10 days!

it's only 10 days away!
we may have talked about getting married for QUITE a while before charlie proposed... but i am SO glad the official proposal and wedding planning process was short. i can't imagine doing this for a whole year. waiting to get married for a whole year! no thank you. so for all of you people who told me i was crazy... this is for you. it's going to be a lovely, successful wedding. everything is going to work out just fine. and in the end... i didn't have to put off being married to my love for 8 extra months :)
that being said... there ARE a few little details i probably should have been trying to stay on top of. like who is going to put out the chairs on the day of the wedding... or what car i'm going to drive up in... or what SHOES i'm going to wear... or finding someone to video it... you know. the small stuff :) but it hasn't been worth it to me to stress myself out. i want to ENJOY this! and i won't if i'm trying to micro-manage everything at every minute.
this past weekend we had a lingerie and a couples shower at glynnwood down in louisiana. it was so much fun! after spending an entire year feeling like i didn't know anyone... i knew the name and face of almost everyone at the shower. that was such a good feeling and it made me feel a little more at home. i wish i wouldn't be so far from my family, but i AM joining a pretty great one :)
well... instead of being lazy, i suppose i should attempt to work on some of those small details! orrrrrrrr do yoga or tan or something :)

i'm in love

tomorrow is 18 days until the wedding. and i can't wait. there's a list a mile long of all the small things that have to happen before then... but i know they'll get done. and at the end of that joyous day, i'll be married to my best friend. the most wonderful man there is.
when i think about the chain of events that had to happen in order for THIS to happen.. it's undeniable. i don't necessarily believe in "the one"... i think who you marry is the one... but i DO believe that God brought Charlie and myself together. for a good purpose. i'm so thankful He did. he's the perfect one for me... endlessly patient, steady, loving, compassionate, open to hearing God and able to do so, WISE... SO wise... and he pursues me. every day. as if i'm someone worth REALLY knowing.

i am a woman blessed by God.
more proof: the ladies at my church through a bridal shower for me (and charlie)!

my mom and sister:
the lovely hostesses:
the food table:
and the drink table! i love the tea jar!

31 days till wedded bliss...

tomorrow could be the last day i teach swimming lessons. ever. until i teach my own, i suppose. dad overheard some of the ladies talking about how patient i was with their kids and how they all stayed so under control... some of them commented on how they wish i could nanny their kids so they could take that control home with them (or, i guess, so -i- can take that control into their home...?)
but... i'm just not sure. when we have a kid.. i can imagine getting really frustrated and like... throwing them in and letting them drown until they figure out they have to kick to stay afloat. i'm sure it won't go quite like that... but i worry my need for perfection will be projected onto my children. and i don't want to be like that. i want them to be free to be who they are. i'd rather them NOT worry about always doing the most right, best at everything.
but at the same time... my drive comes from doing the best at everything...
ahhh. i talk like i'm about to have one.
years. and years. like 8, probly.
this is probably boring to most. i've been teaching swimming lessons for like 9? years... tomorrow may be my last day! (and then it's 1 month until we're married!) (but that has nothing to do with swimming lessons.)
hair? maybe? with a flower or two... a little more natural curly looking?

don't leave me charlie :(

wedding crises averted

now. do these dresses look like the same dress to you? the same color?
well, it's because they aren't. take a close look. the one on the left is the real thing. it's a nice gray color. the one of the right is a knock-off. from topbridaldresses.com (i hope this comes up in a google search so girls won't order from them!) it's silver. thick straps. no tag. knock-off. i talked to the owner of a boutique in little rock. and she said that it's happened to at least 6 other girls who have come into her shop crying because they all ended up with knock-offs from the internet. but we're in the process of trying to get money back... and we worked out a solution that i am happy with.

next issue: invitations. aren't they pretty! until you flip them over and see "peace, love and joy" in bright blue block letters! but vistaprint apologized and is replacing them. thank you vistaprint! you honest people!

wedding planning is harder than i thought. i haven't been enjoying it this whole time, but i think now with 2 major problems solved, and the wedding quickly approaching (42 days!) i'm getting increasingly excited! (and more laid back about decisions :))

i start round 2 of swimming lessons tomorrow. 2 weeks ago i had 5 kids. now i have 17! yay! much thanks to the moms who were walking advertisements for me. charlie's coming tomorrow! yay! i need him. i really need him. i miss him so much.. it's been hard being apart for so long (i didn't think it would be an issue since we did it for a year... (10 years, what?) but it has been hard!) i have lots of plans for our time together! :) booberry picking, ring shopping, maybe a treasure hunt for the state park we happened upon 2 years ago... johnny's ice cream, the big oak tree, pre-marriage counseling, etc. it'll be packed, but i can't wait!

hurry charlie! hurry!

Old Testament Style

At church yesterday, Tim spoke about the great commandment and the great commission. In order for us to really understand the great commandment, he gave us an historical account of a Hebrew engagement.
First, the man would travel to the woman's father, present him with a covenant of his intentions (how he would provide for her, etc) and then they would agree on a payment. If they both found this agreement acceptable, they would drink a glass of wine to "seal the deal". Then, the bridegroom would return to his Father's house for an unknown amount of time to prepare a home for her.
The bride's job was to prepare herself... to purify herself, to do beauty treatments, to make sure she was ready for him when he returned for her... because she had no indication of when he would return to get her. 1 month? 3 months? 2 years? But when he did, she had to be ready. And she knew he would follow through... she knew he would return for her. He made a covenant with her Father.
There are certain holes in this analogy, but I think Charlie and my engagement is very Hebrew. He came to my father, presented his intentions, payed him in crawfish and oranges :), and then returned to his Father's house to prepare a place for us. He's worked hard at preparing our place. Worked on the lot himself, had the city put in our culvert, made us a lovely driveway, and shopped for the house we will make a home. He has plans for landscaping our lot. And I am here in Arkansas, feeling like I have no clue when he will return, but knowing I must be ready for the best, most life-changing, hardest decision I will ever make--to marry my love. I want to be ready for this change, and I want to be beautiful for him (although, you won't find me doing facials and whateverelse they used to do in the Old Testament...)
This picture was especially powerful to me because I am living it. Obviously this picture is of the greater Bridegroom and his Bride, the church.
We don't know when he will return... but we know he is committed to us... he is preparing a home for us (the BEST home). But we must be ready... we must act as the body and invite others into this life-changing engagement.

Anyway, I wanted to share that and share a picture of my two favorite men :)

wedding woes

well... i've been planning and planning along. it's approximately 53 days until the wedding (yay!)

sometimes i get nauseous thinking about how much weddings cost (or how much you're expected to spend...?) people are starving and i'm spending how much on chairs? but it's a celebration that only happens once, and i'm glad to honor the people who have been important parts of our lives.

my woe of today, however, deals with the lovely ladies who are my bridesmaids. earlier this year i went to a wedding show with risa and mrs. annie... and we watched a show with wedding dresses and bridesmaid dresses... and i found one i LOVED. but i didn't know who made the dress or where to find it, but as i began my online search for the perfect dress, i found it on the first website i looked at... and then i knew it was fate. so i asked my girls to get them.

however... i felt guilty asking them to spend $180 + tax + shipping fees... so we looked online until we found a website with the best deal.

little did we KNOW why it was such a "great deal". My little sister just got hers in and i began to examine it. it was... the wrong color (and we even spoke to someone from the website about ordering the right color...) it was a different fabric. the straps... didn't look right. wait... there was no tag... it was shipped from china with no return information... there was no jewel on the neckline... and the rouching was all wrong. then (why it took so long to realize, i'm not sure) but it hit me. it's a knock off. i compared it to leslye's (who managed to get an original) and it is most certainly wrong.

so now, what do i do? 2 girls have real ones. 4 girls have knock offs. they should be refunded! it's not right that they advertised for the real thing, and sent a fake. they may not match (although they're all going to send theirs to me so i can see how off they are). but i'm quite frustrated. there's not really time to get all real ones... and i can't ask them to all spend more anyways.

ugh. uuuuugh. *mean bridezilla noises*
the end.