Today was a Fairytale

[I know it's been so long since I've been able to update everyone...]

June was such an amazing month. I had recently graduated from college, moved out of my apartment. We [my family & friends] moved "my life" from Illinois to Tennessee - the only thing is that I wasn't going to be living there til after the wedding. So for the months of May & the beginning of June, I lived out of a suitcase. :)

The family started arriving to help decorate for the wedding & finish all the final touches. Since there are so many amazing memories & things I could go into so much detail about, Ill just touch on a few favorites... [The girls putting together all the gift bags for our hotel/out-of-town guests - what a system we had down. Going to look at flowers and make the final changes the day before - but being floored by how perfect it was... Exactly as I had dreamed. Standing in the freezer with my girls - Haha. Getting our marriage license at the courthouse. Watching too many hours of Wipeout. All my family & friends at my brothers ball game the night before rehearsal. Don Sol for the last time with my favorites. Running around like idiots dropping off gift bags at hotels. The horrible nail job - And the last minute fix. The organized chaos. My aunt's amazing structure for our two hour crunch time at the reception hall decorating. Everyone having specific jobs! Pictures left & right every 5 seconds. All the amazing phone calls and texts. Getting ready, shaking like a leaf. Writing in Josh's bible, in tears. Getting my hair done with my girls. The cameras in our faces' all day. Walking into the church with everyone, but not noticing anyone - overcome with joy. Getting my dress on - then realizing I should have went to the bathroom first. Visiting the bathroom 20 times in 5 minutes. Sweating like crazy. Reading & re-reading my vows. Walking down the aisle with my dad. Seeing Josh's face - Even though ~400 people were there, not seeing anyone but him! Hearing Josh's song - Doing everything in my power not to cry. Getting announced. Walking out together. Seeing all the amazing love we were surrounded by, all the awesome people that came to our wedding! Pictures like crazy. Our first dance. Our beautiful cake. The stunning reception hall. Friends & family. The drive to Effingham that took way too long. :) Walking into the hotel - everyone hollering for us! Our first night as a married couple. :) Oh and of course, Domino's pizza.

What an absolutely amazing day. I can honestly say I never stressed out over any of the wedding things, not the planning or even the day itself. It was even more than I had ever dreamed... We can't thank God enough for how beautiful it all turned out & how smoothly the day went! <3

The day after, we drove back to Mattoon. With all of our family members, we chowed down, visited, laughed, took pictures, and opened all our wedding gifts, and cards. It was the PERFECT Sunday! What a wonderful way to be "sent off" before our honeymoon starting Monday.

Hawaii was breath-taking... There is just no way to describe it all - You HAVE to see it for yourself at some point in your life. [We CANNOT WAIT to go back!]

[[Some of our "adventures" since our marriage: I will say, Josh was sick on the first two days of our honeymoon... His family had gotten him sick. When I say sick, I mean SICK. And vomiting on a 9 hour plane ride = miserable. But that was just the START to our many marriage adventures... Haha since then, we had to worry about Maui's fire. The emergency sirens going off at the hotel. A dear loved one passed away while we were on our honeymoon. I passed a kidney stone [not too long after I officially moved to TN] - So I had my first ER experience as a patient. A skunk got into our air unit around 3:30am one morning. I got a bunch of maggots & ants in my trunk [and all over my hands] when taking our trash to the dump. I got food poisoning. Haha the list goes on...]]

**Even with all these crazy things, I wouldnt have it any other way... Being married to the man you have always dreamed of, finding your soul mate is nothing sort of a magical miracle. The feelings, the thoughts, the dreams, the firsts, the obstacles, the joys, the love... it's nothing sort of PERFECT! **

[Ill post some of our professional pictures as soon as we get them! But for now...]

Good friends. Great times. Awesome memories.

So, this past weekend was Bachelorette Weekend! Horray! We had such a wonderful time... Of course, it wasn't your "typical" bachelorette party, but it was ME - it was exactly what I could have ever dreamed! Most of my favorite girls all in one place, eating good food, enjoying the beautiful weather, playing games, acting obnoxious, and laughing all day and night!

I owe my bridesmaids a HUGE THANK YOU for all their hard work, time, and money! All of you mean so much to me! :) It was a wonderful day that I will always remember. Thanks for making me feel so special! <3

Here are a few pictures of the big event!

I Want More of You and Less of Me

These past few days, I've really lost sight of what's important...

I've been so stressed with sooo much to do, jobs to be applying for, packing up my life, assignments, papers, studying, worrying about boards, planning this and that. I honestly feel like I lost myself these past few days with all the worry and anxiety.

Instead of knowing that God has everything planned perfect for me, I've been worrying about how I am going to get everything done on my own. That's just it. I wont get anything done alone. I'm so glad that God knows just what I need! Some days I get the perfect text, the sweetest voicemail, the most praiseworthy weather, the nicest compliment, and greatest encouragement at JUST the right time. Things like that are never a coincidence!

Well, I just wanted to ramble a bit because I feel so refreshed! If you, too, feel like you've lost yourself... I challenge you to remember what's important!

[On a very happy note, Josh and I had our first amazing wedding shower. :) And we have nearly everything we need for the wedding. My amazing aunts have taken over the decorations, but we have most everything figured out... And have some great, unique touches. <3 June 5th will be an amazing day for us!!!]

Love you all.

My Favorite Dates...

When I first met Josh, I realized it was nothing ordinary. :) After we began dating, I found that he never did anything small. Well, we're not made of money... So I dont mean that every date was costly, but every date was made to be important! My MOST favorite thing of all is that he made me feel important.

Some days, I had no idea where we were going... I was just told what attire to wear or what to bring. Some nights even started off with a beautiful necklace or the prettiest flowers... None of which I deserved or needed, but how special, how thoughtful.

We've visited other states, gone to theaters, been to delicious [sometimes way-too-expensive] restaurants, camped with some awesome people, laid under the stars, walked around downtown, been out for ice cream, visited the zoo and botanical gardens. We've done some of the most spur of the moment things! Other times, he has an elaborate plan for the night to keep me on my toes. All of which, I love!

I guess what Im trying to say is how much all of this means! What will always mean the most to me, though, is being made to feel special even when Im 523 miles away from him.

Tonight we had date night... And no, we were not together & this is not the first time we've done it. Lol... We get on the phone, walk through Blockbuster, and decide on a movie. Then we both go back home and time the movie just right! :) It's almost like we're right next to each other [Well, it's definitely better than being so far away and not making time for each other.] We're able to talk & watch the same thing... I try my hardest to imagine us sitting in the theater together! :) Dorky, I know.

I suppose I just want to say, "Thank you, Joshua, for making me feel important when it would be so easy not to!" I will never forget these nights & I never want to take them for granted.

With love,
Me

&& You're Forever My Prince Charming...

There's something about you that I'll never understand. I think it's in the way that you care for every single soul in the world... Not just those people that need you and come to you, but even those that say so little. Somehow you know when you're needed. You're so different from any other. When people need, you drop your list of things to do, you drop your million errands to run, you drop your plans for the evening. I guess it's something about the way you make yourself available... Even when most people wouldn't dare to.

When I think about it more, I realize there's something in the way you treat me, like I have never known before. Your loyalty, your priorities, your values. The way your world can be falling apart in one day, but you stand strong, always there when I'm breaking. Your selflessness continues to amaze me every day I've known you... It's inspiring, truly humbling.

Then I sit here overjoyed - full of so much emotion that tears fall down my face... I realize I have no idea how to thank you & I don't think I will ever know. I do know that I'll spend every day of my life trying my best to show you just how thankful I am. :D

My appreciation, admiration, and respect for you grows every second... You're more than I have ever deserved & have the best heart of anyone that I know.

You see, I used to think for years that my expectations were too high... I actually sat down and made a list once - a list of all the qualities that I wanted & needed to have in a husband. Maybe that really is as pathetic as it sounds... Maybe. All I know is... The day I met you, I found the one person that had every characteristic on that list and so many more. After years of thinking I needed to give up and lower my expectations, I had found what I was waiting for, praying for - I found my mister perfect. [With you, everything makes perfect sense.]

I really couldn't ask for a single thing more & I can't thank God enough for knowing my heart better than I knew it myself. What a blessing!

... Joshua, I cannot wait to spend my forever with you. <3

99 days.

All About Priorities

Im sitting here searching neat song ideas for the reception, some DIY decor, bridesmaid bouquets, program ideas, readings, and even updating our registries... Oh, and of course watching The Bachelor: Women Tell All! :) Haha.

Did I mention... I have a ton to get done for classes a lot by TOMORROW, a huge test Wednesday, and a huge Senior Assignment presentation/poster by next Tuesday. Ahhhhh! Why does wedding planning have to be so exciting and enjoyable... Especially to this particular procrastinator that has SENIORITIS big time! May 7th needs to hurry it up.

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend & has a great week ahead.

[By the way, it's day two of starting the gym again, and Im dying...] Pathetic!

The Ever-Growing List

So, I have a little bit before I have to leave for church this morning, and I got to thinking about how I needed to update everyone on all the wedding things! My mom came to St. Louis yesterday! We had such a great time together! :) We definitely didnt get as much done as we had hoped for [Im still desperately needing shoes & needing to decide on my veil and hairstyle]! However, we did finalize some things!

I was able to get some great deals on beautiful dresses for our Hawaii Honeymoon! :) A bunch of flowy, beach dresses! I cannot wait. Im putting it all away because I am not wanting to wear any of it until we get there! But I know I will be itching to. :) Haha. We also ordered our hand-painted [absolutely amazing, custom-made] aisle runner from idooriginals.com! It is going to be beautiful, but we wont get it for another 3 months [which will be here before we know it!] We also ordered our knife/serving set for the cake, the cake topper, a custom-embroided "beach bag for two" for our Honeymoon as newlyweds, and our engraved flutes! Yay! Everything is soooo beautiful. Im sure it will be even more breath-taking in person.

We also found the PERFECT match of red in some dress shirts to get for our ushers. We arent making them get suits and whatnot! [But we cant get the shirts just yet because we havent asked the people to be ushers... Haha. But I cant wait!]

My mom and I tried on tons and tons of dresses yesterday! She is in search of a particular Mother of the Bride dress! And I am trying to find my rehearsal dinner dress... Unfortunately, I know EXACTLY what I want it to look like in my head. So, I am not being very open minded. Haha. Figures - that will make it SO easy to find... Im sure. [But what I am wanting is fancy, but very simple!]

My mom has also spotted a tux for [our] my puppy Bentley. Of course he wont be in or at the church, but we are hoping Brett wont mind if we take him to a park or something for outside pictures. I am sure my beautiful Bentley will be running around like a maniac & loving on everyone, but we still want a few shots with our important little mister on our Big Day! :) [Even if the shots turn out a little crazy & downright hilarious!] Haha.

Josh and I have also tackled most of our songs! The slide show songs have been picked, and let me tell you... I know my parents will be in tears & Im sure some of my aunts too! Josh and I have also picked out our song to dance to! [Beautiful!] Along with some fun ideas for some neat dances throughout the night!

My aunt found some beautiful, elegant letters to put in front of our cake as well. Should be a nice, personalized touch!

My mom and I also stumbled on a few cute things for the "Bachelorette" party that I will be having... Just a few cute, obnxious buttons for the girls & a matted frame for all of them to sign. [I try to refrain from using that phrase "Bachelorette" because people make assumptions. But it will be some of my fun, favorite girls dressing up for dinner, having a sleepover in a hotel downtown, playing games, pigging out, and laughing all night like we all used to when we were 12!] I cant wait... More details to come.

Hmmm. Im sure I'm forgetting a lot that we've done in the last week, but I wanted to keep everyone posted. It's time for me to head for the day. Time for church, then lots of running errands and LOADS of homework. Please keep my sanity in your prayers! School & all these details dont leave me with much time in the day... And I know graduation & the Wedding are fastly approaching. Ahhhh!

Oh yes, and we got the proofs back of our custom-made invitations. We have a few more revisions to make and will be ordering them soon. Yay!

<3

Engagement Pictures

We received the disk of our engagement photos this week! How exciting! I suggest you check out Jarnagin Photography if you havent yet! http://jarnaginphotography.com/

Here are a very select few of our favorites! <3

Life is Such a Whirlwind Some Days

So much to do, so little time!

My to-do list for school is forever long. I swear... We had to read 100 pages before classes even started and had to be prepared for two quizzes. Lovely. Haha. Now, I've already gotten due dates for plenty of assignments due in the next few weeks. Not to mention, we have crazy amounts of reading. On top of it all, we need to be studying for our boards... Ahhh!

Oh did I mention, Im planning a wedding. Hahaha. May not be the smartest idea, but so far everything has been amazing. My study breaks usually consist of searching the internet for another idea! Actually wedding planning has been a great escape from the reality of the stresses of school. :D I think it's just the excitement in it all! <3

I must admit, I am ready for May to get here. I know everyone tells me not to wish the time away, and I honestly understand that. However, classes, studying, preparing, organizing, clinicals, assignments, readings... They are all nonstop. I am ready to be done with it all and have some time to JUST focus on the wedding! :) [Even if it is for only a month!] May will be a WONDERFUL month. I know it'll be chaotic [No worries, I am being realistic. I swear.] But how exciting to be packing, moving, and doing all the last minute things for the wedding. It will be one of the most memorable months of my lifetime. Im sure!

Well, I know I am needing to head to bed... So good night all. I hope everyone has been doing spectacular.

Oh, and I started packing tonight... I decided I wanted to take it all a step at a time. This way I can gradually move things to Tennessee! How exciting, but it is almost surreal!

<3 God bless.

Our Wedding Website

http://www.theknot.com/ourwedding/JoshuaMoore&JordanBreeze

Check it out! <3 June 5th is approaching fast! :)