! I promise to do my best to make the blog more interesting this week!

"Teacher" Shower Hostesses!

This weekend several of Mrs. Hilborn's (Karen...I promise I'm working on that!) co-workers hosted a "Teacher" Shower for us. It was such a great time! Aaron showed up for the last 30 minutes or so, which was great! It was so funny to see him get swarmed by all the ladies as soon as he walked in the door! He's such a charmer ;) We all love him!

Here is a picture of all the hostesses, except Mrs. Trantham who lives out of state, now, and couldn't make it. (We really missed you!) Remember no last names...except for this time! (Its hard enough for me to try to call my own Future-Mother-in-Law by her first name): Mrs. Rutherford, Mrs. Fite, Mrs. Long, Mrs. Davis, Mrs. Stout, Mrs. Tanner, and Mrs. Fulcher.(Aren't the flowers beautiful!?! We see you back there Mrs. Long!) All of these ladies are soooo sweet!

Aaron and I appreciate each of you for putting together such a wonderful shower! Thank you so much for thinking of us and for being such great friends to Mrs. Hilborn!

Flower Girls' New Puppy!

Our little flower girls were so excited when they got their new puppy last weekend! Jill is a Mountain Feist and is adorably cute! Their family already had one Mountain Feist named Jack, so when picking out a name for their newest addition they had NO trouble! Now they have a happy pair of Mountain Feists: Jack and Jill!

Here are several photos of the sweet, playful pup!

Gracie totes the poor puppy around EVERYWHERE!

Ashley loves to cuddle with the little pup!

The whole family with their newest addition!

Sweet Jill had a blast playing with Grandma Janet's Mother's Day gift's wrapping paper!

Grandpa Eddie enjoying some time with the puppy!

10 Weeks and New Look!

Woo hoo!!! 10 weeks left! How exciting is that! Exactly 70 days until the wedding!
We are so excited! We are getting closer and closer to being Mr. and Mrs!

We have a shower this Sunday with Mrs. Hilborn's co-workers! Its being called a "Teacher Shower." How much fun is that! I can't wait to see teachers that Aaron and I had when we were in school at Benton!

Also...I realize that the blog has a new look. Don't you love it!?! I was really wanting to show off some wedding colors, but then I found this ADORABLE background and couldn't say no! Visit the Shabby Blogs site and have a look at all of the fabulously FREE backgrounds! I know you'll love them! It was so hard to choose! Happy weekend!

Last Sharon Shower Thank You's: All Things Razorback!

At the Sharon Shower Aaron and I got some really neat Razorback stuff! We love ALL things Razorback. Each of these items are so adorable!

Thank you to the following people for some of Aaron's favorite gifts! (You have to admit its kind of hard for a guy to get super pumped about a china place setting! These are more up his alley!): Jeremiah and Lindsey; Aunt Christine and Missy; Ms. Birdie; Kent and Debbie; Karla; Ms. Gail and Samantha; Ms. Ruby and April; Jeff and Melinda. Thank you so much!

The following people gave us some very thoughtful gifts that were not pictured most likely due to space! (or in addition to a gift that was previously pictured): Ms. Pat and Julie; Mrs. Susie; Ms. Bernice; Mr. Ken and Mrs. Sue; Jeremiah and Lindsey; Jerri and Cliff; Uncle Ralph and Aunt Sherri; Ms. Janice; Ms. Vickie and Nikki; Missy. We definitely don't won't to leave you out because we appreciate you so much more than you know!

So...one more final time...A BIG thank you to all of you who were so thoughtful and generous. Thank you for thinking of us at this special time! May God bless each of you!

Thank You Tuesday: More Sharon Shower!

Yes its Tuesday and yes there are still some Thank You's left! The gifts I'm going to show you today are things that will get LOTS of use in the kitchen...from Aaron :-) Only kidding! You all know I loooooove the idea of just cooking away! So lets get started (remember, no last names):

Bakeware!We love the Wilton Indulgence bakeware because it doesn't have rough/sharp edges or corners. Thank you so much to the following sweet people: THE Aunts & Uncles; Mr. and Mrs. Trish; Ms. Pam and Ms. Rhoda; Ms. Gail and Samantha; Ms. Brenda.

Next: Miscellaneous Kitchen Items!

Wow. Aaron and I love all of these great gifts! There are lots of neat little gadgets out there! The smallest group of measuring spoons in the 3 group set has words on them like dash, pinch, etc. How cute! Aaron thinks they will help him get Mamaw's recipes right! And let me just tell you how creative it is to give someone a paper towel holder, and then put a roll of paper towels on it! I love it! Just ask Aaron, I couldn't stop going on and on about it! Its the simple things.

A big Thank You goes out to the following thoughtful people: Ms. Pat and Ms. Julie; Ms. Dale; Ms. Peggy, Avery, and Carly; Ms. Barbara, Ms. Sherry, and Cara; Mr. Brent and Mrs. Paula, Mr. Eddie and Mrs. Jackie; Mr. Bob and Mrs. Marilyn; Grandpa and Granny; Ms. Mary; Ms. Pam and Ms. Rhoda; Ms. Lisa and Lacie; Mr. Gerald and Mrs. Lou; Ms. Gail and Samantha; Mr. Burl and Mrs. Tammy.

We are so prepared to start some serious cooking! We appreciate each of you. Thank you so much!

Only one thank you post remains from the Sharon Shower! Can you guess what it is?

Jar of Pickles!

I've already done several Thank You posts from the Sharon Shower (and still have a few more left!), but I HAD to devote a post completely to this:A jar of Aunt Christine's pickles!!!

Aunt Christine gave me this jar of pickles at the shower along with the rest of her gift! It was probably my favorite gift! I say that it was MY gift because Aaron is not the biggest pickle fan, which is A.O.K with me because I don't share these very easy!

On Sunday's when Aaron is home, we go over to his Mamaw's house for lunch. Every once in a while she has some of these pickles. I always get so excited when I see them sitting out for lunch!I think Aunt Christine heard through the grapevine that I LOVED them, which is fabulous! These are quite possible the most delicious sweet pickles I have EVER eaten! Seriously, they are AMAZING! You can definitely tell that I really like them because the jar is already halfway empty! I'm having a hard time spacing out my pickle eating!

Thank you so much Aunt Christine for such a delicious gift!

Invitation Addressing and Stuffing Luncheon!

On Saturday, a bunch of us girls got together for a luncheon at the Hilborn's house. We of course took a bunch of pictures! (Sorry for the glare from the china cabinet behind us!)

Mrs. Hilborn and Memaw decorated a great table and made some delicious food!

My mom, sister (MOH), and grandmothers.

Four out of six of my bridesmaids were able to make it: Michelle, Leah (MOH), Haley (MOH), and Lauren. Ashley was working and Nichole was GRADUATING FROM GRAD. SCHOOL!!! Congratulations Nichole! I'm so proud of you!

After lunch we all sat down to address and stuff wedding invitations. It was a great excuse for all of us to get together, plus the weather outside was pretty nasty yesterday! Not to mention that the 10 of us tackling this task made it 100% easier!

The addressing table: Michelle, Lauren, Memaw, Haley, and Mrs. Hilborn. The rest of the gang was in another room stamping and stuffing the addressed invitations. I'm not sure what happened to my picture of them: Leah and both of my grandmothers.

My mom and I both floated around from table to table overseeing everything and making sure everything was correct!

Aaron and his dad had planned to go fishing while we had our luncheon, but had a late start due to an unexpected tree fall that they had to clean up. When they finally made it back from a very short trip due to the weather, even Aaron was able to get in on some of the stuffing action! I'm sure he LOVED that!

I think everyone really liked everything that Sarah Hobart created. Thank you girls, moms and grandmothers for all of your help!

Next Installment of: Sharon Shower Thank You's!

So tomorrow will be a pretty busy day! I will work until 5 and Aaron will be in by the time I get home! Yay! On weekends when Aaron comes home to Benton, we are so busy. It seems like time speeds up and the weekend is over before we know it. So, we usually try to use our time wisely spending it with each other in some way or another. Plus, we LOVE our families so much and want to see them as much as possible, so we try to squeeze in as many as we can in the short amount of time!

With all of that being said, I'm going to do another Thank You post from the Sharon Shower. That way I will be less tempted to do it tomorrow when Aaron is home! I mean, come on people, we have been doing the long distance thing for over 4.5 years and see each other on the weekends ONLY! We try to soak it up!

So here goes! Our servewear!

A BIG thank you to the following people for our servewear! (Which is right up my alley!): Lauren; Ms. Claudette; Ms. Donna; Ms. Peggy, Avery, and Carly; Mamaw and Papa; Mark and Kellye; Ms. Angela, Ms. Jill, and Ms. Alaina; Ashley.

Next, our everyday items!

We LOVE our dishes and are so thankful for all of these things that we will use just about everyday! Thank you to: Mr. Tim and Ms. Missy; Haley and Mrs. Melba; Bro. Muncy and Pat; Ms. Linda; Kent and Debbie; Mr. Don and Ms. Jan; Ms. Laura; Ms. Angela, Ms. Jill, and Ms. Alaina; Mr. Cliff and Ms. Pauline; Ms. Shelly.

I wish I could put into words how appreciative we are for all that has been done for us. All of you have been such a blessing. Thank you!

Sharon Shower Thank You's: China and Crystal

Today we would like to say a big thank you to several people! The Sharon Shower was so much fun and there's lots to show you! Once again, since we are on the world wide web I will use first names only.

First off, our china!Thank you so much to the following people for such thoughtful gifts that will last a lifetime, including, iced tea glasses, water goblets, and china: Ms. Arla, Ms. Shanna, and Kylea; Ms. Carolyn; Mr. Claude and Ms. Maxine; Ms. Betty, Ms. Donna, and Ms. Denise; Memaw and Pa; Uncle Larry and Aunt Jan; Mr. Jeff and Ms. Lenee.

Next, the beautiful crystal pieces! Thank you to the following people who generously gave us such gorgeous pieces: Mr. Bo and Mrs. Barbara; Mr. Joe and Mrs. Sue; my Mom and Dad; Ms. Lucille; Aaron's Mom and Dad.

Thank you again to all of you! You all have been such a blessing :-)

Funny Dress Link!

So I was browsing on the internet when I found this hilarious website!

http://tackyweddings.com/2009/02/27/ugly-bridesmaid-dresses/

It has picture after picture of bridesmaids' dresses that were used in the past! It cracks me up to look at some of those dresses. I'm glad that my girls at least have a dress that is simple and black! Maybe they could wear it again...but then doesn't everyone say that?
Probably in 50 years I will look back at our dresses and think the same thing as I do about the ones on the website linked!

New Look and "Blog Thank You's"

So I am sure you have noticed that we have changed things up a bit around here!

Since the wedding festivities are in full swing now, (and there will be lots of posting from here on out!) I thought it would be fun to show off our wedding colors once again, to kind of get everyone in to the wedding mood!

Our first batch of Thank You cards were dropped in the mail today! Yay! I'm so glad that we got them done so fast! (At least I think that a week is pretty fast?!?) Aaron was super sweet and offered to write a few of his own. He wanted to write one to each of the hostesses who helped with the shower since it was at his church and then a few to some relatives. I think overall he wrote about 15, which is VERY good! I was so happy to have some help! It was so great of him to offer! After about 7 he told me his hand was cramping, bless his heart!

So...since the Thank You cards are on their way to some of you I thought I would go ahead and show y'all what they look like! We love them! (Well I love them! I'm not sure if Aaron would quite know how to love stationary, I'm pretty sure that's just not within his capabilities...but I know all of you ladies out there will know how to appreciate a good stationary design!) So here it is!

Thank you again to Sarah Hobart at Hobarts Printing and Design for her amazing talent and work to come up with the perfect design!

And since many of you will soon be receiving your Thank You cards, I will begin my "Blog Thank You's" for the amazing gifts at the Sharon Missionary Baptist Church Shower! I can't wait to show all of you the great things we have received and look forward to using in our future home! (Which by the way is so exciting...Our Home! We have a sweet couple that we are friends with that tried to hook us up with a great house close to theirs. Aaron went by to look at it today and was able to visit with them. It'd be great to have such sweet neighbors! Plus they have a little boy that is too handsome! Check out their blog!)

Aaron thinks its hilarious how excited I get over things like cloth napkins, kitchen utensils, or serving pieces! He affectionately calls me his "Little Suzie Homemaker!" I just can't help it! So here we go! (since we are on the world wide web, I will only use first names.)

We will start off with sheets and bathroom towels!

Thank you to Ms. Patsy Ruth and Ms. Sheila for the great sheet set!

Thank you to the following ladies for the BEAUTIFUL bathroom towels: Ms. Beulah, Michelle, Ms. Lita and Ms. Gwen, Ms. Kristi, Ms. Christine and Ms. Missy, Ms. Credonna and Ms. Dana, Ms. Beverly, Ms. Peggy!

Here is the only picture we got of one of the most thoughtful gifts we received!

Ms. Christine made us an amazing Razorback quilt. Most of you know that Aaron and I pretty much revolve our schedules around Razorback events, so this quilt was perfect for us! I, especially, LOVE quilts and it was so thoughtful of Ms. Christine to spend her time making it for us! Thank you so much Ms. Christine!

Thank you so much to each of you for all of your thoughtfulness! You have helped prepare us for the wonderful journey ahead! We appreciate all of you and may God bless you.

They grow so fast!

This post is dedicated to my neices and flower girls, Ashely and Gracie! They are growing up so fast! I want to make sure that I remember this sweet age and how much fun it is to have them around during this special wedding planning time!

Today was a very big day for Gracie! She graduated from preschool!!!Not only is she on her way to kindergarten, but she also lost her very FIRST TOOTH! I was in Fayetteville visiting Aaron this weekend and watching some Razorback baseball, when she called to tell me the good news. Apparently she and her big sister both lost a tooth this weekend! Poor Ashely is just about toothless on the top!

Here is a picture of the graduate proudly showing off her first loss!

We are so proud of you Gracie!!!

And just to give you a peek into the life of my little flower girls', here are some of their softball pictures from this year:

Ashley plays first base for the Sardis Starbursts!

Gracie plays short-stop for the Sardis Lil' Lady Movers!

These two girls love softball and we love to watch them! I can't believe how fast they are growing up! I'm so glad they will get to play a part in our wedding and I can't wait to see them all dolled up! We love you both!