Caroline Reese

This past weekend Brittany, Stephanie and I went to Fayetteville so we could meet Caroline Reese Fite for the first time. Caroline is my bestie Heather's brand new baby and she is such a beauty!

We drove up early Saturday morning and spent all day at Heather's. I wish we had taken more pictures but here are the few that I have. We spent most of the day just sitting around Heather's house talking, it was fantastic!

Isn't she beautiful! Her skin is soo pretty!

Perfection

This is Adam's parents "Baba" and "Joodge"."
They spent most of the day fighting over who got to hold her. It was adorable. 

Saturday night, we stayed in a Motel (emphasis on the M). It was super gross. The first thing that came out of my mouth when we saw it was "at least lice washes out." I also kept saying that Candy Cane called to say he was on his way. The things you will do to save $30!!

Before we hit the road Sunday, we made breakfast at Heather and Adam's. We had chocolate gravy and biscuits. I doubled the recipe for the gravy and we had just a tiny bit left. I stole this pic from Stephanie, she had been craving chocolate gravy and I love making (and eating) it so we cooked while Heather and Adam got to visit with Heather's cousin that came by for a couple hours to meet sweet Caroline. 

Friday night, Me and C went to the Bryant football game because it was Senior night (I went for Senior night, C went to watch some sophomore that is already being recruited by Arkansas). Since Carly is a trainer, she got to walk down the field with her mom and dad escorting her. I didn't realize until we were there that my camera battery was completely dead so the pics are super blurry. I have been trying really hard to document all of Carly's senior events. I can't believe our little baby Carly is going to college next fall!

The whole Y family!

The dress

I'm so excited to say that I have found the dress I will get married in! The process however was not quite like what you see on "Say Yes to the Dress."

Earlier this month, we made the back roads drive to Brinkley to shop at Low's Bridal. I have heard quite a few horror stories from girls who had awful experiences at Low's. I also witnessed one first hand when I went with Heather to shop their semi-annual sale and they refused to give her a dressing room. Y'all she had to try on dresses in the middle of the store, horrifying! I had no intentions of shopping at Low's at all for my wedding dress. Lucky for Low's, they were the only store in Arkansas that had the bridesmaid dress that I liked in stock. Since I had no choice, I took a couple bridesmaids there to try it on. We actually had a fantastic experience. Our consultant, Ann was so amazing! I decided that I would shop Low's as long as I had her helping me.

I'm not sure if I have shared this or not but my only cousin on my Dad's side of the family, Tonya, is getting married one month after me and C. It's been fun to be able to share all the glory and horror of wedding planning with her. I made us both an appointment at Low's and made sure that I requested Ann. I was a little nervous because she said they couldn't promise that Ann would be my consultant but she would try. Thankfully, Ann (sidenote: my middle name is also Ann) was available!

Tonya and I

I tend to overwhelm myself because before I make a decision, I want to know ALL my options. Sometimes, this is a good thing because it keeps me from making hasty decisions. When you are planning a wedding for 14 months and building a house without a builder, it can be a nightmare. Before I went to Low's I picked out 30 (yes, three zero) dresses that I wanted to try on. Since you are only supposed to be allowed an hour and a half, I tried to trim that down. I ended up with 17 dresses. I am pretty sure I tried on close to that many. Ann was so patient with me, we had been there for almost 3 hours and I still hadn't picked a dress! I was so thankful that they hadn't kicked me out.

I narrowed it down to 2 dresses. One of the dresses had been stolen by another consultant and her bride would NOT take it off. I was so close to going bridezilla! I was so exhausted and really overwhelmed at this point so I just picked the dress that I had on. It was a gorgeous dress and it was WAYYY under budget.

That night I woke up at 2am and was near a panic attack because I knew I had picked the wrong dress. I'm sure you know that you can't just exchange your wedding dress and I was terrified that I was going to have to get married in the dress that I had bought. Low's is closed on Sundays and Mondays so for 2 days I was in agony. I had literally been praying that I knew how silly it was but please don't make me get married in that dress. Monday was the worst. My first thought that day was that I've been engaged for almost 7 months and haven't had an emotional breakdown yet but I am pretty sure it's coming. Tuesday morning I stared at the clock every 10 seconds until they opened. At 10:00:00 and with my whole body shaking, I called and told Ann the situation. I'm pretty sure she knew because when I told her I picked the wrong dress, she said "you did, didn't you." She checked with the people in the office and called me back to tell me that they hadn't ordered the dress yet so I could switch! It was like she gave me a rainbow raining skittles I was so happy. I can't wait to wear my dress on the day I marry my bestie!

Here is the almost but not really dress. It's gorgeous but it's just not the dress.

Annnnnd here's some more pics of the girls.....

The brides and moms

Tonya, Our Aunt Debbie and I

The brides again

Elaine, Kortney (Tonya's MOH), Me, Rebecca (my MOH and sister) and my mom

Grandma

I have had this post written for almost a month. I always struggle with writing a post and then critiquing myself for a few days before I post it. This post is a little different because I do my best to keep this lighthearted and fun but I also want to be real. I have gone back and forth about whether I wanted to even publish this but I felt silly talking about the wedding or the house without acknowledging the life of someone who so influenced mine.

About 4 weeks ago, my grandma passed away very suddenly. She was the kind of grandma that all kids deserve but not all kids get. She loved her family so intensely.

There are so many ways that she showed her love. One of my favorites were her birthday dinners. Everyone in our family got a birthday dinner every year. I didn't realize that all families don't celebrate birthdays like they should until recently and it made me appreciate this even more. Grandpa and Grandma weren't rich but I thought they were millionaires because every  Christmas they showered the grandkids with a house full of gifts. I think they are partially responsible for gifts being one of my love languages (the other part would be my aunt Debbie). Not too long ago, Grandma reminded me that when I was a child, she was my favorite. I'm not sure if I remember or if I have just been told but I knew she was right.

I have very few childhood memories that don't have my grandma and grandpa in them. They were so present in my life, from softball games to church plays, they were always there. My favorite days were spent with them at the lake, in their pool or watching a John Wayne movie at their house.  I will always cherish the time I had with both of them.

After she passed away, someone said that momma's are the glue that holds the family together so we have to work to stay close. I'm not worried about my family staying close. It's rare for a family to love each other and genuinely enjoy each other's company like my family does. I don't believe this is a coincidence at all, my grandpa and grandma were truly Christian leaders of our entire family and God blessed them and all of us with the kind of love that I wish every family could have. There was an article in the paper the Sunday after she passed away about an Arkansan soldier's funeral, the father of the fallen soldier said to his wife something like "grief is the price we pay to love." These words are so true as long as you are on this earth. While we are grieving her life with us now, we know that one day we will see her again.

I don't say all this because I want you to feel sorry for me, I say it because my Grandma deserved to have these things said of her. I was blessed to have her in my life for 26 years but she was the kind of person that you could spend 100 years with and still want more.

I'm so thankful that Bryce and Carly came to eat Easter lunch with us this past year or we wouldn't have this picture of the whole family. 

week in iphone pics

I am doing a little iphone dumping today. My real camera has been dead for the last 6 months and somewhere in my move, I lost my battery charger so for now I am iphone dependent when it comes to pics. 

Friday night, Carly and her softball team got their new (third) state championship ring. It was HUGE!

This fun dude rode with me and C for a little while on the way to Fayetteville. We listened to the "drum song" (10,000 Reasons by Matt Redman) and the "rap song" (Twenty-Seven Million by Matt Redman). 

I tried to get him to take a picture in Clark's golf hat but this is how he wanted to take it.

The first Razorback game since we got engaged in that very spot. It's weird without Bobby though, like going to Walmart and not seeing any mullets. 

 Proof that Santa is an avid Hog Caller

Kori is in town this week and Wednesday we got to spend a few hours loving on this doll! She had a busy day with her Nana so she was very sleepy but she was a good cuddler! 

Damage control

After my last blog post, I got in a teeny bit of trouble because C said I made him look bad. I promise that was not my intention at all. I have tried to make my motto for the last 2 years "not wrong but different." I fail miserably at remembering this sometimes like when he has been playing xbox for 4 hours when we could be having meaningful conversations. Sidenote: if you love talking to your boyfriend/husband while he is staring at something else, hate spending time with him and can't wait to come home and watch tv alone then I highly recommend buying him an xbox for his birthday.

But I did sort of feel guilty that he thought I was dogging him. Honestly, I thought it made me look like the control freak that I am! It ended up being a good thing that I posted the insulting blog though because it got him to open up a little and I realized that basically he wants to be included. So instead of just picking things, I have been picking out like 3 things and letting him choose. Turns out he has really good taste!

He agreed to everything that I was fighting for on the last blog except the bedding. So I found like 8 bedding sets that I liked and he picked his favorite. It also happened to be my favorite so I was very excited. This is it and I am in love.

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It just happened to be on sale last week but when I went to buy it, the size I wanted was sold out. Major bummer. It's kind of costly so I am going to try to wait until they have another sale and snatch it up quickly!

 We also decided on windows and doors. Do you remember the part of You've Got Mail when Tom Hanks is talking about Starbucks? He says something like Starbucks is for people who have no decision making ability to make a bunch of decisions on one cup of coffee. Well that is how I feel about windows. There are a million different kinds. We like vinyl, double pane, low-e, prairie grille, almond color windows. The windows will look like this and we found a door that matches.

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The one thing I can not make up my mind about is our bedroom. I love that the comforter we picked out is so versatile but I am having a hard time deciding what else I want in there. I'm currently in a phase where I want everything to be coral. So I am loving coral and navy for the bedroom.

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Gorgeous, right? I'm just a little worried that this is only a phase and I will get sick of it soon. I've thought about painting the walls navy which is a huge commitment since it would take hundreds of coats if we wanted to paint over it. 

I also died when I saw this bedroom. I would get rid of the pink since I promised C a girly color free home but I love the bold colors and fabrics all mixed together. 

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I also love this bedroom, I feel like it's a toned down version of the bedroom above.

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It looks like we will have plenty of time to make up our minds though.  Please feel free to call me naive but I have never built a house before so this whole process is a learning experience. My dad has a really good friend at one of the banks here in town so I kind of just assumed we could walk in, ask for a few thousands and walk out fanning our cash like the gangster rappers we are. Umm not so. The bank that my dad's friend works at doesn't do construction loans anymore so we are having to use a bank and a loan officer that none of us know. I realize this isn't that rare in most cases but when you live in a small town like Benton, you just expect to know someone everywhere you go! We are still waiting to get the construction loan and can't touch the lot until we do. Have I mentioned I am super impatient? 

babies and bedding

A lot has been going on in my life lately! So far in 2012, I got engaged, one of my besties had a baby, another one of my besties is having a baby in October, and ANOTHER bestie just announced she is pregnant. There’s going to be a lot of babies at my wedding which makes me happy! Don’t get me wrong if one of those beautiful babies starts crying during my ceremony, I will be giving the bridezilla look of death but I am definitely not one of those brides who doesn’t want kids or babies at the wedding. 

Also in 2012, we bought land! We closed on the lot last week! I am so insanely excited about building a house. I love looking on pinterest, dwellinggawker and blogs to find house ideas. Since we closed on the lot, I have kind of gotten into house builder mode and out of wedding planner mode. I know all girls dream about their fairytale wedding and this is supposed to be the most exciting time in my life but I would much rather daydream about concrete stain, paint colors and kitchen cabinets.

So far Clark and I have agreed on everything for the wedding except the music, so far we have agreed on nothing for the house except for the location. He says I am trying to make the house look really offensive homosexual term girly. I do have feminine taste but I haven’t been trying to put pink carpet or flower wallpaper anywhere! Here are some of my favorite finds so far, I’m going to need some back up on this so feel free to comment on how amazingly manly it will look. 

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I realize that the flowers on the nightstand and sunburst mirror are pretty girly. So exclude those but I lourve the striped walls for the guest bedroom. I have a white comforter on my bed which we plan to move into the guest bedroom after we get married, throw in some cream color pillows and boom, gorgeous!  (whoever tagged that photo on pinterest didn't tag the right page, uhhh)

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If C had his way, this would be the guest bedroom. Seriously. Our biggest argument has been having a Razorback room. Don't get me wrong this southern girl loves her Hogs but we only have one spare bedroom and I don't want our guests to have to look at a fathead of Knile Davis while they are trying to sleep. I have tried to compromise and let him have a razorback man cave on the back porch complete with a painted razorback on the concrete which will definitely help the resale value. We will have a huge back porch and eventually I would like to close it in so I feel like this isn't being to hateful. Also, his closet will back up to the porch so maybe one day we can add a secret passage like batman that will make all his friends jealous. 

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I adore this floor color and cabinet color together! We did manage to agree on stained concrete floors but haven't picked out a color yet. C said he likes light colored cabinets but doesn't like the distressed look. Seriously?! Who doesn't like distressed. We had a nice long argument conversation about his aunt's kitchen and her gorgeous distressed cabinets. He swore they were just cream with no distress and he really likes them. I swore they were distressed and he would love it in our house too. His mom solved the argument. One guess who was right (obviously it was me or I wouldn't have even told that story).  

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I adore this hallway. The stripes, the gallery walls, the color combo...perfection. C says it's too in your face. We will have a pretty small hallway. I wouldn't put this on a 30 foot stretch but we have maybe 5 feet total of hallway. 

I found this bedding at Bed, Bath and Beyond this weekend. Amazing, right? The comforter for the set is actually the same design as the pillow cases but I think that might be a little overkill, I love it with a white comforter. 

We've also disagreed conversed about a recliner. He says he needs one to keep his man card or something. I hate recliners. If you have a recliner, I am sorry, I just don't like them. Most of them are dorky, there are some very stylish ones out there but they are usually really expensive. Our house will be mostly furnished by FFO, I doubt we can find a stylish one there. 

I realize it's not just my house and C should be comfortable there too but I'm pretty sure there is reason interior designers are usually girls or gay.  I finally pulled the "so you think I have bad taste" line and it totally worked. Don't feel bad for him though, he pulls the "marriage is about compromise" line on me all the time. I am hoping our premarital counseling can start before the house building starts. 

Budget Nazi

Disclaimer: this is probably the most boring post ever but I hope you will stay with me. 

About a year ago, Clark and I took Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University class. It absolutely changed our life. If you have never taken his class, you are probably rolling your eyes as far back as they will go because I did the same thing before my “budget Nazi” days. I’ve always been pretty responsible when it comes to debt. I was always scared of credit cards; I only had 1 and never carried a balance. I did have a car payment on a really sweet Audi (I’ll address that in a sec) but that was my only debt. My big problem was saving money. I didn’t spend more than I made but I would spend every single penny, usually on clothes so I never had enough money for the essentials.

After the class, I traded in my really sweet Audi for a Jeep Liberty. It was heart-breaking. I went from having every option on my car to having power windows and cruise control and nothing else. It’s been almost a year since I traded it in and even though it was tough, I have never once regretted it. I dumped about $10k in debt with one signature! I also cut up my credit card and haven’t gotten another one since. I’m not bragging, it was really hard. It’s really hard to not go shopping once a week, to cut back on gifts, and to budget every single penny. It’s really hard but it’s been totally worth it.

If you google reasons for divorce, most statistics list financial issues as either the number 1 or number 2 factor. I am not going to list any statistics because I don’t trust anything I find on the internet but I think we can all agree that money plays a huge part in our relationships. C and I have arguments all the time, we don’t have arguments about money. I know we aren’t married yet so things will get a little more complicated when we start joining our money but we are completely on the same page. As soon as we got engaged, C put together a mock budget for us and we didn’t even have to have a conversation about it because I was in complete agreement with him.

Dave says in most relationships, there are basically 2 types of people, “nerds” and “free spirits.” If you know me and C, I would be willing to bet that you think you know which type we are. Let me go ahead and shock you and say that I am the nerd and he is the free spirit. When we first took the class, I said just the opposite. I have since become crazy about my budget. I budget every single penny and check every day to make sure my budget matches my actual spending. Dave has a budget you can download online but it was pretty tedious to budget it all manually. I created my own spreadsheet for my budget and it’s all done with formulas so I never had to add or subtract anything, I just plug in the numbers that change. I created one for every month so I only have to tweak it a little on pay day. I get paid once a month which makes it even easier on me. I am putting the spreadsheet on here so you can download it for yourself. You’ll probably have to change the categories a little, Here is a link to Dave’s site, the “monthly cash flow planning” worksheet has the best example of all the possible categories. http://www.daveramsey.com/tools/budget-forms/

Download the excel file here https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0An_oMtRews19dFIxNDR1R2l5dS01cy1ablA1cnhDVlE You aren't supposed to have to have a google account to access it but if it doesn't work, let me know, this is my first time sharing a file on the blog. Click on "file," "download as," and "microsoft excel 97-2003." Then you should be able to edit it however you want.

Sorry that was so long and not even a little bit fun to read but thanks for making it this far! I will never put you through that again!