And many more...

I had my second bridal shower yesterday, and it was absolutely beautiful! Ellen and Ashley hosted a beautiful afternoon at Shenandoah, one of my all time favorite restaurants. Each table had this wish tree in the middle:

Each guest was given a piece of card stock on a ribbon. The idea is to have each guest write a wish for the couple and hang it from the tree.  Here are some of the beautiful things that people had to say:

"Love each other. Shut your mouth if it really doesn't matter. Kiss often."
"Never go to bed mad, and always end the day with 'I love you.'"
"Say 'I love you' to each other before you go to sleep. That's what kept us married 67 years."
"Rule #1: The wife is always right. Rule #2: If the wife is wrong, refer to Rule #1."
"Kisses, kisses, and more kisses."
"Compromise."
"Go on several dates and always give little gifts."
"Be VERY VERY patient."
"Love and happiness go hand in hand. Always stay 'best friends' and share life's special moments."

There are several more; some inappropriate for a blog (but obviously my favorites), some that reiterate things mentioned above, and some that were written by children way beyond their years in wisdom. As I read them to Cory, he told me that I am a selfish person, and that I need to work on that. Noted. I don't think I'm selfish at all in the work part of my life, but I guess it's fair to say that I tend to be a bit selfish with my personal time. I've never had anyone in my life before that wanted to spend so much time with me, so sometimes I mistake his wanting to spend time with me as wanting to tell me what I SHOULD be doing with my "free" time. And lately he has been telling me that I need to do laundry, wake up early on weekends, and do dishes. What kind of free time is that?! We always say "I love you" before we go to sleep. This week we've been yelling it down the hall since we're both sick and he's been snoring away in the guest room, but we've been saying it just the same. The best friends, love, and date parts are easy (for now); the compromising and shutting of the mouths will be a challenge.

Anyhow...I was so busy eating and unwrapping gifts, both of which I do in an extremely slow manner (is that correct grammar?), that I completely forgot to take pictures of the rest of the event. The food was wonderful, the gifts were generous, and the company was enchanting. Cory comes with such an amazing group of people, and I couldn't have asked for a more special afternoon.

I am excited about the wedding because, well, it's our wedding. But I am also triple excited to get to spend the day and evening with all of our people. This dance floor is NOT ready for what's about to come. Luckily, it's a leap year, so that gives us an extra day to plan out all of our wonderful details.

xoxo K

The Empty Hapnado

We get married one month from today.

My heart feels like this:

My head feels like this:

My bank account feels like this:

When Cory asked me to marry him, he said it was forever. I sure as all get up hope so because I am NOT doing this again!

Gotta run...there are too many phone calls to be made, pictures to be pinned, and Etsy items to be ordered.

xoxo K

Bride's First (Pseudo) Christmas!

My mom told me this past weekend that when she and my dad were looking at houses after I was born, she wanted a home that she could use to entertain. The house that I grew up in was one that she, one day, hoped would be filled with people for special occasions. And after my bridal shower this past Sunday, she said that's exactly what she had in mind when they put a bid on the house.

I walked into the kitchen, and saw the beautiful spread of food on the table. The decorations on and around it were so romantic! There were beautiful ribbons hanging from the ceiling, and my neighbors/aunts/other mothers worked on making "pom pom puff balls" (I'm sure there's actually a name for them that's less cheesy) that were hung all over. The same decorations were also in the dining room.

And then, of course, they had to go all out on the tables as well!

I lost track of how many times I said, "This is sooooo Pinterest." There was so much love put into the decorations, and I've never seen my house look more beautiful. My mom always tries to make her tables extra special, so all of the decorations touched a special place in my heart. We had lots of wonderful salads and soups, also.

So many wonderful women that I grew up with were there, and it was so fun to chat with them all. It was a kitchen shower, so most of my gifts were things that you could use in the kitchen. Many of the items we registered for were things that I was all too excited about registering for. I'd never invested in a silicone mat, I couldn't wait to use my Martha Stewart mixing bowl, I was thrilled to have matching wine glasses as opposed to mismatching hand-me-downs, and I've been waiting for the day that I had real baking sheets. I received a few adorable aprons as well that I can't WAIT to use. Some people have such a knack for putting together gift sets, and I can't name one single thing that I was given that I won't use. It's hard to make things just like mom made them when you don't have all of the right  gadgets. We were also excited to get the cake cutter that we will use at the wedding!

I just can't thank everyone enough for the beautiful decorations, delicious food, fabulous gifts, and lots of love. I can't wait until my next shower this Saturday!!!!

xoxo

Kristen

I Lost My Debit Card

Sometime in August of 2010, I lost my personal debit card. I needed to deposit a check into my account, but I didn't have my card, so I had to go inside the bank. The banker that helped me make my deposit noticed that I had an out-of-date business account, so he called over the small business advisor. Cory walked over, introduced himself, and asked me lots of questions about my business. He got me all set up with an account, and ordered me some checks. I told him to send me a text message when they came in so that I could come pick them up.

Some time that next week, he sent me a text that said, "I have a package for you." I cleverly responded with, "I bet you do," and I heard nothing-NOTHING-for hours. I figured I'd made an idiot of myself, and went in later that afternoon to pick them up. He read the text as I was sitting in front of him, and I couldn't have just died. Apparently, he thought it was funny enough to ask me if I wanted to go to lunch a few days later. Either that, or we went to the Stroll-and-Savor on a non-date after work one day. Neither of us remembers.

We went to the BBC for lunch, and after a few more lunch dates, he asked me to go to a wedding with him. People do lunches ALL the time, so I didn't think much of it. But a wedding? Only a person that isn't dating anyone invites you to a wedding. And only a person that wants you to meet their friends invites you to a wedding. And somewhere around 2am is when we had our first kiss.

So, had it never been for me loosing my debit card, we may never have met. It just goes to show you that everything happens for a reason!