Show me the money!

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

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...

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!

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

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!!!!!

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!"

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!