Catching up post wedding

I did not do a thing to my blog on wedding details. I was engaged for a year and nothing! I sooo imagined myself as the girl that showed all her DIY projects and then the fantastic results at the wedding. I even thought this wedding DIY stuff would drive me to some crazy realization that I am awesome at this and THIS is my life calling, 'to be a wedding planner/decorator,' but no beuno.

I have some pictures of what I did, but not many. I actually didn't do as many DIY things as I wanted to for the wedding, but it was ok. It ended up being a perfect day, I just wished it had lasted longer. People kept on telling me before the wedding, "take it all in, because it will go by quickly" or "make sure you soak it all up." Well, what in the world does that mean? How does one, "take it all in?" I now know EXACTLY what they meant. If I were to do the whole day over again, I would ensure to take time to breathe and just observe. I would have ensured Josh and I had our alone time in the midst of the reception just to embrace and take in some silence. Instead, we were running around like crazy and having fun. So worth it all, but just a moment to stop and reflect in the middle of the madness would have helped me, "take it all in."

Here are a few pictures of us on our special day BEFORE the wedding. I love it! This idea was given to me by a friend of mine. Our last picture before husband & wife.... well we did a first look, but this is us in our regular clothes. heehee

Our first look brought lots of butterflies and overwhelming happiness. From this point forward, we were all smiles and couldn't stop it.

After our first look and some group pictures, we headed straight to the venue where I waited in the bridal suite for people to arrive and sit. I took some self pics. :)

This is when the whole thing just went into fast forward. As I'm waiting for them to call us, I realize the coordinator has taken my bridesmaids and I'm alone with my dad in the room. I figured they were waiting for me in the hall so that they would have a chance to fix me before I made my entrance. When the coordinator called me, I went out to the hall to find it empty. The DJ was there and I could hear my song playing in the room. It was then I noticed it was show time and my girls were already waiting for me. I was so sad. I was waiting for my movie moment where I talk to my bridesmaids just before we walk in.... and nothing. I was in such a state of shock and being rushed that my Vera Wang veil never made it over my head and I walked down the aisle with it flowing behind me. I have no pictures of this event yet, because my photographers haven't sent me the link, so I'm excited to see what they got.

It wasn't until I reached the alter that I realized my veil didn't make it over my head. I looked up at Marci who's standing by the minister and softly said, "My veil!?!?!?!?!" She looked and me and just smiled then shook her at me to tell me it was all ok, and not to worry. So sad. I love my veil and I don't care if it was over priced or silly, it was my thing and I missed my moment. oh well, I did get shots later of Josh and I with it in our "month after session."

Here are some pictures from the photographers. Here's the bridal party waiting their turn to walk. I missed all of this. I wasn't even at the end of the line. I was in the room with my sweet dad.

Josh always rubs my hand when I'm nervous or just feeling anxiety. This day, I wasn't nervous or anything, just overly excited and trying to keep still. :) I love this shot.

We danced the night away and this was when we first entered the reception room. My feet are killing me at this point, but I'm still smiling away.

I so wanted to have the sparkler send off and we did. I was so excited to see what it looked like when we turned the corner to see the crowd waiting to send us off.

It was a great day and night. I will never forget the feelings I had that day and the excitement that came over me. It was everything I imagined it to be and in some cases, so much better. I am so happy and blessed to have Joshua in my life. Even though we've been together for 5 1/2 years, I still feel like I learn more and more about him everyday. I feel our connection just gets even stronger as time passes, who knew that could still happen. I hope it continues to happen for the rest of our lives. I love him so much. He is definitely my rock, my sunshine, best friend and now forever, my husband. I love you Joshua! <33

"Curvy" Girls

I tend to fall into slumps when it comes to being all girly. Sometimes I'm all about it and other times, I'm like, "why bother?" This whole wedding thing is making me be girly along with all the little details. Dress, shoes, hair, makeup, teeth whitener, etc. It's things like this wedding and my friend's blog that remind me it's ok to have fun and be girly. It helps with your confidence and well, it's an excuse to go shopping!

I recently got my hair cut and immediately felt great. I then stopped at Sephora and bought a few things, that ended up running a $74 bill. Seriously, the items were so small, it made the tiny bag they gave me feel huge. However, shopping felt great, especially for girly items Sephora carries. I then went the extra mile and started looking into clothes, online first just to look. It never fails, those who have "curves" or in the words of retailers are "Women size" "Plus Size" they come out with things that are just horrible. Even just seeing them online is just bad. Why do they think because we are a size 18+, mid-late twenties we want to be in floral patterns and moo-moo's? You wouldn't catch me dead wearing either one of those, even when I am "woman's" age, I assume that will be when I hit 40 as everyone, including Oprah, said everything makes sense at 40. We shall see. I currently am 28. I'm larger than most girls my age and while I have my depressions about it, I sometimes embrace it. Sometimes.

I went to Torrid for the first time last week after seeing THIS DRESS online. I figured the store was close and I would try the dress on to see if it would do what I imagined. I had a small backyard wedding to go to the next day so it was another excuse to buy something. :) Sure enough, it fit and I fell in love with it. So much so, I wore it to work today. Note, I NEVER wear dresses or skirts to work, but this dress is so comfortable and does wonders for the boobs with the right bra!

In shopping mode still, I decided to go to the dermatologist to see if I could get some lash growth stuff and sure enough I walked out with Revitlash and a new cleanser and moisturizer. I'm a skin product who*e. I love skin products and anything to keep my skin feeling silky smooth.

Lastly, I starting browsing shops again for clothes and now I'm just back to feeling blah. Don't count the hour and a half I was at Torrid trying other things on that didn't fit, thankfully that dress did and saved the day otherwise it would have been a horrible day. I'm looking online and realize there isn't very many stores for bigger, younger girls. Here are ones I found and my comments.

http://www.lanebryant.com - I love Lane Bryant, but sometimes, they come out with stuff that's just not meant for younger, bigger girls. And sometimes, they believe if we are larger horizontally, we must be 6'3".

http://www.avenue.com - Again, geared towards "older women" and not so much a younger crowd. Sometimes I get lucky in this store. I do like their shoes, they are comfortable, something Lane Bryant needs to work on.

http://www.torrid.com - They have some cool stuff and some of it should have stayed at Hot Topic. I'm partial to this because I've only been in the store once, so we shall see.

http://www.lucielu.com - Just found this site and I like what they have to offer, but it's more of the light colors with mixed prints that's trendy right now. I'm more of a classic JCrew, GAP, Banana Republic kind of girl.

http://www.kiyonna.com - Another one I've just found and it's kind pricey and no stores in Texas, so it makes me a bit weary to buy something online from a store I've never tried.

http://oldnavy.gap.com - "Exclusively Online" like I'm supposed to feel special about that, oh and "free returns by mail for women's size only." Oh wow, thanks for that. Not only do I have to wait for it to come in, hope it fits, but make the trip back up to the post office for a return for me? Exclusively? Geez, thanks, but no thanks.

The Old Navy thing is what really threw me over the edge. I can see the other stores being online only, since they aren't that big, but Old Navy? There's one every 10 miles in a metroplex and that's what I get? Pssh. This reminds me of the last time I walked into a Victoria Secret. I went in and got what I thought was my bra size and realized in the dressing room, I needed another size. I went to look for it and couldn't find it. When the girl asked what size, I told her and she replied with, "All of our larger sizes are found online only" WTF! I am an all NATURAL girl, but a size 32 DDD is totally fine and easy to find IN the store? Come on! That was 7 years ago.

I understand this thing is public and most of you skinny's out there are like, "jump on a treadmill fatty." But sometimes, life just isn't so easy. To those girls, I wouldn't say anything to them because we all have something we are not happy about with ourselves. Whether it's bacne, bad skin, early crow's feet, saggy boobs, weird toes or flaky, oily hair, there's something to worry about. This is mine.

Memorial Day Weekend

The past two weeks have been crazy at work. I've been super busy and putting in a ton of hours as usual with end-of-month items. It's usually never this crazy until end of quarter, but this year so far, every month seems like, everyday has been, go, go, go! Needless to say, I was looking forward to the 3 day weekend. Josh's parents decided to come up and visit. They also wanted to celebrate our birthday's early as when they come back in June, it will be all about the wedding for the other son. ;) I got to play with my camera.

I recently purchased a Canon EOS 7D Digital SLR Camera with Canon EF 28-135mm IS lens. I LOVE THIS CAMERA!!! Ugh, I cannot get enough of it. Here are a few shots of the weekend. I'm still getting used to it. It's been 2 weeks so far.




Friday we opened up our early birthday present from Josh's parents.





Josh got this meat brander. It says, "BITE ME." He loved it.





The parents showed us what we were having for dinner. They made us a special dinner. It was sooo yummy and so healthy. We had steaks, salad, corn on the cob and grilled pineapple. :)

I got the very well known, S* (we'll just use that) Family tradition item, "YOU ARE SPECIAL TODAY" plate. (It's kinda funny because it's like saying, you're special... but um, only today. haha, silly girl) I first saw this when Josh's mom surprised me and let me use it when I first went to visit them in 2006. I love the red color and just the fact of being "special," especially when I was so new to the family. I had asked her over the years if should would pass that on to me as it's also the very plate that was used on birthday's for the boys over the years. I love that idea! Oh how I would love to have that tradition with my family. Now.... I have my very own!!! :) I feel so official. I wanted to cry when I saw this because not only had I been wanting one, but it's also a S* Family tradition. I saw the same plate at Josh's, Mom's, Sister's house last year for the family reunion. It was there I realized this wasn't just part of the C*'s, it was originated from the S* side. Love!





The next day they gladly helped us paint my furniture I'm in the process of trying to help restore. More on this later....




Josh was stuck with the most intricate piece.






Then I took a few pictures of Hans, one of Josh's Parent's dog. :)


He's a bugger. He didn't want to pose for me, until I busted out the treats. Then? Perfect!



Cutie!



That's pretty much all that happened through Saturday. Sunday I was pretty wiped out and busy running errands. Overall, it's been a great, relaxing weekend. I'm so glad I have ONE MORE DAY off. Oh, what to do!?!

Exactly 5 Months till Wedding Day!

I am beyond elated to know our wedding day is coming soon.

Things on my to-do list:
Book a DJ
Book Pastor/Someone to marry us!
Get hotel rates
Bridesmaid dresses
Flower Girl Dress
Ensure guys have have black suits!
Register!
Finalize invitations
Get with Aunt about Cake
Shoes for me
Hair person
Jewelry?
Makeup person?
Book Photobooth
Take Bridal Pics
Book Honeymoon


I think that's it! hahaha, sounds so much more in my head and might be!

To be continued.