Our Journey to the Altar

Day 1: Journey to the Altar
Day 2: The Proposal
Day 3: Where and When
Day 4: Wedding Colors and Style
Day 5: Saying Yes to the Dress
Day 6: Here Come the Bridesmaids!
Day 7: Shopping with the Mother of the Bride and the Mother of the Groom
Day 8: Wedding Music
Day 9: Wedding Flowers
Day 10: The Guys
Day 11: Wedding Papers
Day 12: Wedding Cake
Day 13: Wedding Registry
Day 14: Wedding Food
Day 15: Marriage Prep
Day 16: Engagement Photos
Day 17: Wedding Hair and Makeup
Day 18: Wedding Accessories
Day 19: Announcement Tea
Day 20: My Work Shower
Day 21: Dinner Party
Day 22: Hometown Shower
Day 23: Bridal Shower
Day 24: G's Work Shower
Day 25: Bridal Portraits
Day 26: Bridal Luncheon
Day 27: Rehearsal
Day 28: Getting Ready
Day 29: Pregame
Day 30: Saying "I do"
Day 31: Party Time!

When I saw that The Nester was hosting her 31 days of blogging series for the month of October, I thought this opportunity would be the perfect way for me to journal about all the details that went into planning our wedding last year.  I want to remember as much as possible and savor all the sweet memories, which seemed to be impossible to write about at the same time they were all happening, so I'm looking forward to the reliving these moments over the next month.  I've talked a little bit about our "how we met" story here, but here's a little back story on me...before I met Mr. G, I'd kind of given up.

I know, I know...I had only recently crossed the 30 line and still had many more wonderful years ahead of me in which to meet the man of my dreams, but a part of me really had decided that certainly a life lived alone could be as full and rich as those my precious friends and family were enjoying with a significant other and children of their own.  I'd decided that though I may have still engaged in bouts of sadness over wanting to share my life with someone, that in reality, the life God had given me was beautiful and fulfilling, whether it included that special someone or not.  In fact, God had given me the gifts of friendship and family that were irreplaceable.  And I still feel that way.  A life lived without a mate is meaningful and purposeful and beautiful.  I am so thankful that God brought Mr. G into my life, but had God had other plans for me, life would still be abundant.  I guess I just want to say that from the get go because I will be sharing all these fun details of wedding prep, so I can have a place to store these precious memories and return when I want to reminisce, but I just want to say that each of us has a story of God's faithfulness and no matter what it contains, it is as unique and special as the one who holds it.

And away we go!

Our Journey to the Altar

Day 1: Journey to the Altar
Day 2: The Proposal
Day 3: Where and When
Day 4: Wedding Colors and Style
Day 5: Saying Yes to the Dress
Day 6: Here Come the Bridesmaids!
Day 7: Shopping with the Mother of the Bride and the Mother of the Groom
Day 8: Wedding Music
Day 9: Wedding Flowers
Day 10: The Guys
Day 11: Wedding Papers
Day 12: Wedding Cake
Day 13: Wedding Registry
Day 14: Wedding Food
Day 15: Marriage Prep
Day 16: Engagement Photos
Day 17: Wedding Hair and Makeup
Day 18: Wedding Accessories
Day 19: Announcement Tea
Day 20: My Work Shower
Day 21: Dinner Party
Day 22: Hometown Shower
Day 23: Bridal Shower
Day 24: G's Work Shower
Day 25: Bridal Portraits
Day 26: Bridal Luncheon
Day 27: Rehearsal
Day 28: Getting Ready
Day 29: Pregame
Day 30: Saying "I do"
Day 31: Party Time!

When I saw that The Nester was hosting her 31 days of blogging series for the month of October, I thought this opportunity would be the perfect way for me to journal about all the details that went into planning our wedding last year.  I want to remember as much as possible and savor all the sweet memories, which seemed to be impossible to write about at the same time they were all happening, so I'm looking forward to the reliving these moments over the next month.  I've talked a little bit about our "how we met" story here, but here's a little back story on me...before I met Mr. G, I'd kind of given up.

I know, I know...I had only recently crossed the 30 line and still had many more wonderful years ahead of me in which to meet the man of my dreams, but a part of me really had decided that certainly a life lived alone could be as full and rich as those my precious friends and family were enjoying with a significant other and children of their own.  I'd decided that though I may have still engaged in bouts of sadness over wanting to share my life with someone, that in reality, the life God had given me was beautiful and fulfilling, whether it included that special someone or not.  In fact, God had given me the gifts of friendship and family that were irreplaceable.  And I still feel that way.  A life lived without a mate is meaningful and purposeful and beautiful.  I am so thankful that God brought Mr. G into my life, but had God had other plans for me, life would still be abundant.  I guess I just want to say that from the get go because I will be sharing all these fun details of wedding prep, so I can have a place to store these precious memories and return when I want to reminisce, but I just want to say that each of us has a story of God's faithfulness and no matter what it contains, it is as unique and special as the one who holds it.

And away we go!

A Weekend at the Parents

Last weekend, the mister and I took a trip to visit my parents.  We hadn't gone to their house since Father's Day, so I really looked forward to the trip!

Every trip Mr. G makes to my hometown must include lunch at the cutest little sandwich shop on our square.  He loves their pimiento cheese!  We enjoyed a tasty lunch with my parents and Grandmommy.

After lunch, we popped into the cutest shop next door where we had registered for some of our wedding gifts.  This visit we were looking for a baby shower gift and found the perfect thing!  We were also able to visit another shop and buy a few more pieces of our Juliska pottery.

After lunch, Mom took us to the cutest little frozen yogurt place, so we could get a sweet treat before the Baylor game.

We enjoyed cheering on the Bears to an incredible victory on Saturday afternoon!

Mom found the cute pumpkin on the left at one of our shopping stops that morning.  I love how it looks on her buffet in the entry way.

That evening, my parents treated us to my favorite Mexican restaurant in town!  The name has changed, but they still serve the most delicious chips and salsa.  Fortunately, the menu has stayed the same, so it was fun to share some of my favorite dishes with Mr. G.

On Sunday, we had the great joy of witnessing one of my precious flower girl's baptism.  I was so glad to get to see her and her parents right before the service.  I also loved getting to say a quick hello to another very special friend.

The weekend flew by all too quickly and soon we were headed home.  It was a wonderful trip!

A Weekend at the Parents

Last weekend, the mister and I took a trip to visit my parents.  We hadn't gone to their house since Father's Day, so I really looked forward to the trip!

Every trip Mr. G makes to my hometown must include lunch at the cutest little sandwich shop on our square.  He loves their pimiento cheese!  We enjoyed a tasty lunch with my parents and Grandmommy.

After lunch, we popped into the cutest shop next door where we had registered for some of our wedding gifts.  This visit we were looking for a baby shower gift and found the perfect thing!  We were also able to visit another shop and buy a few more pieces of our Juliska pottery.

After lunch, Mom took us to the cutest little frozen yogurt place, so we could get a sweet treat before the Baylor game.

We enjoyed cheering on the Bears to an incredible victory on Saturday afternoon!

Mom found the cute pumpkin on the left at one of our shopping stops that morning.  I love how it looks on her buffet in the entry way.

That evening, my parents treated us to my favorite Mexican restaurant in town!  The name has changed, but they still serve the most delicious chips and salsa.  Fortunately, the menu has stayed the same, so it was fun to share some of my favorite dishes with Mr. G.

On Sunday, we had the great joy of witnessing one of my precious flower girl's baptism.  I was so glad to get to see her and her parents right before the service.  I also loved getting to say a quick hello to another very special friend.

The weekend flew by all too quickly and soon we were headed home.  It was a wonderful trip!

Five on Friday: Sunday Edition

I'm linking up again with Natasha, Darci, April, and Christina on this drizzly Sunday.  Some little allergen blew in this week and has kept me a little off my A game, but here's my review of the week. :)

{1} The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
This book is SO good.  It has been a while since I have been truly taken in by a book from the first page and this one was so intriguing that I had a difficult time putting it down.  Probably another reason the blog has been a little neglected lately. :)  The book takes you on the journey of Victoria who has lived her life in the foster care system and you meet her on her 18th birthday when she is being emancipated.  Interwoven in her current story as she begins living life on her own, the reader is transported to Victoria's one loving foster experience and how it has impacted her life forever.  I loved this story so much and found its commentary on the ties of family, love and self-perception to be valuable lessons.  We read it in my book club this week and had such a wonderful conversation about how the book related to different areas of our own lives.  I definitely took time to look up the flowers I had chosen for my wedding in the flower dictionary in the back of the book!

{2}A Weekend Visit

Last weekend we spent time with my parents to celebrate my dad's birthday.  It was so fun to get to relax and to see one of my sweet flower girls be baptized!

{3} What's Cooking?

This week, the mister and I made this delicious Mexican Chicken Spaghetti.  It was a fabulous quick and easy weeknight meal!  I highly recommend it for your posse.  We got three meals out of it!

{4}  Float Friday

This sweet treat was the perfect addition to my Friday afternoon at work!

{5} Legally Blonde!!

Friday night the mister and I got to enjoy a fun evening out, watching Baylor's production of "Legally Blonde".  The cast was fantastic and voices so professional they would have been at home on any Broadway stage.  We certainly enjoyed our fun night out!

Hope you are enjoying your weekend!  

Five on Friday: Sunday Edition

I'm linking up again with Natasha, Darci, April, and Christina on this drizzly Sunday.  Some little allergen blew in this week and has kept me a little off my A game, but here's my review of the week. :)

{1} The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
This book is SO good.  It has been a while since I have been truly taken in by a book from the first page and this one was so intriguing that I had a difficult time putting it down.  Probably another reason the blog has been a little neglected lately. :)  The book takes you on the journey of Victoria who has lived her life in the foster care system and you meet her on her 18th birthday when she is being emancipated.  Interwoven in her current story as she begins living life on her own, the reader is transported to Victoria's one loving foster experience and how it has impacted her life forever.  I loved this story so much and found its commentary on the ties of family, love and self-perception to be valuable lessons.  We read it in my book club this week and had such a wonderful conversation about how the book related to different areas of our own lives.  I definitely took time to look up the flowers I had chosen for my wedding in the flower dictionary in the back of the book!

{2}A Weekend Visit

Last weekend we spent time with my parents to celebrate my dad's birthday.  It was so fun to get to relax and to see one of my sweet flower girls be baptized!

{3} What's Cooking?

This week, the mister and I made this delicious Mexican Chicken Spaghetti.  It was a fabulous quick and easy weeknight meal!  I highly recommend it for your posse.  We got three meals out of it!

{4}  Float Friday

This sweet treat was the perfect addition to my Friday afternoon at work!

{5} Legally Blonde!!

Friday night the mister and I got to enjoy a fun evening out, watching Baylor's production of "Legally Blonde".  The cast was fantastic and voices so professional they would have been at home on any Broadway stage.  We certainly enjoyed our fun night out!

Hope you are enjoying your weekend!  

Five for Friday

Here we are back to Friday and the promise of another weekend!  What a treat to link up with Natasha, Darci, April, and Christina.  :)  Here are five things I'm loving from this past week...

{1} Girls Weekend

photo via a certain friend's fb :)

Getting to have good long visits with friends I hadn't seen in awhile did my heart good.

{2} Special K Chips

These Sea Salt flavored snacks remind my of my middle school lunch favorite -- Munchos!  Such a yummy treat and very low in WW points!

{3} Chi Omega

Our alumnae group enjoyed our first meeting of the year this week and it was so great to see sweet faces I hadn't seen in too long.

{4}  Marriage

Being married certainly isn't all rainbows and sunshine, but it has been amazing to see how God is at work in our relationship.  I am so thankful that God brought Mr. G into my life and can't imagine a day without him.  I was looking at my wedding ring on my finger the other day and could hardly believe it was real.  For so long I looked at that empty hand and wondered if a ring would ever be placed there.  I'm so thankful for God's provision in that area of my life.

{5}  MUST SEE
My heart was just powerfully touched by this video on one of my favorite blogs, Chatting at the Sky.  I do fear at times that I have nothing to offer and this message spoke to my soul.  I will be putting this book on my wish list.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Five for Friday

Here we are back to Friday and the promise of another weekend!  What a treat to link up with Natasha, Darci, April, and Christina.  :)  Here are five things I'm loving from this past week...

{1} Girls Weekend

photo via a certain friend's fb :)

Getting to have good long visits with friends I hadn't seen in awhile did my heart good.

{2} Special K Chips

These Sea Salt flavored snacks remind my of my middle school lunch favorite -- Munchos!  Such a yummy treat and very low in WW points!

{3} Chi Omega

Our alumnae group enjoyed our first meeting of the year this week and it was so great to see sweet faces I hadn't seen in too long.

{4}  Marriage

Being married certainly isn't all rainbows and sunshine, but it has been amazing to see how God is at work in our relationship.  I am so thankful that God brought Mr. G into my life and can't imagine a day without him.  I was looking at my wedding ring on my finger the other day and could hardly believe it was real.  For so long I looked at that empty hand and wondered if a ring would ever be placed there.  I'm so thankful for God's provision in that area of my life.

{5}  MUST SEE
My heart was just powerfully touched by this video on one of my favorite blogs, Chatting at the Sky.  I do fear at times that I have nothing to offer and this message spoke to my soul.  I will be putting this book on my wish list.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Girls Weekend!

Sometimes you just need a relaxing weekend with some of your favorite people.  I am so thankful that reality happened for me over the past few days.

Friday night, the gals gathered at our house for a fun dinner in.  Mr. G and I had made these incredible baked tacos a few weeks ago and thought the filling would be the perfect addition to the Mexican stackups we had on the menu.

So thankful for these ladies!!

We enjoyed chips, salsa, guacamole, southwest rice and cheese along with the tasty taco filling. :)

Wheels brought a delicious salad and even made her own vinaigrette!  It was delish!! :)

Snapping a pic during a cooking break. :)

We also enjoyed some of these yummy bevvies from my According to Nina giveaway win -- so refreshing!  I loved the pink polka dot paper straws!!

Friday night we finished dessert with this yummy pumpkin chocolate chip cake and a chocolate ganache.  It was really easy and SO tasty!!

After enjoying a leisurely start to Saturday (well, Lindsey is training for a race, so her morning was a little less leisurely than mine!), we enjoyed this delicious breakfast casserole from The Mix and Match Mama.  I love Shay's blog so much and her recipes sound so good!  I'm thinking this breakfast casserole will be in the rotation for sure -- maybe even for Christmas morning!

And now we arrive at the part of the weekend where I forgot to take pictures!  Oops!  :)

The rest of Saturday was a total gabfest with only a break in the late afternoon to watch Nights in Rodanthe.  Oh, Nicholas Sparks, how you make a girls weekend the best!  Needless to say, Mr. G left to go watch some major college football games. :)

Saturday night we all met up with some of our other favorite friends for dinner at one of our fave Mexican restaurants in town.  As you can see, we love our Mexican food!  Almost three hours flew by and I was so glad to catch up on life with my peeps. :)

Sunday, Mr. G and I went to our newlywed Sunday school class, enjoyed morning worship with the gals and then continued the yummy food theme of the weekend at another delicious Mexican food place -- we can't get enough!!  This restaurant always makes the cut because they serve free queso! :)  I did stray from my usual order, though, and tried the barbecue bacon burger and it was AMAZING -- exactly what I was hoping for!  Food does thrill me so much -- maybe a little too much... ;)

Then, the sad part...saying goodbye.  I always hate when these weekends end, but cannot express how refreshed and revitalized I felt to spend such quality time with friends.  With all the changes this summer of travel, marriage and getting used to a new home, good friend time was just what the doctor ordered!

What are your favorite ways to recharge on the weekend?  Hope you all had a great weekend, too!

Girls Weekend!

Sometimes you just need a relaxing weekend with some of your favorite people.  I am so thankful that reality happened for me over the past few days.

Friday night, the gals gathered at our house for a fun dinner in.  Mr. G and I had made these incredible baked tacos a few weeks ago and thought the filling would be the perfect addition to the Mexican stackups we had on the menu.

So thankful for these ladies!!

We enjoyed chips, salsa, guacamole, southwest rice and cheese along with the tasty taco filling. :)

Wheels brought a delicious salad and even made her own vinaigrette!  It was delish!! :)

Snapping a pic during a cooking break. :)

We also enjoyed some of these yummy bevvies from my According to Nina giveaway win -- so refreshing!  I loved the pink polka dot paper straws!!

Friday night we finished dessert with this yummy pumpkin chocolate chip cake and a chocolate ganache.  It was really easy and SO tasty!!

After enjoying a leisurely start to Saturday (well, Lindsey is training for a race, so her morning was a little less leisurely than mine!), we enjoyed this delicious breakfast casserole from The Mix and Match Mama.  I love Shay's blog so much and her recipes sound so good!  I'm thinking this breakfast casserole will be in the rotation for sure -- maybe even for Christmas morning!

And now we arrive at the part of the weekend where I forgot to take pictures!  Oops!  :)

The rest of Saturday was a total gabfest with only a break in the late afternoon to watch Nights in Rodanthe.  Oh, Nicholas Sparks, how you make a girls weekend the best!  Needless to say, Mr. G left to go watch some major college football games. :)

Saturday night we all met up with some of our other favorite friends for dinner at one of our fave Mexican restaurants in town.  As you can see, we love our Mexican food!  Almost three hours flew by and I was so glad to catch up on life with my peeps. :)

Sunday, Mr. G and I went to our newlywed Sunday school class, enjoyed morning worship with the gals and then continued the yummy food theme of the weekend at another delicious Mexican food place -- we can't get enough!!  This restaurant always makes the cut because they serve free queso! :)  I did stray from my usual order, though, and tried the barbecue bacon burger and it was AMAZING -- exactly what I was hoping for!  Food does thrill me so much -- maybe a little too much... ;)

Then, the sad part...saying goodbye.  I always hate when these weekends end, but cannot express how refreshed and revitalized I felt to spend such quality time with friends.  With all the changes this summer of travel, marriage and getting used to a new home, good friend time was just what the doctor ordered!

What are your favorite ways to recharge on the weekend?  Hope you all had a great weekend, too!

Five for Friday

Hi Friends!  Hallalujah -- it's Friday!!  So excited for the fun things this weekend has in store!  I'm linking up again with some of my favorite bloggers (Natasha, Darci, April, and Christina) talking about five things from our week. :)

{1} Tree!

We had a new tree planted in our front yard this week.  It is a red maple and the Mister is certainly looking forward to the shade it will provide us during the scorching summer months!  We feel like official grownup homeowners now. :)

{2}  Crockpot Chicken Chili

Though the month on the calendar says September, the weather doesn't exactly feel much like fall yet, but Mr. G and I loved trying out a yummy meal that will for sure be even more tasty when there is a chill in the air!  We found our recipe here.

{3}  Junior League
We had our first meeting of the new year on Monday and it was so great to see people I hadn't gotten to visit with over the summer and meet some new ones.  We heard a lot about our upcoming Christmas holiday market and some exciting ways we are going to focus our efforts to serve women and children in our community!

{4}  Surprise Treats!
My mom texted me yesterday that one of her best friends was going to drop off a little surprise at my house yesterday and we both couldn't wait to see what it was.  Look what I found inside our cute gift bag...

Aren't they adorable!  I think these napkins would be so perfect for a tailgate or football watching party. :)

{5}  Weekend Fun!
I've been looking forward to this weekend so much because it will include fun time with some of my favorite people!!!  Weekends with friends are the best and we have some fun things planned for the weekend ahead!  Yay!  It may also include indulging in this chocolate chip pumpkin bundt. ;)

Enjoy your weekend!