Shower, Engagement Dinner, Photo Shoots and Invites

Well... we're in the homestretch folks! Just SIX weeks until our wedding and I am so very happy to report how much FUN I had at my lovely bridal shower that Amy and Erica threw for me Sunday afternoon. The food was excellent... and I have to give a shoutout to Lisa Kane for making that awesome veggie pizza! The cake was gorgeous and so were the invites and decorations. I felt very truly surrounded by love and friendship that afternoon and I could not be more thankful for that. I definitely felt the love in the room for both Daniel and I and I hope everyone who attended knows how much I appreciate them and love them. Every single one of them! In attendance were Kelly Kneiser, Karen Styer (two very good friends from Murfreesboro), Allison McGehee, Lisa Kane, Christy Hillis, Amy Kane Cunningham (best friend and maid of honor), Erica SImmons (my step sister and bridesmaid), Linda Burnett (my step mom), my mom Patty Guiberson, Kari Neal (I just love her... she's too sweet) and lil Gavin, Courtney Griggs, Laura Adams (Daniel's adorable little sister), Ruth Adams (Daniel's sweet mama), Kayla Warren (HILARIOUS friend), and Amanda Coker (sweet, gorgeous pal). Sarah Nelms,another VERY close friend and bridesmaid, even called from basic training in Missouri to tell me she was thinking about me. Made my heart warm.
I just felt very loved that day.
A couple weeks ago we were fortuante enough to have an engagement dinner hosted by my dad and Linda in Murfreesboro. Several friends and family showed up to help us celebrate with laughter and good food. We are truly blessed with great people in our lives.
I finally sent out the first round of invitations (I'm sure we'll add more people to the list as time goes on!).
Both Daniel and I were incredibly peased with how the invitations turned out! I highly reccomend WeddingPaperDivas.com!!!! GORGEOUS invitations, colors and incredible service!
We also had our engagement photo shoot with Stacy Preston in Sewanee a couple weeks ago. I cannot stop gushing about how BEAUTIFUL the few pics are that I've seen so far. I am beyond thrilled with how gorgeous they turned out.... and with how Stacy was so easy-going to work with. Daniel and I were quite nervous about being photographed like that, as we both have never had the opportunity to do so. But Stacy put us completely at ease!!! We LOVE her!
Now... I still have to get my dress slightly altered, buy accessries such as shoes and jewelry, meet with the caterer, meet with the florist, and do many many more small things... BUT... we ARE in the home stretch ladies and gentlemen!!!!

Road bumps and lump sums....

our invties!!!

Well, I'd be lying if I said things we're getting easier the closer it gets to the wedding. We've just been having incredibly bad luck lately. We just moved in the blink of an eye---thanks to our friends Amy, Nick, Nathan and Manda! The weekend we moved, Daniel had to leave for two weeks to go on a business trip, which he still is on. As soon as he left, I was forced to be alone in the new apartment, unpacking, organzing, etc. when... our dryer went out. So... I whicked Amy with with me to Lowe's where I purchased my first dryer. This weekend, our apartment building was struck by lightning, frying our huge, nice LCD LG television, Daniel's Playstation 3 and our cable box. Oh, that same bolt of lightning also caused a pretty nasty fire in the building directly behind us. Thank goodness our place dodged the fire, but we were out well over $1,000 in personal appliances. Long story short, our tv COULD'VE been fixed... for nearly the same amount of money it would cost to purchase a new one.. so we bit the bullet and bought a new tv.... and Daniel replaced his beloved PS3 with a used version from Hastings.
Along with replacing our fried electronics, purchasing a new dryer, and paying multiple bills that seemed to all come at once, we had to purchase our wedding invitations last night as well. We had waited until the last possible minute to do so, but alas, it could not be avoided any longer. Needless to say, we are out quite a hefty sum of money all at once, and while I am thankful everyone I love is still alive and kicking, I can't help but be incredibly stressed at our financial situation that befell us over the past week.
Moving on, I am excited to receive our invitations soon. AND... we have our engagement photo shoot this coming Sunday with Stacy K. Preston! Pretty excited about that!
Last weekend we were lucky enough to have a lovely engagment dinner party that my dad and Linda threw for us. We were surrounded by several friends and family members and felt the love, beleive me. We are lucky and blessed and we are very thankful.
We're in the homestretch with the planning... I still have to talk to the caterer and the florist for fun details. Have I mentioned lately that I just cannot WAIT to be Married to Daniel??!!??!!??!!??!!??!! Love him to pieces....