We were engaged on September 29, 2010. Which allowed 2011 to be all about our big day that was planned for October 15, 2011
My lovely ring. :)
March
We took engagement photos in March, which was also the month we celebrated 5 years together.
I started to look for dresses and ended up getting this one. I had tried this on from my first visit, it was probably the 4th dress I tried on . I fell in love with Maggie Sottero dresses.
We adopted Fritz from Josh's parents. We wanted to see what our babies would be like IF we got another dog. It was only going to be temporary, but over time we loved him too much to give him back. Thankfully, the parents were ok with this decision as they had 2 already.
April
We went to a few happy hours and I was glad Josh came for more than just 1.
June: This was a busy month
I went to the National Scrapbook Convention in Fort Worth. This was my 4th year going. I didn't buy as much as I normally do, but I had a blast. I have so much stuff I have accumulated over the years that I need to use before I buy more. Plus, we were saving for the wedding.
Dallas
I got Josh a new grill for his birthday. We soo needed a new one. He loved it. We bought it almost 2 weeks earlier than his birthday because we were planning on having a Fajita's & Margarita party later that month, so we wanted to be ready with the new gear.
Josh's brother moved out and I was able to use the extra room to put my old furniture I had when I was growing up. We changed out the knobs and re-painted the set. I love the way this room feels.
We starting to do some wedding registration. Macy's was first on the list and that red kitchen aid was the first thing scanned! I was oh so excited!
Then it was time to start looking for places to for the Dallas bridal shower.
I went out to Austin to meet up with 5 of the 6 bridesmaids and these are the styles we decided on, however not in these colors, they ended up being all black. It was lovely.
Our birthdays are in June, so they gave us a cake at work.
We went out for a birthday lunch celebration at Cheesecake Factory.
I became really good friends with this gal, love Michelle. :)
Feeling good at 28
My mom had me over on my actual birthday for my favorite meal, lasagna.
Mmmm... see, I told ya.
I have the sweetest mom ever!!
Made these babies for Josh's brother's wedding.
Here's the lovely couple.
Then I got a new position and this was the count down until I was moving over to a new department.
Our friend Farai set off for California for 6 months, but promised she's make it to the wedding, and she did. :)
Wedding registry #2, of course it had to be Target. I love Target.
On my last day with my old group, I was given this and a little social gathering with cake. I cried, like the ugly cry because it was so thoughtful of them. I'm a big cry baby, I cry with sappy disney movies. I started to wonder how I would be at the wedding at this point. Luckily, I did fantastic and only teared up during the ceremony.
July
Started to get ideas for our invitations. I knew I was going to make them, but I didn't know how or what.
I then got the invitation for my first bridal shower happening at the end of July, hosted by my lovely aunts.
Stumbled upon a place that looked perfect for the Dallas bridal shower, that would be hosted by my best friends.
By this point, I was stopping by our venue every weekend to get ideas.
Went to another wedding and the couple left shortly to live in Abu Dabi
It was around this time, I was starting to get into pintrest. Ahhh, the madness. I love this site.
Wedding gifts started to arrive!
We decided to "cave" in, haha, and buy the camera I've been wanting. I love it! It's a bit on the heavy side and has a lot of things I don't understand, but in time, in time.
Stopped by Buc-ee's on our way to Angleton for the family bridal shower.
It also happened to be the same weekend my 10 year high school reunion was on. It was a good crowd for our first one. We had a good time.
The next morning, we took MORE engagement pictures by my talented friend, Jackie.
Shower time! :)
My lovely aunts who put it all together. :) But wait, I'm missing one...hmmm.
It was so pretty and so me. I loved every single detail.
August
Josh gets Lasik. These were the last pics of him with his glasses.
This was during his surgery. I couldn't believe I was allowed to watch the whole thing. I didn't, I get too queasy.
Back to Angleton we went for another wedding! This is my cousin Joseph and his wife Jill.
While we were there, we met up with my aunt who would be making our cakes for the wedding. This was what I was going for, minus the flowers. Simple and elegant.
Summer salads were a must! I love growing fresh basil just to make this salad.
September
Invitation making was underway and I felt so behind and rushed because I'm a procrastinator. June and July went by so fast! However, we had sent out save-the-dates, so we were technically ok. ;)
You can't tell too much in this picture, but I did the worst thing you could do. Despite all my readings and the RULES of being a bride-to-be I changed up my face cleansers per a dermatologist. I was having minor breakouts, something I was NOT used to and had an allergic reaction to the meds. It was horrible, and I cried. My face was super red and dry. I was pealing and just horrible. Luckily, I was able to get it corrected before the big day.
Invitations done, need to stuff envelopes and mail them out.
We made sure to have time to ourselves in all the wedding madness, so we went to the movies for a date night.
I had other ideas for de-stressing. lol
We went out for a picnic
It was such a nice and relaxing day
Then it was almost time for my Dallas bridal shower from my friends. I was so excited and blessed to have, not only 1, but 2 bridal showers! This was a "sneak peek."
Then it was time!!
Thanks to these girls for putting it together.
So pretty!! Again, every little detail was thought of and it was completely special.
We had a very good turn out and I was glad to know I can proudly say, I DO have friends in Dallas.
Even old friends from high school and college!
Love these girls!!!!
Silly girls.
more gifts were coming
RSVP's were coming in and collected in this vase
Then I started to received the Birch Boxes.
One of the gifts from my Dallas shower was this lovely toaster. Upgrade!
oh yes, see that red lovely kitchen aid? That was given to me by my aunt's at the first bridal shower. Spoiled much? I know... :)
I made my very first meringues and homemade whipped cream. It was yummy.
I then headed to Austin for my bachelorette party!!! Hung out with my cousin and bridesmaid during the day. I bought my first pair of TOMS, it felt appropriate to get them in Austin with my cousin who wears them all the time.
The setup was SUPER cute!!! I loved all the little details!! This was done by Myra, Lisa and Annette. I love these girls. 
An we hit up the town, old school style. lol
See the little tag Marci is wearing? They were made for all of us to wear, how cute!!
The only picture I got of all of us.
Then it was wine tasting for the wedding.
We ended up going with these for the reds. Our white, not shown, was a pino grigio by Estancia.
Went and spent a day with my parents at the museum of art in Dallas, then dinner. It was mostly to support my mom on a school project she was working on.
eeek!!
October
Went sailing with my new team, it was amazing. I had not been on a boat in YEARS!
DIY wedding details were coming together. These were cards for the wishing tree.
My wishing tree went through some phases before I decided which way to go.
Almost complete
Signs!
Card box
Work gave us a cake and money collection for us! It was so nice and thoughtful.
Then it was WEDDING WEEKEND TIME!!!!
The girls and I went for a mani/pedi
Rehearsal Dinner!
Jeremiah and Lisa
Arthur & Sarah
Wedding Day!
Our last picture before we got all dresses up!
Love!
Married!
I don't have my wedding pictures back, so here's one of the 2 of us. :)
Just before we left for the honeymoon, I had a few moments with my beautiful bouquet.
Our cake topper was saved for us. It's now in the freezer waiting for 10.15.12
Honeymoon time!!
We left early Monday morning.
The drive was just amazing. Scenic route for sure.
The green is where we needed to go for our camp site, in the middle of the Ozarks.
The first picture I have outside of the wedding of my husband and his new ring! :)
We are ready to camp!
Our campsite #17 on the 17th of October.
We setup camp. The blue tarp WAS going to get setup, but I veto'd it.
Dinner
My fashionable, glass free cup for my wine!
smores of course!
We took lots of pictures
After 2 days in the woods, we headed to Eureka for some tree house time.
First things first, we had to get the bath going.
The room was lovely.
We explored the town and took funny pictures.
There were lots of stairs.
Then it was back to Dallas for a spa day for the both of us. LOVE.
Oh, did I show you my bling?
We decided to be "Salt & Pepper" for Halloween. lol
November
This nascar car came by to visit our place of work.
I helped host a baby shower and this was my idea. :)
Got this organizing idea from Pintrest
My de-stresser again. lol
My work had a conference held at Big Cedar Lodge in Branson, MO.
The bed was amazing!
Beautiful scenery
The flights there were a challenge and I was on 5 different flights in total from Dallas to Branson and back to Dallas. It was worth it though.
We took "month after" photos so that we could have us in our wedding attire again in a more relaxed setting. I made our thank you sign for our thank you post cards.
I am so proud of how it came out.
I got my hair done for the pictures. Thanks to The Dry Bar, I was stylin!
All dresses up!
Final product for Thank You cards. :) I'm in love.
By our talented photographers: Jeremy & Amber of http://www.laaphotography.com/
Went to the Etsy Dallas Craft Show. I'm in love and will go back every year. It was so great to meet some artists I'm so used to because of their shop.
My goodies
The craft fair made me want to dive into some hand sewing. I made this little guy.
Thanksgiving we went down to Angleton again and went out shopping on Black Friday. 3 year tradition at this point. :)
The next weekend I went to San Antonio to celebrate bestie's birthday.
On the way back, I stopped for brunch in Austin and met up with my cousin Sarah. I love this girl, she always knows how to make me laugh. I wish we lived closer.
December
I met up with a friend for dinner and coffee. It was a great Friday night.
Then I went to visit this little newbie. It made me want one.... then I changed my mind.
The proud parents of a very healthy boy.
Bought these for our babies, but since they are dachshunds, they never have anything that will fit their height and bust size. So we stated the boys have "Bad Santa" suites on. lol
Decorated for Christmas. We hosted this year's Christmas and celebrated on Christmas Eve because some had plans for the 25th.
Christmas day I spent organizing our dvd's. :)
And went to go see the light display at city hall.
And finally, our very last picture for 2011.
We celebrated with good friends.
2011 was fantastic and we feel very blessed for everything. I cannot wait to see what married life brings and other adventures. May you have a very happy new year! <33
