10 Months To Go!!!

APRIL 30, 2011....2:00 PM

The truth about time...is that I know how fast it goes (or at least I have experienced those moments of..."oh my gosh...it took me 3 years to get my doctorate and I can hardly account for any of that time"...well the exception of a few papers and exams). As much as I cannot wait to get married, I know that I will want TIME to stop on that day! I will want to press "pause" so that we can take it all in....I guess that's what my photographers will do. The advice that I seem to keep getting over and over again is to enjoy every minute. Well....with the exception of the guest list....I have been enjoying it!! In fact, my "Making things happen" fiance has helped me to make decisions, book things, and move on!!! Moving on is that hardest part...I read that once you make a decision about something, place, food, guest list,....you move on. Don't keep researching or second guessing...just go with it!!

Sooo...for the time being we are in a good spot. Everyday of our relationship is not consumed by wedding (not now anyways). That is a big deal to me...that we keep "US" during this entire process!

Here is what we have accomplished!

1. Church booked!

2. Reception spot booked!

3. Band booked!

4. Vocalist, piano, trumpet, violin, and flute booked!

5. Photographer booked!

6. Engaged Encounter booked!

7. Priest booked!

I'd say we are on the right track!! Oh and the other day I did buy some decor for the reception! It was kind of a weird feeling because I was a little hesitant...not about marrying JC...but about all the planning and details "What if I changed my color?" BUT.....my mantra..."Make a decision and move on!"

Here is one little sneak peak....The Church! We are getting married at St. Joseph Chapel on the campus of Spring Hill College. JC is a two time graduate of Spring Hill and the church is BEAUTIFUL!!

P.S. I do have a wedding website coming...just trying to nail down some details first.

Baby Brother is HOW OLD?? YUP 22!

I cannot believe how time flies. My baby brother is 22....and that is absolutely crazy!! Of course I will always think that he is 5. Just this little fellow who needs his big sister.


We went out to a local Mexican restaurant to celebrate!!! I love that he texted me and asked if we could open presents at Mom's.....he was trying to avoid all of this embarrassment!!!

This is Heather (Mitchell's girlfriend), Mitchell, and Mom

Me and my middle brother Stephen

Soooo....that Baby brother.....let it be known that he still needs his big sister....some of those things go like this:
1. Will you help me study? (so we use random techniques for memorizing..he thinks I'm funny)
2. How can I find out how to make a resume?
3. What do I tell those financial aid people?
4. Will you call those financial aid people for me?
5. Can I come over?

Yes...it's true...he still loves me and needs me!!!

Mitchell and Heather

And look who made it.....after landing at the airport at 9:00 PM...he came straight to join us....awww..I love him!!! He looks thrilled..I know!!!

A Girl After My Own Heart

So Sunday was a Great, Miserable, Happy, Pitiful Day!!!

Of course it was Father's Day and we woke up together and had a very happy morning with Savanna. We had all kinds of gifts for Daddy (JC)! Savanna was so excited to bring him his presents (yet she refused to take her picture later that morning).

After opening gifts, JC had to begin packing for yet another business trip. He was gone last week from Wednesday to late Friday night and then he had to leave again at noon on Father's Day. That meant I technically only had Saturday (a good day) with him!! I am almost tearing up again as I write this. I just miss him like crazy. Anyways...after he was packed up we went to have brunch together! We took separate cars because he was heading to the airport after we ate! As we said goodbye in the parking lot I started to cry! When did I become so attached to this man?!?!? I was so (trying all the time) good at being independent...but now....I want him. All of the time!

After Savanna and I got home we had my family over for swimming and lunch!! It was a great family time and the kiddos got to enjoy themselves in the pool. However, after everyone left and I cleaned up....things got really lonely and I got really sad!! Just couldn't stop crying! So after a while of just feeling miserable I decided we needed to get out of the house! Sooo....off to Mexican we went! Savanna loves it...I love it...it was a nice, cheap outing to take up some of the lonely night time hours!!

What can I say.....She is a girl after my own heart!!
(Yes...she is dressed as Cinderella! I'm not a big fan of wearing costumes out of the house...but heck...I was too sad to care and she was happy...so be it)!!

After we got home and I heard from JC, I settled down a little bit! I'm still missing him today...but counting down. Oh how I love this boy....I can NOT imagine my life without him!!

A Must Read

As I come across other blogs and read inspiring stories, I want to share them with my readers. If you don't already follow MckMama, this is a story to read!!

Wedding Planning and Nightmares

I have always been the kind of girl who has dreams that I think contribute to my already anxious personality! When I used to dance, I had those recital dreams about forgetting the routine or forgetting my costumes! Well...now the wedding dreams have started! A few nights ago I had a dream that the reception was set up all wrong with tables in all the wrong places. The truth about this is that I have seen the reception site one time! I will have several meetings to discuss the arrangement of furniture....and copies of the floor plan. I am sure that it will work out. Then, last night I dreamed that the guys did not have anything to wear! We never decided on a suit or tux and so they just decided to head to the store about 2 hours before the wedding! The truth here is that we are still discussing what the guys will wear!!


I am not sure I can take 10 more months of these kind of dreams!!! AND I refuse to take medicine for what is supposed to be the happiest time in my life! Sooo...I am going to take them as subtle suggestions for what I need to add to my "to-do" list! So....I need to start investigating guys suits/tuxes and I need to wait to meet with the event director before I freak out about the table arrangement!!

Now, don't mistake me for some crazy BRIDEZILLA!!! I do have opinions and ideas of how I intend for this day to be!! How can I not??? But my motto is to "Let things go!" As long as we have food, drink, music, and each other....I'm going to be happy!

Catching Up!

With all of the "Getting Engaged" excitement, I haven't posted and blogged about a few events. First, we had some family over to the new house on Memorial Day weekend to enjoy the pool and the yard.

My Godson HiramHudsonJC and SavannaMaggie and Papa..enjoying the hot tub!Don't forget about cool pops...in the pool!And catching some rays...Maggie and Hudson!We just had a nice, relaxing day and a few hot dogs for lunch!

Second, JC and I did have a great time at the beach for our little vacation! JC and I had some nice quiet time together to just relax. Of course all along he had "The Proposal" in mind!

On Saturday (the morning after we got engaged) we met up with my dad and Christi, by brother Mitchell and his girlfriend Heather and Brooks and his girlfriend Alyssa for Billy Bowlegs!! I like to refer to this event as "Bourbon Street underwater." It is a crazy event...but very fun!Then Saturday night we were being a little silly after a day of fun in the sun before heading out to dinner....maybe the "engaged" status had us giddy!!

I'm ENGAGED!! The Details.

Bling!!!! Bling!!!

Soooo......here we go!

JC and I have been planning a trip to Destin for a while now. We were going to the Billy Bowlegs Festival in Fort Walton and decided to go down a few days earlier just for a little vacation! We left on Thursday morning (after we had both taken the entire week off just to chill in the new house) and planned to come home on Sunday evening. The unfortunate part about the entire week is that I have been...still a little....terribly SICK! A severe sinus infection and fever....but I was not going to have my vacation ruined! So I toughed it out....Advil, Tylenol, Cold Syrup, Excedrin....you name it! Every 3 to 4 hours a new dose just to get through the day! When we got to Destin we went to the outlets so JC could get a new wallet! He really wanted me to get some new shoes from Nine West (I got 2 pairs but it took every ounce of me to do it). Thursday night he took me to The Melting Pot, a fondue restaurant and I cried from being in pain nearly the entire meal....I just felt that bad! Worse...I had no taste buds! So the melted chocolate to dip strawberries, marshmallows, cheesecake,....I could not TASTE!

So Friday morning I woke up feeling much better! We had 2 goals for the day (3 I now know) which included going to the beach and having a nice sunset dinner! First we went and rented some chairs on the beach, had lunch at Pompino Joes (a little shack on the beach), and drank beach drinks! Then we went back to the hotel and swam for a while! Just a great, easy, day. We also stopped by a furniture store we saw to buy lamps for our bedroom! It was a picture perfect day with ......GET READY....a picture perfect ending!

Friday night we took showers and got dressed up to go to a nice restaurant for dinner! He never told me where, he just said that he found some place while I was showering! I believed him. (He had actually made plans the week before!). So we headed off to a restaurant called Marina Cafe! It sits on Destin harbor. It was a white table cloth, fancy place. When we first got there, our table wasn't ready so we sat at the bar and I had some wine and he had a drink. Finally, the host took us to our table....where a chilled bottle of champagne was sitting...with glasses on the table! I thought, "Wow...this is nice!" but he has ordered champagne before so I didn't think too much of it! We looked at the menu and ordered an appetizer while I finished my wine (before I started on the champagne)!

THEN....after we ate our appetizer (crab meat on crusted eggplant--taste buds were back) and I finished my wine, I picked up my champagne flute and told him that he needed to "Cheers Me!" We always toast so that wasn't unusual for me....but then he said, "Well, I can either cheers to Dr. Zito or I can Ask you to MARRY ME!" I looked at him for a minute and then I said "Are you serious?" To which he pulled out the RING!!! I was shaking, crying, totally feeling like I was in a DREAM!!!! I said "YES!"

I wasn't hungry for any other course of the meal! Well the chocolate and vanilla mousse was awesome! Everyone around us knew something was going on and as they left that night people kept stopping by our table!

It was just a perfect night and a perfect moment! So he now knows where we will spend every June 4th!