Absent

I've been absent for a while -





OK OK OK I've fallen off the face of the earth since I moved up here - but I've been BUSY!!





In the past 3 months I have:





BOUGHT the Dress!


Picked out bridesmaid dresses


Made and sent out save the dates


Picked the DJ


Had engagement photos


Done some crafting


Spent lots of money!





Here is my latest project:

For the church doors, I turned this ....

Into THIS....




(color is a little washed out - its more of a chartreuse)


Just need fatty ribbon :o)

Hello New Jersey

OK so Madison and I have officially crossed that Mason-Dixon line!

This weekend Corey, Cooper, Madison, and I shoved everything I own into a 6x12 trailer and hauled it up to the Garden State... 6 hours in the car, 2 phone calls from Poppa Jack, and 2 unhappy puppies later we finally made it, unloaded the trailer, ordered a pizza and sent Corey on a hunt for beer. A long weekend of unpacking, rainy dog parks, shopping trip, and we even fit in a family birthday party. Here are some pictures of the new place... sorry for the moving mess!

Front of house

My new street... perfect little neighborhood...
Side of the houseBack deck

Living room My bare bedroom :(
Favorite part of the house... arch :)




And of course Madison's new friend Pepper!

Busy Busy

So Florida was FUN! Corey got his Eric time, I got my Natty time, and we even were able to shove in some time with both sets of grandparents... Unfortunatly I was not in photographer mode so this vacation is not documented very well... but anyway...

We have a photographer! J&K Photography won! I am pretty sure we will be having our engagement photos done at the national arberetum sometime in July.

We also have an appointment today with Anna and Anne- wedding planners, tomorrow with A2Z Music Factory- DJ, friday with Rex & Regina - Weding planners, and Monday with a florist.

And no I still haven't found the dress... but my ties from http://www.thetiebar.com/ came in for the boys! I love the white one for Corey, and the green one too... the black and teal- not so much! haha that one will be going back.

Back to Reality...

OK I am finally back to reality... and back to wedding planning...

This week I was really productive... no matter what my mother thinks... I met with two photographers... picked a church (maybe)... picked a DJ (maybe)... and narrowed it down to 3 (maybe) dresses! HAHA OK so theres a lot of maybes in there but whatever... I really do have a long time!

The "maybe" church... the historic old Pohick Church... it is now Cranford United Methodist.. and I knooooww its not Baptist... but its got character... and did I mention its only 8 miles from the O Club?! I am just waiting on the packet info from the church ladies... they like snail mail apparently... www.cranfordumc.net

The photographers... J&K Photography, and RMN Photography.... I ended up LOVING both of them in person (of course) so I have NO idea what to do... I am leaning towards RMN she seems to be trained more and has more experience... but shes also more expensive.... check out their websites... I am expecting some voting comments... www.rmnphotography.com and jandkphotography.biz

The DJ... Bobby G's I actually talked to a bride that used him... she said he was great... we'll see...

The dress.... HAH yea right... boy eyes read this... all I will say is that every dress I like is by Casablanca! :)

OK so I am getting back to work... this weekend is apartment searching... BOO... I guess I really do have to go to NJ now :(

BUT

Next week is FLORIDA!!!!!!

A Redneck Weekend...

... and ANOTHER week of NO wedding planning...

Ok so I keep getting the question "Hows the wedding planning going?" and my response has not changed in quite some time... "It's not." I promise I will get back to the wedding when my fun is done :) Last weekend was my first trip to NASCAR at Richmond and Corey's first race ever! All of our favorite rednecks were in attendance, including Miss Madison, and I do believe we have finally finished the transformation of Corey from Jersey boy to VA Redneck!!!

GO GREEN

So as most of you know my Green Chemistry class has turned me into a semi tree hugger... Really its just one of those classes that makes you think twice... So I am going to try to make my wedding a little greener...

According to Brides.com there are 7 simple ways to save the earth on your wedding day:

1. Gown: Wear natural fibers like cotton or silk HAH so I went to this website to check it out...getconscious.com... ONE the models have dreadlocks... TWO ewwie... I will not be saving the planet with my dress SORRY

2. Rings: Exchange family heirlooms or vintage jewelry Little late for this one... and NO I am not giving up my perfect ring...

3. Invitations: Try recycled paper with soy ink Possibility... but we are going for cheap... I know my printer does not print with soy... and I am pretty positive Kinkos would laugh in my face if I specified Soy ink!

4. Food & Drink: Keep it organic, & donate leftovers Organic costs more... and these places are Nazis when it comes to left overs... I am guessing they pay their staff with all the left over food... and IF they actually did let us take it... it would just be donated to MYSELF because I will be so poor after all of this I will not have money to buy food.... And I am pretty sure Bacardi is not organic... :o)

5. Transportation: Limit emissions with a shuttle or walk No walking... my guests do not exercise... almost half of the guest list is out of town- VERY BAD for the carbon footprint... BUT we will hopefully have some sort of shuttle service! YAY

6. Photography: Go digital (no chemicals or wasted paper) Isn't everyone digital?!

7. Centerpieces: Display potted plants and soy candles I am defiantly going to research this one... could be a semi possibility

SO after all this I don't think my shindig will be LEED certified... but I will TRY to save the world somehow...

As for the rest of you... instead of working calculate your own carbon footprint... and see how to reduce it... you'll be surprised at how bad you really are... http://www.climatecrisis.net/takeaction/carboncalculator/

MS Walk 2008

Today was the Blule Ridge Chapter's MS Walk! We had great weather, and a beautiful location at Bisset Park in Radford, VA. Madison and I walked on the Riverway along the New River- and of course she was the prettiest pup there!


Thanks to everyone who supported me this year! I was able to exceed my goal and raised $520 putting me in the top 5 fundraisers for the walk!

Its April...

So its April... that means in less than one year I get married.... SEEMS like thats forever from now but I'm sure that it will go by quickly especially if I'm up in NJ and that seems like its becoming a reality more and more each day.

And even though it feels like I have forever... apparently I am already behind.... I am supposed to have a reception site... check... and a church... yikes! This whole church thing is not quite working out... HOPEFULLY this Friday I will find somewhere that will let me have my wedding!

And maybe even somewhere that will let my puppies join in on the fun? Madison would be a beeeauutiful flower girl... we just need to convince the groom! Hehehe

A little fashion study break...

Ok so even though my month by month planner (thanks MOB) says that I shouldn't be worrying about men's attire until October/ November.... I can't help myself! Dressing the boys is going to be waaay more fun than the girls... I think I've decided that Corey will wear all white under his tux... specifically this tie... which is apparently at Macy's now... The rest of theholligans will be in all aqua tuxes... .... HAHAHA just kidding - you so thought I was serious

As for the other fun part... ME....

And as you all know I have shoe issues... and yall couldn't have possibley expected me to go quitely with some boring white satin pumps... right now I love the idea of something like this... maybe less colorful but something different... because its not like anyone is going to see them so I can wear whatever I want! ;oP

Sorry its been a while....

Sorry its been so long! I was busy enjoying this...

But now that I'm back to reality Corey and I had a somewhat productive weekend... We finally chose the Ft. Belvoir Officer's Club as our reception location and even began scouting churches in the Alexandria area. Hopefully we will find one this weekend, it will be my last one at home for pretty much the rest of the semester so we have a lot to get done.

On a non-wedding note.... check out these websites and Find the perfect gift for Mother's Day and contribute to Walk MS at the same time with these great fundraisers:

Tomorrow, March 20th -

Shop online March 20 between 6 AM and 10 PM at www.bellaofcapecod.com and 20% of your sale will go directly to the National MS Society, Blue Ridge Chapter. This online store has really cute jewelry and handbags all priced under $25 so you can stock up for birthdays & graduations too!

Partylite fundraiser through April 21st:

Order PartyLite Velvet Rose Gift Set - perfect for Mothers Day for $24.95 and $10 from each set will be donated to Walk MS. Also, if there are other products you'd like to buy - go to ww.partylite.biz/KellyMcBride and let Kelly know you're supporting Janet Driggers - Walk MS with your order.

Pampered Chef fundraiser - month of April;

Go online to order Mom the latest greatest gadgets. Just go to http://www.pamperedchef.biz/christinaheath and select Order Products. Enter "MS Society" as the organization name and 25% of sales will come back to Walk MS.

Belk Charity Day- May 3rd

Donate $5 to the National MS Society and get $5 off coupon to shop at Belk on May 3rd! There is no limit to the amount of coupons you can get.

Great shopping for a great cause...moving us closer to a cure!

Also please take a minute and visit my MS Walk website and sponsor me in the 2008 MS Walk coming up on April 12th!

http://walkvab.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR?px=2132831&pg=personal&fr_id=7326

I like Twigs

after debating the barn vs. ballroom for HOURS... we have come to the conclusion that twigs are key...

and thats all we got...

Productive Weekend

Though it was stressful at times, this weekend actually delivered.

We have narrowed it down to two choices... BOTH within our budget, and BOTH are beautiful.

The Officer's Club at Ft. Belvoir...


And the Stable at Bluemont Vineyard...


Everyone let me know what you think!

Colors were more fun when you were little... Part 2

Here is what I meant by my blue and green, or purple and green color schemes...

But I really am leaning towards the blues and greens- and yes those are paint swatches... It really helps having two design students as roommates :o)

I HAVE ACTUALLY made a semi-DECISION!

Ta DAAAAA-- Yes I have made a decision... one little teeny decision!

You know those wonderful roses Corey sent me for Valentines day... well this is what they look like today...


BEAUTIFUL!

I am so in love with them I want to use 'old' roses for the center pieces... like 3 -4 days old so they are big and open like this! And this actually will be helpful since I... and by that I mean WE... are making center pieces ourselves!

Not this color... don't know what color yet... thats why its only a semi-decision... ;oP

Colors were more fun when you were little...

OK I am struggling! I still have not really set any color scheme for this shin dig... HELP

I kinda like these though...

These lovely "Boards" came from Snippet & Ink good site for some inspiration.

So I guess we are somewhere with Greens, Blues, or Purples? Ugh, still have no idea... and does it matter that my wedding date could be practically any time between January and April? AHH

I have TWO exams this week...

And this completely explains why I would rather be doing wedding stuff than study... notice the TINY 'work' area hahahaha

This one's for you...

This is for those of you who think that a nice summer outdoor wedding would just solve all of our problems...

Amanda's Reasons for wanting an indoor WINTER wedding...

1. No one likes a sweaty bride
2. No one likes a sweaty father of the bride
3. No one likes mosquitoes in their wedding cake
4. No one likes Virginia's weather - any time of the year!
and last but not least...
5. No one wants to see one of these at the wedding of their dreams...
I mean I am very into the rustic wedding... but more of the chic rustic... which includes running water ;oP

Watch out bridesmaids...

Since the location shopping has been so traumatizing... I would rather spend my time shopping for bridesmaid dresses... NOT the wedding dress- that seems stressful too- I'd rather dress other people ;o)

So remember the next couple months you should probably randomly send me presents or love notes because you know its MY day soo you may end up in one of these lovelies...

Oh and boys don't think you are safe here either...

Click Here for more ugly dress fun!

I Hate Valentines Day...

So I may hate Valentines Day, and I may hate the fact that I never actually get so see my Valentine on Valentine's Day... BUT I do love presents, and I Certainly love, love, LOVE Mr. Corey Dahl!

Be jealous ladies, because Corey is getting pretty good at this whole perfect guy thing! ;oP

Invites

So I got a present in the mail today, kind of nice since I haven't recieved any wedding mail in a while...

Here's what I got:
Invitations! Ok this is part of the fun of wedding planning... not astronomically expensive, and not really even that hard to choose... I am leaning towards square... plain... pretty :o)

Don't know which one yet, guess you'll have to wait and see what shows up in the mail!