Sunday, December 25, 2011

MeRrY ChRiStMaS!!!

We cannot lose sight of the real reason we celebrate Christmas:

And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” Luke 2:9-12

And now, for a Christmas tradition. We open one present on Christmas Eve, and it is always matching pajamas. We try to guess what the theme of the pattern will be each year. We started this tradition when I was 6 years old, and we had plaid pajamas. Reliving that theme this year! : )

On the 1st day of Christmas,
we opened Christmas presents
in our traditional matching jammies.

Clint, Pretzel and I

Family presents-before Santa came to visit : )




Saturday, December 24, 2011

On the 2nd day of Christmas...

On the 2nd day of Christmas,
my brother, Clint, and I
decorated Christmas cookies.

Clint and I

The magic ingredients

The finished product!

Also, here is a picture of my girlfriends and I last weekend at Jason and Lauren's wedding! Congrats Mr. and Mrs. Fowler!



Friday, December 23, 2011

On the 3rd day of Christmas...

On the 3rd day of Christmas,
my mom dressed Pretzel
in her Christmas sweater.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

On the 4th day of Christmas...

On the 4th day of Christmas,
my fiancé and I
sent out our Save the Dates.
(If you didn't get one, don't be offended. We only sent them to our (massive) families.)



Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

On the 6th day of Christmas...

On the 6th day of Christmas,
work friends and I
had a Feliz Navidad party!

Jay won the award for best Christmas outfit!

It's not a Feliz Navidad party without fajitas!

...and of course Christmas brownies!

Monday, December 19, 2011

On the 7th day of Christmas...

On the 7th day of Christmas,
my family, friends and I
celebrated my 24th birthday!

Birthday Cake from my family!

The cake with 24 candles : )

Birthday brownies from my sweet friends

Sunday, December 18, 2011

On the 8th day of Christmas...

On the 8th day of Christmas,
I received some Christmas cards
And displayed them like I saw on Pinterest.




Saturday, December 17, 2011

On the 9th Day of Christmas...

On the 9th day of Christmas,
my Mr. Wonderful and I
attended the Junior League Christmas Party.
(nicely sporting our red and green )




Friday, December 16, 2011

On the 10th day of Christmas...

On the 10th day of Christmas,
We searched for the best lit house
And this is what we found in T-Town.
(and of course Matt and I enjoyed Christmas music and hot chocolate on our hunt)




Thursday, December 15, 2011

On the 11th day of Christmas...

On the 11th day of Christmas,
as I listened to Christmas songs
I decorated the Christmas tree.
(okay, so maybe the tree has been decorated since November 5.......what can I say, I LOVE Christmas!)




Wednesday, December 14, 2011

On the 12th Day of Christmas...

On the 12th day of Christmas,
The marketeers and I
Took a Christmas card photo.





Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Thanksgiving at the Farm


On Thanksgiving morning, I had breakfast with Matt before heading to the airport. I took a quick flight to Tampa where my Aunt Debe and Mom picked me up. We drove to the Grainger Farm to celebrate Thanksgiving with my mom's side of the family. With around 50 people each bring a homemade dish, we had quite the spread.



After a delicious meal, it was time for family photos. Here are a few:

Gaga and her Grandchildren

A remake of a picture we took when we were younger.

My (little) brother, Clint and I

My wonderful Grandparents

After taking a few several pictures, we headed on a hay ride to see the orange groves (my Uncle provides Tropicana with oranges) and feed the horses and cows.


After a wonderful day, we headed back to the house to take a quick nap. Aunt Debe, AnnMaree (my cousin) and I headed out to Bealls for some Black Friday shopping. We made it to the store at 10 p.m., and it opened at midnight. Let's just say we were 7,8, and 9 in line and got some wonderful gift cards!!

I am so thankful for the time I got to spend with my family this Thanksgiving! Thank you to the Graingers for all of your hospitality!

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Engagement Celebrations

Now that you've heard our engagement story, it's time to inform you about the rest of our amazing day!

After embracing the moment at the Arboretum, we headed back to take showers and get ready for family time! The Franklin's drove over from Georgia as a wonderful surprise! We met them back at the Arboretum to reenact the moment. Katie took fantastic pictures of us (check out the previous post to see them). She is SO talented!

Matt's Family

I will have 4 new sisters!! : )

We also enjoyed lunch at McAlister's before I headed to work for a few hours. After the swimming and diving meet, Matt and I drove to Pratville to meet my family for dinner at Outback.

My Family

My (little) Brother

It was such a sweet time of many laughs, retelling the story and hearing my dad retell the story of Matt asking for my hand in marriage. Here is a picture from that day (October 28, 2011):


Matt and I have been taking ballroom dancing lessons for the past few months. So far, we know the waltz, the rumba and the swing. When we got back from Pratville, we attended a Halloween (and our first) Ball. We dressed as Woody and Jesse from Toy Story.

(I know, he's so darn cute!!)

Matt and I are blessed with such wonderful friends who threw an engagement party for us on Monday night. Thank you to the Sisco's for hosting this party and to everyone else who graciously made delicious soups and sides!!

Some of the most wonderful girls you will ever meet!

The whole group

At work today, my wonderful interns, Caitlin and Aimee surprised me with my first wedding presents!! I was SO excited! You girls are FANTASTIC!


To everyone who has celebrated with us thus far, thank you for your support and love during this very exciting time in our lives. We love all of you!!

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Matt Put a Ring on It! : )

Oh my goodness. How do I even begin to describe what happened yesterday? Let’s start with the story:

Matt and I planned to go running at the Arboretum on Saturday (yesterday- October 29 to be exact)) at 7 a.m. I set my alarm clock for 6:40 to have time to change into my running clothes, brush my teeth and be ready for a great workout with my Mr. Wonderful. At 6:15 a.m. my phone rings, and Matt informs me he is at my door and about to cook me chocolate chip pancakes (My FAV breakfast). I was so darn excited. He has surprised me a few times before with breakfast (I know ladies, he’s a stud!)

Side note: We have this thing where Matt asks me “Guess what?”. Of course I answer “What?”, and he replies with “I love you”. He did this several times over breakfast, so I started answering his “Guess what?” with “I love you!”. Remember this! It will play into the story later.

After enjoying a delicious breakfast, we headed to the Arboretum. We began running around the cross-country path, just chatting and making conversation. Matt then started telling me how he was reading about the fruits of the spirit in Galatians. He begins naming each fruit and telling me how I exemplify that trait. Now he always says such sweet things about me that I still had NO clue what was coming.

I see a lake to our right and suggest that we run around the lake. Little did I know that I was helping him, as this was his plan all along. By the time he was finished naming the fruits of the spirit, we made it to a landing by the lake. Matt stepped in front of me and “presented” himself, which is how a man asks a lady to dance in ballroom dancing, (He is SO darn cute when he presents himself. You should ask him to demonstrate J) I accept the invitation and we begin dancing. He spins me around and then says “Guess what?” (remember the side note?). I quickly answer “You love me!!”. At this point, he says “And….”, gets down on one knee and pops the questions “Will you marry me?”

My first words: “No! Are you kidding me?? Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Are you serious??”. Of course, I quickly follow that with “Absolutely! Absolutely!” I believe at this point I have already bent down on my knees to squeeze him like crazy. We stand back up and he pulls the ring (aka ridiculously massive rock) out of his pocket.




Side note (again): I ALWAYS wear a ring on my left hand ring finger. Matt has always said that I better not have a ring on when he proposes. I always assured him that I would know when he was about to propose and would remove the current ring on my finger.

Well, my Mr. Wonderful surprised the heck out of me, and I was too in shock to even think about me having a ring on, much less that I should remove it. So Matt had to say “You better get that ring off your finger!”. Of course, I shockingly removed it from my hand, and he replaced it with my gorgeous engagement ring.

Now, the story of how he hid the ring. Conveniently I helped Matt out again with the proposal, unbeknownst to me. (Your welcome, Matt) It was freezing that morning, so I suggested he wear his white jacket running. Well, that is exactly where he hid the ring.

So now I am officially engaged to the love of my life. The wedding planning begins…..NOW!