Is It Winter Yet?

I don't think it is. On Christmas it was 50 degrees and sunny out here! That's not exactly what I call Christmas weather. Oh well.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas! I sure did! My favorite present this year (aside from getting married)? My parents got me a Burberry wallet! I make a big deal every time I get it out to get something. Johnny got a new cell phone. I haven't heard a peep from him since. He's on it downloading stuff all of the time. He now understands why I'm a Droid fan.

I got a couple of presents this year that have changed my life... get ready for it ...

1) I have owned a Chi for about 4 years and have been content. However, I have always had a difficult time getting my hair completely straight and I never understood why it was so hard to do. It's because Chi's suck. GHD is the way to go. I have never ever ever gotten my hair so smooth and straight on my own. There is only one heat setting (VERY HOT), it warms up in a minute (and beeps at you when its ready!), and it's super lightweight. I will never own another brand of straightening iron again. I got this cool little vintage boho bag with mine for easy and safe storage.

2) This is a Sultra brand hairdryer (the Siren model to be exact). You can buy it at Sephora. I have always had hairdryers that were hand-me-downs from my mom (Revlon or some mass produced brand). I found this one online and asked for it because it helps restore damaged hair while drying it. It uses ions and ceramic and some infrared generator to mend your hair back to healthy. It's all pretty technical. All I know is that this hairdryer dries my hair in half of the time my previous one did and my hair was smooth and silky when I was done. It's a little heavy but so worth it.

After using these two tools my hair looked like I had just gotten it done. It's amazing how good tools can make the biggest difference. It's certainly an investment as both are pretty pricey. Both have good long warranties that include replacements if something should happen.

My mom was taking pictures during our wedding ceremony...

 The Vows. I think my big hair gave me an extra inch...not that I needed it, but I love big hair.

 Once again... AMAZING cake. 

Trying to figure out how to cut the cake...we were so confused. 

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

We're Married!

This has been quite an eventful week! I got to pick Johnny up on Tuesday and on Thursday we were married! We had a great time! The wedding was very informal but it was just how we wanted it. After the ceremony we went back to my parent's house for some cake and champagne! Then we went out to dinner with his family. We ended up landing in a really nice hotel that my aunt had booked for the night for us! After an exhausting day we were glad to relax. 

My brother took pictures so more will be coming! Until then here is a little sneak peak.

I took the ones above with my rings and the shoes. My perfect perfect wedding shoes!

We were so clueless when it came to cutting the cake. It was kind of funny. The cake was absolutely amazing. My brother's girlfriend made the burlap flower for it! It was perfect!

My rings! I've had the marquis for quite a long time so the gold is a little bit of a different color than the wedding band! Still love it! 

For Laughs.

I decided to google "ugly wedding" and it brought up some pretty horrible stuff. I decided I would add the worst of the worst so you could enjoy!

This is creepy, even to me. 

I'm really not sure what's going on in this picture. I think they're being attacked by an animal. 

Yes, this is real. This is a bikini wedding dress. How proud their kids will be someday.  

I had to double check that this happened. It did.  

(Silent stare) 

 Fancy.

This picture is so horribly embarrassing! That's her bouquet that's supposed to be hidden.  

Sorry Kim K., this ring is horrible. Who REALLY needs a diamond that big? 

 ...

Fluffy. 

From Russia, With Love. 

Yeeeah... 

The Final Count Down.

In approximately 4 days I will be waltzing into the Pythian Castle and getting hitched. As we come down to these last few days I manage to get sick. All I know is that I am miserable right now and can hardly swallow my own spit. If I'm sick for my wedding I will be mad!

The Mr. and I will be going out to dinner after the wedding and cake with the family. I didn't want to wear my wedding dress to dinner in case I got it dirty. So I went on my favorite website (JCrew.com) and found my wedding night outfit! Best part? All on sale! Like, significantly on sale.

My mom got me this necklace from KateSpade.com. I absolutely love it! In real life it's pretty small and is not as easy to read. It's kind of like a little secret. I love love love it and will never take it off. EVER.

The Dress and a Couple Changes...

I found out yesterday that my dress was in early and ready for me to try on. I was on my way to St. Louis and seriously considered turning around to go get it (not really...I was going there for work). Anyway, tonight mom and I went in with my accessories and shoes! The dress fit PERFECTLY! I couldn't believe that I didn't need it altered at all. I was so happy when I tried it on. The length is perfect, the size, everything! My new thicker sash looks fantastic with it. The only thing I was disappointed about was my veil.

Earlier I mentioned I had gotten a black birdcage veil. This seemed perfect at first. Then I started thinking about how I didn't get a very traditional dress and wearing the black veil made me feel even less like a bride. So when I went in to try it on I looked around for another veil. I was worried since my dress is not white or ivory. The sales person pulled out this absolutely perfect one that was the exact length I had seen myself in and the trim on it matched my dress perfectly. What luck! I could have hugged that lady! I put the veil on and got a little teary... that was it.

This is my veil, only the trim is more of a dark ivory/champagne color instead of white. I'm in love with it!

Next was my shoes. I tried on the black ones I previously mentioned with the sparkly bows on them. I wasn't digging the shoes with everything else. I felt like it didn't match and was too much with the bows. So...I came across these beauties on Nordstrom.com and I had to have them.

Are these not absolutely the most amazing shoes you've ever seen!? I can't wait to get them! They're made by Steve Madden. They also come in black. And I am so wearing these everyday after the wedding.

I wasn't entirely sure what I wanted for jewelry on that day besides my rings and a diamond bangle I have. I found these at David's Bridal randomly and they looked really great with the color of the dress...

I'd still like another bracelet but we'll see. I like things simple.

Well, Johnny comes home in 5 days and the wedding is in 7! I can't wait!

Final Details.

I'm ironing out the final details of the wedding this week as I have time. I don't really have a lot of that stuff (time) but I somehow find planning this relaxing so I have been doing it to unwind. This week I have figured out my hairstyle, makeup, and that I need a cake topper or something. At first I wanted roses on the top of the cake (real ones) but after thinking about it I would really like something special as a keepsake. Sadly for me the kind I like are all hand done so it's a little short notice to be ordering it. Perhaps I'll be able to find something this weekend here in town. Anyway, here is what I have come up with...

 I couldn't figure out if I wanted my hair up or down, messy or perfect. This messy bun is absolutely perfect. It's pretty clean and put together but has the mess added to it. Awesome. I am going for the one on the top part of this picture.

 I love smokey eyes and originally thought that's what I wanted. After purchasing a black birdcage veil I decided adding smokey eyes to that would be too dark. I'm opting for this very simple but glamourous look. Perfect foundation, fake lashes, semi-thick eyeliner, white shadow, nude lip.

 I found this idea on Pinterest and fell in love with it. What a perfect way to keep the cards that family and friends send after the wedding. Just make a cover with some thick scrap-booking paper and put some personal touches on it!

This is the most perfect cake topper ever. They are handmade from this gal on Etsy. I would totally make the male bird brown and the bride bird's flowers to match mine. Sadly, it's too late to order this since it is handmade.

Maybe we will get these for when we have our reception after Johnny gets home. Until then, I will continue to admire them online.

Nine Days.

In nine short days I will be a Mrs. How weird is that? I'm really excited! It's going to be a great day! And it's going to be a great Christmas!

Speaking of Christmas... I should probably start Christmas shopping. I got my dad's stuff done but really need to work on everyone else. Leave it to me to do it last minute. I swear I wouldn't get anything done if I didn't do it at the very last second. Working under pressure does me well.

I finally decorated.

That would be my weird white Christmas tree. I got it about three years ago when we lived in the loft. I was trying to do a retro/modern look for Christmas so I got a white tree and used all black and red decorations. I think it goes okay in my little bungalow. I wanted a real tree but opted out of one because I could not handle taking care of one more living thing right now with everything going on.

Here is a sneak peak of my veil (I really hate how it looks on this model). My dress is on Pinterest but I refuse to put it on here in case Johnny looks.

I had Johnny try on his wedding band this past weekend when I went to see him. I thought I was so clever in figuring out what size it needed to be. Turns out, I was wrong and it's a whole size too big. Now to find time to exchange it (it's titanium).

My mom told me something weird the other day... apparently at one point in time titanium was much more expensive than gold. Pretty sure his band was about $300 less than what it would have been if I had chosen a gold one! The rings are super important but who knows what's going to happen to his while he's at training!

I'm going to try to update this more often. It might be after finals (this week!) that that actually happens.

Until then...

Day Two...

It's only day two of wedding planning and I'm almost done! Today three things got accomplished...

1) Mom ordered the cake! It's going to look just like I want it to! I'm fairly sure I'm the only bride who didn't go order her own cake...I feel like cake is cake.
2) Got my dress ordered! Absolutely LOVE it! My mom surprised me and paid for it. Apparently she tricked me by saying I had to buy it so that I would stay in budget..it worked! So that left me with more money for my third venture...
3) Got the wedding bands!

Engaged!

I haven't written in a while. I feel like I've been running all over the place but I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing or what I have gotten accomplished. But, I'm back now!

My now fiance and I have been talking about getting married for a while now. It wasn't until I went to see him for his BCT graduation that we started talking seriously about it. We chatted about eloping during his Christmas break but nothing was ever set in stone. I was able to go see him the following weekend and we talked about it more. Then we talked about it more on the phone for the rest of Thanksgiving week. We decided on Sunday to make it official. We are engaged and we are eloping on December 22, 2011! That's in like two weeks! EEEK!

Why so soon you ask? We could have put it out a little further into his two week break but we wanted to spend time together married before he departed again.

It's weird because growing up I never really envisioned my own wedding. I feel like I thought about it a couple of times but not like a normal little girl might. I have always known that I never wanted a big wedding. To me weddings are very special and should be shared with people who are VERY close to you. I don't want to feel like I'm on display. But, there were certain things I knew would be important to me for tradition's sake. Things like a bouquet. I really wanted a bridal bouquet. Not a big one but just something special and pretty. Every girl loves flowers, right? I knew I wanted a cake. Nothing is better than a pretty cake made especially for you. And I knew I'd want a dress. I love clothes and LOVE most wedding dresses. I only plan on wearing one (maybe two if we ever re-do our vows) but I want it to be special.

With all of that being said, I wasn't about to buy all of this for a trip to the court house. So, we are "eloping" (as in getting married spur of the moment) at the Pythian Castle! I am so excited about this! We love the Pythian Castle. It's absolutely beautiful. My mom and I went to look around at it today and see where we wanted the event to take place. We chose the lobby (which sounds odd but I promise it's big and very beautiful). It's also decorated already! And the decorations match my random color scheme (dark red, black, off white). Me and my mom loved it and I know Johnny is going to think it's amazing! So I got my location secured today! During my lunch break!

This is the outside of the castle. I get to get married in a castle! I'm REALLY hoping it's snowing outside so we can get some good pictures outdoors too! Now all I'm waiting for is the officiant to call me back!

I also ordered my bouquet during my lunch hour (yes, it was literally an hour! I couldn't believe it!). I wanted something simple. So it'll look something like this with a black ribbon instead of a white one...

My idea for the cake is the following but with red roses that match the bouquet instead of the white flowers...

Simple but pretty. :)

I'm VERY lucky because my brother takes AMAZING pictures. He'll be doing all of ours!

Now for the dress... mom and I are going to look for one tomorrow, well I have an appointment anyway. I'm hoping I can find something I like that I can actually afford.

I AM going to do this wedding for under $500! It's going to happen! And it's happening in two weeks! Seventeen days to be exact!

Basic Training Graduation/Ft. Sill

Johnny joined the Army in mid August. I knew he would at some point in time. He had been talking about wanting to join for the past three years but just never did it until recently. I was very worried when he started talking about joining. I finally came to terms with it when I realized how much he wanted to do it and how good of a career opportunity this could turn out to be. He is enlisted in the Reserves for now which really doesn't mean anything. He could still be deployed.

Last week was his Basic Training graduation. I was so proud of him! He graduated with honors and his platoon was the honor platoon for this cycle (4th Platoon Ruff Riders! WOO!). He already has two pins, one for Sharpshooter and one for Expert in Grenade. Needless to say, he really took off with this Army business. I couldn't be happier for him.

He was at Fort Sill in Oklahoma. I was able to go see him graduate and participate in family day as well as take him off base for two day passes. He showed me around the base and went shopping at the PX. I have to say, I absolutely LOVE the base. Lawton on the other hand was not someplace I'd visit again (no offense!).

Anyway, here are some of the pictures from the trip!

Oklahoma is not a very exciting state. This was my view for 4.5 hours.

This was the best thing ever. Basically, it was in the morning before going to family day and I was flipping through TV channels. I stumbled upon mug shots displayed on TV so I had to stop and watch. My favorite part was the very current rap/r&b music playing in the background. I wish we had this in Missouri!

First day going on base! I was SO excited!

This was his graduating class (I always forget the proper names for everything in the Army) marching out for Family Day demonstration. It was really cute. There was a group who showed off all three uniforms, a group who demonstrated the "first day" of marching and then what they learned while there, and another group who did the same for Physical Training. After all of this I got to take him off base!!!

He was on the phone with someone in my hotel room and I snuck a quick picture. Love it!

At lunch the first day. He looks so handsome in his dress blues!!!!

GRADUATION! It was funny because they had to sit like this until they were told to move. So family members were crawling everywhere taking pictures and they had to keep looking forward. Johnny is all the way down on the other side of the second row!

OH YEAH! Honor graduate! There were more pictures but this was the best.

Being sworn in, Officially US Army Soldiers! 

We went to the museum on base right afterwards. I wanted this little guy.

I thought this was so cool.

Very cool! Too bad it was ungodly windy and cold out that day.

So official looking! 

There isn't much to do in Lawton. We found a sign on our way out of Walmart that said something about a "Holy City." We decided we needed to go find this city. On our way we found a rock formation that was similar to a very small mountain. So, we drove up it. 

So pretty! It was awesome at the top. We would have gotten a picture but I almost blew off because of the wind.

His beret kept moving around into unacceptable positions. 

Lucy, my Jeep, really enjoyed the drive up there. I think she felt like she was in her natural habitat. (Yes, I do indeed name my cars. I happen to really like Lucy from Charlie Brown.)

Those are a couple pictures from during Basic Training that I really like. 

Over all the trip to Fort Sill was a success. I discovered that I really love the base and he got to move closer to home for AIT. He's now located at Fort Leonard Wood here in Missouri! I get to go see him on Friday so we'll see what that base is like. More pictures to come!