Thursday, May 24, 2012

Bridal Showers & Bachelorette Parties (picture overload)

Forgive me...I'm just now posting about my 2 bridal showers and 2 bachelorette parties.  Mainly a lot of pictures with a little blurb about what we all did.  Oh and I was only planning on having 1 bachelorette party, but the 2nd was kind of just an excuse for us local girls to go out in the limo!!  But it was fun, and I'm so blessed with wonderful family & friends!!

1st Bridal Shower was held in our hometown by my Mother In-Law's friends/my friends, and 1 of my bridesmaids.  There was a great turn out of guests, lots of gifts (seriously blessed, people!), and yummy cake!!  My mom, both grandma's, and my maid of honor were able to attend.  My 3 other bridesmaids were back in the city, they weren't able to make it.  There weren't any games, which was my request, because it was a large shower.  I think most of the guests were pleased with that decision, because it allowed more time to chit chat.  It was a really fun time!!  Here are a few pictures (I won't bore you with pictures of me opening gifts)...

cutest.zebra cake.ever
don't you just love the red high heel?!

Tracy, Ashley S (bridesmaid), Me, Diane, and Lori
The fabulous girls who threw the shower!

My mom, Me, and Mother In-Law

Me & my MOH Ashley! {besties}

Gma Jo, Mom, Me, Mother In-Law, D's Gma Bonnie, and Gma Jean

My 2nd Bridal Shower was held in the big city, as I have several friends that I keep in touch with.  I lived there for about 7 years, so I just had to have one there.  My bridesmaids were all in charge of this one, and it turned out to be fabulous!!  They all know me so well...I love Pink and I love Zebra, so they combined the 2!!  Just like the 1st shower, I requested no games, because we were tight on space, also a large crowd, and I wanted to have a little more time to chat with friends that I hadn't seen in forever.  Here are some pictures...

Me with the sweets table.
If you look closely in the back there is a black frame with
pink & black zebra fabric, that was advice for couple.
I loved all of the advice that we received, such a cute idea instead of games!
 
Homemade Cupcakes, and they were all super yummy!!
Top to Bottom: Smores with topped with Marshmallow frosting and graham cracker crumbs,
Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Frosting,
and Cherry Limeade (the green thing was supposed to be cotton candy, but it was a very hot day)
These were all made by my amazing sister in-law Kelli, and brother Jerrod!

another look at the cute sweets table
 
Pink Peanut Butter "Zebra" Cookies
You can find these babies on Pinterest!!
 
"Love is Sweet Take a Treat" - sweets table sign
 
Mel, Ashley, Me, Aimee, and Danielle
The amazing bridesmaids, minus Ashley S.

Me & my personal attendants: Jen (cousin), and Kelli (sister in-law)

me & the mom's!

Amber, Nicole, Me, Kelsi, and Rachel
My old small group ICCC friends, who have turned into great friends!!
After the bridal shower, we headed downtown where we reserved some rooms for the evening.  Me & the bridesmaids, plus Jen & Kelli, and another friend, split 2 King Suites which also were connected.  We had so much fun getting ready together, doing each others hair & makeup, and having some drinks!  We had supper down in the hotel restaurant, went back to the room to do some fun shots, and came back down just in time for the bachelorette party to start!  I had some friends come down and meet us, as well as some of our local friends made the trip up to the city as well.  We had some drinks in the hotel bar, and then headed to the downtown hot spot where there are several bars and a huge open area to hang out.  The theme was Pink & Black!! Whoever came had to wear something pink & black.  Here are a few fun group shots, but the rest of the pictures aren't blog friendly!! ;) 

Top Left to Right: Mel, Jen, Mom, Jess, Kelli, Ashley
Bottom Left to Right: Amanda, Me, Aimee

Me, Amanda, and Mel

I am sooo blessed!!! :)

Amazing Bridesmaids who put this whole thing on!

Taking a fun shot without the use of our hands!! ;)
 I was pretty tired that next day, I think I only had 7 hours of sleep total for the weekend (friday & saturday combined). It was the longest.trip.home.ever. No joke, 5 hours on the road, and it was windy & hot. Also, I ended up leaving my shower dress in the closet and the hotel never was able to find it. So to whoever took my dress, I hope you're enjoying it as much as I did!  It was brand new, only got to wear it the 1 time. :(  Other than that, the whole weekend was a blast, love my girls!!

On to the last bachelorette party...it was more of a last minute thing, but man it was a blast!  D was out of town at his bachelor party, so we decided we were going to go out.  Well a few of the girls decided it was going to be a #2, rented a limo, had supper at Boondocks, and then it brought us back to town to the local hole it the wall.  I've never laughed so hard in my life!!  My friend Jess even made me a special veil that I wore to supper, and then I took it off, because I kept sitting on it.  Here are a few pictures...

In the limo...Me, Jess, Janel, and Mom
 
Party People!!
Kaylee, Lauren, Buffey, Kristi, Janel, Penny, Diane, Mom, Jess, and I (in front)

a view of the condom veil!

Mom, Tracy, and I

Lauren, Me, and Jess

Mom and I
 There ya have it!! Sorry for the picture overload, but at least I only showed a few from each event. I loved all of them, and think we need to make it a point to have more girl nights!

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Our Lace Inspired Wedding Invites


Well we did it!!  We got married almost a month ago (will be a month next Monday!!), went on our honeymoon in the Bahamas, came back opened all of our gifts, and currently still trying to get our house and shed back in order!  Whew...not sure where this month has gone, but they say time flies when you're having fun!!  So now that the wedding is over, I will have more time to blog (I'm hoping anyways).  I tried to take as many pics along the way of the little things that I made, so I hope to have some great posts coming your way. 

Today, I will finally share our invites that D's Aunt Hatty created for us.  I helped her by giving her some inspiration pictures, and she took it from there.  My dress had lace on it, so that's where the scroll things come into place, plus it kind of ties in with our Save The Dates we sent out.  Our colors were Navy, Fuchsia, and Lime Green. 



Here is the invitation up close.  It's hard to see the true colors of the invite, because my camera isn't the best, but you get the idea!  We ordered a natural cream colored linen card stock from Paper & More, and she printed 2 invites per page and cut in the middle.


Here is the RSVP card that we did.  We decided instead of wasting the money supplying more stamps for a postcard that might get tossed or forgotten about, we would have people RSVP 3 different ways.  They could call/text, email our special wedding account, or enter in their names on our wedding website.  Overall, most people did the email thing.  And we still missed a lot, so we went through our guest list, guessed who was going to come, and then we were able to figure out our final RSVP for the caterer.  It worked out really well.  It was printed on the same card stock as the invite, she was able to print 4 to a page and cut them accordingly.  We mailed them out in a natural cream colored linen envelope a little over a month before the wedding.


Hatty did such an amazing job with our invites, and we received several compliments on them!  The best part is, they weren't like anyone else's, completely custom just for us!! 



Thursday, April 19, 2012

What's on the schedule for tonight?

My goodness...I'm a little embarrassed that its been soooo long since I've done a blog post. Well folks...we are 9 days away from our wedding, so my whole days consists of planning/thinking/ordering/doing wedding stuff. I normally blog while at work, of course after I have my work done, but weeding took over! So I promises after the wedding, when things calm down, I will blog more than what I have been.

Other than wedding stuff, I started having issues with my neck last weekend. I normally don't pay attn to the normal back and neck pains,because they eventually go away. But not this time, something felt off so I've been going to the chiropractor this week. Today it hasn't got any better, matter of fact it was worse. So back to the Dr I went, he did his thing, still no improvement. So then we decided to go do an xray. Apparently my neck is straight, which normal people have a curve. So I get to do a special exercise to help it back to normal. It sounds crazy, I know!! Anyways back to the wedding stuff...here is a snapshot to what I'm working on tonight. It is for our memory candle in memory of my great grandma Elsie, great grandma Gladys, cousin Jeremy, and d's grandpa "Ellsworth". You might be able to guess what I'm going to do by looking at the picture, but you're gonna have to wait until after the wedding to see finished product. Hope ya'll are doing well!!ro


Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Chili Sausage Platter

About a month ago, we went to the {big} city to do some wedding stuff, and before we came home Sunday we ate at a newer restaraunt mainly because of it's name, Dodge City Distillery.  I hadn't ever heard of it for one, and two our {small} town is pretty close to the actual town, Dodge City.  This place had a western atmosphere, which fit perfectly, and the food had kind of a cowboy twist to it.  Everything on their menu sounded delish.  I ordered their homemade sausage platter, which consisted of grilled homemade sausage, slathered with their whiskey chili, served over a bed of dirty rice.  I don't normally order stuff like that, and it was the best thing I had eaten in awhile.  And not to mention the serving size was ginormous, I could only eat about half, which left me stuffed. 

I'm drooling just looking at this!
The next Sunday was superbowl, I was at home watching it by myself, and I decided that I was going to cook up a batch of chili and then a couple days later recreate that meal with the leftover chili.  That's exactly what I did!  I went and bought a sausage link, a box of wild rice mix, and had just enough of my homemade chili left for us to eat.  And guess what...IT TURNED OUT AMAZING!!!  My chili wasn't whiskey chili, but pretty darn tasty (someday I'll share how I make it), and it was very simple to cook up. 

Ingredients:
Leftover chili (probably enough for a couple of bowls full)
Sausage Link (the kind that looks like a "horseshoe)
1 box of Wild Rice, plus ingredients to make (I used Uncle Ben's Long Grain & Wild Rice)
Shredded Cheese to top

Directions:
1. Heat up leftover chili on stove.
2. Cut up Sausage Link into 1" thick pieces, fry them in a cast iron skillet until it's a little browned. Remove from heat.
3. Cook Wild Rice as directed on box.
4. Grab a large platter, spoon out all of the Wild Rice onto the platter.
5. Next top with fried sausage, and then slather with chili so it covers.
6. Top with shredded cheese and serve.  You can even pop it into the oven if you wish to melt the cheese a little more.


Rice & Sausage ready for the Chili

Mmm...topped with cheese on a platter and ready to devour!


D was totally in love with this dish, and there was plenty leftover for lunch the next day!  I'm telling you...if you ever have any leftover chili sitting around, you've gotta give this a try!




Linking up too...
At Home With Haley
It's A Blog Party
The Girl Creative
Today's Creative Blog
Not So Homemade
The Shabby Creek Cottage
What Allie's Making Now
Somewhat Simple
Lovely Crafty Home
The Sisters of the Wild West
Polka Dots on Parade
This Chick Cooks
Ginger Snap Crafts
Homemaker on a Dime
My Favorite Finds

Friday, February 17, 2012

Happy Birthday to my amazing Fiance!!


Today is D's 29th birthday!
Isn't he so handsome?  I just LOVE him to pieces, and in less than 2.5 months he will be...
MY HUSBAND!!!

Eeeeks, super exciting, I know!!

Anyways, this D is spoiled already!  Last night I made him his birthday supper (a day early, I know), some delish Sausage, Egg, and Cheese breakfast pockets (recipe to come later) so we could have breakfast together this morning, and made his requested birthday dessert...No Bakes!  He's such a simple man, love him!
Tonight we are going over to his parents house for Steaks and Asparagus.  Yum, he has great taste!
Tomorrow morning we are off for a little road trip with Ashley and Brett. 
We are going to see Gorgeous Strait and Martina McBride in concert tomorrow night, which we are soooo excited about!  I got Dustin tickets for Christmas, since it was the weekend of his birthday. 
This will be our 3rd time that we've seen him in the 5 years we've been together. 
It's crazy that each concert has been around the same time we met (or pretty close too)...

1st concert: March 2, 2007 - George Strait, Ronnie Milsap, and Taylor Swift
2nd concert: April 9, 2010 - George Strait, Reba McEntire, and LeeAnn Womack
3rd concert: February 18, 2012 - George Strait and Martina McBride

Anyways, I'm just as excited to see him for the 3rd time as I was the first time around.  He is one man that ages gracefully...hello!  And I'm excited to see Martina, I haven't seen her before, but I have heard she's amazing.  Here are some pictures from the last concert in 2010...

LeeAnn Womack

Reba McEntire

Gorgeous Strait!

Hello George!
 
And Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiii Love You, It Just Comes Natural!

Here's to a wonderful birthday weekend for D...HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABE!!! I LOVE YOU! :)