License

Today Ryan and I went to get our marriage license! We are officially licensed to be wed! :-) Next week is going to be such a crazy hectic week but we are so excited! We'll be married and in our new house all at once!!! I am soooooo not looking forward to the actual move but I am definitely looking foward to being in our new house. :-)

Our busy Saturday

So, as I said in my blog earlier today, we started the day with my bridal shower which was very nice. Then later this afternoon Libby and I went out shopping to find her dress to wear for the reception. As we were driving it started POURING down rain. Raining so hard you couldn't see past your windshield! I happen to glance in the rearview mirror at my beautiful daughter sitting in the backseat and this is what I see...

Obviously, it was raining pretty hard. Libby was apprently expecting a flood and I guess felt the need to prepare early. :-)

After shopping in just about every single store that we could think of we ended up in JCPenney where we found her dress! :-) I found one that was brown and cream and tried to talk her into picking that dress but she didn't want anything to do with it. Right next to it was a cream dress that she informed me would make her feel like a princess. Does she know how to work a situation or what?? The dress is a tad big in the shoulder straps but Karen's mom should be able to fix that for us with no problem. The best news? Her dress was 50% off. Now that's what I like!

We headed over to their shoe department and found a perfect pair of shoes. Of course Libby didn't like those. The pair that I loved that would have matched the dress perfectly were cream and clear. The pair right next to them were the ones that Libby set her heart on, though. They were exactly the same but the ones that she liked were silver and clear. On her cream dress there is a band of silver "jewels" (which I honestly didn't care for the cream and silver mix) so the silver shoes did match...I just really didn't like the look of a cream dress and silver shoes - even if they did match the accessories attached to the dress. But, of course, Libby was determined to get the shoes she wanted. Gone is the day that I get to pick out clothes for her. :-( She absolutely loved the shoes...they were silver, had a little butterfly on them, and they were "high heels". I then pointed out who made the shoes and that's why they became the perfect pair of shoes for Libby. They are made my Sam and Libby. :-)

My shower!

Today some of my lovely friends gathered to shower me with their friendship and love (and gifts!) to celebrate my upcoming marriage to my wonderful Ryan! :-) We met for lunch and I opened gifts and we chatted and we ate and it was great! It was a nice afternoon. Thanks ladies! :-)

Libby's last day of school

Well we've been very busy lately - just not with anything newsworthy. :-) However, yesterday was Libby's last day of 1st grade...I now have a 2nd grader!!!! Insane! I switched my day to volunteer in her class to Friday so that I could enjoy her last day of 1st grade with her. I kept wanting to cry...it's so hard to believe that she is growing up so fast. Not to mention that this was her last day at Littlewood and her last day seeing her friends since we'll be moving this summer. The class was so sweet...they all presented me with little cards that they made for me and they gave me a dozen of the most fragrant roses I've ever smelled. It was a party day in class since it was the last day so they had tons of fun. Near the end of the day they packed up all of their stuff and then cleaned their tables with shaving cream - which was a mess! :-)

When it was time for the final bell Libby said bye to her friends, gave her teacher a big hug, and walked out of the door to become an official 2nd grader!

Last night Libby had some more fun planned. Our Build-A-Bear had a Hawaiian Cruise party so we met Libby's friend Riley there. The girls had a lot of fun playing shuffleboard (that was their favorite game to play - which was surprising to me!), they made tissue flowers, they had relay races to see who could dress their bears in a box of swimwear and accessories the fastest (Libby won!), and some other games. Libby had so much fun! They brought their own Build-A-Bears to the party but they got to leave with a new bathing suit, towel, sandals, and sunglasses all for their Build A-Bear and they also got a beach towel for the children. So, they left with all sorts of loot.

We got home at about 8:45pm and Libby stayed up playing some Wii games with Ryan. They both had a lot to celebrate...in addition to it being Libby's last day of school yesterday we found out that Ryan is the Employee of the Month for his bank! Out of 1,200 employees throughout Florida and Georgia it was my Ryan who was picked as the Employee of the Month!! :-)

Having a great visit...

Our friends The Pelteiers came to visit yesterday from Ft. Benning, GA. They will be moving soon because they are being stationed in Germany for the next three years so luckily we are getting the opportunity to see them again before they leave! They arrived Saturday around 3:00pm...but it rained off and on all day so we just took it easy and hung out at home. The children didn't mind because they spent the entire time playing in Libby's room so they were perfectly fine with not leaving all day. This morning we were granted some sunshine until about 4:30pm...that was a nice break from the constant rain that we've had since LAST SUNDAY so we took advantage of it and I took them to the stadium to get some pictures of them in front of The Swamp. On their facebook pages they have a picture of them in front of LSU's stadium with some of their friends and I couldn't allow them to leave without getting a picture of them in front of The Swamp! :-) We went into the stadium to take some more pictures and let the kids run up and down the stadium steps. After that we went by Lake Alice to look for alligators but we couldn't find any out. From there we went to have lunch. After lunch we went to the Museum of Natural History and as we left there it was about to start raining but we went back Lake Alice one more time just to see if maybe they could finally see an alligator. There was one sunning on the little island and as we watched him he went down into the water and swam right over to us and just sat and watched us from the edge of the lake as we stood there watching him. They took some pictures and "ooh"ed and "aahh"ed. After that it was time to come home and that is where we are now just hanging out enjoying our time together.

I got a random text from my brother last night that he, his wife, and my two nieces would be arriving in Gainesville today at noon and leaving early Tuesday morning. What?? What kind of notice is a text at 10:32pm???? My friends are leaving tomorrow so I'll be heading over to see my nieces for an unexpected visit!

Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Mansell!!

Yesterday was the big day for Debs and Corey!!!! After a year of helping her plan every detail of her wedding I couldn't believe that their wedding day had finally arrived! It started on Friday when Tara, Karen, and I went to Jacksonville Friday morning. We had some last minute errands to run with Debs and we also took some time for some pampering and we went to have manicures and pedicures. Ahhh, it was nice! :-) Friday night we had the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner and after that it was time for the five girls to head to the hotel where we were staying on the beach and we called it a night since we had a big day ahead of us on Saturday.

Saturday morning started bright and early and we went down for a walk on the beach.

After that it was time for a much needed Starbucks stop and then we went to our hair appointments. We were probably there about two hours and we were finished getting our fabulous updo's we were on our way. We headed over to have some lunch and then it was time to head over to the wedding and reception site. We spent the next three hours setting up the reception area. We had some very beautiful centerpieces that were perfect for a beach wedding. I wish that I had a picture of the centerpieces but unfortunately with how busy I was on Saturday I have very few photos from Saturday. :-( At 3:30 it was time to get dressed because the photographer was there to start taking some of the pictures. After the pictures I went in and helped Debs into her contraption (aka wedding dress) :-) and it was then 5:00 and time for the ceremony to start!!! It was a beautiful day (however, I got a sunburn while setting up the reception which then produced a very lovely bright red farmers tan! Ugh. And the neckline of my bridesmaid dress was a boat neck neckline so it really showcased that lovely sunburn. I was so embarrased that I got burned the day of the freaking wedding and there was no way for me to cover it up!! Noooo! But beyond the ridiculous sunburn that I got the weather was perfect (just windy) but the ceremony was beautiful. Debs insisted on no tears but as we were about to walk down the aisle I started to tear up. Debs told me to stop it so to keep my self from crying I had to tell her that she looked horribly disgusting (which of course made us both laugh) and I turned to take my trip down the aisle. Everything in the ceremony went perfectly and the setting was just breath taking.

After the ceremony the guests walked over to the reception site and the bridal party finished some pictures. When we were finished with the pictures the bridal party headed over to the reception and we were announced as we entered and then the party started! :-)

The reception site was decorated beautifully (if we do say so ourselves!!) and there was an open bar - so who could complain? The dinner that was served was very tasty...and hello...we set up a candy buffet so that was obviously one of my favorite parts of the whole day! :-)

Here are the cute, cute, cute favors that we put together a couple of months ago...they were little message in a bottle favors and I adored how great they turned out.

We finally left the reception between 9:30pm and 10:00pm (I honestly have no idea) and Ryan and I drove home to Gainesville so we got home about two hours later. I was about to fall out from exhaustion but I HAD to wash my hair before I went to bed. I took out the 73 bobby pins, 6 jeweled clips, and two elastic bands that were holding my hair up and then I tried very tenderly to make my way through my hairspray cemented hair. I finally got my hair washed and some what dried and I headed to bed. Ryan says he thinks I fell asleep about three steps from the bed! :-) I was completely exhausted! But the exhaustion was well worth it. It was a great weekend and Debs definitely deserved a perfect wedding!!

Quick update

It's been a few days since I last blogged so I thought I'd post a quick update. In Libby's class last Thursday I found that Libby's teacher caved and has allowed Libby back on the computer...she is just still banned from going to Google or any of her own websites but she is able to go onto the bookmarked educational games on the computer. :-)

This weekend was, of course, Mother's Day and mine was great! Sunday morning we went to church with Ryan's parents and then after church we went to his parent's house for lunch and Ryan's brother, his brother's wife, and their four children met us there. After lunch we just came home and I got to relax for a while - which is always nice!

Yesterday Libby got to do something that she hs never done before...she got to play hookey from school! :-) She and Ryan stayed home and slept in a bit, had a big breakfast, and then went and spent four hours at the pool! Later in the day they had a picnic at the pool and they came home around 4:00pm. Yesterday was a scorching hot day with lots and lots of sunshine and after spending all day in the pool they were both absolutely exhausted and barely awake by the time I got home from work! They both had a really great day!

Other than that, the other big news is that my friend Debbie's wedding is in just four short days!!!! We are in the final stretch before the wedding and I'm really excited for Saturday!!