Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Engagement Pictures

Kyle is not a fan of photographs. He jokingly tried to tell me that we didn't need a professional photographer for the wedding. So I knew I was fighting an uphill battle when I wanted to take engagement pictures. I, of course, wanted a fun photo shoot where we look blissfully in love staring at each other at sunset. Maybe even a few quirky ones to show our personality. You have all seen those images pinned on Pinterest like this:



While I may be that person, Kyle is not. The one sure fire way I could get him to take engagement pictures, let his sister-in-law Stacy take them while we were in Montana. Stacy isn't a pro, but she has a great camera and Montana has some of the best backdrops/scenery you can get. We planned a shoot at Yellowstone that didn't work out as I hoped it would, so those pics aren't great but the ones we took that evening in Virginia City are pretty cute!










Wedding Updates

You will remember in this post that I had 10 items on my to do list for the wedding. Of course, there are tons more but those were just the major ones. Based on this list below, here is my progress:

Flowers- completed!
Registry- completed!
Bridesmaid dresses- completed!
Save the Dates- completed!
Invitations- completed!
Photographer- completed!
DJ- completed!
Rehearsal dinner location- completed!
Hotel- completed!
Cake- completed!

Without revealing too much information for my readers that will be at the wedding, here are the vendors I am using:

Flowers- Sam's
Registry- Bed, Bath and Beyond & Macy's

Bridesmaid dresses- David's Bridal
Save the Dates- Wedding Paper Divas (online)
Invitations- Paper Girl (local)
Photographer- Alpha Dei Photography
DJ- Edge Sight and Sound
Rehearsal dinner location- Dust Bowl
Hotel- Courtyard Marriott- downtown

Cake- Ludger's

I will reveal the Save the Dates (I refuse to shorten to STD) since they were mailed out a while ago.

We have gotten so many compliments on these! I can't wait to reveal our beautiful wedding invitations. Elaina is a master calligrapher and offered to address them for us. So nice of her, and I can't wait to see the finished product.

I gave my aunt a thumb drive last night with pictures for the slideshow. I also got to try on my wedding dress for the first time since it came in. I purchased light purple shoes (really wanted dark purp, but was too anxious to shop anymore). I also had my heart set on wedges because a) they will be more comfy and b) they won't sink into the ground.

DSW- Sold out

Up next on the list:

Shop for Mother of the Bride dress
Shop for suit for my dad
Decide on cake decorations
Buy vases for centerpieces
Food tasting/menu selection
Music selection

Once guests start making reservations at the hotel, I will begin making gift bags. I also need to figure out my jewelry situation and my something borrowed, something blue, something old and something new!

And thank you to my voters! I ordered the winning dress and it came in and fits perfectly!

Dorothy Perkins Lace Dress


Friday, June 22, 2012

Recaps

I posted 3 blogs today:

Pinky Finger
Montana Part 1
Montana Part 2

Pinky Finger

So we get back late from Montana on Sunday night. I got about 5 hours of sleep and went to work Monday morning. Actually felt pretty good and decided to go to Walmart and get groceries and make my lunch for the week. Kyle was golfing with the boys, I have The Bachelorette on TV, browning meat, doing my thing. I get out my veggies and use a knife to cut. And I remember I have this awesome mandoline.

See that guard on the bottom left? I forgot to grab that. I had the zucchini in hand and sliced two, maybe 3 slices. And I remember Mary Lou telling me to never use the mandoline without the guard. And then it happened. It happened so quickly that I don't remember it hurting. I sliced the end of my finger. Almost off.
That blade is so razor sharp that it went through my pinky finger like a knife in warm butter. I am home alone, and blood is everywhere. I scream and turn on the water faucet. And the end of my finger flaps open and I realize how badly I have cut it. It is barely hanging on. I am now shaking, sweating and blood is gushing. I call Kyle once, twice, three times. He finally picks up and I am screaming. Not crying, screaming. He didn't ask any details, he just told me to meet him at Urgent Care. As I grab the ice bin out of the freezer, I knock out some chocolate ice cream bars. I grab my purse and an ice pack and open the door to the garage. Where I fainted. Smack my knee on the concrete floor and now that is bleeding. I hit the recycling bin on my way down. I come to, get up and open the garage door. Sophie runs out. I chase her down (with my hand still bleeding and holding an ice pack) throw her back in the house and drive as fast as I can to urgent care.

I somewhat calmly tell the lady that I have cut my finger badly. She very calmly says, we will need you to fill out this paperwork. And I about lose it. Luckily Kyle walked in and grabbed the paperwork for me. A nurse came to get us and took me to a room to take my blood pressure and temperature. I had been sweating for about 30 mins, a cold sweat, and my clothes (I was in a romper cause I didn't plan on leaving the house) and she couldn't even get my temperature to register. I was convinced I was dead. I tried to convince her to sedate me, but she explained that they don't do that. So I asked for the strongest pain meds they had. Pretty sure they flagged me in the system as a drug addict. Now Kyle and the nurse are laughing at me.
Here comes Doc. She is gonna stitch me up. But first she has to tell me how badly I have sliced myself up. Oh yeah, you got the fingernail, too. I told her just to keep the comments to herself and get to work. She numbed it twice, which hurt but by this point I was pretty sure I was dying anyway. Then she tried to numb IN THE WOUND. I yelled and told her no. Just no, you cannot do that. She waited a few min, numbed the base of the finger again. I was looking the other way, nervously tapping Kyle's hand and had no clue she was sticking the needle directly into the wound. Thank god for pain meds/numbing shots. She stitched the piece of flesh back on, 5 stitches. Hand actually felt kinda cool being numb. I sent Kyle home to clean up the murder scene, and to get those chocolate ice cream bars away from the dogs. Nurse came in and cleaned me up, along with my knee, and bandaged me. Just some neosporin and two bandaids. I could have done that. Give me something fancy. Like gauze. I pay my $50 deductible, and head home. I call my mom and start to cry for the first time.
Kyle was the bomb. He ran of the golf course (despite having 6 birdies and 4 more holes to go) and was there in a flash. He knew how scared I was and held my hand and told me I would be fine. Austin said it best last night: "you know you have a good man when he doesn't ask any questions, he just goes to you when you need him."
The worst part is over but it still is not a joy. The end of my finger is essentially being held on by stitches. It throbs, it looks scary and the flesh I cut off could still fall off. Kyle has been cleaning it and bandaging it for me. I have to have the stitches taken out next Thurs or Fri. Let's just hope when the stitches come out, the end of my finger stays on.

For my readers who are not easily grossed out, click here for a pic

Montana: Part 2

Since I have so many great pics, I decided to break this up into 2 posts. We spent most of the day at the King Ranch. Justin was working, Stacy helped him mow while we watched Henry. Kyle and I went fly fishing in a pond and I almost caught a trout! I didn't know you have to "let him run" on the line to wear him out so he doesn't break the line. Unfortunately, I didn't wear him out long enough and he broke the line right as I was about to lift him out of the water.









The next day we went to Yellowstone. We got to see bison and Old Faithful and Beehive geyser go off. There is so much to see at Yellowstone, and we just did the quick version!









On Saturday, we celebrated Henry's 1st birthday! He is the sweetest little guy. Rarely fussy and will go to anyone which allowed me to love on him, lots. 



 


Montana: Part 1

Kyle and I are back from our Montana trip. We went to visit his brother and sister-in-law and to celebrate Henry's first birthday. Justin and Stacy live in Virginia City, the oldest mining town in Montana. You can read about it here. Population is around 132. And Stacy, who has lived there her whole life, knows all 132 people.

We stayed the night at my brother's house (actually we switched houses Tues night cause we caught our flight out of OKC and Lauren had an early tennis tourney in Tulsa Wed morn) and started our journey to VC. The Bozeman airport doesn't even look like an airport. It looks like a lodge. We picked up our rental and drove an hour and half to Virginia City. Spotty cell service the whole way and beautiful mountains surrounding us.
Driving to Virginia City 
We got to Ennis, which is about 15 min away from our destination and decided to stop for a vacation kickoff drink. Ennis is the closest town to VC and everyone still knows everyone there. Kyle knew the owners of the bar and was besties with the bartender in 2 minutes.
Gravel Bar

Moscow Mule: best drink ever  

We headed on over to Justin and Stacy's. I couldn't wait to see Henry! They live in a historical home, and they have done tons of renovations.

Carl and Mary Lou had been delayed so we just hung out with Stacy and Henry for most of the day. Once Carl and Mary Lou arrived with the groceries, we had a snack (and another moscow mule) and then walked down into town so I could see what VC is all about.






Fairweather Inn





Contact Prudential if you are interested in moving!

But not to this place

Old church
Justin works a ranch in Ennis. A mansion and a guest house are on the property and they are gorgeous!