O Denim Jacket, How I Love Thee

Yes, you read that correctly. This is a quasi "ode" to the denim jacket. Anyone who has seen me every Sunday for the past 3 years has probably realized by now that I'm a little "denim jacket obsessed". I wear one every single Sunday with whatever outfit I have on. Now, lest you think I just throw on my denim all willy-nilly, let me assure you that I do not buy a Sunday outfit unless it coordinates with my jeaned jacket.

I had a shower this past Sunday at the fiance's church. Guess what I wore...a darling new dress and my denim jacket. (pictured below--the friend who introduced us, me, and the fiance)


I had a shower a few weeks ago at my congregation. Guess what I wore...a black skirt, a cute top, and the denim jacket.


The fiance and I are having to have our picture made for the church website and directory. Guess what I am wearing...you guessed it...some sort of clothing topped off with a denim jacket. It has become my staple, my security blanket, and to those who think it might be too hot to wear it in the summer, I simply assure them that that is what air conditioning is for.

In less than 2 weeks at the wedding--the outside wedding--it is looking as if the temperatures are going to be in the mid 60's. I had someone ask me yesterday if I would wear the denim jacket with my wedding dress to stay warm. I just might. It's classic and goes with EVERYTHING.

I Don't Want Bunnies & Chickens & Ducks

Well, the wedding is less than 3 weeks and more than 2 weeks away, and there doesn't seem to be enough time in each day to get things done (and by things, I mean both wedding AND work things).

The current wedding "thing" that is wreaking havoc is the wedding favor (yes, I realize how dumb that sounds). I really didn't like my original plan, and so I set out in search of a new plan...a better plan...a plan that involves various shades of pink.

This "new plan" can at least use some of the "old plan" items (i.e. the Valentine's M&M's that I purchased), but it also needs additional candies (yes, family members, I will be sugaring you up at the wedding). So, on Monday after work, I went in search for any remaining Valentine's M&M's that might be lining the shelves of our local discount stores (yes, I realize that Monday was over a week past Valentine's Day, but I was holding out hope that there might still be some out there).

My back up plan, if the M&M search proved fruitless, was to look at Easter colored candy, because I could pick out certain shades and use only those candies (did I mention that this new plan involves picking out all of the red M&M's out the current Valentine's packs). But, all the Easter candy now has bunnies and chickens and ducks on it. And while I realize I am from East Texas and there is a good bit of "backwoods" to my general persona, even I do not want farm animals on my wedding favors. So, those were out.

I went to store after store after store looking for the perfect candy, and my overall mood became crabbier the longer I looked (this can be verified by the sales clerk at Target...I think I owe her an apology). When I was about to run out of gas on the bad side of town, I took that as a sign that it was time to give up and call it a night.

The search was not over, though. The fiance joined in on Tuesday. After taking careful notes of exactly what I was looking for, he went to 6 or 7 different stores in his neck of the woods and finally located numerous bags of a chocolate candy (from a different holiday season) that would work (after sorting out one of the colors, of course). Jackpot!

I have since added one more extra special candy to the mix, and I am now ready to turn the plethora of sweets over to my dear friend who is using child labor (her daughter) to help put all of the treats together. When all is said and done, we will have baggie after baggie of unusable red M&M's leftover, but really cute wedding favors (and isn't that the important thing).

Nothing Says Neverending Love Like a Coupon

So, as I was on my way home this afternoon, I was visiting with one of my friends on the phone, and I happened to mention something to her that sent her into a fit of laughter. After composing herself, she asserted that this really should go on the blog.

So, here it goes...

The fiance and I did our pre-marital counseling through our preacher at church. We chose to do this for a variety of reasons. What we did not realize at the time was that there was a greater, more cost-effective benefit to doing this.

You see, our church is part of a program called Twogether Texas. The idea of this program is that if couples go through a pre-marital counseling program prior to marriage, the state of Texas will give them a discount on their marriage license. That's right, folks, it is a full-fledged marrige coupon (and a pretty good coupon at that).

So, we completed this counseling, and the fiance and I are now the proud recipients of our very own marriage discount, because nothing says neverending love like a coupon.

Swimming in a Sea of Ribbons

Over the past two days, I have been swimming in a sea of ribbons. Some wonderful ladies from church threw me a wedding shower last night, and then this morning my fellow children's ministry ladies (and man) threw me a surprise shower at our monthly meeting. As much as I do not like being the "center of attention", the showers were both absolutely wonderful and I feel incredibly blessed to be surrounded by all of these people.


I have included some pictures (complete with "captioning").


These are the hostesses of my church shower. Getting everyone into the room to take a picture turned out to be a pretty big feat.





I am not a fan of pictures. So, this was me trying to hide as pictures were being snapped. I apparently overestimated the "coverage" that my jacket would provide. Also, please notice the plate of Oreos and the bowl of peanut butter. Those are the best shower foods EVER.

We are having Gerbera Daisies at the wedding, and so these were two of the flower arrangements done for the shower.

This picture is just cute. It is of my friend Roxanne's daughter (on the right) and my friend Jacinda's daughter (on the left).

This next picture is from my shower this morning. Those are my fellow CM peeps. Bless, Dustin's heart. He always gets thrown into a sea of ladies.

And finally, this is my friend Roxanne. This is the person who introduced the fiance and me (yes, I owe her BIG TIME). Even though she lives about an hour north of where I live, she and her daughter were able to come to the shower. If you notice, we have both moved to our "fake smile" part of the day.

Catch-Up

Okay, the purpose of this blog post is to play catch-up. I haven't posted in a little over a week, and because of that I was chided by someone at church for falling behind on my posting. So, here is a quick recap since I last posted.

1. I am getting married in 5 1/2 weeks. Woohoo!

2. I drove around today with 12 glass vases in my backseat floorboard. I am afraid to look and see if any of them are broken.

3. I have purchased 6 large waters from Sonic for a grand total of $1.92 ($0.30 each plus tax).

4. I finally had the inside of my car cleaned (it was filthy), and numerous people have commented on it. That worries me slightly.

5. In last Wednesday night's 1st and 2nd grade class, we glittered. We didn't just sprinkle a little sparkly on some glue we G.L.I.T.T.E.R.E.D. on piles of glue, and I then sent everything home with parents.

6. As my friend Melanie and I were walking one morning, we passed by a man sitting in the driver's seat of his truck playing a ukelele.

7. I fell in the church parking lot. Only my pride was hurt (and the car I slung myself across as I came crashing to the ground).

8. I asked a rude sales person if I was annoying him by trying to purchase something from him.

There you have it. There is my "little over a week" recap. I realize it wasn't terribly interesting, so I will try to carry a notepad with me this week so that I can jot down all the things that happen, and hopefully the next post will be more entertaining.

Does This Concern Anyone Else?

As I have continued along in my wedding planning, certain ideas or thoughts on how I was going to do something have had to change. I know this is typical, and as much as I claimed that NONE of my ideas would change, I must sheepishly own up to the fac that I was wrong. Yes, indeed, I have had to change a few plans.

With that being said, I have begun scouring the internet in search of "budget-friendly" (a.k.a. cheap) solutions to certain situations. In one of these searches, I discovered something most unusual. I discovered that you can purchase your wedding reception centerpieces from Oriental Trading Company. Yes, I am completely serious.

For those unfamiliar with the world of the OTC, this company specializes in uber-cheap crafts, kid toys, party favors, workroom supplies, etc. The key word in that sentence is uber-cheap. Also, I don't think you noticed anywhere in my description the word "wedding". Oriental Trading Company is not known for its elegant wedding franchise. In fact, they are known for their VBS supplies. I generally order hundreds of dollars of stuff from them each summer for various kids activities. So, to find out that I could purchase all the centerpieces I wanted and get free shipping on orders of $75 or more actually concerned me. Am I wrong? Does this concern anyone else?

After looking at their selection (yes, I looked at it because they are cheap), I decided that OTC was not the way for me to go. So, I will continue my search online, and I will no doubt stumble across additional pieces of information that utterly confuse me. Maybe if I search long and hard enough, I will also discover that Lowe's hardware store sells bridal shoes.

World's GREATEST Discovery

So, I took a break from "all things wedding" yesterday on my day off to have lunch with a friend. It was in the process of picking up my lunch that I discovered the B.E.S.T. T.H.I.N.G. E.V.E.R. (and no, I don't think I am overstating anything). You can buy a large ice water with extra ice from Sonic for $0.30!

To say that I was overjoyed in making that revelation is an understatement. I have a love affair with Sonic ice, and I have been trying to drink way more water lately, and this combines the best of both things.

And...(and this is the cheapskate in me)...if I stop every day of the week and get one, that is only $2.10 (woohoo). Which is less than $10 a week (even bigger woohoo).

I hope this announcement has brightened your week as much as it has mine.