I'M BAAAAACK!

I don't even know where to start. I finally have a moment that I am sitting at home alone and I have about a million other things I SHOULD be doing, but I felt like writing tonight. This is the first real length of time I have had alone since the wedding and I spent most of it picking my toes and cleaning out my ears. I have to leave a few things to the imagination you know? Besides, Randy couldn't take the hotness that is me picking my toes.

Let me start with the wedding. It was seriously the best day of my life! I was so blessed to have some wonderful friends go up with me on Friday night and help me prepare for my big day. Annette, Brock, Mary and Becky: You will NEVER know what your support meant to me! I love you guys so much!

Saturday morning I woke up and I was so calm just like I had been all week. Everyone with me kept saying "You're getting married! Why are you so calm?" I had no answer. Of course, having the warped personality that I have, I started to think something was wrong with me for not freaking out. My uncle put it best later on in the day when I said something about that and he told me that it just meant I was doing the right thing and marrying the right man. I think he was exactly right.

Some people think you shouldn't see each other until the wedding, but I wouldn't change the fact that we saw each other before. It was just such a sweet time for us. I know there were other people around and the photographers were there, but for me, it was just us. I felt like we were the only two people on earth right then.

After pictures I went off to the side into hiding. Just as my uncle and I were having the above conversation, my other uncle delivered the bad news that he didn't think my brother was going to make it. It turns out he forgot about the time difference. That calm feeling. Yeah. It left. Fast! He had the drinks, he had the music and he was walking me down the aisle. I spent the next hour stressing over whether he would make it or not. They screached in the parking lot at 2:00 on the nose and came running down the hill to where I was waiting. Our conversation going down the aisle was not sweet and sentimental AT ALL. It was more like me telling him how many ways I'd like to kick his behind or kill him.

When I finally made it to the other end of the aisle all of that didn't matter anymore. I am also pleased to report that I didn't laugh the whole time or cry like a baby. My calm took back over and everything was great.

I have to say another big THANK YOU to my wonderful friend and pastor, Bryan. His mother had a heart attack and quadruple bypass surgery and he still came to the wedding to marry us. Words can't express my grattitude to him.

After the ceremony we had cake and Stephanie and her mother outdid themselves. The cake was awesome! I have heard a hundred compliments on the taste and the look of the cake. It was perfect. Thank you Stephanie!!

I can't wait to share pics from the day. The pics that I have been able to see so far are beautiful. As usual, Jamie did a wonderful job.

I'll be back soon to share some other exciting changes going on. I just wanted to share a few details from the big day!

HERE COMES a word from THE BRIDE.....

Most little girls dream of their wedding day. They imagine the dress, the flowers, the cake, the big church and all the other typical things that go along with weddings. I can't say that I ever sat and dreamed about all those things. I always wanted to just go somewhere and get married. Since my first trip to Disney World in second grade, I have always wanted to either get married in their wedding pavilion or do a simple ceremony and go to Disney World for the honeymoon. I'm getting neither of those things. I am, however, getting my dream come true.

When I was little, I had an imaginary husband. I can't believe I just admitted that, but it's true. Most kids just have an imaginary friend, but I had a husband. My number one goal and dream in life was to be a wife and mom. In the last few years I had started to think it just wasn't going to happen for me. In the past couple of years, I have slowly turned over area by area of my life to God to handle. I am a control freak and it was hard to let go of those things that I so badly wanted to dictate the outcome of. One of the hardest things to let go of was my marital status. I finally realized that in God's perfect time, things would happen and I began to enjoy life as a single person.

It's true what they say. When you stop looking, he'll come out of nowhere. The day I got a friend request on facebook from Randy along with a message changed my world completely. To be honest, I didn't think anything would come of it. We had already chatted back and forth online 2 years prior and nothing happened. To this day, I still don't know why I even bothered responding because "What's the point?" honestly went through my mind. We agreed to meet and I came very close to cancelling because I was a nervous wreck. I am the first date wonder so it wasn't like it was going to be a big deal if I didn't go because I was never going to see this guy again.........or so I thought.

Our first date was the best first date I had ever been on. There was nothing over the top or flashy about it at all. That may be why it was so great to me. From the first moment we were together, I was at ease. I felt like I had known him forever and no one made me laugh like he did. The whole way home I remember telling myself over and over "Stop being so excited and happy. He's never going to call. You'll never hear from him again. Don't be an idiot." In case you can't tell, I'm a big supporter of myself...lol.

Imagine my surprise when he called Monday night.....and Tuesday night....and again on Wednesday....Thursday.......and on Friday he invited me over Saturday night because he was going to cook for me. What? A man offered to cook for me?? I continued to remind myself not to get excited. It wasn't going to last. I liked him way more than he was ever going to like me and I told myself that over and over. On the drive to Monroeville I kept thinking "Have I lost my mind? This man could be a serial killer for all I know and I'm going to his house." I told my friend, Kerrie, and my brother where I was. I was hoping that one of them would notice my absence if I went missing. We spent forever talking that night and it was easy. We didn't run out of things to talk about. I could have spent all night at that table running my mouth.

Date after date, I just remember thinking he was going to bolt and run at any minute because he was to good to be true. When I started to realize I was in love with him, I was scared out of my mind. I was entering dangerous territory because I was at risk of really being hurt at this point. All of my friends said they knew I was in love when I told them I went fishing with him.....ha!

He will never let me live down the day he brought up the subject of marriage. I told him it didn't make me sick or hyperventilate. Okay, I know that was probably not the emotional response he was looking for, but that had happened before when an ex-boyfriend brought up the subject. In my defense, I had no idea he was going to ask me to marry him. It took him 8 dates to kiss me. I certainly didn't expect him to propose in 3 months. (I hope he doesn't kill me for saying that!) I was figuring on 3 years for a proposal...ha!

Yes, that's right. We dated for 3 months and then we were engaged. That seems fast to some people but for us we just knew. I know that there is no one more perfect for me than him. I can't imagine life without him and it's hard for me to remember how things were before him. I have had some definite freak out moments during the whole wedding planning process. My wedding day may not have turned out the way I dreamed of or imagined it my whole life, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Today, I will marry my best friend and the love of my life.

When I decided to type a post for today, I thought I was going to type out words to express my love for Randy. It turns out, there are no words. That is why I told you parts of our story instead. I also want to encourage all the single girls reading this that your day WILL come. I hated sitting back seeing everyone else so happy and in love while I was wondering if it would ever happen for me. It seemed like everyone I knew was already married and on their third child. I know everyone says this, but just relax and enjoy where God has you right now because before you know it, your love will come along and life will never be the same.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a wedding to go to...............MINE!!!!!!!! The blog will be down for a little while for obvious reasons ;-) . I will be back with wedding photos and a Thanksgiving update. Keep a check on here for updates and lots of pictures!

Random

My brain has officially become a pile of mush at this point in the game which renders me unable to form any type of coherent sentences that actually go together and mean something. That's really not any different than a usual post from me though is it? Instead I am going to share a list of things going on this week.

1) I am a combination of a bundle of nerves and excitement beyond words. I'm quite sure that I'm pure joy to be around right now.

2) I am going to start training to become an insurance agent the week I get back from my honeymoon. I thought enough wasn't changing in my life so I added one more thing.

3) I unhooked my satellite this morning to take the boxes to Randy's for my service to be transferred there. When the picture disappeared, panic set in. I may have a small attachment to television and I'm already wondering what I will do with my time. Never mind I still have quite a few things to pack up. I'm not going to have my tv y'all! This is serious! I could have taken it over the weekend when I was moving everything else but that would have meant I would miss Real Housewives of Atlanta and we all know that would never work.

4) On my way to work this morning I turned on my Christmas playlist on my ipod. A Hanson Christmas song came on that made me think about in 8th grade when I was obsessed with them, my mom made me a birthday cake with their symbol. I can still see it now. I had a moment of nostalgia. (This random thought proves I have no pride when it comes to what I share on here. While I'm at it, I also was a big fan of the Spice Girls.)

5) There will be a wedding day post on the blog. I won't be linking it up through facebook though like I usually do. You're on your own for this one.

6) I am still looking for someone who would love to have two ferns ride in the car with them to Callaway Gardens.....and then back home. I promise they are very quiet and won't ask to stop at every restroom you pass and they are very cheap eaters. Any takers??

7) I am curious about what type of emotion I will show during the wedding. I usually laugh during the most inappropriate times. Funeral...I'll laugh. Someone falls...I'll laugh. Church service.....I'll laugh. I can't help myself. Something is seriously screwed up in the top floor of my body. Just saying. I also have moments of weeping too. I can say without a doubt I will either be laughing hysterically or sobbing. Randy has requested laughter. But like life, Sunni is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.

8) My something old is my pearl necklace my grandmother gave me a couple years ago. My something new is my dress. My something borrowed is a pearl ring from my good friend, Crissy. She and I served together as music directors at Zion Hill and although she is not going to be able to make it to the wedding, I'm really happy I'll have a little piece of her there. LOVE HER! My something blue....wouldn't you like to know? I'll just say that it won't be visible.

9) The night before the wedding I will be staying with some wonderful friends from Zion Hill who are coming to the wedding. Every time I think about all they are doing for me, I just become overwhelmed with emotion. They'll never know what it means to me that they are going to be there for me on the day I need the most support. They are so much more than fellow church members. They are seriously proving that they are my family. Thank you Tammy, Mary, Becky, Annette, Brock and Bryan! You guys are seriously the best friends a person could ask for!

10) My co-workers have seriously been hard timing me about all the wedding stuff. They are taking me to lunch Thursday to give me some "advice." This is going to get interesting. I can't wait to hear what they have to say.

A week is better than a year!

I guess it didn't take a year after all to get the pictures from Randy. Of course, that might have had something to do with me just uploading the pictures myself from his camera instead of waiting on him to send them to me. Ha! As promised, here are the pics from the party last weekend at Stephanie's.

This is Stephanie, our beautiful hostess.

Me with Sonja and Rhonda.

Stephanie and Lia.

This is Ray and Sarah. These two are seriously one of the cutest couples ever. I loved watching them interact. They still act like newlyweds. I hope we stay like that too!

This was our first attempt at a picture together and Kim jumped in. I had to use this picture even though Randy's head is cut off and Kim's eyes are closed because we didn't get another picture of Kim. Kim is Stephanie's husband. They are another cute couple.

This is Stephanie's brother, Todd.

We didn't manage to get pictures of everyone that was there, but that is the majority of them. I know I said it before, but it was such a fun night. We still have two more in Monroeville and Randy has another one at work. Whew! We are definitely going to be partied out by next month! I will do a weekend update once I have all the birthday party pics uploaded.

Weekend Recap

I didn't get around to posting about our weekend yesterday. We had two showers over the weekend. Unfortunately the pictures from Saturday night are on Randy's camera and I may not get those on here until a year from next Tuesday. I haven't had that much fun in a long time though. The party was hosted by Randy's friend, Stephanie. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned on here a time or twenty that I just love her to pieces. She's so much fun. It was a perfect party with several couples and it was very laid back. I had met most of the people at this party at the beach in July. We all joked that we just all looked really different with our clothes on, wearing makeup and our hair fixed. I really do hope I get some of those pictures up this week to share with everyone.

On Sunday we had another shower with some of Randy's family. This group was much larger and I'm pretty sure I remember no one's name from that day. I'm terrible with names and I've met so many people lately that I may never learn them all.

(I should go ahead and warn you that I am featuring my man legs again in these photos. I guess wearing a skirt for pictures one time wasn't enough. Let me torture you once more.)



This picture proves what I've been telling Randy all along. He is convinced he is under 6 feet. I am 5'4" and I'm wearing my tallest heels (about 4 or 5 inches) and he is still almost a head taller. I'm going to measure him on the door frame that Dad measures all the grand kids and see how tall he is. HA!

This is us with Randy's mom and sister. I'm so excited that I'm getting a sister-in-law that I get along with. I've been down the bad sister-in-law road before and I'm so glad we get along.

I'm pretty sure this was taken while we were all picking on Randy about opening gifts. He is into this gift thing now. HA!

This was a gift from Randy's cousin and aunt. It was serving dishes, sheets and a box full of goodies like mixing bowls, spatula, dishcloths, spices, flavoring, etc. It was such a neat gift and I just kept pulling stuff out and handing it to Randy...lol. It was a good time to test and see how much stuff he can hold at one time.

I finally let him open one. I think he opened the last half. At least I know what makes him happy. Opening presents...lol.

He is holding a really nice knife set we received. Although, according to him, he received that. He refers to it as his. Of course, with that being kitchen stuff, I will let him claim it. The only thing I do in the kitchen is bake.

It was a great weekend and we received some really nice things. I can't wait to use those Lowe's gift cards when we start the kitchen remodeling! We'll be sure to take before and after pictures to share with everyone on here.

Please pardon the mushiness. I can't help myself.

I need someone who is prepared for:

- A million questions
- Uncontrollable laughter
- My family
- My appetite
- Musical Outbursts
- Random dancing
- My friends
- Sad/Happy tears
- Deep talks
- My imagination
- My dreams
- Walk in the rain
- Random texts
- Useless arguments
- and acceptance of the real me


I read that today and it's so exciting to say that I finally found that guy! I love him so much! Only 36 more days until he's my husband!

A day late and always a dollar short....

I meant to write this post yesterday but it was an insane day of work. The day was filled with calls that went something like this:

"Good morning (or afternoon). The Securance Group."

"Hello?"

"Hello."

"Hello??"

"Yes? Can I help you?"

"Hello?"

click

As much as I LOVE the "Hello Game", I played it just one time too many yesterday. In other words, I just didn't have time to write anything and if I did it probably wouldn't have been filled with kindness because I wasn't feeling it.

Tuesday night the ladies from Zion Hill had a shower for me and another bride-to-be. (I totally typed out bird-to-be at first and almost left it because it amused me so much.) I got some really nice things but I enjoyed seeing everyone even more. Have I mentioned lately how much I love those people?

Once again, I excelled at my inability to get photos worthy of the blog. Sweet Crissy took pictures of me opening gifts, but I wish I had some pictures of everyone that was there. If I'm this horrible at taking pictures of events, my kids will only have pictures of their 1st, 9th and 21st birthdays.

This is Halee and Mary. Halee is the same age as Madyson and I've known her since she was two. I think of her as my second niece. Right after I took this picture she informed me that she didn't like having her picture taken. Oh. Well, I'm sorry you're all having to look at this child who didn't smile from ear to ear because she doesn't like her picture to be taken. Mary is the piano player at Zion Hill and I love, love, love her. Her only flaw is that she's an Auburn fan. Ha!

After looking at these pictures, I immediately regretted my wardrobe choice. I look like I should be having a baby shower instead of a wedding shower. Good grief! I should also pack away all skirts because even after losing 40 pounds, I still have man legs. Geesh!

Our Alabama birdhouse that I'm holding backwards. Lord help Randy. Everything I do is backwards. Ha!

Super cute Christmas ornament for our tree! In an effort of compromising, I am giving up my pink, green, turquoise, purple and black tree with the feathers and glittery stuff everywhere. I am keeping the black and adding red and green. Randy said my tree looks like it should belong to Liberace. What do you think?

I had no intentions of talking about my Christmas tree today, but it happened. That just solidifies me as the most random person ever.

The votes are in....

With 66% of the votes, most of you think I should go with the long veil. Since the clock is ticking I will get that ordered. Thanks so much for your help! I can't think of anything else to obsess about so you shouldn't have to feel obligated to give me anymore wedding advice.....maybe. I make no promises people! Also, just to give you an update, the shoes have been ordered and should be here this week. Woo hoo! I can't wait to see them! Thanks again everyone!

Everybody's doing it!

I just looked at the ticker and I am 52 days from my wedding! I can't even tell you how excited I am!! The funny thing is that I'm not alone in the wedding/engagement/newlywed world among my family members. It seems we all decided to jump in at the same time.

Last year in October my cousin, Gerry, married his beautiful bride, Kaitlyn.

This November (52 days from now to be exact) I will be marrying Randy.

Next October, my brother, Robert, will be marrying Starla.

In June of 2013, my favorite couple in the whole wide world will be getting married. I think I squealed more over Tabitha's engagement to James than I did my own. Well, maybe not, but it was close. Randy and I don't believe for a second they will make it to 2013, but we'll see. I can't wait for this wedding!

That's four of the five first cousins getting married within just a couple years of each other. Insane! I joked for such a long time that the reason I wasn't married yet was because I was waiting on Tabitha to grow up so we could have a double wedding. I didn't miss it by much!

Let me throw one more in there for good measure. The wedding we attended a couple weeks ago was Randy's first cousin.

It's wedding mania around here! If you're not married/engaged, do it. Everyone else is!


***Don't forget to vote on the veil in the ride sidebar! Thanks everyone!!***

To veil or not to veil

Last night was a productive night for me. I'm pretty sure I had about 9 loads of laundry that had piled up since God only knows when. I guess it's a good thing I have so many clothes because I have just honestly not had time to slow down and do anything like that in a while. While the clothes were all washing/drying I mopped the floors. Exciting isn't it? I am too wild for words sometimes. I put a fall scented bar in the scentsy burner and sat back to enjoy the clean house.

I didn't completely waste my time. I have been in a dilemma for a while now. I can't decide whether to wear a veil or not for the wedding and if I do, short or long? I love, love, love a long veil, especially with a mermaid style dress (Spoiler alert *** My dress is a mermaid style). I am just unsure whether a veil would look ok for the venue.

Is a veil even necessary? I have a pearl and rhinestone headband to wear that day. I'm going to do another vote. You helped with the shoes so I'm going to take your advice for the veil. I promise that this is the last thing for my ensemble that is undecided. Everything else is done.

These are the two favorite veils that I've found. The short one has rhinestones and the long one is plain without any embellishments. Or should I not wear one at all? The voting is in the right sidebar like I did with the shoes. Thanks for your help!

The voting will be open until Thursday!

I love a good bargain.

Ok. I'm trying to be the happy, perky bride and do the small talk stuff when people ask about wedding details. I'm not going to lie though. I'm sick of it. I'm so tired of my head hurting from all the details. For any of you out there thinking that a small wedding is easier, it's not. There's still an insane number of details to deal with and plans to make. The happiest day of my life will be November 20. That will be the day I wake up married to the best man in the world and the first day I don't have to think about wedding plans. I'm obviously missing that gene that every other woman in the world has that just makes you want to plan a wedding from the day you're born.



I decided to stick to doing everything black and white. I like it because it's classy and chic. Last week I placed an order for our napkins only to receive an email telling me that the black napkins were on backorder....yada yada yada. Seriously? Backordered napkins? Not wanting to risk having to run out the day of the wedding to buy napkins and receive 200 napkins with our names on them the day AFTER the wedding, I cancelled the order and started my search again. I have always loved anything monogrammed and I've seen a lot of napkins in various stores with a "J" already on them but they're always black and ivory...not white. I loved this style though. (Side note: Have I already typed two paragraphs about napkins? God help me.)



Anyway, I totally lucked up today. FINALLY something good happened with the wedding plans. I found black and white napkins in the pattern I wanted. That's not the best part. They were $0.60 a pack. That's 60 CENTS y'all!


I also found some acrylic goblets (wine glasses) on the same site for $1.55! How insane is that? These are the same glasses I found in a store in Monroeville and I wanted for the wedding but they were all out of J's. They are beautiful in person and I didn't even realize they were acrylic in the store until I picked them up.

After I placed my order, I realized they had some acrylic tumblers with a J on them as well for $1.55 and I'm regretting not ordering those now for our everyday glasses. Oh well.

I just had to share the site with all of you in case you like a good deal too. The site is http://www.initialboutique.com/ . Let me know what kind of deals you find!!

Shoes

Ok. So last night may go down in history as one of the weirdest moments at my house.....ever. Seriously. Why? I can now say that my brother put my bra on me. Yeah. It was every bit as weird and awkward as it sounds. In my defense, there was no one else around to help and it was a long line bra that I needed to try on with my dress to make sure everything worked together. He should be permanently scarred.

It's actually pretty funny to think about how he and I fought like cats and dogs growing up and couldn't stand the sight of each other. He's been the one to help me with most of the wedding stuff. He's also the one who will be giving me away. We went over his wardrobe last night. Thank God for his girlfriend. We were in a heated discussion because he was having a moment where he thought he could channel Johnny Cash and wear a black shirt with his black suit. Thankfully, I had another person on my team. Interestingly enough, he is horrible at selecting his own wardrobe, but he does a pretty good job at helping me to pick out an outfit.

I now have everything I need to wear to the wedding except my shoes. For some reason I simply cannot commit to a pair of shoes. I love, love, love heels. I always have. I am not much of a white shoe wearer, so I'm not really going in that direction for some reason. I have found a couple pair I would consider, but I am really leaning in the black direction. The wedding is going to be black and white and I am seriously thinking I'd love to find a really cute pair of black heels. My dress is very simple and plain for my usual taste in things so I want a pair of shoes that reflect my usual taste and style. That being said, no one is going to see the shoes, but I'll know. I'm looking for some help now. Please vote and help me decide on my shoes.

#1 - Black Flower

# 2 - White Rhinestone

#3 - Black Rhinestone

The poll for voting is in the sidebar to the right of the blog. I would really appreciate your opinions! Thanks!

Out of the mouths of.............the elderly

We all know there is not a more honest, straightforward group of people than children. If you want the truth about something, ask a kid.....or in my world, an old person. Specifically my grandmother.

I have to be honest about something. I'm very reserved, even uptight in some people's opinions. I have been a little taken back by the fact that just because I'm engaged that makes people think they have the right to talk about my future sex life. I instantly tense up and change the subject as quickly as possible when that happens. I'm a private person and I just don't want to go there with people.

Imagine my surprise that the person who brings that up more than anyone else is not my best friend, but my grandmother. Seriously? I mean, come on!

If I live to be 100, I will never forget her response when I told her I was engaged. The first thing she said to me was, "You know you don't like people in your space and for people to touch you. You know he's going to touch you don't you?" Um, yeah. That's the plan.

Monday we had engagement pictures taken and when I showed her one of the pictures she said "Oh I don't like that one. He's giving you a 'come here baby' look." My brother responded "I hope so!"

Can we just talk about how weird that moment was? I am officially done even referencing Randy in my grandmother's presence. I can't keep having these moments with her.

Oh, and here is the picture in question. That was not my first thought when I looked at this picture but I'll certainly never be able to look at it the same again.

Please tell me I'm not becoming THAT bride....

I have always had a strong need for approval from others. I can't help myself. I like to be liked. With that little issue, that means that with every detail of our wedding, I feel the need to get at least 2 or 30 opinions from people. I expect any day to find that my door leading to my co-workers has been locked from their side. Friends will soon block my phone number, email address and facebook. Yeah, it's getting that bad. The funny thing is, I never thought I'd be THAT bride. Oh, God does have a sense of humor doesn't He? Never say what you won't do.

I do hate to start irritating people so I think I'm going to start throwing my ideas and questions out on here. It will also be good to have something to look back on when Randy finally puts me away in the nuthouse. There will be no question why when I look on here and see how obsessed I was over the decision of whether to stick to classic black and white for everything or to throw some of my signature pink in there. You can also go along for the ride of making my own bouquet with a friend of mine who says we can make it cheaper than the bargain price of $600 that I found it for online. Who wants to tackle the decision of to wear a veil or not? I have no idea. I'll try to spare you for a week or two on the process of finding shoes. I seriously think I'm obsessing over the shoes more than I did on the dress if that's even possible at all.

Yes, I need to be medicated. Aren't you glad I'm marrying someone with a degree in counseling? Me too. I'm sure he would appreciate you sending prayers up now on his behalf. :)