Day 20

It's been a great Sunday. After church, David and I used some groupons to go to the movies and see monsters university. We both thought it was really good!

Then we headed to my brother's house to hang out and have dinner. Loved getting to play with my nephew

Stickers and Cars

He can't quite say names yet other than mama and dada (the important ones) so to get my attention he just talks louder and louder and looks at me. Then he'll point to where he wants me to go. So he enjoyed having me come sit on the floor with him. 

After dinner I met up with my friends Katie and Sami to catch up and share what's going on for all of us. I am so blessed by their friendships and I love getting to spend time with them both!

Now for a short week at work before the holiday weekend- which I'm sure will be full of wedding-related tasks!

Day 21

This afternoon we went to cleburne to celebrate David's birthday with his family. Then we headed to see his sister in a musical she's doing this summer

She is playing the oldest daughter and it was fun getting to see her in that role!

After dessert with David's parents we headed home. It was crazy to say goodbye knowing that the next time we'll see them is when they come for the wedding weekend!  It's getting close :)

Day 22

Today things started feeling really overwhelming. I think it was the realization that we're only 3 weeks away- that seems so much closer than 4 weeks- and lots will happen in the next 3 weeks. But I'm trying to remember that it'll all be over then and I need to enjoy the right now. 

So tonight we had a movie night. I'd never seen Despicable Me so we had some friends over to watch it- so cute!  

And they helped me knock out a few wedding tasks too: 

All of the favor boxes now have labels and are assembled!  Now to fill them the week of :)

Day 23

Tonight we got to be present for the baptism of an international student that was connected to Woodcreek through UTD and the international friendship partner program that we're part of. 

Day 24

Our young adults bible study started back tonight and we're going to be looking at Daniel!  I'm so excited for this study with friends. 

Day 25

Happy Birthday to my wonderful fiancé!!  We're certainly a lot different than on last year's birthday when we had just started dating and I had no idea what to do for him. 

Today started out with chick fil a breakfast. 

The one by me does a free breakfast item each Tuesday. Today was supposed to be the chicken biscuit, but when we got there they had changed it. But we still enjoyed breakfast with our friend Katie!

Then tonight David had class so I headed over to his apartment to make dinner so it was ready for when he got home 

Chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy. The mashed potatoes were really good, I thought. The steaks weren't great, but they were okay. And I definitely need to work on my gravy skills ;) but I tried! 

And then I made dessert as well 

David doesn't like cake, so I made an Oreo pudding dessert. 

And on this very special day it's also a fun numbers day (just for David). It's the 25th and 25 days til we get married! 

Day 26

I got to enjoy a really awesome night with my 2 sweet friends, Katie and Melissa. It had been a while since we'd been together, so it was great to catch up!

Day 27

We had a great morning at church and then enjoyed lunch at our friend Matt's house with a bunch of people. 

After that we took lily over to David's apartment for the first time so she can start getting used to it. 

I think she'll adjust just fine. 

Tonight we went to see Man of Steel. We went back to the theater by my old apartment and tried out their marquee suites- it has comfortable recliners to sit in and they serve you food. The experience was great- the movie not so great- but I sure was grateful for those comfortable chairs 2 hours in when I decided to fall asleep ;) and now it's time for some real rest!

Day 28

It was a wonderful Saturday!  My day started with lunch with my best friend. We got to catch up, chat marriage and wedding prep stuff and my super crafty friend helped me get started on my scrapbook!

Then I headed to David's and we watched a movie- I tried unsuccessfully to take a nap during the movie, but it was still a restful afternoon. 

This evening we headed to Rockwall to hang out with our friends Ray and Sarah. We've been wanting to get together with them for a while, but schedules are just ridiculously crazy. So when Sarah texted this morning to see if we could hang out, I was so excited our evening was open :)

We bought groupons for the batting cages and enjoyed the evening out there. Sarah I both searched groupon this morning and came across that one and it seemed too good to pass up. In case you didn't know, David likes baseball ;) and ray and Sarah do as well so it was a fun time.

Then we headed to The Harbor for dinner on the patio of Gloria's. We had some great conversations and enjoyed just spending time together. And right as we were leaving, they were setting off fireworks over the lake- a great ending to the day!

Day 29

David just turned to me and said 

"Guess what?  Less than one month until we get married."

And that's made today a very happy Friday!

Day 30

A surprise I sent to David as he is busy studying today.  And because it's officially ONE MONTH until we get married :) :) :)

Since today is the day our RSVPs are officially due, I just thought these numbers were fun...

60 percent?  For real?  I know not everyone RSVPs, but I didn't realize that really only a little over half would send back the RSVP card... that I printed and gave them an addressed, stamped envelope for.  Crazy.  Now the verbal RSVP collecting begins :)

Day 31

Tonight David came over and we enjoyed dinner. Then my mom and I worked on a few wedding things that needed to be done before tomorrow (30 days out!). 

Then David and I took Lily for a walk. It was relatively nice outside and we really enjoyed it. 

Day 32

Today I got all my stuff together to make a scrapbook of all the pictures of David's and my dating relationship, engagement, and showers. I can't wait to get it all put together!

Day 33

My housemates for the week

It's been kind of a blah Monday.  I didn't sleep well last night and haven't been feeling great.  But it was nice to get to come back to the house I'm staying at and rest.  David and I made breakfast for dinner and now we are spending the evening watching TV on the couch with those 2 adorable dogs.  

Just what I needed tonight!

Day 34

After 12 years of not having a real reason to celebrate Fathers' Day, it was fun to get to spend this afternoon with David's family. 

We left church early to head to cleburne for lunch. We went to a fun little barbecue place in town. 

We were the only ones there. It was a sweet afternoon of lunch and catching up with his parents and sister. I love the family I'm getting to marry into. 

It's still hard to not have my daddy around. Especially on days like today and in all the wedding planning- accounting for some of the changes there. But today was a sweet reminder of all the blessings in my life right now. 

Day 35

It's been a busy and good Saturday!  

First I got to enjoy catching up with my best friend over lunch. We've seen each other quite a bit over the past month, but it had been a while since we had hung out just the 2 of us. It was so nice catching up on everything. Makes my heart happy :)

Then I headed to a wedding shower for a friend. My mom's best friend's daughter, who I grew up with, is getting married the weekend before David and I. So today was her shower. It was fun getting to celebrate her!

Then I headed to my housesitting gig where I'll be for the next few days. David came over this evening. And he sweetly helped me work through some of our to-do list. Even though he was kinda over some of the wedding details :)

And now we are enjoying ice cream and a movie!  A great Saturday night in 

Day 36

Happy Friday!!!

I left work a little early (as I tend to do on Fridays) and stopped by David's for a quick surprise visit. He went to the rangers game tonight, but figured I could see him beforehand. 

Then I headed home to mama reed's where she was getting a new A/C unit. And apparently lily had been out of sorts and barking. Since like 8:30 am. 

After they finally got it all set up and left around 7:30, my mom and I did a little shopping and eating. 

And now my exciting Friday night is coming to an end. 

Day 37

Today I am feeling ready for a lot of things...

I'm ready for 2 weeks off work in July- the most consecutive days I've had off in my almost 6 years at ECI

I'm ready for that to officially be us 

And I'm ready for a week at the beach!  I even got these fun new sandals in today to take with me to Jamaica 

When I talked to nicki yesterday we talked about how we can't believe the countdown is in the 30s. And it's true. 

And I know the next month will be crazy and I'm looking forward to so much of it. 

But today I'm just ready for it to be 37 days from now!  

Creative Friends

I had my last shower this past weekend.  The whole shower experience has been a little surreal--it's been hard to believe the showers are actually for me.  But they've been a lot of fun.  

In looking through all the pictures from the showers, I just had to blog about the fun things my super creative hostesses have put together!

First was all of Erin's decor for the lingerie shower:

And this past weekend, my sister-in-law decorated for my family "kitchen" shower:

She used gifts off my registry for decorations!  You can't see it terribly well--but the flower centerpiece is in one of my pitchers and on either side are some of my Pop Canisters with kitchen utensils in them!

 She didn't make the desserts, but how incredibly cute are the petit fours and cake pops?

And fun favors with a "recipe" for a happy marriage attached to a cookie cutter

Having such cute stuff at my showers made them that much more fun!

Day 38

The day of car fun!  David drove to cleburne today to get new tires for his car. On his drive home from getting 4 new tires he called to tell me his car broke down on the side of the highway :(

On my way to pick him up, my car hit a big "milestone"

150,000 miles

In 6 years and 1 month (actually to the day since I got it at graduation on may 12!) 

thankfully his cars damage isn't as bad as we originally thought, but car trouble is still no fun. 

Then we enjoyed dinner together before heading back home:

Yum!

Day 39

This evening I stayed in. 

It was filled with ordering pictures for an album of the last year dating/engagement/showers

Thank you note writing

And watching the Bachelorette with my mom. 

Now I'm gonna go call my favorite guy to catch up before getting a good nights sleep. :)

Day 40

40 Days Left!  For some reason that seems like so few... only a little more than a month to go!

Today was a busy, but great, day at work.  Then I met up with David to head to dinner with a mentor couple of our young adults group--Bruce and Bert.  Bert made dinner for us and we had fruit for dessert and sat around and talked with them about their stories and our stories.

It was a really great night--and a great way to start the week!

Day 41

Today my sister in law and future sister in law hosted a shower for me. It was a great afternoon with family and close friends and I got some great kitchen stuff and recipes!   Can't wait to be able to use it all when I move to the apartment in July!

Day 42

So it's technically already Sunday- but that's how busy day 42 was!

It was Lake Day for our young adults group, so David and I headed out to the lake around noon to help get things set up. We caught up with friends and got people signed in before we had to leave at 3:30. 

Then we headed to cleburne for dinner and a show that we've had planned for the last few months. Before dinner I was able to catch his mom up on some of the recent planning and show her some of the things I'm making for the ceremony and reception. 

The musical we saw was very fun!  We all enjoyed it. Then we had some dessert and loaded up to head home. 

And now it's officially way past my bedtime. 

Day 43

Today has been a good and busy Friday. I ended up having the day off work, so I slept in a little (til like 7:30 haha) then I took lily for a long walk.

After that I met up with my friend Stephanie and her kids for lunch

This is M, Stephanie's oldest. Her favorite Disney princess is Ariel because she likes her. It was great catching up with Stephanie. We worked together until 2 years ago when she had her little boy and I'm so grateful we've kept in touch since then. Meeting up with her is always good for my heart :)

After lunch I headed to meet up with David. We went to use a groupon we had for rock climbing that I bought him for Christmas because it was about to expire. 

After about an hour of rock climbing I randomly threw out that I wanted to go to 6 flags sometime this summer. Which turned into- why don't we go today?  

So we went and got discount tickets from UTD and bought sunscreen and headed to Arlington! 

It was a great day to go. Not too hot and the lines were very reasonable. We rode everything we wanted to ride and still left before dark! 

I know the next 6 weeks (that doesn't seem like much time!) will be crazy so

I'm grateful we had a fun and spontaneous date afternoon/evening today!  

Day 44

I had my dress fitting tonight to look at alterations!  It was fun getting to see how it will be bustled. And now we have to leave it there for a month to have it all fixed up. Can't wait to get to back!!

Day 45

We are taking a break from bible study for a couple weeks, so we had a night in. 

We enjoyed dinner

Of steak and twice baked cauliflower 

Then played some wii games

It's been a good day