Embracing Magic

Goin' to the Chapel...

2008-08-04T09:30:00.000-07:00

This weekend was a blur...but a good blur. I was in the role of Matron of Honor for my bestest friend Judith. I was very honored to be the one standing behind her as she entered into the awesome covenant of marriage with her love, Michael. The wedding was so beautiful. After purchasing my new camera two months ago, I couldn't wait to act like a "real" photographer. It was so much fun capturing little details about the day. I really was having fun acting like I knew what I was doing. Here's some of the final product...Enjoy!

THE dress!

This is the most precious picture ever!!!

The colors were brown and green with pink accents. This was her bouquet!

Judith has the most wonderfully long eyelashes and beautiful blue eyes!

Her shoes were gorgeous, but they came off as soon as she became Mrs. Nagy! Ha!

Two become one.

The coolest bridal party shot...an idea from yours truly-taken by my hubby! :0)

The beautiful cake, while bride and groom have their first dance in the background.

The bling!

And Mr. and Mrs. Nagy live happily ever after...

And I'm going to Carolina (Beach)...in my mind

2008-07-07T07:04:00.001-07:00

Two weeks late, but I'm just getting the hang of the photo software that came with my wonderful new camera. Here is a short-but-sweet recap of our vacation to Carolina Beach. This was Zona's first time to the ocean...actually first time staying in another house with other people. We went with Mom, Dad, and Granny. Keri and her friend, Tiffany came down for a few days. We had wonderful food thanks to the combined efforts of Mom and Granny. It was quite the sight and sound to see and hear them in the kitchen together. Granny quickly reminded Mom that she doesn't let people in her kitchen. We also got a chance to catch up with some friends of the Davenports...the Cooks. More on that later. Now for the pics...

Zona was very curious about the whole sand thing. Automatically her first instinct kicked in..."I must eat it!" Quickly she realized it was not the delicious treat that she had imagined. Thus the result below.

"That sand thing is so overrated!"

Brian trying to give Zona a shower after her time at the beach.
This was Zona's vacation attitude pretty much all week. She was super well behaved though...thanks to some rolled up newspaper action.
We met the Cooks at the Riverwalk in downtown Wilmington. Before dinner, Brian and I walked around looking at all of the downtown sights. This building was begging to be photographed, so Brian let out his inner-model. We ate at Elijah's...it was a great restaurant with a huge outdoor deck. Very cool!
Then came the ultimate love test. A day of golf with Brian. My sweet, wonderful, loving husband decided to take me along. I was actually excited at first to take pictures, but it proved to be a very warm day and the first 9 took 3.5 hours. Needless to say, our round took over 5 hours. It was a very long day, but I did take some fun pics.
I actually made it up for a sunrise...which is a miracle, as I am not the best rise-and-shine early morning person. It was worth it. It was beautiful, and we got some great pictures. This was a fun picture that I took of Brian, as he was holding up the Sun!

We played a round of mini golf one night, which I won!!! Go Kelly! It was a neat course with lots of water and jungle like greenage. We were the weirdos taking pictures of everything!
I don't like taking serious picture!
Well after a great vacation, we had worn out Zona. She was literally passed out on the couch! It was a great summer vacation!

Time for a face lift!

2008-07-01T14:02:00.000-07:00

With summer and my new camera finally here...I'm ready to begin posting again. I got out of it after the wedding updates because I didn't like the camera, but now I have an oh- so- awesome Canon...Stay tuned!!!

Pigs must be flying!

2007-11-02T18:56:00.000-07:00

We got the pictures!!! We were so excited to look through them...I am posting a few that are my favorites! Enjoy:

Fall pictures are here!

2007-10-21T14:57:00.000-07:00

I have been a bit frustrated waiting for pictures from my wedding...ugh...but that's a long story! I decided that we would take some fall pics and I would try my hand at editing to look like a photographer's work. I was pretty pleased with the end results....Enjoy:

Stepping into our beautiful journey...
Yay! Fall is finally here!
We love each other!
My favorite pic!
My cute little hubby!

Oops, who me?

Of course I had to squeeze in a picture of my new baby!

How embarassing!

2007-10-16T16:08:00.000-07:00

I am ashamed to even admit that I have a blog after my lack of blogging these days...I really do enjoy doing it, but I just haven't been setting aside the time...That is all going to change now...I know how it is to want to read a new post on someone's blog! Well, here it goes...a quick catch up on the past couple weeks: we bought a new car and traded in the old Tally...I now have a Murano named Martha...I love her, therefore I named her after my favorite-though often criticized idol Martha Stewart...Martha is a beaut, Clark, a real beaut! She is silver with black interior...yummy! I love how great it is to drive without shifting! Yes, you can tell I'm getting older by saying that! The first six weeks of school are long gone and this week is my first ever parent-teacher conferences...i'm good, i'm good...where's the tylenol...One of my good friends, Toni got married on Saturday, and I had the honor of being a part of the wedding...It was the first wedding I had evern been in that I wasn't a flower girl when I was young...She was such a beautiful bride, and I know that Jeremy and she are very happy! My kids are really getting into school and are amazing me more and more each day...I have a new student from Vietnam, which is a big challenge for me right now...A language barrier is a tough challenge at such a young age...It has proven to be a great opportunity in tuning some of my teaching skills...I am so excited that fall is finally upon us...I plan to take some pics this weekend! Yay! Well, here's to another great week...Here's a school pic just to tide you over until the next post...

If you look closely, you can see that they are wearing elf ears...We were elves for E Week! So magical and fun! They loved it!

Six Weeks later...

2007-10-04T20:08:00.000-07:00

I am alive! I didn't forget about my beloved blogging, but I have finally gotten into a somewhat normal routine. I am loving Kindergarten and the kids. I just am thankful each day that I get to work with children. Now, I am very tired and sometimes frustrated...but I love teaching! I can't imagine investing my life in any other profession. I am up late writing today, but I am going to start posting more often. I'm still wanting to take more pictures and get into taking really good pictures. Here are a few...

Blowing bubbles for B week.
Apple pies for A week

Donuts with Dad for D week!

Welcome to Kindergarten!

2007-09-03T17:16:00.000-07:00

Wow! One week is over and another is just about to begin! Kindergarten is great! What a great age to work with! I love my job. How many people can honestly say that? I feel so incredibly blessed to be able to honestly say that I love what I do each and every day. My class is wonderful, with each unique child specifically placed to teach me something everyday. I am amazed at my children every time we are together. They are so special to me and I would not give my job up for anything! The first week went very well, I thought. We had our sad times, but that was expected. This week is going to be so exciting as they are getting used to the routine of school. I hope to blog more often, but sometimes things get crazy. I'm trying to remember to write down all of the funny quotes. Here are a few just until next time:

-when playing outside: "Teacher, I have a flea in my eye!"

-when complaining about tummyaches: "There's a baby in my tummy...and it hurts."

The classroom is ready...all is quiet, but not for long!
One of my sweet little girls brought me a flower on the First Day of Kindergarten.
Welcome to Kindergarten!
Our first coloring activity together!
We painted on the first week...crazy or what?

I can't help "fallin" in love with you!

2007-08-15T04:41:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, Brian and I visited the Cascades in Giles County...On our first trip to this waterfall, Brian proposed...So this is a very special place to us...We had a romantic picnic lunch...hehe...It was a lot of fun going back and visiting it in the summer...When we were engaged it was winter and ice was covering everything...It was so nice and green and there were flowers...But along with nice weather comes people...So, unlike the magical day of February 17th (almost 2 years ago!) there were many visitors...Lots of people like to swim in the pool just beneath the falls, but that's just not my cup-o-tea...I just took many pictures...Which I am liking to do more and more now...We had so much fun and it was a great trip to remember our engagement! Some pics below...enjoy!

Is that Brian?
Thinking..."Brian is so dreamy!" hahaha
Our rings...Last time we were here Brian gave me one! Now we're married!
A gorgeous pic if I do say so myself!
Here we are the happily married couple! Yay for waterfalls!

The hardest thing to do...

2007-08-14T04:31:00.000-07:00

Last year I was blessed to be a student teacher at Tomahawk Elementary School...Little did I know the effect that it would have on me as a teacher, student, and Christian...The class was amazing and I quickly fell in love with all of the student...The type of motherly love that overlooks the bad times and remembers the good...One child in the class, I'm convinced, was a gift from God...Sent to live a brief life on this Earth and then summoned back to Heaven with his creator...Harrison was such a gift to my life...He was a 4th grader that had moved from Korea a year ago this week...Without knowing much English, he took on the challenge of learning in the 4th grade classroom of which I was the student teacher...He was such a happy child, full of energy and life, and always wearing a huge smile! He was suddenly called Home by God this summer and we were left with fond memories of the sweet spirit that he possessed...Last night, the classroom teacher-Sonja-had organized a memorial service at TES for Harrison...It was such a difficult time for us all...Sonja mentioned all of the sweet memories that we have of Harrison and also wrote a beautiful poem about him...Most of all we remember his love for kickball...Several of his classmates talked through streams of tears, remembering their beloved teammate...It was the hardest time I have experienced as a teacher...Harrison will be hugely missed throughout the hallways of Tomahawk...I'm so blessed to have gotten the chance to be touched by such a sweet inspiration and encouragement...Thank you, Lord for Harrison...

A kickball was left next to his memorial stone.

Evan Almighty, I had a Premonition of Shrek the Third !

2007-08-07T04:35:00.000-07:00

Yes, the title of this posting is very weird...It sums up this past weekend pretty well, though...It was a movie weekend...It all began Friday night with a hilarious movie named Evan Almighty...The movie would not have been half as funny if any other man was the main character...Steve Carell is really becoming one of my favs...His show, The Office, just might be added to my schedule this fall...His personality is so funny in his acting...This movie kept me laughing...maybe I'm just one of those weird people that liked it...I really loved all of the animals he worked with...the picture above was my favorite part...the monkeys must have been thirsty from all of the building...despite some people being offended at the theme of the movie, I enjoyed a few hours of laughs and entertainment...don't judge me, please! My favorite line, "SHEEP!"

As if we didn't get enough of the teeny-boppers on Friday night, we had to go back on Saturday...We ran the Grace Church 5K in the morning and felt like relaxing a little bit...so we saw the o-so-funny Shrek the Third...you may be realizing right about now that it does not take much to make me laugh...you're absolutely correct...I love funny movies! and even not-so-funny-supposed-to-be-funny movies...With the rumors of it not living up to the first two shreks we weren't sure what to expect...All I knew to expect was Justin Timberlake's voice and dragon babies...both of which I was pleased to find in the movie very funny...Donkey remains my favorite character, with Gingy just behind for second...The movie was filled with humor, and I loved it! We laughed a lot! The pic below was hilarious...what a great crowd for a tea party! Shrek the Third gets a thumbs up from me!
Lastly, I had to finish the weekend up with another movie...only, I didn't stay with the funny theme like I should have...I had borrowed a movie from Amy of Richmond(that sounds pretty regal, huh?)...The movie Premonition had sparked some interest as I saw it in the previews, but I wondered if it would prove to be a not-so-good movie for KeL...ding, ding, ding! TO-TA-LY freaked me out! You'll have to watch it to know what I mean, but I am not a good person to watch freaky or scary movies with...I was freaked out the whole night..Good acting by Sandra Bullock, but too many anxious thoughts for me! Well, that's all for now...a Kindergarten update soon!

Wedding Slideshow

2007-06-29T15:04:00.000-07:00

Click to play | Make your own Smilebox

Greetings from the new Kelly Davenport

2007-06-06T10:49:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm married...and I'm so happy! I really am enjoying having our own place and spending so much time together without coordinating where and when to meet. Brian and I could not have been more pleased with the wedding day! We felt like it was just so perfect! The church and everyone there was so beautiful. The reception flew by, but was such a great time. Seems really weird to write my new name. The Honeymoon was so great! Maui was awesome...and we felt very blessed to be able to go to such a nice place! More on that later. Just a quick picture to tease everyone until I can put up the big posts. There will be three parts: 1-Ceremony time 2-Reception time 3-Honeymoon time....Not sure when they will all be posted. Soon!

The Final Countdown!

2007-05-24T06:30:00.000-07:00

Whoa, I ought to be ashamed of myself for not blogging in what feels like FOREVER! Let me say that the past two weeks have been crazy, not crazy bad, crazy beautiful! I finished up a great time of student teaching at the middle school with no real lead anywhere on a job other than the few interviews. On my last day of teaching I finally got the amazing phone call we all had prayed would eventually come. I was never so glad to hear Mr. Hardy's voice. I arrived at Tomahawk that afternoon and was given job! God is so faithful, and I am so blessed! I can't imagine things working out better, but He knew His timing was perfect. I have learned to trust much more than ever before and it was tough at times. With such a huge burden lifted, I was then able to enjoy graduation without wondering where I would end up in the fall. We have moved our things into the townhouse, and I can't wait to live there! I love our new place, and yet again we confess that it was not of our own power that we got such an amazing first place, all Him! We feel incredibly blessed to have such a nice home to call our own. Now tomorrow is the day before the wedding....HOLY COW! I never thought that I'd be able to say that. I feel very calm, I'm keeping busy-no doubt- but not stressing like I thought I might. I cannot wait to be with all of my friends and family on such a special day. This will probably be the last post that I write as Kelly Stone, kind of sad, but exciting too. I can't wait to see my future husband waiting for me at the front of the church. I just expect to have such a wonderful time this weekend! Well, for my last unmarried post...here are some pics:

And it begins...

2007-05-09T19:18:00.000-07:00

Tuesday was the beginnings of moving into the townhouse, thus the reason for no new blogging. I am looking forward to posting some pictures later this week of the fun times, but for now I am staying very busy. To my faithful viewers, I'm sorry, but you will have to wait just a little longer. TTFN (ta ta for now!)

May Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-05-02T13:57:00.000-07:00

Is it Wednesday already? Wow! The days are quickly slipping by faster and faster, which is fine with me! I am so ready for the big day to be here! I cannot believe that it is May! I never thought that it would get here! I am getting married this month...whoa, that is weird to write! Brian and I have been practically going to the townhouse every day to check on the little things that need to be done. Ugh, construction! We were supposed to have occupancy yesterday, the first of May. However, we have been waiting for some final repairs and fixes to take place. At least we don't need to move in ASAP, but I want to! I can't wait until this weekend...that's right, this weekend! We finally get to make it our place. It better happen this weekend, doggonit!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I had a lovely shower this weekend that was so much fun. Brian and I feel so blessed to be starting out with what we have been given. We really are blessed with so many wonderful family members and friends. This is the last week of teaching full time at BMS. I'm sad, but excited because I know that means I'm that much closer to having my own classroom. Still no leads, but God has it under control. It will not happen in my timing, but rather in His. It has been a frustrating lesson in patience, which is a new challenge for me. Well, not many pictures this week, but a few will do....

Simple Things

2007-04-24T18:44:00.000-07:00

One day late, but one day away from the month mark! WHOOOHOOO!!! This post has taken a while to post because I have been so busy trying to get everything done. My birthday was great! The RSVP's keep rolling in. Yay! The townhouse hasn't changed much, but the windows have been measured for blinds...isn't that exciting? Student teaching is still such a great experience. I really love the students that I am able to have this placement. I have been so blessed to work under two wonderful teachers with many wonderful students. Still waiting on the Lord to open up the right door to a school...and my first classroom...that's right, finally MY classroom! Yessss! I can't believe the wedding is a month away. I know that these last 30 days will fly by so quickly...I have got to hold on and make it through...Here are some pics to update progress.

Donna-my hero, my wedding director!

Mr. Bluebird is on our shoulder...and birdhouse(with the Mrs.)!

I love how cute he looks in this picture!

Our illegal planting at the townhouse paid off! We have flowers!!! Yay!!!

Mom wishes that she could fulfill my desire of having a Boston Terrier, but settled for the birthday card instead. More about the sweet gifts later! Thanks to everyone who made my birthday so special!

What birthday weekend would be complete without a biking tour on the Blackwater Creek paths. I love my fiance!

There's a light at the end of the tunnel

2007-04-17T18:15:00.000-07:00

Well, Spring Break came and it went...I found much irony in the word "break" while trying to do as much wedding preparation as possible...the week was full of decisions, anticipation, and excitement...I'm glad that I had the time to get some of those last arrangements taken care of...Don't get me wrong, there is still much to be decided...I'm so excited that the big day is seemingly within sight...there is a light at the end of the tunnel...The townhouse is pretty much the same as last week, but with a few little touch-ups...Our illegal tulip planting has produced some flowers in front of our townhouse....The RSVP's are still rolling in and it's so exciting to receive mail everyday...Another post will come this week, but this is all for now!

Remember Spring?

2007-04-11T12:57:00.000-07:00

Easter has always been one of my most favorite memories. I love how the Earth seems to come alive at the time of Easter. The weather is so bright and full of life, and the flowers are always so beautiful. All life seems to wake up and sing joyfully. I tried to capture some Spring spirit for days like today when I feel less than Springy...This year I took time to stop and smell some flowers. Hope you enjoy the show...

Christ has risen! He has risen indeed!
The tufted titmouse
The Goldfinch...a beaut!
Tulips
Tulips

and more tulips

I love the bright pink flowers!!!

Apple tree blossoms

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The day before Easter, we had the Yoder Family Barnraising! Everyone went into Roanoke to be Amish for a day. For Christmas we all gave money towards a shed for Granny rather than exchange presents. Saturday we put the shed together. There were many comical moments including when snow began to fall. Laura stated, "I guess we should have put it up in March when it was warmer." We couldn't believe it was snowing. The women all watched until we were able to help without being too much in the way. It is a great little shed for Granny and she is loving it already.

Here were some of the boys...

Every year the Easter Bunny gladly provides more than enough Peeps for everyone to enjoy. Peeps are by far the best Easter candy ever. The thought of marshmallow lightly crusted with colored sugar is genius! I look forward to the little fellows every year. This year, we really enjoyed the Peeps. In honor of all those Peeps that gaves their lives for our enjoyment here is a tribute...
Peeps Protest!

Peeps Smores anyone?

Peeps Biker Chick

Peeps Drummer

Peeps Baseball Game

The best one of all...needs no caption

Here's to anticipating another year of Peeps...By the way, true Peeps eaters only eat them at Easter.

TownHOME is where the heart is...

2007-04-10T19:28:00.000-07:00

Here we are, another week gone by and time for another wedding update. Looking back, I wasn't sure if I would have something to write about this close to the wedding date, but BOY O BOY was I wrong...I'm now convinced that up until I am sitting on a chair in the sand in Maui, this wedding's detail will haunt me...Now when I say haunt, I mean in it in a good way (if that can be.) I have loved planning the wedding, but after a certain point of planning, I am just ready to see the plans work out. The cake is finally finalized...I hope...Please, don't let there be another change! It sure has been nice to have Spring Break this week, which I plan to write about tomorrow..."An Ode to Spring...complete with singing Peeps!" The wedding is 46 days away...Wow! I'm glad to see a lower number on the countdown...Invitations are sent! YEEEEHAAAAWWWW!!!! I was definitely pleased to have the invites done. RSVP's have already come back to us, which is very exciting! It is fun to wait in anticipation each day for the mail lady. Our townhouse is looking rather move-in-able which is O so exciting! The carpet has been finished. All systems are go in the powder rooms! hehe! The kitchen I must say is "BREATHTAKING!" It is so much more beautiful than I ever thought I deserved. I can't wait to get my partner-Little Red Kitchen Aid-into that sanctuary of culinary inspiration. There is definitely a lot of painting left to be touched up and little things here and there, but it is just about ready! I can't wait to move our few belongings in that first weekend in May! It is a little depressing to go over to the townhouse and have to leave it. I want to live there! All in good time. Well, until next week...here are the pics:

We did a little early planting! Hehe!
Carpet!!! Yay!!! Wipe your feet!
Farrah Faucet
The beautiful powder room...
My exact quote, "This is my kitchen and I'll do what I want with it!"

The most beautiful room of the place! Let us stand and observe a moment of silence to bask in its beauty!

No, Brian, this is not a drive thru!

Our random tree out back!

SNEAK PEEP!

COMING TOMORROW: Easter 2007

Spring Fever

2007-04-03T19:11:00.000-07:00

Well, since last week there are definitely more and more townhouse updates. I plan to show those pics later this week or this weekend. The townhouse looks more like a home each time we visit it, which I might add is pretty frequently...but, hey, we're just excited! We now have carpet padding, electricity, water, and almost all appliances. The weather outside has just been beautiful and it has me wishing for the days to speed by quickly so that May will be here soon.

It's hard to sit back and just enjoy the time now without wishing the time away. Bridal portraits are coming up in just over a week. I cannot wait to see how they turn out. The massive undertaking of invitation mailing has begun. The addressing is the most time-consuming part. I, of course, am stuck doing the writing. If Brian were to address the envelopes, we may have many of them returned. He is doing a great job stuffing, stamping, and sealing. All invitations should be out by this weekend. That is such a huge stress off of my shoulders.

I had a lingerie shower this past weekend at Amy's house. It was so much fun, and the girls were all very nice to me. I was pretty nervous about being embarassed by the gifts, but no one embarassed me, and for that I was very glad. It was a great time to get excited about Maui. I can't wait to get there! Brian and I are both looking forward to the beautiful island, not the plane ride to get there, though.

Student teaching continues to go well. I love the students and their unique personalities. Middles schoolers are a different kind, but they are great. I am counting down the days with the students for Spring Break! It will be so nice to have some time to relax, even though I will probably stay busy. O well, a break from the normal routine.

Next post will include more pictures from this past week's updates. Here's to May 26th!!!!

The grass isn't always greener...but at least there is grass!

2007-03-27T17:34:00.000-07:00

Wow! So much to post about! We are so excited about the progess that we are seeing on the townhouse! This week's post will be dedicated to the townhouse...Our beloved 63 Logan Lane! But before the photo marathon, a little countdown update...We reached the 60 day mark! O goodness! I can't believe it! I feel that if I blink for too long, the big day might be here. I can't wait though! Bring it on! No news on the job front. Keep praying, I know that God has picked the right classroom for me and is just allowing me to be patient and trust in Him. This was a great prayer that I read this past week, "Even though the day be laden and my task dreary and my strength small, a song keeps singing in my heart. For I know that I am Thine. I am part of Thee. Thou art kin to me, and all my times are in Thy hand." Now, it's picture time!!!!! Another update from the happy couple!
I think I may have missed my calling in life...toilet saleswomen!
Already taking advantage of the deck!
Dad-e-o and me!

This one's for you Mom!She thinks that the bug is the perfect addition to the house.
He we are...the happy soon to be owners/owers...
Our stove!!!
We are in awe of the new light!
Think, think, think

Ding Dong! Only, we only have the ding...
Yay a toilet and a bathroom floor!
Ceiling fan...crucial for me! Anyone that knows me knows that I'm always the one that is hot even when everyone else is freezing.
How nice is it to finally see that sign and the landscaping! It looks like a real townhouse now!
There it is...our little pride and joy!

What a mess...this is what we faced when we went this past weekend.
The kitchen floor is in!
Look at all of the beautiful appliances!!!! I can't wait to cook with them!
The Sink!!!
This is the light right outside our kitchen area...it will become our dining area later...when we have a table!

The forecast says...scattered showers!

2007-03-20T18:33:00.000-07:00

Well what an exciting wedding update! Not much news about the townhouse...except that we have the beginnings of a kitchen floor! Yay! Hopefully we will see some progresss this weekend Brian and I had our first wedding shower on Saturday, hosted by the wonderful Missy and Jen Davenport! They did an amazing job. It was such a great time. We had a great time at the shower, and we were very overwhelmed at the abundance of gifts. Both of us came away feeling so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family. The shower was a bed and bath shower, so we are well stocked in those departments now. Thank you to everyone who contributed to our new supply of bedroom and bathroom gifts! We played several games at the shower. The first was for everyone but me. I had to leave the room while everyone answered questions about what I was wearing. Brian did pretty well, but had trouble discerning hot pink nail polish from red. The next game was dealing with everyone's purse. There was a point sheet that everyone must add up the items they could find in their purses. That was fun to watch! I'm afraid if I had done it, it would have taken days. The last game was to see how well Brian knew me. He answered 5/10 correctly, which doesn't really reflect how well he knows me. He thinks that the questions were too tricky. You know excuses, excuses. After the shower, I got a headstart on the bridesmaids' gifts. Yay, I'm excited! Then the big event....we bought our wedding bands. We are pretty simple folk...the plain yellow gold bands for us. I didn't want to take away from the diamond. Brian said that buying the bands was much better than buying an engagement ring. He he! I guess we are pretty well committed now that we have the bands. Well here are pics from this weekend! ShowerTime!

The beautiful cake...and it was yummy too!
The tables were all decorated so elegantly....nice touch ladies!
Here are the hostesses...my soon-to-be-new-sistas!
Mom and Keri aren't your typical shower folks...they endured it for me...and I love them for it! They actually had a good time too! Here's our little flower girl! She's such a cutie! I can't wait to see her walking down the aisle!

Until next week, toodles!

Pieces of the puzzle...

2007-03-13T16:49:00.000-07:00

This week is definitely more exciting than week's post. Many pieces of the puzzle are falling into place. First, I had my final dress fitting this past weekend. Saturday was such a fun day. Mom, Vicki, Keri, and I had lunch with Granny after we went to Bride's House. We had some new developments at the townhouse. We also selected our furniture from our favorite Schewels salesman. Enough with the explaining...here are the pics:

Granny was sporting her ultra-hot sweatshirt. She's so cute!
Here are some cool daddies...don't think you will be wearing those in the wedding ladies!
Turns out that everyone else wanted a special dress for the day. Here's Tinker Bell! I love it Mom!
Here's Mrs. America! I love it Vicki!
Here is our own Miss Bejeweled! Love it Keri!
This dress slip is so huge. Granny happily volunteered to iron it. Little did she know what she was getting herself into. It took 2 hours!

Granny knows how much that I love fried chicken. She treated me to some lovely chicken legs!

Here we are eating! Granny filled us all up...but we were about to have the best pie ever....

Granny made Paula Deen's "Olivia Buttermilk Pie"...It was sooooooo good! I loved it!

We found the furniture that we wanted. Olanda was the best salesman ever. He was so nice to help us out. We were pretty sick of salesmen after visiting several furniture store, but Schewels downtown was the jackpot. We met our friend Olanda. Here is the furniture that we bought. We will get it in May. Brian just seems to think that this chair is his property. Don't get too comfortable. Olanda says, "First come, first serve, Brian." I will be home first! He He!

Just imagine our townhouse with this furniture in it. We will have different tables than the ones showing in this picture.

We have a mailbox finally! It was so excited to see the mailboxes when we pulled into the parking lot!

Here's our box!!!!!!

They put up a thermostat in the townhouse!

Our basement concrete with our heating/cooling units!

Until next week...Here's to some new developments!

Slow times

2007-03-06T15:47:00.000-08:00

Well these are slow times for the house right now. We still faithfully are checking up on it, but not much is happening. We do have a sidewalk and countertops. The heating pump will be going in soon we think. Most of my time and energy has been shifted slightly over the past couple weeks, from wedding plans to job hunting. I know God has a the right classroom already picked out for me, but I have to be patient right now to find it. Wedding wise, the tux people continue to bug us to death, so if your name is Jeff, Ernie, Bryan, Ben, Scott, or Ben, for my sake please go get fitted so they will stop bothering me! Saturday I go for a final fitting in my dress. Yay! The bridesmaids' dresses are in too! I'm so excited to see them. More to come about that next week! Here are some pics from Braxton Park!

Just admiring the view, you know people would kill for such breathtaking scenery.
Doors, doors, doors...So many doors! Hang them please!
They fixed the hole in the ceiling...Yay construction people!
I am taking a quick shower in our master bathroom!
Here's the master bedroom!

Hopefully there will be more exciting pics next week! Toodles!

Turtle Turtle

2007-03-01T18:37:00.000-08:00

Well here are the promised turtle pictures. It really was a fun challenge to make the turtle! It was an honor for me to make a cake for Traci's shower. It turned out really cute! It always takes me longer than I plan because I'm such a perfectionist. Sometimes a good thing, sometimes bad.

She's such a cute little pregnant woman! I was so happy to get to see her on the day of the shower. I know that the little one is going to be adorable...and it would be nice if he came on my birthday, but that's way too late for her to wait.

Show me the money!

2007-02-28T15:04:00.000-08:00

Well to be honest, I did not forget about the update yesterday. I was rather caught up a tornado called "my life". Yesterday was so crazy. After a crazy day at school, I had to exercise and bake/decorate a baby shower cake(I was able to make a very cute turtle cake if i do say so. I will post pictures tonight or tomorrow.), and then continue attempting to get a job. Only onw pictures graces the weekly update this week. If I were a Barbie this week, I would be Kelly-the executive edition. This week's post is more or less a brief update of a few things. I secured my hair lady for the wedding...and the angels rejoice! Sunday Brian and I went to pick out the gentlemen's penguin suits. They are all going to look so nice! It was another big stressor out of the way! The stress has got to be getting smaller, but somehow I feel the opposite will happen. I found my gals some shoes, so they are all set! I can't wait to have all of the girls together for the wedding. It is going to be so great! Nothing big has happened at the townhouse. I will post pics this weekend from the weekly trip. Well here's to 87 more days of this craziness!

Hi, I'm Kelly! May I work at your school?

Puppies, Parties, and Petals

2007-02-25T11:45:00.000-08:00

Last week was so busy and full of celebration it was a whirlwind and then another week flew by after it. Here is an attempt to capture some of all the celebrating that went on.

p.s. The house update will be included in the weekly update on Tuesday.

First: Happy Valentine's Day! Told you I was behind.

Valentine's Boston Terrier...That's what I wanted!!! Thanks Dad!
We celebrated Valentine's with our Annual Stone Women cook for the Men night. It was decorated so beautifully(thank yours truly)! The menu for the night included: Chicken CordonBleu(however you spell that), Mac-n-cheese, baked potatoes, brocoli, salad, rolls, and lots of dessert.
Here was our wonderful dessert bar. There was so much chocolately goodness on the bar it was overwhelming! The beautiful yellow roses were a surprise from my loving Fiance! They were too gorgeous!
The fresh fruit and pretzel display complete with chocolate fondue.
An amazing red velvet cake complete with a sampling of chocolate icing. It was great!

For the die-hard chocolate lover: Chocolate brownies with chocolate icing. Very yummy!

We each had our own little placecards at the table. Here's my Fiance and me!

Keri and her friend Kyle. Notice we each had our own little bottle of sparkling cider! Keri and Brian downed their bottles pretty quick.

PRAXIS Celebration!!!! I passed!!! YAYYYYYY!

After many weeks of wondering, I found out that I passed my last state test! I had to complete two Praxis 2 exams because I have the added middle school endorsement. It has taken a while to complete all of the tests the program now requires. Now with five tests out of the way and many dollars later...I'm ready to get a job.

Later on that week, we celebrated Brian's 23rd birthday! All of the family joined in and had a great night! Here's the cutest picture of the night:

Doesn't he look thrilled to be celebrating Brian's special day? He is so cute!

Blair was all excited for Brian's night and also because she got to try on the dress she will be wearing in the wedding. She looked so pretty in it!

Jeff and I were keeping a close watch on Brian as he cut his b-day cake. I liked to call that masterpiece the Landslide cake...that's what happens sometimes! We all have meltdowns.

I gave Brian this picture of the two of us walking through the orchards this past Fall.

Blair was such a great little helper with Brian's gifts. She "read" each card to him.

Peyton was a party animal, along with his fav cool cat below.

"RAAAR!"

After celebrating Brian's birthday, we went to Roanoke the next night to celebrate my cousin's 18th birthday. It was a UNC party.

They thought of Brian and created him his own cupcake!

Yay, how cute!

Here's the whole gang. Robbie was trying to corrupt Brian, giving him marital advice. Ha!

Well three months from tomorrow is the big day! I am so excited and ready. Still there are some things to be taken care of, but it will be here soon. This picture was an oldie, but a goodie. Here's to not choking each other for three more months.

Here's what everyone was waiting for...

2007-02-21T18:28:00.000-08:00

After blaming Brian for my lack of photos to post, I came up with a post for tonight that will have to work out. The weeks seem to be flying by overall, but each day seems pretty long. That is, until after 8pm and then I think time goes by five times faster than normal and it's 11 o'clock before I know it. Anyway, the big news for this week's post was stopping by RMWC, which is our reception site. Not much was done on the house, but we do now have a full front porch so that we may walk straight into the townhouse without any jumping action. More pics of that to come this weekend. A virtual tour is promised as we make our weekly trip to inspect the work progress. Here's a look at Randolph Macon Women's College, Randolph College, Rivermont Mostly Women's College, whatever anyone feels like calling it now.

Mitch is our catering director and he has been really patient with us as we have bugged him with many questions. We have a plan for the setup of the room and I am so excited to see it all set up...Like one of my favorite lines says, "Clark, baby, I can see it in my mind and it's breathtaking!"

Here are all of the happy little tables and chairs. Ours will look a little different..ok really different.

We were thinking about leaving the angry grafetti on the windows...it adds a certain charm to any wedding reception.
The important wing of the room....the food section!
Ahhhh the choices!

We are really blessed to have a facility that has a great outdoor courtyard directly off of the room. It will be a great view in the spring!

Tables and chairs outside for the antisocial reception going crew.

I was on the prowl to find the closet restrooms.

I was reminded of Narnia looking at the lamppost. This is the way we will enter and exit the reception.

The doors to the future.

Well I feel like so many things still have to be done, but I am glad to see some of the bigger decisions are all taken care of and behind us now. Watch for a home update this weekend!

I now leave you with my word-of-the-day-til-May: Peace!

Blame it on the Groom!

2007-02-20T19:45:00.000-08:00

Well it probably isn't the first time-and definitely won't be the last-that Brian is taking the blame. Tonight Brian took the camera home with him and I had no pictures to post. The weekly wedding update is not too involved this week, but here's a recap of what I will just save and post tomorrow afternoon. Mom, Dad, and I met with our catering director at RMWC and checked out the space again. We are so excited with ideas and pictures in our minds of what the place will look like as it is Cinderellafied. I will post pictures of the reception site. Brian is working on getting our Maui plane tickets. We made contact again with the DJ's and they are still alive and ready to rock on May 26th. We can't believe the days are flying by. It won't be long. Until tomorrow...toodles!

LIFE

2007-02-15T20:13:00.000-08:00

Well as the day comes to a close, I remember how special today was to me. Today we celebrate LIFE! Not only do we celebrate the daily blessing of living, but a special day that we can recognize another year of LIFE. Brian turned 23 today! Brian, I am so blessed to have spent 4 of those years with you as your 'significant other', and even more as friends. I can't tell you how happy I was to celebrate a day of happiness especially dedicated to you. You are my love, my best friend, and my soulmate. Today, February 15th, we celebrate you! Happy Birthday sweetie! I can't wait to spend many more with you as we do LIFE together.

P.S. This year I promise to play your favorite game (LIFE) with you.

The Beginning!

102 DAYS!!!!!

2007-02-13T16:06:00.000-08:00

The countdown is on! I can't believe it is finally almost less than 100 days until our big day. I am so excited and ready for the time to go by, but I am also really enjoying student teaching right now. I have some great kids in my classes and I hope that I have the opportunity to teach such good students. I mean, they have their moments...but what 10 year-old doesn't? Anyway, back to wedding stuff. Well, no big decisions since last week. Just more and more pictures of our beautiful new townhouse and a new phone for me, which means a bigger bill for Brian. Hehe! I feel like the cliche new mother showing pictures of her newborn. For those people veiwing the pictures, they all look the same, but to the mother each one is extra special. I feel so blessed every time I think about our home. As seen by the abundance of pictures, Brian and I visit it every week at least once. This week was really an exciting visit.

Before pictures of the house, I want to give a special Valentine's, "I love you!" to my wonderful fiance, Brian. I am so lucky to have a great guy like you and I can't wait to spend the rest of my Valentine's celebrating being your wife. Saturday Brian and I will celebrate being engaged one whole year....Unbelievable! Yet at the same time, it seems like so much longer. A lot of planning has been done, but I have loved being engaged. Though I have been called Bridezilla, I have tried to remember that I will only be a bride-to-be once. And not for much longer...Brian, somehow I love you even more than one year ago when we got engaged. Here's to May 26th and many more years of love that multiplies with each year!!!!

Now that I have been all mushy...Let's get ready to rumble...Hold, on there are a lot of these:

This is the virtual tour of driving into Braxton Park. Yay! I'm excited!

Here's our building...Our new address 63 Logan Lane Lynchburg, VA 24502
Our front door...We don't have to use the board ramp anymore! Now it's just a 3 foot hole that you have to jump out of into the house. Soon we'll have a very nice little porch. Perfect for a gnome, I think.

Here we are....The mushy-almost-newlyweds. Welcome to the tour!

Yes, in my spare time I use spindles for karate weapons.

Our gorgeous cherry cabinets with wannabe granite countertops. I love them...and so will my little beauty (my kitchenaid).

A close-up of the hardware...Brushed nickel.

We have a ghost problem...Who are we gonna call? Ghostbusters! This weird ghost keeps appearing in the linen closet upstairs.

Baseboards!!! See what I mean? Just like newborn pictures...Who else is excited about a piece of wood nailed next to the floor?
Light switches! That means electricity is not far away! Yesssssss! Pump some juice into that townhouse.

His and hers bathroom drawers....More than likely it will be hers and hers.

Houston, we have a problem...Either we have a really fat rat that lives in the ceiling or someone pulled a little Christmas Vacation stunt and stepped through when walking in the attic. uh o!

Time for a new cell phone! YAAAAAAAAhhhooooooo! I am really enjoying it too! I was so used to my old phone cutting off in the middle of every conversation. Yay for the new plan and phone!
I had to post this picture for Mom and Dr. R. These are ring-billed gulls if I've ever seen them. They have taken over the Target parking lot. I think I might try sitting in the parking lot all day eating popcorn. Sounds good to me. They aren't dumb! Well, until next week....Toodles!

"Mama...you gave life to me!"

2007-02-07T14:51:00.000-08:00

Well, here it is...a post dedicated to the woman we all know and love. The Easter Bunny, the pancake-maker, the great pumpkin, the always-walking-Energizer bunny, and most importantly--my MOM! The fact remains that Mom is never on the post...and here's why: She is always taking everyone else's picture! It was hard to find any pictures from the Bridal Luncheon with Mom in them. I can't believe it. From now on, I'm taking pictures of her more often. Well there she is...my mother. I can't explain how lucky I am to have such a great mom. It is easy to forget how blessed I am to have such a great role model and help in my mother. She has been such a big help with the wedding. Mom, I couldn't do it without you!

Here they are: Mom, 2nd Mom, and Soon-to-be-Mom-in-law
The only other picture to prove that Mom was at the Luncheon. She enjoys being the photographer.
Did I mention that we REALLY enjoyed the food. And this was not nearly as full as my plate was. MMMMMMMMM it was good!
The chocolate fountain was a hit! Everything is good when drenched in chocolate.
I was a lucky winner of a spa set that included a bathrobe and set of spa products. Yay! I never win drawings so I wasn't paying close enough attention. I was so surprised...and I'm sure that my face was bright red!

Bridezilla Returns

2007-02-06T19:33:00.000-08:00

Tuesday? What? It's Tuesday?! Well if it weren't for the snow outside, I would be a day late posting this week's update. Thank goodness for the snow! I am now able to stay up late and complete a few tasks to make today feel more productive. Numero Uno...the wedding update. This past week was filled with more and more details---what's new? I sometimes sit back and think, "Will there be a week when I don't have anything to write about?" Then I think to myself...Nope! Well I try to keep myself busy, which makes time go by a little quicker.

Here's the exciting world of Brian and Kelly engagement date nights. Friday night: Grand Piano! I can hardly stand the excitement. We finally selected a bedroom suite that was in our budget...and the angels rejoiced! Another big decision out of the way. Now for some reason I feel like ten strings come untied everytime that we tie up one loose end. Just the nature of planning a wedding I guess.

Saturday I attended the Bride of the Year Luncheon with a bunch of my wedding party/family type people. The luncheon was at West Manor--a beautiful, but somewhat overrated bed and breakfast in Forest. It is a lovely place, but way too expensive for the room that is allocated for receptions. Nevertheless, we all had a great time...Of course we did, it involved a chocolate fountain. I believe that a chocolate fountain could make any event more exciting!

After the luncheon, Brian and I visited our Home Under Construction. We were surprised to find many advances since our last visit. The walls actually resemble walls. The countertops were all installed with the exception of the bar. The painting has begun, and the sinks are soon to be installed. Without further ado, the picures:

Here are some of my beautiful bridesmaids that attended the lucheon with me! Judith even came from Blacksburg...she must like me a little bit! I would do it for you too, Juth!
Here are the gorgeous roses that adorned our table's center...and yes, those are coffee beans on the table too! I loved the idea!
Throughout the event Sommer's Place had models with Mother-of-the-Bride type wardrobe. The models were pretty funny. Mom and Vicki didn't figure out that they were models for a while.
Ballroom dancing with Donna! These couples were so cute! I don't think that Brian would be willing to do any dancing like they demonstrated.

Yes, Vicki was excited! The food was delicious, and there was so much of it! Belle, Vicki's dog, even tasted some of the Prime rib, chicken, and lobster.

Ahhh yes...there's the proof. I guess you could say "the proof is in the napkin...."

Everyone had a precious little truffle at their seat. They were almost too cute to eat.

This is like the limo that we will ride in, except our limo will be black.

How awesome will it be to ride in this? A fireplace? Are you kidding?

A view from the front. What a huge car.

In our basement we have some nice art already! At least we'll never forget the name of our unit!

Wow! Something that resembles a family room/kitchen. I love our townhome so much!

This is our upstairs hallway looking into the guest bedroom.

Well that's all for now folks! More to come next week!

ABC talkin bout 123

2007-01-31T14:54:00.000-08:00

And the teaching begins...Here is the promised Student Teaching post. It has been such an awesome experience so far in student teaching. Today, the newspaper honored Mrs. Yoder and me with a front page story. I was so stunned that my little role as a student teacher would be honored in the newspaper. I expected a very brief story tucked away in the lifestyle section. Wow! I am truly blessed to be working with Mrs. Yoder this placement. I have already learned so much. I love the kids...they are precious. I am now teaching the full lessons all day. In 4th grade at TES, each teacher teaches a subject. So, I have the entire 4th during the day, one class at a time. It has taken me a while to get a good handle on all of their names, but I think I've got it now! I love each one of the personalities that come out on a daily basis. I feel like I have been in a tornado-like time warp for the past week. Time has flown! I guess I've been having fun. Today I finally felt like I had a good handle on the whole routine. It is hard for me to remember to try to have a life outside of teaching right now. I am trying to get better about not letting the "papers" monopolize every spare minute.

Here's how my student teaching experience began. School's closed!!!
This cute card was from Amy! She's so thoughtful. She prepared me a whole bag full of teachery supplies with the trademark hand sanitizer.
The first day of student teaching I had a sign waiting on my desk from my homeroom class. I nearly cried!
Books!!!!!! Lesson Plans!!!!!! Yay!!!!!!
Not only do I have an obsession with fairies, gnomes, and hats, but also pins. I acquired this delightful little habit from my kindred spirit Mrs. DeLong-sometimes it's scary how much alike we think. My collection has exploded since I began collecting them. I love them. So here's my teacher one!

Well since most everyone probably feels as though I have dropped off of the face of the Earth, don't worry...just look for my car in the Tomahawk parking lot! I'm either at school, working on school plans, or sleeping while dreaming about school plans.

Knock and the door WILL be opened!

2007-01-30T16:22:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that I'm finally getting to post this amazing news! WE HAVE A HOME!!! On Wednesday, Brian and I signed the contract to make the deal official. It was a little scary, but, O so exciting! I was so ready to get excited about our first place and be able to tell everyone. It was quite a frustrating process, but it was well worth it. We will have occupancy the first of May, when Brian will move in. No fair! He gets to enjoy it first. O well! Seems like a small concern in the grand scheme of things. Finalizing the plans lifted such a huge stressor off of both of our lives. We really appreciate everyone's kind suggestions, wisdom, and prayers. It is a little scary doing all of these 'first' things sometimes. It seems a little hard for me to think of any other wedding plans that we took care of because we have been so focused on the townhouse. But to be honest we are at a bit of a standstill since last week with any other wedding plan type arrangements. Well, I know that this is what everyone wants to see anyway...Roll that beautiful home footage!

Signing one million and one papers...but it's worth it!

Me, excited? What makes you think that?

Our first street: 63 Logan Lane

A work under progress...with the sold sign in the window!

Our lovely board ramp! MY KITCHEN!!! MY KITCHEN!!! I can't believe how beautiful the cabinets are!

This is a picture from the living room into the kitchen...I can't wait to cook in this kitchen!

My KitchenAid is going to look gorgeous in this kitchen! Can you tell I think that the kitchen is the most important room?

Taken from the kitchen into the living room. I love those arched doorways!

Our deck picture taken from the master bedroom window.

Mom and me in the doorway!

These windows are the bomb! Vicki offered to clean all of them every Saturday!

Here is the Encinco Man hand on our front door! Well that's all for now folks! I hope that everyone enjoys this glimpse into our future. Until next week!

Wedding Update Already?

2007-01-23T18:26:00.000-08:00

January is going to be over before we know it! Another Tuesday has come and I can't believe it! Seems like I just finished writing my last wedding update...Well this one won't be quite as long as usual due to the fact that I am student teaching as of today...More on that tomorrow! A whole post dedicated to education at Tomahawk Elementary! What fun! Today is all about the wedding update...Our invitations came in today! I can't wait to pick them up and look at how beautiful they turned out! Here is the update promised by the sneak preview...We finished registering at Target! I can't believe it! It was really difficult to register for things without knowing where they will go (eg bathroom, bedroom, and kitchen stuff)...I mean I know that bathroom stuff goes into a bathroom, but I mean within a home that we do not have as of now...Despite that challenge we managed to pick out what we liked...notice that I say "we" because Brian had input on everything...A couple times it was a bit tense deciding, but that's what marriage is all about...compromise! After finishing at Target, I must confirm it as my all-time favorite store! We managed to find everything that we were looking for in Target in order to complete the registry, which is more than we could say the day we registered with Kohl's. So, for everyone's information we are now registered at: Target, Kohl's, Home Depot, and Belk. It was a ton of fun registering, but it was time comsuming. We had fun though!

Here's Mr. Zapper!

And again....

Brian and I have been trying to figure out the wisest decision for us to make when it comes to finding a home. We really had no idea what we were in for when we starting looking around. It takes patience. We really have valued our families' and friends' wisdom in making such a huge decision. We realize that this is a decision that could affect us the rest of our lives if we overextend our resources. We also realize that it will be a great learning process in trusting the Lord to supply our needs. It has already been a growing process for the two of us to go through so many decisions and details. We are hopeful that the search will come to an end soon! As I look at this picture above, I realize that already a great opportunity has been presented to us. We are certainly blessed to have such an opportunity, but we want to make sure that it is the door that we need opened. Keep praying, and the minute things are squared away I will be posting a praise-the-Lord-He-is-good-report! Well, that's all for this week folks! Here's an updated countdown: 123 days!!!!

Heaven's Food

2007-01-21T12:12:00.000-08:00

I will no longer ponder to formulate an answer to the famous what's-your-favorite-food-question. I know! This is it! Eureka!

I have discovered the official food of heaven...Papa John's Bar-B-Que Chicken Hawaiian Pizza. No words can explain the taste of this genius creation. The ingredients are as follows: Regular crust with a bar-b-que sauce, chicken, onions, and the best component-pineapple! I am convinced this is what we will eat all the time in heaven (without gaining any weight)...I do not disagree with my Granny on many issues, but regardless of what my Granny says, fruit does belong on this pizza. After a very long and brain-twisting day, Brian and I decided to order one of these masterpieces and it was a very good decision! I highly recommend everyone try one of these pizzas. Even if you are like my Granny- thinking that fruit does not belong on pizza, at lease put this pizza on your to-do-before-I-die list.
Here is the goodness!

Here is a sneak peak of Tuesday's wedding update. We finished regestering at Target--which is, by the way, the best store ever! If only they sold Papa John's pizzas! Brian was being a good sport as long as he could zap everything that we picked out. I am having a tough time figuring out who is cuter-Target doggie or Brian...They are both so stinkin' cute! Well, more about registries on Tuesday!

Well, here is Mrs. Cardinal takin' it to school. We have so many birds in our backyard. It is so neat to stand and watch them all and their cute little bodies hopping around. The cardinals are the most skiddish...Here at the Stone Botanical Garden and Bird Observatory we feature: sparrows, black-capped chickadees, cardinals, blue jays, bluebirds, wrens, mourning doves, woodpeckers, finches, junko, and even a red-tailed hawk.

Speaking of school, tomorrow is supposed to be my first day of student teaching. Well, I think that the weather may delay that for me, but only time will tell...Well off to get ready just in case Campbell County braves the storm--fat chance!

Weekly Wedding Update: Step Right Up!

2007-01-17T19:04:00.000-08:00

A day late, but at least I got it done! I feel really aweful messing up my usual Tuesday schedule post, but I was out of town until last night. So much has happened since the last blog. I will give you the list: semi-finalized reception menu, ordered invitations, arranged transportation post ceremony and reception, bought wedding shoes, went through the first alterations appointment, registered at Belk, selected flowers, made a doctor's appointment, came a step closer to a home, and somehow managed to survive it all so far!

I am so excited to have gotten so much done since last week. I could not be more pleased with the invitations, they are B-E-A-utiful! I am slowly coming to realized just how rapidly the big day is approaching. The end of last week was a little rough as I felt that I was going to drown in all of the to-do lists. May I say overwhelmed? In order to avoid a mental breakdown, I write a lot of lists. This past week had me scribbling on anything possible...calendars, envelopes, and scraps of paper. It is unbelievable to think that almost everything got done on all of those lists.

Mom, Granny, and I went shopping on Monday for my wedding shoes. At first, Mom was a little worried that we would not have enough time to find an adequate pair of shoes. She thought that I would be too picky...me?too picky? Well, that thought was quickly misproven. By Granny's brilliant suggestion, we stopped by the local Shoe Carnival in Roanoke. I have a new favorite shoe store! This place was great!

Within five minutes many miracles took place: I had located shoes that went with my dress, I found them in my bigfoot size 10, and they were comfortable!

Needless to say, Mom and Granny were happy enough to buy more shoes...Which is exactly what we did! I do have to say that I was, at first, a little weirded out by the idea of a shoe store being like a carnival, with a spinning wheel and a man carrying a microphone. This guy must have asked us ten times if we needed any help. Then, all of the sudden his little weasel voice yells, "this aisle only, two pair for fifteen dollars!!" Mom and I looked at each other and started making our way to the next set of miracles. Mom located a pair of super-cute boots. There was, of course, no bigfoot size for me! But, the miracles continue, I fit into a size 9! Mom and I both got a pair of the boots for 7.50 each! We had pestered the guy so much that he let me spin the wheel and I got three dollars off of our total! We had such a great time in the always great Shoe Carnival of Roanoke, Virginia!

These would look so hot with my dress!

You cannot believe how hard it was to stand up in these shoes!

These shoes made me want to sing: "You're the one that I want, you are the one I want...Whoo, whoo, whoo!"

Spin that wheel...This guy was a unique man!

This was great! I got to shop, spin a wheel, and save money! What could be better?

Now enjoy these crazy shopping pictures. For those of you who know me well, you know about my obsession with hats. One day I'm going to actually have the confidence to wear hats more often! I guess I was born in the wrong time period. Anyway, fun times in the local MACY's.

I'm not sure what kind of animal this outfit killed. I especially loved the scarf made of furballs.

This is the Spring blustery day look.

This is the hip hop hat that I never have the guts to buy or wear!

Well after our wonderful day of shopping we were pretty worn out. Yesterday-tuesday-we had the big appoinment...the wedding dress alterations. I was so thrilled to try on my dress again. This time I had a much better idea of what it will look like on the big day because I had my shoes and slip on with the dress. Luckily the dress does not need to be hemmed- ah thank you tall genes...finally one charge that we can avoid. The alterations went well and then we went to Belk to register for china and flatware. Granny and I were a little disappointed with the amount of items that were out of stock, but never to fear I went to the Lynchburg Belk today and updated everything that I couldn't in Roanoke.

Mom and I went to Arthur's today and picked out all of the floral components for the wedding/reception. Let me tell you, if anyone is looking for a way to make money here are my top three suggestions : 1-make wedding dresses 2-alter wedding dresses 3-grow and arrange flowers. I know that the flowers will be beautiful because they do some great work at Arthur's.

Lastly, we scheduled the all important doc's pre-wedding visit. I want to make sure that the birth control is very well worked into my system before May! We don't need any Maui babies! Ha! That's about all I have to say about that! And concerning our living situation...God has been faithful and we have been so blessed to see situations change in our favor. We will go this weekend with our great realtor and walk through a townhouse. We are so excited about this possibility and are trusting God to provide and lead us further in the decision.

What a long post! It's no wonder I don't post very much anymore. I use all of my energy on the Wedding Update...I guess it is kind of important. Until next week...Toodles!

Week 3: Weekly Wedding Update

2007-01-09T15:45:00.000-08:00

Another Tuesday already? Well, I'm trying to post like I promised. I said every Tuesday, and I didn't give a time deadline. Whooo, good thing! First thing I want to say a big CONGRATS to my best friends, Toni Jordan. Toni and her boyfriend, Jeremy, got engaged right before Christmas and I had not posted anything about it yet! Jeremy did a great job picking out a beautiful ring! It was worth the wait according to Toni! I am honored to say that Toni asked me to be in the wedding and I'm so excited for the two of them!

Here we are: the two Brides-to-be!!! I feel so blessed to have met Toni at LU as we were both going through the El. Ed. program. I can't wait to help you with your wedding too, Toni! Congrats!

Well now on to my crazy days of wedding planning. Well there are, as always, tons of things that come up that still need to be done for the wedding. First, I will tell you that the flowers, invitations, and transportation will probably be taken care of before this time next week. So the update next week should contain some juicy information if you care about those type things. Now, if you know me, which I guess you do since you are reading this blog, you know that I am a person that often worries a little too much about things. That has especially been the case since the end of this past semester. It feels like everything is hitting at once and the days are just flying by so quickly. I am slowly but surely making some progress toward crossing things off of my ever-increasing list. Realizing the wedding is nearly four months away is a bit scary, but O so exciting! I have to admit I had been doing some ulcer-inducing worrying last week, but Sunday God presented me with an amazing sermon at church from my pastor Mark. Phillipians 4:6-8 is now my mantra. In the passage, Paul urges his brothers in Christ to be anxious for nothing. I am learning to release worry and rejoice in the Lord. This is a major struggle for me very often, but I am very blessed to have a wonderful fiance that has been there for me to calm me down and remind me of the truths found in Phillipians.

Well here is a sneak peak at our Honeymoon getaway! I am so excited to go to Maui! More about that later! Enjoy the pics!

Brian and I are now facing the decision of where we will live after we are married. Keep us in your prayers that we will make the wisest decisions to get off to a good start as a married couple. This picture from Aruba below makes me think of how wonderful Maui will be in just a few months!

Christmas Eve, Day, and Day After

2007-01-05T13:07:00.000-08:00

Well here is the Christmas posting for all of you "stalkers" that read this Blog. Let me say, I think that blogging is really neat and--for reasons unknown--my fiance' thinks that I am a stalker because of my blogging obsession. Anyway, back to Christmas. I have posted pics of the craziest three days in December: Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and THE day after. Here we go, hold on tight:

1)Christmas Eve: The morning started out by attending our normal service at Grace Church. The service was great and we got to see everyone and wish them a Merry Christmas as Brian and I were greeters that morning. Afterwards, we went to my house and had a huge lunch--just the Stones. It was great! After lunch, I went over to the Davenport's house to hang out until church that evening. We then had Christmas Eve dinner at Brian's house--which included the traditional Christmas Ham, Mac and Cheese, and Jello Salad(minus the cat food). After eating we went to Heritage United Methodist for the Christmas Eve service. It was especially beautiful when, during the last carol, the entire congregation stood with candles lit and held them high--to remember the reason for the Christmas season, the light of the word, Jesus Christ. After Service we hit the road to Roanoke, stopping for the traditional visit to the Elks' Home. It was wonderfully lit and many memories of my childhood came back as I told Brian: "that's new", "that's been here forever", and "roll the windows down." After the exterior illumination show we continued to Granny's singing Christmas songs all the way. We arrived in Roanoke in time to get a plate of food. Granny's house was full--as always--and I had on my festive red cheeks which Granny and I have in common. Then it was picture time...read below:

This is just one of the 10,000 pictures that Mom took over the holidays. Granny with all of the grandchildren that were present except for Zach--who is now in Germany with the Army--and Danielle--who spent the holidays with her new hubby Jon. Left to right: First row-Lindsay and Keri; Second row-Alex, Barbi, Laura, Me, Granny, Alan, and Franklin.

An exciting game of Pass the Pigs, which quickly caught on a couple years ago as a holiday tradition! We have the best time playing! Linds even got in on it this year! Brian was a little over-confident and didn't play as well as last time.

2) Christmas Day: Christmas morning arrived after a longer-than-normal Christmas Eve slumber. The older I get, the easier it is to sleep! I had to drag Keri out of bed to get started on our stockings and then we got to the presents. More below:

I got an iPod! And to make things better, it's green! I was so excited, but unable to enjoy it as it was empty and had no songs loaded. Keri gave me the docking system that plays the music! It is so cool! I love it! After we had done our family stuff, Brian came over and we did our gift exchange. But first, we got a special gift from Mom...

Our very own VT gnome! Now we can roam a gnome all year long! Funny story, new tradition made short: Mom got me a Christmas gnome this year and it was moved just about every night to a new location. Brian, Mom, Me, and even Missy were in on roaming the gnome. Perhaps I'll share more about that in a later post, just know that my love for fantasical magic creatures is wearing off on those around me...Hooray!

Brian and I then gave each other our presents. He gave me a new watch, which was a great surprise...I ended up needing links taken out so we took the watch back to Macy's and got another one at Belk. I got lots of nice new clothes for my upcoming semester of student teaching. I also got tickets to the Celtic Woman concert! I'm so excited! Well After presents we went to Jeff and Jen's house for more presents and lunch at 4. After eating a quick lunch, we drove to Roanoke and enjoyed a dinner an hour later. We were stuffed, and Brian tried to have a roll eating contest with my cousin' s husband--Brian won--big surprise! We hung at Granny's until about nine and then headed back to L'burg. The day was such a whirlwind of business.

3) THE day after: Brian and I decided that to celebrate our last dating anniversary of four years we would chip in together and buy a Christmas tree for our own place the we will have next CHristmas. So Mom and I were on a mission and we met Mrs. D and Missy at Target bright and early at 7am. We couldn't believe it, but there was a line waiting to get into the store and we ran in behind it. We made our way through the store like it was a matter of life and death if we got behind any more people. Then I saw the trees and none of them really jumped out at me. Disappointed, Mom and I went and bought my iPod accessories and then walked back to the holiday section again. There it was--just sitting there all by itself, one more of the StayLit 7.5 Bavarian Fir trees Pre-lit with 800 staylit lights. After examining it I decided it was our tree! Mom lugged it through Target without a cart, which--believe me--was quite a sight to behold. We checked out and took it home! Later that night my Dad's side of the family came over for food and a movie. We watched Cars and ate lots of junk food! Yum!

Here's the whole crew: Below-Tyler, Keri, ME, Laurie with Carter on her head; Above-Dad, Kenneth, Mom, Josh, Trevor, Bradley, and Sherry. We had a great time and it was fun to catch up with the Aunts on the wedding plans.

WOW! What a long blog...No wonder that I procrastinated it! O well, it's nice to remember all the good times with friends and family during the crazy holiday season.

Week 2: Weekly Wedding Update

2007-01-02T08:37:00.000-08:00

Well, after missing one week of the ALL NEW weekly wedding update I have much to write! Brian and I are getting so very excited as it seems the day is approaching more quickly. Brian and I celebrated our last ever dating anniversary of 4 years yesterday. I can't believe that we have been dating for that long, though it feels like much longer--in a good way. I can't believe it's 2007--I'm getting married this year! Well, here's the big 3 update:

1) We met with the new minister at Heritage United Methodist Church--where we will be married. Riley--the minister-- was super nice and is totally cool with us having him and Mark(our pastor from Grace) perform the ceremony together. We only have to separate the ceremony for them and that big hurdle will be over! Riley seems to take very seriously the relationship of the couples that he marries, which is very important. We still have a date with him to go over some pre-marital information that he likes each couple to review. Now I just have to meet with my wedding coordinator, my best friend's mother, my student teaching principal-- Mrs. Donna Brown!

2) We REGISTERED! I was so excited to finally get to register! Brian and I were so excited about going to pick out OUR new wishes for OUR new home--don't ask where yet, but we're looking. TARGET was so much fun, and by far the best place to register! We got soooo much accomplished there. We registered for everything but our bathroom and bedroom coordinates and linens. We are waiting to see what type of bed and kitchen table we will have in the future. Not to worry though, there is plenty on the registry now! Brian carried that little zapper gun around like an extension of his hand the whole time! We didn't really have any disagreements on anything, he was pretty open to what I liked, but if you check out the registry you'll see that he registered for some of his likes too! Next, to Kohls....
When Kohls first opened in L'burg we were so excited, thinking that perhaps it could overcome TARGET and become our fav store. However, after yesterday, TARGET is safely our first choice. Not to take anything away from Kohls, but it was showing a little post-holiday trauma. We went ahead and registered there because there are some things there we really liked. It took us about 30 minutes to get a scanner because no one in the store knew how to work the registry. Brian eventually told them how to do it! Ha! It was a good patience tester! So there is now a very wide selection on the registry there as well! Fun times! Boy, were we tired after about 5 hours of shopping with nothing to show but a couple pieces of paper!

3) We have a Honeymoon destination: Ka'anapali Beach Club--MAUI!!!!! We now have the room booked--it feels weird not to say rooms! Brian and I decided that it would be a great place to start our life together! The flights have yet to be booked, but there is time. We went out and bought a book MAUI REVEALED and have been reading up on the DO's and DON'TS of Maui. We are soooo thrilled to finally know where we are going after the wedding! More pics and info to come later about the Honeymoon! Well, that's all for now folks! Until next week, toodles!

A Wrinkle in Time

2006-12-29T08:16:00.000-08:00

Wow! Christmas is over and much like one of my favorite children's novels it seems that a wrinkle in time must exist. It doesn't seem possible that all of the time spent finding perfect presents and outfits to where should be rewarded with a day that feels more like a blur than a day with family. I can now completely understand families that choose to stay home and enjoy the day rather than fill it with views of the highway. Now, I had a wonderful Christmas despite it flying by way too quickly. Thus, I was unable to post until now. I am now one week behind on the Weekly Wedding Update, which is hopefully a trespass easily forgiven. I will pick up with the update on this coming Tuesday, which will mean more details anyway. So here is a holiday update: Three major events below...

1) Our first ever "Office Christmas Party" with Brian's job at Progressive. The party was, of course, in Roanoke at a local restaurant called The Metro. Let me first begin with the preparations for the night. First, like all women, I worried for about a month: "What am I going to wear?" Not knowing any of the people that Brian works with, I was at a loss as to the proper "Christmas Party Attire." Brian was not much help, though he did suggest that I not worry and wear what I wanted--typical response. So, Granny to the rescue, we went shopping. I found a beautiful dress at the always helpful B. Moss-which has quickly become my fav store. I got ready at Granny's house that night waiting for my knight to whisk me away to downtown Roanoke. Brian looked great in his outfit that he picked out against my will--to quote Brian: "No one else is wearing a tie." We got downtown and realized that parking was going to be an issue. So we walked through the Dickens of Christmas, which looked like more fun to me--because anything that involves cotton candy must be great. We finally made it to the Metro and quickly realized that we were out of our league. The people took my coat and took up upstairs to the private party section. It was a separate section with a private bar and lounge area. We got drink tickets and laughed because we don't drink, but the bartenders were nice and made me a fruity virgin drink. The food was, at first, rather scary. I just picked up anything I could and put it on my plate. Come to find out, I ate scallops, sushi, and crab and kind of enjoyed it. Brian was not as adventurous. It gave us a taste of being rich and famous, and I have to say I'll take middle-class anyday over raw fish and eggs. The night ended with a festive game of Dirty Santa. Brian ended up the always great Mr. Wonderful. At least it's an educational gift for him. We had a good time and it was great to put faces with the neverending work stories. Good times!

2) Our first house-well sort of...Brian and I made our first Gingerbread House together. He really enjoyed it. I had to fight for the icing bag. We loved making it together, but expected it to be a little more challenging. Our only problem were the stubborn peppermints not sticking. Some of my Martha Stewart training must be wearing off on Brian. We had quite a cute little house. Below is our pride and joy, if only we could live there!

I wish we could move in!

3) The Stone's First Pre-Christmas Williamsburg Trip: Brian's parent were nice enough to give us 3 days and 2 nights at a Plantation resort in Williamsburg. Brian went with us and was so very excited to be on vacation from work. Our first day we went straight to the Prime Outlets, which Keri enjoyed. The next day was Colonial Williamsburg and Keri enjoyed it not as much. Above is the classic sister pic of Keri and me all dressed up for Colonial times. Just another one of my obessions: I love hats! Below is a pic of Brian and Me in Colonial W-burg. He had just purchased Hot Apple Cider in a plastic cup, which I am almost positive was around in colonial times-hehe! O well we have to modernize some things I guess.

That's all for now folks...Either later today or tomorrow, the complete Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Spectacular! I can't wait to share it all, just not enough time right now!

What a day!

2006-12-14T19:58:00.000-08:00

Well Monday night my jaw began to ache again causing me a bit of concern. The next day it hurt some as well. Wednesday I was about to die from the pain in my jaw. Luckily it died down some during the day and then changed to a localized pain in my tooth that was crowned. My wonderful dentist, Dr. Alex Hawkins, worked me in for an appointment. This morning I had my first root canal ever. The numbing didn't scare me this time, but it still hurt. The root canal was actually kind of interesting. I got to see the nerve that he pulled out of the tooth.

Novacaine is definitely great! I can't imagine life without it!My tooth is still pretty sore when I put pressure on it, but with time it will be all better! Thanks Alex, you're the best!

This diagram helps depict the actual process of a root canal. Alex was probably annoyed with me because I was so interested in what he was doing. I'm glad it's over! After a day of annoying tooth problems, Mom, Keri, and I went shopping and got a few presents taken care of. Then upon arriving home I sat out to watch the beautiful Geminid Meteor shower. In just a matter of minutes I saw the first meteor, and it was a beaut!

Here's an idea of a meteor show picture. Well time to rest up for tomorrow....Dad's graduation and Brian's office party! Whoo hooo!!!!

ALL NEW: Weekly Wedding Update

2006-12-12T14:51:00.000-08:00

And it begins...

Today I no longer have college classes so I am committing to updating the wedding progress weekly starting today. Well where do I begin...

THE DRESS-at the risk of letting loose any details that the Groom-to-Be should not read or hear I will be brief. My dress came in and I'm so excited about it! I absolutely love it! I will go back to Roanoke to have my alteration appointment in January. I can't wait for everyone to see the dress!

My beautiful bridesmaids: Amy, Keri, Missy, Toni, and Judith all have been measured for their dresses which are also gorgeous! Yay! It's a major accomplishment to get five girls with totally different schedules! I'm so excited to see all of them in the dresses.

Brian and I have one week left in Marriage Mentoring. We have been meeting with a couple from our church that helps us discuss key areas in starting a good marriage. Our next step is to meet with the pastor at HUMC to discuss our pastor being allowed to marry the two of us!

Reception News: Randolph Macon Women's College changes name to Randolph College. Our wedding will not be affected as the change of name will not be implemented until July 1st. Just figures that an institution that old would decide to change the name in time to mess up the invitation plans. I have been anxiously awaiting that announcement so as to order the invitations. So now I can get on it! We did get a larger room at RMWC than we first planned on, which works out well because our list has definitely grown! We sent (I don't know why I say we seeing that I did all of this) a tentative menu to the caterring director.

On the soon to do list: Choose a honeymoon location! Ireland is calling! But more than likely the Carribean will win.

Christmas Banquet

2006-12-11T17:50:00.000-08:00

Christmas Banquet 2006

Well I have demon eyes in this picture...maybe it was just my frustration with picking out an outfit! Stressful times. Brian has it easy...I just tell him what to wear and he never has to think about it!
Here we are, the engaged couple...It's hard to believe that next year this time we will be married and have a tree and decorations of our own! It's so exciting to think about, but also a little weird. The Christmas banquet was great. The lobby of the church was all decorated like a fancy restaurant. The worship time played a ton of great songs...and even a few Celtic tunes! I was so inspired to play the pennywhistle after the night was over. Tomorrow I will post the All New: Weekly Wedding Update!

O Christmas Tree

2006-12-11T10:33:00.000-08:00

So Brian and I visited his Grandma in Falls Church, VA this weekend. We went with her to a Candlelight Christmas: Celebrate Jesus program at her church. It was really good and the perfect thing to put you into the Christmas spirit even though I have been listening to Christmas music since Halloween! I can't believe it,but all I have left this semester is one exam tomorrow! Thus the reason for my time to post.

What a beautiful sight this tree is in the middle of the city! The pictures don't do it any justice, but just preserve the memories. It was so tall and had so many lights on it! The Virginia tree with the Washington monument in the background.
The White House. Boy did Uncle Marshall have some stories to tell about the days of driving the Limos. I wish that the picture would have been better, but it serves its purpose.

Well Christmas shopping is beckoning. More updates later. Bride's Update soon! Fa La La!

A Whole New World

2006-11-10T19:53:00.000-08:00

So this is what it's like to be in the world of blogging...I wonder if I will enjoy this act of writing in a virtual diary...Hmmm...Well I wanted to try it out and see if it would be a good release for some of the wedding planning stress...Even if no one reads my posts, at least it will be a good exercise of verbalizing my feelings...Well it was really difficult trying to chose a title for my blog, but seeing how much I love fairies and fantasy it had to deal with the magic in life...Certainly this week has been a tough one...Monday I fell while running Wyndhurst and put a nice hole in my chin requiring four lovely stitches...and that was only the beginning...I visited Alex and he will be crowning two of my teeth that were cracked during the fall...Let me tell you I am still in pain from hitting my jaw so hard...and an all liquid diet is NO fun! Good for the weight, but not for sanity! We did get in contact with the wedding caterer though, which was very exciting...and we also broke under 200 days! I can't believe that it is approaching 6 months! Still seems like so far away, but I know it will be here before I know it! Well time to get some rest for this weekend!