Father of the Bride

One of my favorite movies of all time is Father of the Bride. The Steve Martin version of course! If you haven't seen it, well buy it or rent it or learn about it here. Zach bought it and the sequel as part of my Christmas present and I was beyond excited.

Well if you have seen the movie, you are familiar with Steve Martin's character George. Over the past 10 months of my engagment, I have realized this: My father and George are a lot alike.

Its funny how similar they are actually. Both worried about wedding budget, both the concerned father, both the over the top gracious and loving father. I couldn't ask for a more supportive and loving father. He has given me much to laugh about over the process, made me realize what is truly important and ultimately supported me no matter what. So thanks Dad, for being so much like George Banks and putting up with my wedding craziness.

George: I used to think a wedding was a simple affair. Boy and girl meet, they fall in love, he buys a ring, she buys a dress, they say I do. I was wrong. That's getting married. A wedding is an entirely different proposition. I know. I've just been through one. Not my own, my daughter's. Annie Banks Mackenzie. That's her married name: Mackenzie. You fathers will understand. You have a little girl. An adorable little girl who looks up to you and adores you in a way you could never have imagined. I remember how her little hand used to fit inside mine. Then comes the day when she wants to get her ears pierced, and wants you to drop her off a block before the movie theater. From that moment on you're in a constant panic. You worry about her meeting the wrong kind of guy, the kind of guy who only wants one thing, and you know exactly what that one thing is, because it's the same thing you wanted when you were their age. Then, you stop worrying about her meeting the wrong guy, and you worry about her meeting the right guy. That's the greatest fear of all, because, then you lose her. It was just six months ago that that happened here. Just six months ago, that the storm broke.

BHG love.

While waiting in line at Publix today I found a BHG magazine with 100 best ideas that I had to buy! With future home (currently an imaginary one) planning and registering, I love getting great decorating ideas! Below are a few of my favorites:

I absolutely love this living room! I love the combination of colors and patterns!

{Image Credit}

For some odd reason, I find myself drawn to blues, whrisp whites, tans and yellows. We'll see how everything turns out once we figure out where we will be living.

For more like these go to http://bhg.com/makeovers

Christmas jewels.

Zach and I were blessed this Christmas with some great gifts. When family and friends asked us around Thanksgiving what we wanted for Christmas we directed them to our registry, since it contains items on it that we needed and/or wanted. We were blessed by family and got some amazing items!

Zach's parents got us our entire set of everyday dishes! We were so excited!

Mom and Dad got us our flatware! I never imagined being so excited over flatware!

 

Opening our flatware! 

Zach's aunt had drew my name for Christmas and got the one thing off the registry that I simply just wanted; Zach could have cared less about it. It was not a necessity but more a want that I figured we wouldn't get. BUT I am soooo excited to have it! For those of you who don't have one of these jewels and love a good Starbucks's frappuccino and get tired of the expense of Starbucks, well look no further!

{Image Credit}

So far, I have made only one recipe due to lack of ingredients. But I must say they are the real deal!

Now, we officially have the first pieces for our future home. Only a few more months to go!

 Christmas # 7

No. 10: For the past 6 years..

Six years ago, two high school students sat having their usual daily lunch with friends at school. During that lunch a boy got up the nerve to ask a girl out on a date that Saturday night. Little did they know that 6 years from then they would be 5 months away from saying I do...

Today marks 6 years since Zach and I went on our very first date. It feels as though its been forever ago, to think that we were just Junior/Senior in high school then. Now we've moved away to Auburn, graduated from Auburn, started careers and are in the midst of planning a wedding. I am blessed to have had 6 wonderful years to share with Zach and am particularly excited for a lifetime more.

How shall we celebrate this occasion you ask? Well, with a Christmas get together followed by an SEC Championship Game of course! Auburn is playing and these two alums can't think of a better way to spend this day than cheering on our Alma mater to victory and then a subsequent trip to the national championship. Come on Auburn, don't let me down now! WAR EAGLE!

Image Credit: Gresham Photography|www.simple-color.com

No. 9: Accomplished.

Wedding plans are swiftly progressing. There is still much to do, however upon the completion of the Thanksgiving Holiday, I feel somewhat like I have finally accomplished some things! After the weekend, here is how my to-do list appears:

1. Pick out invitations
2. Buy invitations
3. Finalize Guest List
4. Decide on Ceremony Music
5. Print Engagement Photos
6. Use Engagement Photo Print Credit
7. Find & Book Cake Baker
8. Order Guest Book
9. Print Invitations
10. Purchase Veil
11. Finalize Bridesmaid Dresses
12. Pick out tuxes

Overall, we've made a dent. There are a few more things, as listed above that we'd like to get done before the end of year. Fingers crossed that these are easy tasks.

No. 8: Thankful

This Thanksgiving, I find myself more than ever realizing how much I truly have to be thankful for. Life is busy and often we forget all the little things we have to be grateful for. This year its even the simplest things that I am thankful for. For starters, family, especially my healthy, loving, always providing parents. Living at home with them for the stint of time that remains until marriage has reminded me once again, just how lucky I am to have such wonderful parents. They are a blessing and the best team to have on your side.

I am also thankful for love. Thankful to have Zach by my side. Thankful that in 5 months, we will begin building a home together and taking those first steps as husband and wife together. I cannot explain how thankful I am to have him and to know that I have him to share all those treasured future events with. I am thankful for 6 years of pure joy and can't wait for many more. I am also thankful for the wonderful family that I will be becoming apart of, well "officially" becoming apart of. Although I already consider them all mine, I am glad to be officially apart of the clan. (I even get my own stocking!)

I am thankful for warm loving friendships, new and old. I am glad that even with my closest friends 75+ miles away that I can still have weekly conversations that keep me in tact. I am thankful for the blessings in their lives and hope God continues to bless them with wonderful opportunities. I am thankful for new friends, for a work family I could have never imagined being so wonderful.

Simply put, I am thankful. I am thankful for all of the blessings that the Lord has so graciously given me. I am thankful for His continuous lessons. I am thankful for His grace. I am thankful for His enduring love. I am thankful.

Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!
Psalm 106:1

No. 7: Simply Put

I stumbled upon a quote from a song today and found it to be simply put, well wonderful. It made me smile and think of how lucky I am.

She said what she wants is a man to be faithful
A true heart somebody willin’ and able
To stay by her side through thick and thin
A tender touch every now and then

She’s not hung up on fairy tales
Or some dream at the bottom of a wishin’ well
Fancy cars or diamond rings
What she wants most are the little things
-Brooks & Dunn

I must admit, I enjoy something "special" every now and then. A surprise, something as simple as a random I love you text message will do the trick. However, what I love most of all about being with Zach is how simple it all is. Its a no fuss relationship yet still exciting and thrilling. The fact that we can have fun while studying/watching football together makes it all worth while.

Approximately 7 months to go until the wedding day! Zach's mom asked me the other day what I was looking forward to the most and to be honest it is simply to be in the same city again. To be able to come home watch Reba or Grey's Anatomy reruns on the couch. To just be with each other for more than 30% of the time. I will be happy to just have time, simple moments to share together.

Sometimes, its the simple things that make you the happiest. And its the simple things that make you realize how lucky and happy you truly are.

Typical Sunday... Football and Studying, somethings never change.

No. 6: To Do Lists

I have a problem. I like love to make to-do lists. Needless to say I love even more checking things off those to do lists. With wedding planning, my to-do list is every growing. But I am proud to report as of the first of October, things are really starting to come together... proof, well it lies in the list.

1. Book Venue
2. Book Florist
3. Book Photographer
4. Find Wedding Dress
5. Pick out Bridesmaid dresses
6. Invitations
7. Turn in Passport Application -Procrastination is key on this :)
8. Book Caterer
9. Book DJ/Band (Almost)
10. Honeymoon
11. Book Cake Baker (Appointment Made)
....and so on.

So look-y there we are getting there! Believe it or not had we stuck to our original date we would be getting married in a week. Knowing now where we are, I am so glad God led us to push the date back. Since we are still in separate cities, that might not have worked out so well.

But we are getting there. Things are falling into place and life couldn't be better.

So there, now everyone is up to-date on my to do list love habits. And that one actually has made progress!

With love.

No. 5: Alum

Well, this past weekend really made it real. Zach and I are alumni. No doubting that fact anymore.
The realization came over the following:
1. It costs us more for 2 tickets to one game than it did for 2 season student tickets
2. We could arrive 5 minutes before the eagle flies, get in and sit comfortably before the game. No 3 hours of waiting in lines.
3. We sat next to a blaring and obnoxious South Carolina band, thus making us even prouder alumni.

And then there is this, which should make any Auburn Alum or faithful proud:

"This small town was the best of the best. Before the game, friends told us all the campus was like Clemson. Not true. This place was pristine with class. It had character. And the people had character. They even recycled."

Read more here.


War Eagle.

With love.

No. 4: Just loving.

I could go on for hours about my love for vintage antique furniture pieces. I love antiques. I love their character, charm, stories... Zach on the other hand is not such a fan. He is scarred from many hours spent wondering antique stores unwillingly as a child. We will turn this around here soon before we settle down, I assure you!

But for now... I am LOVING blue pieces of furniture. Just one piece, one accent piece among whites and natural wood tones. Ahh! So we will have a piece like this I have determined. This is the first inspiration for Zach and mines future home...wherever that may be.

A friend of mine recently posted this photo and I am in love... just add a dash of yellow.

Official Kitchen color inspiration:

Current idea for Kitchen will be to use the colors in the above photos. So exciting!

With love.

No. 3: Randomness

Oh wedding planning, life planning, daydreaming.... my mind is about as random as anyone could imagine.

While rumaging through numerous wedding websites for ideas, I have stumbled upon a little slice of rustic simple charm, wedding style. This wedding is darling and makes me happy.
http://www.elizabethannedesigns.com/blog/2010/08/31/nashville-wedding-at-cedarwood/
Its just lovely. Honestly, the whole website just makes me happy.

On a side note, that fiance of mine is adorable. This weekend he has made me laugh over the silliest and simplest of things. First, he asked me randomly about what we are going to tell people once we're married in terms of how long we've been together. I had not really thought any about it prior to this. But he was so serious in his question. Who knows what we'll say.. will we give the whole long spill we dated 6.5 years before marrying, but we've been married for x months or will it be short and sweet just we've been married for x months. Its funny that this thought crossed his mind while we were discussing how long we have been together. But we'll see how that questoin is answered when time comes.

Second, when watching Julie and Julia, theres a scene where Julie and her husband sit Indian style facing each other. This humored Zach, he found it funny that they were just sitting Indian style looking at each other. I asked him jokingly "like what you don't want to sit like that together?" He responded...when have you ever seen me sit Indian style. As we pondered this Zach informed me of how it hurt his hip to sit that way and that if I noticed he never crosses his right leg over left. I laughed for a good 10 minutes. Who knew after 5.5 years that I would be learning something new about him. I took note of this and marked couples yoga out of our future.

Here's to whats left of a glorious 3 day weekend.

with love.

No. 2: War Eagle from home!

This weekend marked the first season of football in 5 years that I will not be on the Plains partaking in Auburn Football! Its bittersweet. Zach and I have found ourselves reminiscing more and more lately about our times at Auburn and we've been gone for less than a year! But those years at Auburn were unique, a time with friends we'll never get back. Oh the glory days.

And on Friday it hit me, I begin to realize how weird it was not to be on campus before game day. I found it very strange to not be on campus the day before a home game answering calls about game-day transit, finding rvs scattered randomly through campus, hearing the fight song... oh Auburn how I miss you! And then this article says it all http://bleacherreport.com/articles/50839-i-am-auburn

Since we are no longer holders of $90 student season tickets, Zach broke down and bought our first tickets as Alum. Our first non student tickets--eek. So come South Carolina and Arkansas, we'll be there with our shakers shaking. Until then, we'll sit on the couch watching with my Alabama fan of a father cheering our hearts out.

War Eagle.

No. 1: Refresh

I created this blog in February and started blogging about life then. I at first decided to keep it to myself and wait to post it until later, but now I figure why not.

With that I cleared all old blogs and decided to click the "refresh" button.

So a few updates are due.

1. Zach and I are engaged as of 2/12/2010! The wedding date is set for May 14, 2010 and I assure you that the bulk of this blog will be wedding planning related!
   
2. I am working in Birmingham! After interning with a public accounting firm during the spring, I took a job with Daxko in Birmingham. I provide software support for two products daily for YMCA's across the country and love it.
3. Zach has graduated with honors with a degree in Architecture! He is now interning in Nashville and actively looking for jobs. If you know anyone in need of an architect, I know a fantastic one! {and with that we are doing long distance again}
4. You may ask...what's with the name of the blog, well if you didn't know I am soon to be a "red bird"...Scarlett Parrott. haha, I can't wait and have been nicknamed this at work already so I figured I would run with it!
   

I guess those are the "big" things!

with love.