Thursday, July 30, 2009

Kelly's Korner - Show Us Your Life

I am so excited because I can finally participate in Kellys Korner's "Show Me". Today is the beginning of a new series, "Show Us Your Life - Wedding Party and Flowers."


Don and I were married on January 18, 2008 at our church, Broadmoor Baptist Church. I was worried we wouldn't be able to get to the church because it snowed and iced the night before. Did I mention I live in Louisiana - WHAT?! Anyway, it all worked out and we had a beautiful day for our wedding.


We did not use any flowers, except in the bouquets, because we got married in January. Flowers are expensive in January ya'll. It didn't matter because I had an awesome florist. We decided to go with a Winter Wonderland theme (most people said it reminded them of Narnia). My florist even went out in the woods behind her house and cut down little trees! She put them in cement-filled buckets, spray painted them silver, then coated them in crystals. BEAUTIFUL! She took an old black wrought iron garden gate that stretched the length of the altar and wrapped it in tulle and lights and crystal branches - it has to be seen to be believed. I wish I had better pics, but I don't. We also did not have anyone sing a solo. We believe the wedding ceremony is a worship service, so we did just that. My bridesmaid, Kati, lead the congregation in "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" and "Love Lifted Me." It was awesome. Our two good friends, my best friend Thomas, and our friend Billy officiated the ceremony. It was so nice to be married by people who knew us instead of a stranger. It was the happiest day of my life.


Here are a few pics to give you an idea.


Here's the florists mom delivering the bridesmaid bouquet. It was supposed to be white, but c'est la vie, they were yellow. No worries, it worked. This is my bouquet. I love the crystal inserts and my white (yes white) roses. The florist matched the bouquet to the theme and my dress. It was soooo heavy though. I felt so bad for my sister. She was my MOH and had to hold it most of the ceremony. I love her.Here's the whole gang after the ceremony. We had the best photographers - Hannah Parker and Kelly Moore. That's kinda a funny story - how we ended up with two photographers. Kelly lives in Ruston (45 mins east of Shreveport). As she was driving in for our wedding she ran headlong into a massive traffic jam. After sitting in traffic for an hour she calls her friend Hannah who just happens to live within walking distance of the church. Hannah swooped in like a superhero and saved the day. She took all our pre wedding pics. We love Hannah. Which is great since she is engaged to the best man (had not met him yet at the time - that's a whole other sweet story). Anywoo, this is one of my favorite pics. Kelly took this one. We are in our beautiful church parlor.This is another shot of all of us in the sanctuary. I just thought it was cool. Here I am with my ladies. I had the best bridesmaids. My Maid of Honor was my little sister - the cute blond on my right. Next to her is my good friend Carole - we met in the church Singles group and survived (ha). My beautiful sister in law Leslie is on my right and my sweet friend, Kati is on the end. All these ladies mean so much to me and have been with me through some great and not so great times in my life. We all need ladies like this.

I had to save the best for last. Hannah took this little gem. Thanks girl. As you can see, my hubby and his friends are nerds and into Star Wars. He gave them all custom made LightSabers for his groom's gift. Needless to say, they were totally excited and couldn't wait to play with their new toy. Here they are. Let's just say the worship of Star Wars is such that they could all qualify as Fan Boys.
Richard, Mr. Green Light Saber, is a photographer. So he took the pic and turned it into this. Yes, it made my man's day. Awww, nerd love, nothing better.
There's our wedding party and flowers. It was a great day, the happiest. Afterward, we went to the reception and had a blast.

Monday, July 6, 2009

Adventures in Weight Loss

I just weighed myself and I have lost 2 lbs! Victory! I know it doesn't seem like a lot since I've been doing WeightWatchers Online for 2 weeks, but I didn't really start until last Monday (thanks Father's Day). And I even went to a 4 day family reunion this last week. Tons of BBQ, cherry pie, snacks, pasta, etc. I enjoyed myself, was sensible, and never once felt like I was on a diet. And I still lost 2 pounds. The Hubs on the other hand, gained 8. I may have to encourage him to check out WeightWatchers for men (Love ya Babe!).



I have to say my biggest challenges are finding time to workout and lunch. I have to get up at 5 AM to get the time in. And oh my goodness is it hard to find a decent lunch. Most of my fav lunch joints are ridiculously high on the points. Tonight I went out to eat with the Hubs and some friends at our neighborhood eatery. Many of the items are more points than I can eat in one day. AWWWWWW! One of them was a salad. Yikes. But I still found a great meal within my points. SCORE!



Overall, I have to say WeightWatchers is definitely doable. For one who has never dieted ever, I love it. In fact, I wouldn't even call it a diet because it's totally sustainable for a lifetime. I'm learning to eat healthy and that should be lifelong.



Wish me luck this week!

The Cone of Shame

Well, it's the day most dogs dread...Spay/Neuter Day. Even though I know it has to be done for her own good, it just breaks my heart. I mean look at her:

The Cone of Shame

Pitiful.

Ok and by the way, please go and see UP. It such a sweet movie - the best I've seen in quite a while (and you'll understand the Cone of Shame reference).