After Wedding Thoughts ~

Whew.. that went by waaay too fast. Seems like just the other day I was on the 30 day countdown to the Big day, and now it's all over with. Just that quick... in fact, so quickly, that it's already been 10 days since the wedding day! Crazy how time flies!

What a totally wonderful wedding. I can't even begin to put into words how wonderful that day was. I am truly soo thankful and blessed to have such UNBELIEVABLE people in my life.
First and Foremost, My parents and my grandma just plain went all out for me. What these 3 people did for me.. was just outright AMAZING. Sitting here thinking about all they have done for me to make my wedding the wedding of my dreams and the most spectacular day, just brings tears to my eyes. I cannot begin to express enough how wonderful they are. Along with my now-new-in-laws, all my brothers & family, and Family friends, I had the Wedding of my Dreams. They brought together everything I could have imagined to life. Everything I had pictured and more. They transformed my plain-ole Tennessee backyard to a Gorgeous TN Garden wedding.

I prayed and prayed (and worried and worried) about the weather.. and God delivered the MOST Beautiful weather day Nashville has seen in MONTHS! All leading up to the day was hot weather in the 90's (and of course the 100's the months before) and even possible RAIN the DAY before.. and then, the day of, Just GORGEOUS. I don't even know if it hit 80 degrees, and it was Sunny and beautiful. Stunning weather. See.. God is soo good and HE delivers when we pray.
It wasn't even just the setting and the weather, but the people God brought together for this day to make it happen so wonderful.
I hope to always remember all the little things that came together the months leading up to the wedding day, and even the things that happened at the last minute.

My HUGEST Thanks go out to soo many people to make this day happen for me. You all are soo awesome, and I pray God will always pour His blessings on your lives many times over for how you've blessed mine.

T-minus 9 days.. and a weather forecast!

Finally.. the 10-day forecast shows the wedding day.. and so far so good!! Totally lovin the weather in the 80s! Seems like the scorcher-days are finally over! It was just plain HOT here this summer. I know it wasn't like this the past couple years I've been in TN. It gets hot, I get that.. but heat indexes in the 115's.. were getting absurd!

I've ranted enough about the hot summer.. time to bask in the gorgeous weather we're getting now... at the end of August and just 9 days to my wedding.. I'm sooooo excited, can you tell!?!?!

The weather is the one thing that is TOTALLY out of my control and the one thing that's been on my mind the most, probably. We have some tents, and if it rains, we'll be under the tents.. but I've seen the backyard turn in to a mudpit-pool during Storms, and that wouldn't be good AT.ALL!.. But a tiny rainfall isn't going to bother me.. honestly... however.. the trusty-ole weather channel is showing 80s and a Good Day Sunshine! for that day. :)

I promise God is Good!

My wonderful Husband-to-be found us some FREE Mulch today!! Woohoo.. who doesn't LOVE FREE?!

The newly mulched flowerbed areas I created a few weeks ago, which were gorgeous (and still mostly are)...

...but have renovated themselves from the puddles and streams of major downpours of rain we've had recently, taking some of my beautiful paid for mulch away and scattered it throughout the yard. I was thrilled. Ok, Not. I was planning on doing a fresh layer of mulch anyways, but seriously, not replacing all of it at the price and labor involved.. but when it's FREE.. it makes the work just that much less painful :)

So I see a WEEKEND PROJECT!.. mulching, yet again... maybe you can't tell much of a difference from the pictures, but I CAN.. so.. we're re-mulching!

I'm sorry.. I'm a total flower freak now.. I can't stop taking pictures of my flower beds and talking about them. It's been a TON of work getting from where it was to where it is, and I'm not usually one to say this, but I'm totally proud of the progress. I'm a very proud flower-mom.

These guys are happy little campers :) Let's just say a HUUUUGE Thank you to the wonders of MIRACLE-GRO.. you ARE my Best Friend. I love you Miracle-gro!

Of course, there's the regular watering, weeding, plucking, dead-heading, and overall sweat poured into them.. and with the help of the Good Lord, for giving me a green thumb to grow them with :)

My gorgeous Knock-Out rose bush that was just a tiny-little-guy when I got him.

and I have Zinnia's coming out the wang.. whatever that is.. they're taking over!

Good thing I LOVE Zinnias.. and no, they're NOT weeds!

 (inside joke with the Mister)

Please disregard the unswept sidewalk.. and the yard-flag.. the yard was just mowed.. this usually washes itself away, but hasn't yet.

Ok.. Back to stuff other than flowers.. like weddings for example.

Last night, I got to treat myself to a trip to Victoria's Secret, thanks to some special gift cards from my bridal shower (thanks to some wonderful girls).. they know the Secret! lol.. those things are EXPENSIVE!.. but.. kind of worth it :) So now I have some new 'underthings' for my wedding dress, and some really pretty scented spray to wear.. so I won't stink.. hehe. FUN, huh?! Yay! Figured it was time for something new, and what better reason than for my wedding!

Got my hair trimmed.. got my hair appointment set for the wedding day. I'm totally a girl.. and soo geeked about these things... It's quite exciting being a Bride. Hair, Makeup, Manicures.. since I have like NO-Nails left on my fingers from chewing them all off.. a little stressed..? Yeah.. I'll say.
But I'm working on the less-stress approach.. keeping Faith and letting go, and Letting God. I'm very thankful to God for His hands on my life and throughout the whole wedding planning process.

Enjoy your evening :)

Stay tuned for more nonsense.. the final countdown!

T-Minus 10 days and counting!

With just 10 days to go till the wedding, and many many projects to finish, I have been a spray painting fool! I actually finished spray painting my metal chairs that I have been renovating from a previous post. Now to finish these other unfinished spray paint projects. I swear, my finger is killing me and I'll probably have carpel tunnel in my hand by the time I'm done with it all! I almost bought the spray paint handle, but I didn't.. I just might go back to the store, and sneak that little jobber in my cart this time.
I don't know why, but I'm always amazed at how drastically better something can look with just a can of spray paint...

Today I'm writing down anything I can possibly think of that I need to do or remember for the wedding. I'm quite geeked. My parents will be here this weekend.. and basically this is it..! We're off and running, getting everything put together and ready for the big day. I think it's starting to sink in that it's actually happening. As I'm making my list, I'm visualizing the events the day of; getting my hair & makeup done, and getting pictures, and thinking about the ride over to the house for the wedding. Oh my goodness.. it's crazy. Exciting. Nerve-racking.
Envisioning walking down the aisle, taking our vows and exchanging rings.. I definitely get teary-eyed. This is it. It's 10 days away. The day I've been waiting for, like all my life.

God has given me such a wonderful man. As I sit here going through vows, I think of the commitment we're making to each other and our future together. This man would tear down the house and rebuild it from the ground up if I asked him to. We had a long-quite-involved conversation yesterday about the to-do list for the wedding and everything that's going on. I know these aren't things he loves doing. But for me, he'll slay dragons. Because I want it. Because it makes me happy. After all this, I came back to work, and was playing on Youtube... working really hard... and thought about the first song we'll dance to as Husband and Wife. Originally, I thought I knew it would be Heaven by Bryan Adams. We both love this song, and it's been a song close to both of us in this relationship. But after yesterday's conversation, I realized it was supposed to be Everything I do, by Bryan Adams, this song says it all. My fiance LOVES Bryan Adams, which was also partly why I had picked the other one in the first place. But this song is it. I'll probably bawl my eyes out. I'll be surprised if there'll even be any make up still on my face after the ceremony.. let alone by the first dance! I simply can not wait. This day will be everything I've ever dreamed of.

I have the absolute best family in the world. I don't care how great you think your family is.. Mine is better :-p. I have two parents that are absolutely going above and beyond for me. I don't deserve it. My grandmother has dug plants out of the ground. My brother has built me a gorgeous bird house-card holder for the wedding. My mom has just plain worked her butt off to make sure I have whatever it is I want for my wedding. These people are amazing. I can not wait to see everything they do. My mother is an absolute Catering-party-Miracle Worker. God has blessed her with a gift like you wouldn't believe. I know God put the best people in my life. Each person has a talent or gift they're bringing to the table for my wedding. It's unreal.

Ok. I'm off for now. I have a hair appt :) yay!

Ah Yes, The weekend is here..

I think it's a general consensus that the weekends rock.. and generally by Friday, I'm totally ready for two days off.

Today, I'm really ready to get working on the rest of the yard / wedding projects. I have a BUTT-load of things to get accomplished in the next week!
The wedding is a mere 15 days away.. which really means there aren't 15 days to get everything done, because most of it has to be done before the actual wedding day.. .. ..   Yay.
My wonderful husband-in-15 days took his day off the other day to work on outdoor projects. Fun stuff, like pressure-washing, cleaning gutters, cutting tree limbs.. you know, every day yard work. lol. Very nice to have these things checked off the list :)

I plan on using this weekend to um.. maybe finish some unfinished projects... :) *big cheesy grin* Maybe I've started a few projects and haven't quite gotten them totally done.. yet. So I'll probably be inhaling a ton of spray paint this weekend while I finish a few of those projects.  
   Ok... here's where I whine, complain and make excuses.. skip this if you like.. It's sooo hot outside, and the Mosquitoes in the back yard are HORRENDOUS. They are flat out eating me alive. It's all I can do to go outside and water my plants.. I stand there for just one second, and there are a swarm on my leg. ICK. I highly doubt mosquitoes serve a purpose on earth. Everything is supposed to have a purpose, but I truly believe mosquitoes should die forever. and Never come back.
   Ok. I got that out. So I'll be finishing my spray painting chairs and mirrors, etc, wearing long sleeve shirts and jeans.

Today my paper lanterns for the stringed lights arrived and are sitting on my front patio at the house waiting for me as I type. I'm soo excited :) It'll be like Christmas when I get home... well kind of.

We're going for this look:

No.. this is NOT my wedding picture. I don't know who's it is, it's a random photo I found when I googled outdoor wedding. That's where you'll find it if you look for it.

So. that's that.

I recently went to the Goodwill, and browsed a really random section of totally miscellaneous junk. Literally, misc junk.
Anywho, I'm glad I did. I found this:

A Guest Book.. for a BUCK!

It's pretty.. and blank.. never used. Yay. It's the little things that matter to me.

Other than that, I'm trying to stay focused on the To-Do list, and keep myself from being a huge Worry-wart.

...

So I have to admit.. I ran home for lunch and opened my box of Paper Lanterns.. Yep.. it was like Christmas!!

I love these things. They're so pretty.

Yay! How fun!!

Well.. I think that's about it for now. I have to get my weekend list together so I can stay on track.... not that I ever get distracted! Well.. maybe sometimes. This weekend I have got to stay focused. Maybe even come up with a plan for each hour of the day and all the days of next week of things that must get completed that day! No Exceptions! Ha.. we'll see how that goes! I'm lucky to get everything on one sheet of paper.. my notes are so scattered.. kind of like my brain!

Off to the list! Hope you have a great weekend!

Any suggestions on to-do lists and schedules? lol