1 down, Oh-So-Many To Go!

Incredible how quickly a year passes these days. I can only imagine how quickly they will move in another 50 years.

And just like that I've been married to my wonderful Mingus for a year.

This was a snippet of the year-end video I made for my family last Christmas about the wedding (thus being primarily photos of my immediate family, but I still wanted to share). I'm unsure of whether or not YouTube let's the music play, so please tell me if is silent!

It fell on a Monday, since it was a leap year, which is less than ideal for any anniversary, let alone your very first one! But it was magnificent nonetheless.

After spending the entire week prior reminiscing of the flurry of last minute prep the week leading up to the wedding, we began our anniversary weekend with a trip to Indiana for another family member's wedding. They picked the BEST weekend...if I do say so myself!

Andrew & Jessica

We took our time driving home Sunday, taking in all of the beautiful fall colors on our drive. We stopped by Huber's Winery--always a festive, fun place this time of year--as well as a trip to Target to... wait for it.... Use wedding gift cards! Yes, we have some still unused! Being that we live so far out, we don't make regular trips to a lot of places--such as Target. While I could have used them on one of my work trips to Louisville, I didn't want to spend them without his input (or I may have come home with hots and onesies...). Lucky for us, their gift cards don't expire! We're now fully prepared to still eat hot cooked meals during winter power outages with our Coleman stove!

Last day as "newly weds" in our first year of marriage.

Monday began less than perfect with both of us feeling rather under the weather. (I'll spare you details...) He rested most of the day and I worked from home... then I had to cover volleyball district games (working from 9-9 on your anniversary isn't what anyone wants), but Mingus came with me just to have the extra time together.

We ended the night breaking into our wedding cake topper. We let it sit out all day to thaw from its year in the freezer and I have to say, after a year, it was still quite delicious! We ate it on plates of our fancy pants china we have yet to really use and also opened a bottle of Greystone Cellars wine from the wedding. We looked through our wedding album and laughed a lot.

I discovered the face-detect feature on my camera for the first time
which resulted in a mini-photo shoot during our cake part!

I love my Wonderful with all of my heart and have loved the simplicity we have shared in this past year. He always puts me first and I am continuously amazed at how life-giving he is to me yet still acts like he does so little. Life far and away in the middle of Kentucky's knobs with just the two of us playing outside, getting dirty and taking on life's daily adventures is my kind of heaven.

My Wedding on a Budget: 7 Days to Go!

BACHELORETTE BABY!!
The big kick-off to wedding week!!! The Bachelorette Party! Jo was the hostess with the mostest who planned the entire day and made it beyond spectacular! Talon winery was, well, cold on the tour, but tasting was a blast. Ten of us went and got to try 6 types a piece. The tour guide was pretty generous with his "tasting" size pours (probably too generous) so a lot of us got lucky (and a little buzzed!) Rachel bought some delicious wine cheese as well.
Then we had some unwind time at the house. Michael, such a good guy, let us girls take over his house on a Saturday and he just stayed out of the way! We relaxed, chatted, watched some football. Some girls didn't stay for the going out at night and a few more joined us that hadn't made it to the winery. Although I told Holly to tell them no gifts because they've done enough already, they showered me with fun, fun, fun honeymoon attire.
Rachel did a test run on my wedding makeup and it looked wonderful! Everyone dressed in purple and just looking at the group of girls made me smile! We made girly drinks (no beer for once!), shared jewelry and swapped clothing and accessories. Did hair and make up. Jammed to tunes and the longer the evening stretched on the more girlish squeals of "Wedding Weeeeeeeek!" were let out and "Woo-Hooing" was heard!
We headed out to Hugo's at about 10:15 p.m. where Holly had a reserved booth for us. It was perfect. We ran into some unexpected friends while at the bar. We laughed. We danced. I couldn't have asked for a better girls' night. I think what made it that much better is that none of us were single We were all in serious relationships so no one was concerned with men on any level. We were there for each and other and the fun we create.
Wedding week has begun!

My Wedding on a Budget: 11 Days to Go!

The Odds and Ends
Trying to take advantage of my last "must be here" night in Louisville. (I will drive home tomorrow and possibly be back on Sunday but it's better to get as much done as possible, right?)

So what got done?
- Dropped off cake topper (flowers) and cupcake papers to Kara
- Picked up the Greystone Cellars Chardonnay and Cabernet cases
- Check things off the shopping list:

• Guest Book
• Sharpies to write on Koozies
• Boots to wear with my bachelorette dress plus jewelry
• Thank you cards
• SD card for my video camera (16 GB)
• Blush and lip stuff I still needed for make up
• Swim trunks for Jon
• GLOW STICKS...just in case we want to bust them out at the reception
• A few other fun items...

I could have gotten all of this shopping done a lot faster/earlier but it sucks you in!!! And let's face it, I don't shop too often, so when I do, it's okay to get a little caught up in it, right?