Wedding Wednesday + Engagement Photos

Alright ladies, it's time for a little Wedding Wednesday update. 

Before I get into the nitty gritty {aka wedding checklist}, I have a little something to share with you. A few of our engagement pictures!

What do you think? I am just head over heels with them {and my guy}. Our photographer, Photos by Alex, is amazing and so fun to work with! -------
Now for the Wedding Progress Update!
Things We've Done.... Picked the date : May 18th 2013 Picked our bridal party! Picked our colors! Picked our ceremony and reception site! Picked a caterer! Picked a photographer! Picked our ceremony and reception musician! Had our engagement party! Started Finished the wedding website! Picked Sent our Save The Dates! Picked out our invitations! Bought THE DRESS! Picked the bridesmaid's dresses {a few are ordered}! Working on the mother's dresses{one ordered, one to go}! Picked the rehearsal dinner restaurant! Finalized our guest list! Started Finished our registry! Picked our cake baker and cake style! Purchased our wedding bands! Finalized shower invitation list and bachelorette party invitation list. Picked our day-of point of contact. Bought a few items for decoration (twine for bouquets, burlap for banner, etc.). Meet with our officiant and scheduled pre-marital counseling! Took our engagement pictures!! Called the rental place and finalized all of our rentals! Finalized a block of rooms for our wedding guests!
Things We Still Need To Do.... Finalize our reception menu. Have our invitations printed. Find a way to print special maps for invitations. Order the rest of the bridesmaid's dresses. Pick shoes for bridesmaids. Pick ceremony shoes. Schedule one dress fitting/steaming. Pick out ceremony accessories (for the BMs and I). Decide on my something old, new, borrowed, and blue. Finalize ceremony music. Decide on ceremony readings. Pick the mother's dresses (1/2 way there!). Order groomsmen suits. Place the wedding flower order (I found the perfect vendor!). Pre-marital counseling (scheduled). Work on wedding hair and makeup ideas (for everyone). Book our honeymoon (at the end of January!). Finalize our hotel plans (getting ready rooms & wedding guests). Pick rehearsal dinner invitation.  Finalize rehearsal dinner menu. Decide on shower and rehearsal dinner decorations.  Decide on + order bridal party gifts (40% done). Decide on + order groom gift. Decide on + order parent gifts. Print + assemble program fans. Finalize our guest book alternative. Create banner for wedding reception. Finish cake topper (twine wrapped E!). Decide on cake/cupcake stand. Yarn wrapped letters for reception decoration (initials/Mr+Mrs). Finalize and work on reception table decorations. Finalize aisle decorations. Work on aisle decorations (DIY!). Finalize ideas/materials for ceremony/reception signs. Decide on + book day-of transportation.  Marriage license. Finalize a day-of schedule. Decide if we want special ushers. Decide on out-of-town guest goodies. Purchase dresses for bridal events, rehearsal dinner, and bachelorette party weekend! ------- Do you have any wedding advice? Fill me in if you do!
P.s. Check out the rest of my wedding posts {here}.

Thanksgiving Week + Weekend Recap

Holy Wednesday! I can't believe it's already the middle of the week. I thought for sure this week would creep by after the holiday weekend. But sure enough, here we are in the middle of the week. Thank goodness!! I love it when the weekends are slow and the weeks go by quickly.  Who am I kidding--we all love that, right?!

Working for the weekend!
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I have a ton to catch you up on.  Let's start with Thanksgiving week, shall we? ------- On Wednesday might we headed to our favorite bar down the street to catch up with friends, including some from out of town. 

Before heading out.

It was an unusually warm Turkey day this year, so I had to opt for an outfit that wouldn't completely make me melt while I spent time in the kitchen. I definitely had fun putting this outfit together!

Thanksgiving Day #OOTD

It's a simple Old Navy dress {with a fun skirt} paired with a Banana Republic button up and skinny leather belt. I don't know what brand the black boot is...I might have to look into that for y'all ;)
Thursday was a special day for me. I made my very first Thanksgiving turkey all by myself! And it turned out really well! Wahoo!

I used Trisha Yearwood's family recipe {found here}.
It's super easy and it creates a very juicy turkey (no crispy outside though).

I also made my first, but not last, sweet potato casserole. Check out the recipe {here}. I'm not a fan of sweet potatoes, but I plan to make this again soon!

It has maple syrup and half&half in the sweet potato
mixture and is topped with brown sugar and pecans. Noms!

I also made this bomb.com cheese ball. It had bacon it in and was a big hit!

Pumpkin and Pecan pie.

My sweetie!

Naturally we ended the day with some college basketball!

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We did not spend Friday shopping black Friday sales. No way, no how. We've been out for a few in our years together, but we're not big on the crowds. We are just not cut out for that drama. We heart Cyber Monday though!

Our craving for turkey and ham leftovers lasted about 24 hours. We made our way across town to meet up with my Dad for a short visit, and while we were out we stopped at Noodles & Co. to fill our bellies with non-thanksgiving food.

I tried the truffle mac. It wasn't anywhere near as good as the penne rosa.

While we were close we had to stop at Trader Joe's
 to pick up our favorite snacks and beer.

Trader Joe's has all of their holiday snacks out now--I suggest you stop by and try a few. These peppermint pretzel slims are perfectly light and not too peppermint-y.

We spent Saturday afternoon at one of Nashville's beautiful parks with our wedding photographer shooting our engagement pictures. It was a lot of fun {even with my brace and crutches}. I couldn't ask for a better time or photographer!

What did you do Thanksgiving weekend? Did you travel at all? It was our very first of not having to travel at all!

------- P.s. I'm linking up with Sami for the weekend update blog hop!

Currently

I'm incredible busy today playing a little catch up with work, and trying to get ahead before the end of the short week. Here is my {short+sweet} version of blogging today. Hope you're having a great Tuesday lovelies! ------- Reading: Paperwork. Writing: Lists on lists on lists. Wedding, work, and life related. Listening: To a movie {The Wedding Planner}. Thinking: My momma, who just had surgery today. Smelling: Fresh baked cookies. I'm on a chocolate chip cookie kick. Wishing: That I could get rid of these crutches. Hoping: That our engagement pictures turn out well (despite having a boot on). Wearing: Jeans, my favorite soft Gap shirt, one sock and the boot on my ankle. Go ahead, laugh! Loving: Ryan. He is more than I could have ever hoped for. Wanting: To start our Christmas shopping. Needing: To find the perfect new place to live. Exactly 2 months 'til we move. Feeling: Thankful for Ryan's family. They're great people to spend holidays with! Clicking: Through emails.

Weekend Randoms

It's Monday? I couldn't tell.  I've been distracted by all of the sunshine around here :) This past weekend was a good one! We did a lot of relaxing, a little socializing, and even a few wedding to-dos. 
Thursday was a great start to the weekend--I found out that I didn't have to continue on with the hard cast on my leg and I was able to transition to a comfier {removable} brace!! I do have to keep using the crutches, but I can't complain too much because this brace means I can get back to wearing regular clothes!

I can see the light at the end of this injury tunnel!

Check out my new hardware!

 Friday night was spent doing a lot of nothing. 

Well, except eating terrible food of course!

We had yummy homemade breakfast on Saturday and Sunday, but I was too hungry Saturday morning to get a shot of our amazing waffles. These awesome biscuits and gravy are all I have to show for Ryan's awesome cooking.

Other random parts of the weekend....

This is a lamp Ryan made with parts from his old motorcycle!
He is so good at creating things like this!

It's the holiday season. What kind of person would I be if I wasn't crafting?

How cute is the pup?

Speaking of pups...I'm dreaming of our future pup :)

The only picture I got of a person.
Ryan took me out to dinner :)

I got my 6 month reminder email from TheKnot.com on Sunday.
I can't believe the big day is only 6 months away!!

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What did you do this weekend? 

Check out the rest of the Weekend Update posts on Sami's blog!

Friday's Fancies {yummy treats)

Happy Happy Friday! The weekend is almost here!! Do you have any fun plans this weekend? Going anywhere? We're going shopping for Thanksgiving food, shopping for Christmas decorations, and I might be adding a few things to my Etsy shop!
Today I'm linking up with Alison over at {Long Distance Loving} for Friday's Fancies. It's been WAY too long since I last linked up, so I'm definitely excited about putting this week's outfit together! This week's theme is Autumn Faves.

I picked a treat that I indulge in between fall and winter--peppermint hot chocolate! I love adding a little pizzazz to my hot chocolate with everything from {peppermint to white chocolate bailey's}! I found this pretty picture of a peppermint hot chocolate to use as my outfit inspiration.

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And here's the outfit I came up with!

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I paired a nice pair of dark skinnies with a cream sweater {like the whipped topping}, chocolate brown riding boots {like the hot chocolate}, and a pop of color with a red infinity scarf {hello peppermint!}. I also had to throw some fun gold accents in {my favorite metal to wear in the colder months--they pair well with browns!}. ------- What's your favorite treat? Can use it as outfit inspiration? Check out the rest of the treat inspired outfits {here}!

stove top + sour cream chicken

It's Thursday, Thursday, Thuuuursday! I can't wait for another weekend of fun around here. Since my ankle surgery I've been cooped up in the house during the week. The weekends mean something totally different to me now that they're my main source of socializing. How crazy is that? Anyways--I'm so excited to hang out with the boy and our friends and have some fun!

Today I'm linking up with the sweet Katie from {Keep Calm & Carry On} and Steph from {Beautiful Mess} for their Saw It. Pinned It. Did it. linkup!

I saw this recipe on Pinterest yesterday and just had to try it.  With the cast on my foot Ryan has been taking care of dinner and chores after work {except for when his sweet family sends meals home with him}. With it being right in the middle of his super busy season, it's tough for me to sit by and watch him do it all without my help.

Pinterest. Original Source.

 SO, yesterday I decided to throw this very simple recipe together in the crock pot so that something yummy would be ready to eat when he got home! This recipe is so incredibly simple. It took me literally 5-7 minutes to put this all together {including photo taking!}. Anyone can do it :)

Ingredients  1 box of Stove Top {any type--original recipe used cornbread and I used chicken} 1 can of cream of chicken soup 1/2 cup of sour cream 1/4 cup of water 3-4 chicken breasts {I used 3-two were normal and one was large}
Directions +Put the chicken in the crock pot +Add package of Stove Top on top of chicken +Mix together water, sour cream, and soup +Add mixture on top of chicken +Cover and cook on low for 4 hours +Fluff and serve!

See, it's so easy! And look how delicious it looks :)
And when it's done...

You get perfectly cooked, juicy chicken with a "superb" {via the boy! lol} tasting stuffing. I'm already counting down 'til the next time we have this for dinner!
Also, if you're interested, this beer paired really well with the meal! Hahahah

------- Check out the rest of the Saw It. Pinned It. Did It. projects here!

Wedding Wednesday {sort of}

First things first ladies. It's Wednesday. The half way point of the week. Hump day. The down-hill point of the week.  I. Am. So. Happy about this! Can't you tell?
Now, onto Wedding Wednesday business.

This week I'm going to share a book I read. I said this was {sort of} a wedding post, mostly because it doesn't have anything to do with our wedding. But, it does have something to do with learning a little before our wedding.
Last night I finished a great book.  I Do, Now What? Secrets, Stories, and Advice from a Madly-in-Love Couple

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This is a super cute and very helpful book by Giuliana & Bill Rancic. This book talks about everything from fighting, to exes, holidays with families, to eating amazing meals, and even sex.

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They give some great tips and pointers about communication, staying connected, and learning about each other's love style. If you have ever watched their show {I love it!}, you know that they have a pretty great & real relationship. I really enjoyed their transparency in the book and the fact that they write act like real people. 
I mean, how cute are they?!

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They are one of the few celebrity couples that you never hear terrible new/rumors about.  That makes it a lot easier to take the advice they offer in their book. 
This book was an easy read that offered a few chuckles and a great story that you can learn from. ------- Have you read this book? What did you read before your wedding?  I'm open to reading more books about love and marriage if anyone has a suggestion!