Our Journey to the Altar

After what started out as a long and seemingly arduous process - but surprisingly turned into one of the most beneficial things for us- we are officially done with marriage prep and have the priest's blessing to marry in a Catholic Church. YAY! It felt great sitting in Father Jack's office discussing our wedding and what we want for ourselves, and it also seemed..unreal, I guess, that we are this close to actually walking down the aisle and becoming husband and wife. We are more than excited and felt that this whole process was a wonderful thing :)

After reaching 1 year of being engaged, we've realized that our "journey to the altar" has been such a momentous time in our lives. Between family and friends, we feel blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful people who are just as excited to watch us venture into our next phase of life. In addition to my bridal shower back "home," the girls here in Georgia threw me a bridal shower tea party this past weekend, and I am so thankful for all that they did, and especially thankful to have them around :)

This photo courtesy of Carly's wonderful photography :)

J's parents also came into town this weekend and it was nice having people to celebrate with! After all, we had lots to celebrate - bridal shower, one year engagement, my birthday, and J's dad Jim's birthday. Cheers to that!

Birthday goodies!

Birthday buddies :)

Thank you to everyone who made this another special weekend for us!

Did everyone have a good Easter?! We sure did. It was a relaxing, enjoyable weekend and the weather was just as great. We had an egg hunt Friday at school with the kids, as well as a Spring celebration leaving everyone bouncing off the walls! But it was fun for everyone - including the teachers I must admit. As crazy/stressful as the holiday and birthday parties are in school, it's nice to take a step back and remember how much fun I had as a student partaking in the celebrations. Holidays are so exciting to kids - they couldn't wait to see what was inside each egg, and couldn't wait for the Easter Bunny to come on Sunday. They were all ready to visit with family - and it made me a little jealous! ;) We had pizza, cookies, cake and more. Here are the treats I made for the kids:

Brownie Bites with colored frosting and sprinkles

We got an Easter card from J's grandparents, and a package from his parents (packages are so fun to receive! Or is that just the little kid in me?!)

Easter table runner + goodies!

Sunday morning, we went to Easter mass at 8:30, came home and sat out back to enjoy the sunshine. J gave up soda for Lent, so he was ready to enjoy the IBC cream soda's we had waiting in the fridge at 10:30am :) (They were delicious!)

We sat outside for an hour or two before heading to Atlanta for brunch at Park Tavern overlooking Piedmont Park. It was b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l! And delicious!

The view from our table :)

We left there a little uncomfortably full! So we decided to go home and relax out back some more and save Easter dinner for Monday evening. I made a ham, potatoes, carrots, and biscuits, and had one of his med school friends over to enjoy Easter dinner a day late. It was just as good - with mini carrot cake cupcakes for dessert...

With all of the wedding planning madness these days, it has overshadowed the fact that my 24th birthday is this Sunday (or is it just that I forgot because that seems old to me?!) And it also marks 1 year since our engagement. I cannot even begin to figure out where the time has gone. It seems like just yesterday we were in Ocean City the day after our engagement in NYC, calling our family and friends to share the news and being thankful for having the chance to celebrate it in such an amazing place. I've loved this year and everything that has gone along with it. We were especially thankful and happy to spend all the time we did together over the Easter weekend, with each other as company and great weather to enjoy :)

Farewell Florida Residency!

Boo. I had to do it. I had to "surrender" my Florida license in order to officially become a Georgia resident (so that I can apply for tags by my birthday). It's one of those things you certainly don't look forward to as an adult. No matter where you live, your birthday means it's time to renew your tags - how fun! My renewals always seem to come at the wrong time - last year I had to renew my registration as well as my license 2 months before before moving out of state. This year, I have to do it right before getting married (so this will only be my license for about 2 months!). Oh well, it's all a part of life :)

And so my official fruit has switched from oranges to peaches!

Goodbye:

-Florida residency rates at theme parks!

-Florida residency rates on hotels and cruises (we saved $100 on our cruise!)

-My 17 year old face on my license ;)

-The conversation starter that having a Florida license entailed...

"May I see your I.D.? - Ohhh you're from Florida?! Where? What part? Oh you went to Florida State? What'd you study? What brings you here?"

Yes, this sounds stupid, but of course these are the things going through my head while waiting at the DMV today. So, farewell Florida Residency! I think I will miss you. Georgia is officially my home now. (Christina and Jet, you both can officially call me your Georgia Peach!) So, is that a good or a bad thing?! hmm..give me more time to answer that ;)

On a side note, J did great on his test on Monday and that was well deserved. 4:30am wake-ups just about every day (including weekends), late night studying, and hardly any quality time with his fiance and puppy - oh how happy I am that it all paid off! Me being in Florida for 4 nights probably helped - maybe I should do that more often..?!

Don't forget that Friday is Earth Day... What are you doing to save our planet?! We're teaching the kids all the different ways they can help. So I guess I should start somewhere too right? I went to Publix to buy stuff to make a big tray of penne a la vodka for J's school's Earth Day luncheon - and made a "green" purchase while there- recycled bags to reduce the amount of plastic bags being used..how cute is this one :)

"let's make the world a greener place - earth day"

Showers of Happiness!

After jetting to Florida bright and early -actually, it was still dark out when we left the house at 5am Wednesday morning, I had a pleasant feeling while sitting outside of the Ft. Lauderdale airport waiting for my cousin to pick me up. I grabbed some Dunkin Donuts and sat outside in the warm South Florida sun, happy to feel "home." I knew she was going to be late as she had to get her kids off to school - and I didn't mind at all! I saw palm trees in any area that a tree could possibly fit around the airport, I saw sunshine and felt warmth (after leaving the 35 degree weather) and it all felt just right. Going back home, as I've talked about with friends here, has a different feeling now. I appreciate it so much more. I appreciate all the little things home has to offer, like family, comfort, and familiar surroundings. We're so busy in Georgia sometimes and while we've created a wonderful home for ourselves here, it's nice to be somewhere that has always had that "homey" feel to it.

We had the family all together, which I love, and they threw me the best shower I could have asked for. There were decorations and details that amazed me, great food, drinks, and games - all in great company - my closest family and friends! My sister, with the help of my mom, grandma, aunt, cousins, her mother-in-law, my future mother-in-law, and friends, did such an amazing job :) (we missed you Krissy, but know you were watching over us!)

Here are the pictures to prove how amazing they did...

My niece Arianna and I

My sister, the fabulous host :)

Chocolate molds that my sister and mom made :) I'm proud guys!

My awesome bride-to-be glass (with delicious punch inside)

Toilet paper dress creations!

Kiss The Hunk - The winner and myself!

Some of my most favorite people!

The beautiful ribbon & bow bouquet created by Aunt Kath!

Afterwards, some of the girls stayed to enjoy some margaritas - leading up to a night out at Bru's with friends! What a day it was - and waking up at 5am the next morning only to be stuck in the middle seat of the airplane made my next day adventurous as well! But I got to come home to my fiance - and we actually had a wonderful day together :)

A special thank you to everyone who made my weekend/spring break/bridal shower amazing! Thank you for our gifts that J and I are more than excited about starting our marriage with, and more importantly thank you for sharing such a special time with me- It was a memorable time indeed!