The Bar is Stocked!

This past weekend, my bridesmaids threw us the most fabulous Stock the Bar party! We are so thankful for everything they did, the time they took to plan everything and to have them be a part of our special day in August! We are also very thankful for all of our friends who came and were very generous with the al-al-al-al-alcohol! We love you all!

Welcome sign using one of our engagement photos...so cute!

All of our gifts - everyone was so generous!

The burger and potato bars

The dessert bar

Where people could share their drinking stories involving me and Shane...too funny!

The Bar - featuring a signature Sweet Tea cocktail

Boy picture!

The Bridesmaids! From left: Andrea, Danielle, Jenny R., me, Jennie M., Kelly and Mandy!

Love you girls!

My preggers bridesmaids and friends! From left: Laura Jane, Andrea, me, Jennie M. and Stobbe (aka Jessica)

Girl picture!

SHOTS!

Me and Shane (aka Bride and Groom)

After the shower, we headed out to a local bar...and then it was sleepy, night night time (as demonstrated by me in the photo below)!

Me and Kel

Such a great time...and let me say again - the bar is STOCKED! Take a look at our schwag:

Thanks so much again to the bridesmaids and all of our friends! And a special shout out to David and Jennie for opening up their home to everyone - thank you!

I WIN.

I am so excited! About a week and a half ago, I got an email from Jennifer at Jen Loves Kev letting me know that I was the winner of one of her giveaways…the Soc Chic ‘Silver Lining’ necklace! Eeeeeeeeeee!!!!! So exciting! (I have never won a blog giveaway and I rarely win things in real life…this was a moment for me.)


And then, I get an email from the jewelry designer at Jess LC Jewelry asking my preference on the chain and such…and I got it in the mail last night! I took some pics but they don’t do it justice, so here is the pic from the site:

I love it love it love it! I’m going to wear it everyday! Well except for today because my dress has a high neck line and that would just be too much…but definitely every day after today!

Attic Cleanup, Happy Father’s Day and Our First Wedding Gift!

As the wedding approaches (we are now two months out!) the days, the weeks, and the weekends are definitely getting shorter! And we keep doing house stuff, even though we should probably pause that and focus on wedding stuff, but here is one of our latest accomplishments:

The attic cleanup. Wow. When we had our roof replaced we had to have several sheets of plywood replaced due to rot. When they were replaced, a lot of sawdust and debris got inside the attic. So, we had to empty everything out, clean it off, clean the attic and then reload it…yay. The best part is that it is hotter and more humid than I ever remember it being here in Georgia!

We got up early on a Sunday morning, to try to avoid some of the heat, and started unloading the attic. Since the snake debacle last summer, Shane all but refuses to get in the attic – so it was left up to me. Within 10 minutes of the unloading, I’m dripping sweat. Within 30 minutes, my clothes are soaking wet. I didn’t get a before shot, but here is the empty attic:

Yeah, even more exciting than the gutter shots, I know.


Here was the setup of the unloading zone:

Here is just a portion of what we unloaded:

And then the afters:

Trust me, this is much more organized than the nonexistent before shots.

This past weekend was Father’s Day and we had my dad, Greta and my brothers over for a grill out! I hope my dad had a good time – I love you in my heart, Dad, and I’m very thankful for everything you do/have done for me!

My brother Patrick, my dad - Jimmie, Shane and my other brother, Topher.

And, if we didn’t know it before, we are definitely closing in our wedding date because we got our first wedding gift! My bestie from forever, Jenny, sent us this:

Love it! Thank you so much, Jenny! I can’t wait to make cucumber water, mimosas, bloody marys, etc., etc. in this pitcher! Have I ever made any of those in pitchers before? Never. But I just might – now that I have this!

Gutters: So Fresh, So Clean

The new, white gutters are on! They were supposed to go on last Thursday but it was too late by the time the contractor got there...so they installed them on Friday morning. Bright and early. Imagine 7 a.m. (and in mine and Shane's case, we do have to imagine that hour) and it sounding like someone was beating on the roof from all angles...oh well, they were worth it! Check 'em out!

I know, super dramatic, right? Gutters are such a non-glamourous improvement.

We also have to do a little bit of paint touch up (or I could use this as excuse #2 to paint the house...hmmmm) because a gutter was moved from the back to the side:

Again, not super dramatic, but I think that the white is OK...what do you think?? Or can you even tell a difference? :)

In the Gutter...

As you may remember, we recently had our roof replaced - and it is beautiful! Thank you Bulldog Roofing!

However, the roof doesn't look that great when you have nasty drooping gutters, as seen below:

So, today...we are having new gutters installed! We are excited to clean up the 'eyebrows' of the house so that everything looks clean and crisp...however, we are worried about one thing. The house and the trim are a cream color - will white gutters look odd?

Retraction

I must make a retraction to yesterday’s post…I mentioned that the rest of our Memorial Day weekend was crappy. Well, as a result of my once-every-three-weeks blogging practice, I did forget that we had a fantastic time at our friends’ Mike and Mandy’s house for a birthday/Memorial Day/new deck cookout! We had a great time!

Take a look at some of the pics, which are ALL blurry:

The Birthday Boy, Mike (in orange)

Brian and Shane

Danielle and Me

Shane, Mike's Neighbor, Danielle (Shane and Danielle were the Beer Pong Champs of the evening!)

Practicing kyaking skills...

 

Mandy...workin' it.

Thanks so much for having us over! And Mike - hope you had a wonderful birthday!

This post was brought to you by Danielle. Thank you for the gentle reminder.

Orange Beach, Graduation, Deck Redo, Still Wedding Planning

It is June and we are officially within the three month mark of mine and Shane’s wedding. We are getting married. I’ll have a husband and he’ll have a wife…still a little weird to think about.


Anyway, the last few weeks have been very eventful (thus the title). Let’s get started…


Me and my friend, Lindsay, went down to Orange Beach, Al. at the end of May for a girls trip! It was a lot of fun, the weather was great and there was NO OIL on the beaches! There is a bar there called the Florabama, that is literally just some decking and tents thrown up together, that has amazing Bushwhackers (imagine ice cream and rum). And when I say amazing…I had two and blacked out. However, it was a somewhat responsible black out – I got home to the condo, put my PJs on (inside out), took off my jewelry…then woke the next morning to a Waffle House cup next to the bed and really sore feet (which I still can’t explain). Fun trip!

Me and Linds

Me, Caroline (Lindsay's Mom), Linds at Florabama (Bushwhackers in Hand!)

The next weekend (Memorial Day weekend), my baby brother, Patrick, graduated from high school! Congratulations, PattyWhacker! We are all very proud of you!
 Here is my little bro and the family:

Patrick getting his diploma!

P and Dad (Jimmie)

P and Mom (Wan-Dawg)

Me (sticking my butt out awkwardly...not real sure), P and Shane

Wan-Dawg, P, Greta, Jimmie

The Graduate!! Class of 2010!

The rest of Memorial Day weekend was pretty crappy since it rained off and on the whole time. No pool or lake time…


And since then, we have done some stuff around the house, including sprucing our deck that we built last year.


Before:

After:

Doesn’t it look great?!? I’m super happy with the way that it came out…but we still have some more stuff to put out! Exciting! And look at the pretty blooms...these will live a maximum of 15 days - trust me.

Petunias in an English Garden basket

Coleus and ... I can't remember what the white flowers are.

Begonias

Snapdragons, some kind of ground cover and impatiens

And on the wedding front…we are doing pretty good! We have chosen our menu and our next big milestone is the tasting and walk through at the beginning of July!

By the way, I’ve done some painting in my house and I don’t believe I shared pictures…stay tuned!