I can do this....

even though many people do not believe that I am capable of such things! (I will get to the the great accomplishment in a moment)

Today I had big plans of getting many things on my list done! I stared off on the other side of town which proved to be very beneficial since it is SPRING BREAK! Why does that matter you may ask? Well we live by BOTH the Fort Worth Zoo and Fort Worth Science Museum thus equaling MAJOR TRAFFIC. The police are posted at all the concerns making sure traffic doesn't back up too much. However, it is still pretty slow moving. I think the reason things are so crazy this year is because the museum is newly remodeled and much better than before. Anyhow, with all the crazies out I thought I had accomplished enough for the day and headed home.

Well not only did I accomplish some tasks on my TO DO LIST (3 to be exact)...but I also COOKED DINNER! (yes you read this correctly, go ahead and reread it if you need) No, I am not a fan of cooking, nor do I ever want to really cook. Chris enjoys cooking so I kind of let him do it all. Well needless to say I went out on a limb here today and made dinner. Chris works late on Mondays so that gave me plenty of time. He had been asking for lasagna the past couple of days. Therefore I being the wonderful, amazing, super, awesome, spectacular fiance I made him lasagna.

Please keep in mind the prior statement....I DO NOT COOK! I should have added; I have never in my life made lasagna, nor am I a big fan. I mean my mom and sister love it and make it often. However, the only part I can remember of the whole thing is cooking the big noodles. Therefore, GOOGLE here I come!! I did a quick little look up; reviewed about 50 different styles and just picked one with super reviews. I spent the better half of the evening making my lasagna from scratch! That is right people I made everything; no I didn't cheat with a jar of ready made sauce! Chris was over joyed when he came home. That made it worth all the work I put in (especially since we had yet to eat it to see if it sucked). Chris took some pictures with the camera, however for some reason they didn't work???

I don't think the IPhone pic does it justic!

Just before we ate I did tell Chris if it sucked he didn't have to pretend to like it! You know I want him to be willing to eat it, but not if it totally sucks. GREAT NEWS!! It didn't suck, and Chris actually like it. I personally thought it was a little spicy, but know how to tweak it for next year. Please feel free to share your lasagna recipe with me...I am ready for the next one.

SPRING BREAK!!!

(I probably wont be doing a lot of this...blogging)

Today is officially the first day of SPRING BREAK! I am so freaking jazzed...well mostly because the last 4 weeks of 26 kids has worn me out! Yes, I am very thankful because this last week I had 3 kiddos withdraw...leaving me at 23. However, a break is much needed here in my life! Not only do I need a break, but I have many wedding things to get started or completed this week too. What all do I hope to accomplish? (notice how I said HOPE!) Let's see:

1. Bob to the vet...she has a funny spot on her back
2. Winston's hair cut on Tuesday
3. Addressing all 150 wedding invitations
4. Stuffing all 150 wedding invitations
5. Finalizing the items needed for the welcome bags
6. Order the items I don't have yet for the welcome bags
7. Confirm that all bridesmaids have placed their orders for dresses
8. Pick out the shorts/pants for my 2 sweet ring bearers
9. Arranging address for the Encore celebration back home
10. Picking out cute little invites for the Encore party
11. Shopping with mom for her outfit
12. Shopping for swimsuits/beach gear
13. Shopping for at least 3 or 4 super cute outfits for showers/rehearsal dinner/anything wedding related
14. Helping Chris finalize the grooms men's outfits on Wednesday
15. Double checking all details
16. Redoing my center groups for school
17. Properly filing some work samples from the kiddos
18. Cleaning out a closet
19. Getting the car washed (majorly needs it)
20. Taking a trip to Norman, OK (doing this one no matter what)

Okay after listing it out it looks to be a very busy spring break week. I mean heck I may not even get to sleep in like I kind of wanted to! Okay so I have now made each of you accountable of keeping me on track! When you start to see thousands of random blogs...well you may want to speak up. However, I know I will derail at some point...who doesn't? Regardless I will do my best to complete the list above (we will revisit this on next Sunday to see.) Everyone else who is lucky enough to have a spring break...ENJOY IT!

Flat Miley day 2

Flat Miley had many adventures today!!! She began her day waking up in bed with sweet Bob! She loved sleeping in there and I know Bob loved having company. Then she headed outside to help Chris. Great weather + Chris= YARD WORK! His endeavor today was to remove a stump. I personally have no issues with said stump. However, apparently Chris has many issues with it. Unannounced to me he hates this stump because he can't just mow straight. Therefore today he was going to REMOVE try to remove the stump. Miley really felt like she could lend a hand. Then she like any girl realized this was an outlandish request!

Therefore she was done with Chris!! Her next task was to travel to Plano, Tx for a bridal show. My wonderful bridesmaid Julie, Miley, and I headed out.

Our goal was not so much checking out the bridal show but rather picking up part of my invitations!!! (YEAH YEAH YEAH) Sonja and her husband Jeff were so wonderful...they even had time for a picture! My invitations are going to be ROCKING!!! I can't wait till everyone gets them. After a bit of looking around we headed home!

(sorry IPhone pic...no cameras allowed in the show!)

Once we got home Miley was a bit tired I think....so she chilled what Chris and I did some Tivo catch up! Then of course she (Miley) reminded me that we needed to update Little Bear on our days activities! Here we are all three of us (Winston, Miley and I) blogging away! Winston loves to help me blog and now Miley too! Fun was had by all today.

P.S---I promise not to blog about EVERY day (about every other) with Flat Miley, however there is a sweet 6 year old that misses her dearly!

SPECIAL DELIVERY!!

Chris and I had a very special delivery today when we got home!! I have been waiting for this surprise for 2 days now!!! What did we have? Flat Miley (aka Flat Stanley), Little Bear's school project for the next 2 weeks. I am so excited to be apart of such a fun little project.

(Quick summary for those who don't know what Flat Stanley....you mail a paper doll to different locations, those people take pictures and write letter...they mail it back and you can read all the adventures your doll went on!)

Little Bear put in a lot of hard work to make Flat Miley ready to go. When I opened the package I was so shocked to see Flat Miley had a suitcase! Inside her suitcase were 2 extra outfits, accessories, and shoes of course. (For all the details on Little Bear getting Flat Miley ready to go click HERE!) Flat Miley wasted no time before her FIRST big adventure....

Miley in front of her suitecase!

Her 3 outfits, shoes, and much more! 

She jumped right outside and began helping Chris. The weather here was so amazing that yard work was fun! She helped him plant some new bushes in the back yard. Oh and did I mention that Flat Miley is an AMAZING baby sitter! That's right folks. I was watching one of the sweetest little girls ever, little M. Her mom and I play tennis together...and I love watching her because she is so good! Well Flat Miley sat with her for a while too. Little M loved Flat Miley she laughed at her for a bit.

Little M holding Flat Miley!!

Needless to say this is just a start to Flat Miley's many outings she will have for the next two weeks. Oh and I should probably worn you know, this is probably in no way the last post about it either. You know Little Bear loves to see what's going on while Miley is here. Little Bear she is in super hands...and do you care if she sleeps with BOB tonight? She loves you and misses you!!!

I'M A WINNER!!

I was crazy excited yesterday after I received the information that I WON!! Okay I never win a thing...but yet something for the wedding!! I like many of you browse around a few blogs, some I just check occasionally; others well I pretty much STALK them! I have found this great wedding one (Bride on a Budget) that I have been stalking for about 2 months now. I love all the different things she blogs about. Oh and she has many giveaways! The fun party for me up until this point; is to just see all the super ideas out there. I have found many new wonderful sites because of her giveaways.

Now not only do I enjoy her site I LOVE IT!! I WON one of her giveaways on Friday!!! Click here to read all about it! For all my friends and family you will get to see this grand prize at our ENCORE party back home!

Marriage Mentoring Session 2

Last night Chris and I had our second session with our marriage mentors. They really are a fun couple and we had a great time. We have not been to mentoring for 3 weeks...because we were waiting on the results from our "test". If you remember that we had to answer the 200 plus questions....

Well anyhow on the way over Chris remembered that we got the results back this week. He said man I hope we don't have to go over all the questions tonight. I told him I thought they were just a reference for what we should work on. Well needless to say we didn't do to terribly bad on the test. We actually scored 100 on three of the areas, meaning we both chose the correct answers! Well the way things work is for the next couple of sessions we just review over a few of the areas we need to work on things.

We had a good time last night. I of course was the the one that answered some of the question "incorrectly". Mostly because I am very literal and truthful. One of the questions was on organization...and if I felt my future spouse appreciated my organization. I of course was truthful and didn't think he like how I organized (or lack there of). I mean Chris is very particular on things...and his organization is not mine. Needless to say I had to explain myself and why I picked disagree. It was funny to see what I would disagree on and what he would. I really am enjoying the sessions.

I think Chris and I are going to really grow from this. I mean in the past 3 weeks we had already worked on 4 of the "issues" that were talked about last night. Progress we are making...and having a good time while doing it! I am excited about next week because we are going to take a quiz to figure out which "love language" we speak!!

Axa Awards Banquet 2010

This year Chris' company awards had a bit of a change in location. Normally it has been held in the DFW area, however this year we got a little road trip to San Antonio. The change was nice and allowed us a chance to carpool with some friends. We had a nice ride down chit chatting and such. The guys talked business, while I quizzed Jessica on a few wedding things. Her and Dylan had a destination wedding almost 2 years ago. We arrived in San Antonio around 430 with enough time to get ready for the big event.

Dylan and Jessica

Chris and Greg

Chris, Bobby, and Dylan looking good

Ryan and Chris

The awards banquet was very nice. I enjoy watching all the winner receive their awards. His company has some pretty funny characters in it...After the banquet everyone got to enjoy the Riverwalk. While Chris and I were out walking around this man dropped to one knee and proposed to his girlfriend. How sweet!! Thanks to AXA we got to enjoy a nice little weekend getaway!

7 MONTHS!!!

Wow, I can not believe that Chris and I have been engaged for 7 months!!  Let's do a quick recap of all the amazing things that we (when I say we mostly I mean me, my family, and or my friends) have accoplished.  I would love to sit here and blog that it has been all sunshine, rainbows, and butterflies.  However the reality of it is that there have been a few struggles here and there; but for the most part I think it has gone very well.  Nothing is an adventure without a few bumps in the road, right?

Well first of all I did the major freak out that all newly engaged girls do!!!  I looked at my ring a billion times...oh wait I still do that!  Then of course I endulged in many BRIDES magazines; thanks to my mom and sister.  I shared my AWE-INSPIRING proposal story will many friends, family memebers, and blog friends.  Then after about the first month I began to do the seriouse stuff, you know the "planning".

I looked at my "knot" planner today and realized I had accoplished many of the to-dos that were necessary as well as the ones that are still ahead.  Here is a small (lol) list of things that I have completed in these very short 7 months:

• Picked out our wedding party
• Visited the wedding site (Mom, Abby, and I headed to the DR in November..fun fun fun)
• Planned the wedding ceremony (from flowers to cake and more)
• Picked the colors of our wedding: yellow and aqua (the ocean made that easy)
• Took our engadgment pictures (thanks to Jonathan they were BEAUTIFUL)
• Compiled the many names and addresses needed
• Mailed our Save the Dates
• Arranged Jordan to be our travle agent (that makes me happy not to be booking flights and such)
• Set up our wedding website to help keep people up-to-date on arrangements (chrisandemily.org)
• After many dresses...finally found MY WEDDING DRESS!!!
• Picked out Chris' suit for the wedding (very handsom)
• Registerd for all the fun goodies
• Asked our pastor to join us (Thanks Mark you rock!)
• Planned out the ceremony style
• Found a location for our back home ENCORE celebration in Fort Worth
• Picked out the bridesmaids dresses (see post from earlier this week)
• Purchased thank you gifts for the wedding reception
• Purchased bridesmaids gifts
• Purchased gifts for the flower girls and ring bearers
• Began purchasing items for the Welcome Bags (mostly complete minus 3 items)
• Purchased the Welcome Bags
• Invitations...picked out the perfect ones (thanks to Sonja at JWD Paperie)
• Began to look at rings for CHRIS!!
• Began purchasing "beach" clothes for the wedding week and honeymoon
• Booked the videographer for the wedding day
• Chris booked our honeymoon ( Sandals Royal Bohemian Resort, Nassau, Bahamas )
• Began pre-marriage mentoring

Okay WOW!!! I am sure I didn't cover all the things I have done.  I mean heck I am trying to keep up with it all, but you know it is really hard.  However, there still are a few things on the TO DO LIST! However I am pretty happy with all that is completed or at least in progress.  Yes it kind of seems like I will never cover it all!  I just can not believe that our wedding is coming so quickly.  I mean it is crazy...I still feel like Chris just proposed to me yesterday.  From today we only have 112 days left...heck I better stop blogging and get to work!

Vote for Tatum!!!

Okay I normally don't ask much of my readers...however, I am asking you now to VOTE for TATUM!!

Jessica and Dylan have the sweetest little girl, Tatum. They are Chris's good friends from college; and also our  great neighbors. Well her 6 month photo was chosen for a contest. If her picture wins then the proud mommy and daddy will get an 16x20 print (you know how much those cost$$$$). If you get a chance please click on the link HERE and vote for her! Scroll down and you will see the cutie, in the BIGHT pink!!!

The polls close on SATURDAY, so GO NOW it takes just a second. THANKS BLOG FAMILY YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST!!

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

I will tell you all this, like you don't know! I hate making decisions! I mean I HATE HATE HATE doing it. Therefore one can imagine how much I hate doing it for the wedding. I mean there are some things that I know I want and just jump on it it. However, there are also those other things that I don't want to be the main decision maker on. Case and point! WEDDING INVITATIONS!!!

Decision Numuro Uno: YEAH YEAH YEAH!!! Everyone get excited I have officially picked it and ordered them! Rock on my friends. I am very thankful I found Sonja at the bridal show last weekend. She had an invitation that met everything I wanted. You know different, cute (not cheesy), and one of a kind! Sonja and her husband own an invitation company in Flower Mound, JWD Paperie. She has been amazing...I mean every step of the way. I feel 100 percent better about the whole invitation problem I have had for about 2 months now. I can't wait till they are finished and mailed out. I just hope everyone who receives one LOVES them as much as I do!!

Decision Numro Dose: Okay so I can say this... I love yellow and am super excited about that being one of my wedding colors (the other aqua....matches the ocean). However, my poor bridesmaids are not so excited about it! Okay they honestly they have all been very kind about not voicing that option too much! Therefore since I am torturing them with a yellow bridesmaids dress I wanted to give them some options. I emailed out 4 dresses last week. Everyone voted on the top 2, and from there we had a run off. Finally on Thursday we had a winner....and I booked an appointment for 3 of my sweet girls this past Sunday. Erin, Whitney, and Julie all came and tried on the winning dress. I was excited to have them doing this for me! They all like aspects of the dress making it a great choice for all. So 3 dresses are ordered with 2 to go (they both live out of town).

(the yellow looks better in person of coures!)

I will have to say wedding wise this weekend has been very productive! Two of my major remaining decisions are in progress, thus making me one happy bride! Now if I could just get that fiance of mine to make a move on the men's wear!! They will be wearing a light sandish tan (like that word there) linen pant with a white long sleeve linen shirt, sleeves rolled 3/4 of the way up. He however is not sure where he wants to get the pants and such from....maybe I get him to plan that out soon! Then I would be an OVER JOYED bride! Rock on only 117 more days!!