Shopping, Shopping, Shopping!

This will be our cake topper! I think it's so cute! I can't wait for it to come in, so I can see it with our names!

These will be our toasting flutes. I got a lot of our wedding things from this same line, so it will all be matching!

Well, I have had the pleasure of doing a great deal of shopping over the last week and a half! I can't imagine how people planned weddings before the internet! I've had a really good time looking up all of the different things for the wedding on so many different websites. I also get a big thrill when I find a good bargain=). Just let me know if you ever need any tips!

We have reserved everything we will be renting for the church. That's a relief to make sure that is taken care of! I have ordered the invitations and can't wait to see them when they come in! I also ordered the toasting flutes, guest book, wedding picture album, serving set, unity candle and holder set, and pen stand. These are all the twin hearts set that match. They're too cute and I love how they match! It's the little things I get a kick out of=).

The project I'm working on now are bridesmaid dresses! We thought we had it worked out to have them made, but the lady changed her mind=(. Now we have another possibility of someone to make them, but I've also found some I like to just order. So we'll have to wait and see how all this works out.

Matchmaking!

Andrew has been here this weekend and we've had so much fun! Last week when we booked the wedding reception, my mom and I really liked the guy we dealt with. I thought of my friend, Summer, and emailed him some reception questions and to see if he was single to set up with a friend. Long story short is that he has a girlfriend, but has a single friend and we set up a date for last night. Last night Andrew and I went over to my sister's for dinner and then out to the casino for Andrew to see where our reception will be. We met up with Summer at the casino and the other guy was to meet us in The Turf Club. Andrew was very impressed with it, so it's a keeper=). We hung out in the bar for a little while with Summer and Isaac and then all headed to see Avatar. I wasn't overly excited about the movie, but it wound up being very entertaining. I LOVED the 3 D and Andrew loved every second of the entire movie! The jury is still out on how my matchmaking skills are!

Also, I booked a wedding photographer today! He just got married this past December. We're using a different photographers for our engagement pictures. He's getting married the same day Andrew and I are! We'll probably do our engagement pictures closer to March. I think I want some indoors and outdoors. Kristi and Jeff want some new family portraits as well. We're thinking of doing these all in the same day and then getting my parents there and doing some with all of us together. Should be fun!

A Bit of Humor

On my list this week of things to get accomplished was to go around and check out the places that rent wedding "stuff." I went to several places and this was definitely the best one. I like these columns and they have them in 8, 6, and 4 foot tall. I also like the white candleabra. I couldn't get a good picture of those, but that gives you an idea. I need to decide exactly what all I want from there though. They have quite a bit!

On a side note...here's a bit of a funny story. Last week I decided to be a little silly and make a list of some songs my friends would dance to at the wedding. There's funny stories that go with some of these songs, but I'll leave that part out in order to stay out of trouble. I sent them an email telling them their "assigned" song and to get started on their choreography. Here's a few:

Kristi - We Are Family

Shara - Can't Touch This

Cindy - I Will Survive

Malinda - Don't Ya Wish Your Girlfriend Was Hot Like Me

Holly - I'm Too Sexy

Anyway, I'm full of it about 95% of the time and figured they would just naturally know I was kidding. Shara and I were talking about the wedding and she asked me if I was really serious about the dance. I thought she just meant having a dance at the reception, but she meant her dance to "Can't Touch This." I figured out what she meant and kept it going for a little bit and asked her, "Shara, you mean you won't do this dance for me?" Her answer was, "I'll see what I can do." How good of a friend is that?!? She was seriously going to try to put something together for me, even when her husband told her he was OUT of that.

Ultimate Grammar Authority?

Who would have known getting a Christmas present could be so complicated? My friend, Mandy, had this great idea to order me a new sign for Christmas with what will be my name when I'm married. I happen to have some slightly OCD tendencies and it REALLY bothers me to think of a sign above my classroom door that is not grammatically incorrect. The problem is we don't know if this sign should say...Mrs. Watts' Class or Mrs. Watts's Class. I have consulted many in the know authorities and everyone seems to contradict what another says. I happen to run into one of my old English teachers from high school in Lubbock yesterday and she went against what I had finally decided was correct. However, she is going to consult with Mrs. Hannum, former English department AP head at HHS, and ask for her expert opinion. The question is how do you know what IS really correct when so many disagree? Who is the ultimate authority in grammar that makes these decisions?

Shopping Day in Lubbock

Today Mom, Kristi, Kamden, and I took a shopping trip to Lubbock. We had several missions and one of these was to stop by Gayle's in Lubbock. They are a wedding and party store with neat stuff! We saw this display set up that I like! I want an arch in the middle and then the pillars drapped with pink fabric. We're considering something like this. My friend, Chaundra, also suggested wrapping the pillars with tulle (no idea how to spell that one) and adding some lights. I LIKE that too. We're taking notes of all these ideas and then we'll find some type of finished product in the end. Should be fun!

Wedding Party!

This is the area when you first arrive on the second level of The Turf Club at Black Gold Casino.

This will be the dance floor. The casino will put down a real dance floor for us.

We will have a cash bar. There will be no Longhorn sports of any kind on the flat screens here!

We can arrange the tables any way we want and do whatever decorating we want!

Andrew and I decided we really want our reception to be a lot of fun for our guests. We had such a good time at Bev's wedding, we want a dance too! I did a lot of checking around and heard great things about the casino. Yesterday Mom, Dad, and I went to the casino to check out The Turf Club that is on the second floor of the casino. It overlooks the race track and is very pretty. We were all quite impressed and decided it was THE spot. We put down the deposit and Mom said it was now official and there's no going back! Ahhh! Just kidding=)! (Andrew will NOT be running for Mexico.) We now have the church, reception, and my dress.

He Asked and She Said Yes!

This is us at Bev's wedding in Austin. We really had a great time that night. We were paying close attention to all of the details from the wedding!

This is us right after we got engaged at The Arboretum in Austin, Tx.

On December 12th Andrew and I went to Bev's wedding in Austin, TX. The wedding was beautiful and we had such a great time. It definitely set the mood for the night. We got to hang out with his family, eat and, dance.

Afterward we went driving around in search of The Trail of Lights Christmas display. We finally found it and walked around there for awhile, but we were a little disappointed all of the scenes wouldn't be lit up until the next night. We absolutely LOVE ice cream and went for a snack at Amy's Ice Cream at The Arboretum. My friend, Cindy, suggested this place to us over the summer and we go there every time I'm in Austin. We went to the little park they have outside after we got our ice cream. He got a little quiet for a minute as we walked over by the cow statues and I was gobbling up my ice cream. He pulled out the ring from his pocket and asked me to marry him! It didn't take me long to give him a YES. It was great timing because the next day, December 13th, was exactly one year from our first date.

We got to go over and tell his family the next morning. Andrew's parents were staying with Mary and Danny in Austin. We had to sit and visit and keep our mouths shut for about 30 minutes while we were waiting for Sam to get done with his Bible study. We were both ready to bust! We finally got to make our big announcement and everyone was very happy. We got to tell Joyce, Sam, Danny, Mary and Courtney all at once.

Finally, I drove the long 6 1/2 hours home from Austin dying to get home to tell my family. I bought a picture frame and printed inside of it...Place wedding picture here after July 10, 2010. Congratulations! You're parents of the bride again!....I went straight to Mom and Dad's house when I got back to Hobbs. I told them I had an early Christmas present I was dying for them to unwrap and just couldn't wait! My mom opened the present and found the frame. I think they knew it was coming! We went straight over and told Kristi, Jeff, Kamden, and Kason. They were all excited. Kason and Kamden will both be in the wedding. Kason is a little confused with his role, though. Kason thinks I'm marrying Andrew, but he's marrying me!