It's the most WONDERFUL time of the year

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas in our house...

Our Tree

Our Stockings

Our Door...a friend made this for our wedding reception, it was behind the cake tables

Dickson is enjoying the tree

Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season and a fabulous start to the new year!!

Through the Eyes of our Friends and Family

So these are just a few of my favorites from the hundreds of photos that our family and friends took on our wedding day....

So I was holding my emotions together pretty well untill the lady that was doing my hair put my mom's veil on me...I cried, Nana cried, we all cried. This is my favorite picture.

I just lOVE these 2 little girls.  H & S were FABULOUS!!

Michael's cake turned out awesome!!!

A little Cotton Eyed Joe dancing...this was so much fun!!

So precious...S ready for the photobooth.

My GIRLS...so FABULOUS!!

Why yes, my family took the stage...The Love Shack will never be the same.

End of the night...Michael & I with our favorite family members!!

The sign at Church.

Wedding Rehearsal coming soon......

Soo...We are MARRIED!!!

I am horrible at this blogging thing.  I am much better at reading others than posting on my own.  Let's just say our wedding weekend came and went and I do believe it was FABULOUS!!!  The rehearsal dinner was fun and laid back.  The wedding day is kind of a blur but after we saw each other it became much easier and more real.  The ceremony was perfect.  The reception was a PARTY!!!

Best decision we made...seeing each other before the wedding.

Then we took some portriats...lOVE the leaves.

 Our fun socks and shoes!!

The KISS.

Our first dance.

Some fun party pics...glow sticks and props for the photo booth were fabulous!!!

And then we "left"....to go back in and PARTY some more with our closest family and friends.

(All photos courtesy of our fabulous photogs Dale and Lauren with Benfield Photography...check out their blog!!)

Coming tomorrow...some of my favorite photos taken by our friends and family!!!

WOOOOOOOOOOO PIG SOIEEEEEEEEEEEEE

In just a few hours the  #10 ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS will be taking on the #1 Alabama Crimson Tide!!!!  I can't wait to be inside Donald W. Reyonlds Stadium calling those HOGS!!!

FOURTY FOUR days and counting.....

Wow the time sure does fly when you are planning a wedding, moving, and start a new job!!!  In the last couple of months Michael moved into our apartment, I started a new job, we sent out the invitations, the flower girl dresses came in, one of my best friends got marred, and the list goes on and on and on.....

First things first...I have a new JOB!!!  I am a pre-k assistant teacher with the Rogers Public Schools.  I love working for the schools and the teacher I am working with is fabulous.  This is our door that we worked on for quite sometime....

Secondly, one of my best friends and BM, Barbie got married to her best friend Peter.  Let me tell you, we had one fabulous weekend in Houston at the Hotel ZaZa celebrating their love for each other!!  Here is a photo that her fabulous photographer took..

Megs and I at the reception....

Next, WE SENT OUT THE INVITATIONS!!!! Wow I am I glad to have those out of our hands.  We decided to print them ourselves and I am happy with how they turned out.  I know that the only people that really care about them are me and my family so I was fine with not having fancy nancy invitations.

All of them ready to go to the post office...

We have also had our first wedding shower..our second one is this Sunday.  My lovely MOH Megan, Aunt Denise, and cousin Haley threw a shower for us at Las Palmas in Rogers.  We had so much fun, we got lots of great things, and had yummy margs to drink!! This is a picture of me with the 3 fabulous hostesses!!

Our gift table at the apartment after the shower...a lot more has been added since this photo and I can't even imagine what it will look like after this weekend!!

Also, our precious flower girls momma ordered their dresses and they came in. I love them and can't wait to see them in them.  My mom and I are going to Davids Bridal tomorrow to get a slip for me and we are going to look at the bows to see if they will fit with the dresses.  So after we figure out that I will post pictures of their sweet little dresses. 

On another note, Michaels Great Grandma passed away this week, her services were today.  Please keep Gran and the rest of their family in your prayers.  It is a blessing knowing that his Meme is in a better place and no longer suffering. 

Horrible Blogger...

So I am a horrible blogger. I have so much going on and so many things to share but I always forget to get on here and write them out.  I have made a goal to write a new post at least once a week if not more.  I have so many wedding things and life things to catch up on!!  For now though, I leave you with a photo...

Michael and I at a good friends wedding a few weeks ago.  I can't believe that in less than 3 months it will be our wedding!!

STD's have been sent and recieved....(Save the Dates)

I have known since taking our engagement pictures that I wanted to do a picture save the date.  So I began looking on Etsy to find the perfect design.  Well that took forever and ever!!  I couldn't decide on anything.  So one day in April Megan..my MOH and Michael forced me to sit down and pick one right then.  We looked for hours and hours and looked at hundreds of designs!!!  Untill we decided on the perfect one.  I had already picked out the picture we were going to use so I sent the picture and the wording to the etsy store and within 15 min. I had my STD!!!  I couldn't believe that it had taken me hours and hours to pick something out and it only took 15 min for her to get it back to me!!  Well, I was beyond happy with the way they turned out.  After a horrible trip to Walmart we were able to see what they looked like printed.  We finalized our website with our fabulous photogs from Benfield.  We decided to print labels..I was kinda unsure about this, but they turned out great.  We spent a weekend sticking labels on the back of the photo cards, stuffing envelopes, printing labels, sticking labels onto envelopes, licking envelopes, and then putting on stamps.  I also orded a stamper with our monogram so before we sent them in the mail I stamped them all.  Lets just say it was a hectic, but really fun project that we did.  My house looked kinda like a little sweatshop!!!  So, since everyone has recieved  them and I am a horrible blogger...here is the finished card!!

I was so happy with how they turned out and have gotten several comments on them already.  I have some other wedding updates so I plan on updating again soon!!

Website

So our fabulous photographers from Benfield Photography made a website for Michael and I click here to check it out.  It has a little information about us, the proposal, and wedding details.  There also is a gallery with some of our engagement photos with a link to see the rest of them.  Hope you all check it out and enjoy it!!  We can't wait for our day and to celebrate with all of our friends and family!!  We will be ordering our Save the Dates this weekend and hopefully have them in the mail next week. I am super pumped about them!!! 

Graduation

This past Saturday Michael and I graduated from the University of Arkansas!!!  Wow, it has been one long, crazy, stressful, but fun time in both of our lives.  I know that I am glad to be ending that chapter in life and moving on to the next.  Michael graduated from the Sam M. Walton College of Business at 12:30 in Barnhill Arena with a degree in Accounting and a minor in Enterprise Resource Planning.  I graduated from the Dale Bumpers College of Agriculture and Food Life Sciences at 1:00 in Randal Tyson Indoor Track center with a degree in Human Development and Family Sciences with a concentration in Child Development.  We were not able to attend each other's ceremonies, but neither of us were too upset about that...sitting through one was enough!!  We met up with each other on Old Main Lawn afterwards to take a few pictures before heading to my parent's house in Rogers for a party celebrating not only our graduations, but also my cousin/MOH Megan graduated with her Master in Teaching and Kelly a good friend/BM graduated from the same college as me.  We had lots of BBQ, a delicious cake from Ricks, and a wonderful time.  I am glad that we were able to celebrate such a wonderful accomplishment with our families and close friends!!  Now for some pictures....

Michael and I

Me, Michael, Megan, and Kelly with our cake.

Megan, Kelly, and I

Spring Break 2010

For Spring Break, Michael and I went to New York City to visit his dad and to see the sights!!!  We had a FABULOUS time!!!  We drove to Tulsa in the snow on Sunday, flew out that evening, and were in New York till Thursday.  His dad lives in Brooklyn so we had the experience of riding the Subway to and from Manhattan everyday.  The area where Barry lives is about 3 blocks from where Jay-Z grew up and the trains we took were either the "J" or the "Z" train...that is where Jay-Z got his name.  I was a little nervous about the Subway but it was a fun experience that I am glad we were able to have.

On the Subway the first day!!!

On Monday, Barry took us to the Mad Hatter Saloon for lunch.  This was a really fun place, especially since one of the owners is a Razorback fan!!!  There was lots of Arkansas decor and they always have the Razorback games on. 

We also walked around Central Park for about an hour.  It was rainy, but it was still as wonderful as it looks in all the movies!!  We even saw a lady/man (not sure what it was) that looked identical to the Pigeon Lady from Home Alone...it was funny!!

Monday night, Barry had gotten us tickets to the Jimmy Fallon show taping!!!  It was such a fun experience and I would love to do that sometime again!!!  One of his roomates works for NBC and was able to get us the tickets.  I think if we ever go back we will for sure do something like this again!!

This was after the taping...they were really strict about not having phones and/or cameras out while in the studio. 

On Tuesday we did some more tourist things.  We went to Wall Street, Battery Park, and The 9/11 Memorial. The memorial was really interesting.  They had tons of things from that horrible day including things that they found in the rubble and people's personal experiences from then.  They also had the plans and pictures for the new buildings and memorial that they are building.

This was in Battery Park, but it is the statue that stood in front of the Twin Towers for more than 30 years.  There was an eternal flame lit in front of it.  It amazes me how the buildings fell but this could stand.

On Wednesday Michael and I had tickets to see the Lion King on Broadway.  Michael saw it the first time he went to New York and when I suggested that we go to a Broadway show he said the only one he wanted to see was the Lion King.  I figured if he thought it was good enough to see twice that we should go!!!  He was right...it was FABULOUS!!!  I don't even know how some of them moved or what they did to seem like animals, but it was amazing!!!

This was right before the show...so much FUN!!!

We also went to the Empire State building Wednesday night.  It was so neat to see the city from up there at night.

We left early Thursday morning to fly back to Tulsa.  We had a wonderful time in New York!!!  We spent Thursday night in Tulsa and woke up Friday morning and drove to Norman to spend the weekend with Michaels mom, Gran, Grandon, Aunt, Uncle, and cousins!!  We had a fabulous time watching Camille dance in OU's Scandals and spending so much time with the family.  I am so fortunate to be able to get along so well with Michael's family and to have him get along so well with my family...it just proves to me that we are meant to be together!!!

Long Time Coming

WOW...it has been a looooooooooooong time since I have updated this!!!  Well let me catch you up to speed on all things wedding!!! First, we decided on a menu. We are using Mark Henry from Catering Unlimited and are going with a BBQ menu!!  I am super pumped about this because I lOVE BBQ!!!  We are having Pulled Pork on Slider Buns, Smoked Sausage, Mac-n-Cheese, Baked Beans, and Corn.  I know it will be DELICIOUS and I can't wait for it!!!  Michael's WONDERFUL mom, my future MIL has booked a Photo Booth for the reception so we are pumped about that!!!  We went to Michael's cousin's wedding this past December she had one and it was too much fun!!!  Other than these few things we really haven't done much else wedding lately.  However, I want to take this time to tell you about a special man in my life that has recently gone to his forever home with Jesus.  My Pop's who has been suffering from ALS aka Lou Gehrigs Disease for the past year passed away on March 1st.  He was taken to the Hospice Hospital in Springdale, AR the Thursday before.  He was able to see almost our entire family and see us all one last time before he went.  I will never forget the time I was able to spend with him here.  He was one of the greatest most influential man I have ever met and had the privilage to call my Pop's!!! I love you POPS!!!

This was him the Saturday before, this was a good day!! He is wearing my sunglasses because he thought it was too sunny and that he might want to go outside. Nobody else would hand them his so I gave him mine for a short while.

Well, I promise I will be a better blogger and not wait so long in between posts!!  Check back in a week or so...Michael and I are headed to NEW YORK CITY for Spring Break on Sunday...I will have an update on our trip!!

Things to fill our home

Lately, I have been thinking about what I wanted Michael and I to register for.  I was thinking practial things...Michael was thinking a Vizio 55" LED flat screen.  So I knew I was going to be pulling teeth the day we finally decided to go and register.  Since I am a list person I knew I would want to go look before actually registering so I would know what was out there and which stores had the best quality and offer.  I also knew that I wanted my dishes to be red because I want my kitchen to be red with pigs.  Many people have thought this to be weird, but being from Arkansas and a lover of the Razorbacks...I thought this would be a good way to show our Razorback Pride without having Razorback things all over the place.  This past Saturday Michael and I were bored so we decided to head to Bed, Bath, & Beyond and Walmart to see what we liked.  Well immediately we began agreeing on things and actually picking out what we knew we wanted.  We also saw a few things that Michael was like ohhh I want this...can I please put this on the list?!?!?  As we were walking around we had our phones out taking pictures of the things we liked.  I also began noticing that there were several couples who were registering...Michael kept asking why we didn't just go get a thing and do it for real.  I stood firm on the fact that we were just looking and I was going to make a list to bring with us.  Well...on Sunday after church and lunch with my fam we headed out once again to register for real!!!!  We are officially registered at Bed, Bath, & Beyond, Walmart, and Dillards.  Here are a few pictures of my favorite things....

This is our bedding from Bed, Bath, & Beyond, it is a Duvet Cover and I love it.  I am glad we decided on a neutral color so we have options for when we decorate the rest of the room!!!

This is our everyday dinnerware from Bed, Bath, & Beyond, The plates we decided on are the square ones but in this collection by Oneida. I am in love with the red!!!

This is our Paula Dean cookware from Walmart, it's non-stick and most importantly RED!!!

This is our China from Dillards, it is Coronet Platinum by Lenox. It is simple and I love it!!!  We also registered for some silver servingware that goes perfectly with it!!

Well these are just a few things that I love that we registered for. I can't wait to see what all we will get.  Overall, it was a really fun experience that Michael and I had...minus the fact that we couldn't figure out the scanner at Bed, Bath, & Beyond and found out that Walmart only has one scanner per store...GHETTO!!!

Benny Awards

So our photographer Dale hosts the Benny Awards every year.  Basically it is a way for him to recognize his couples from the past year and gives the public an opportunity to vote for their favorite photos. He has some fabulous prizes for the winners including a Canvas Print and an upgrade on one of his amazing albums!!  Well, Michael and I were one of the lucky couples to get a nomination!!!  Which means, we need YOUR help in voting!!!  Just go to the Benny Awards and click on Best Engagement Portrait, click on Natalie, then VOTE, and you have voted for us!!!

Here is the picture he chose:

We would lOVE for you to vote for us!!!