Wednesday, August 31, 2011

WIWW Not So Creative

Let me just tell you... I have THE busiest schedule. I am NOT used to it. As a professional student I was blessed to be just that- a student... Well, this semester, I am :


  • a student
  • an intern
  • a server
  • a wedding planner
  • a fiancee
  • a pet owner
  • a worker-outer :)
So as you can see, I've got a full plate. Sometimes, life allows me a few minutes to run home and change...other times, not so much...

this outfit was pushing it- on the verge of unisex- my lumber jack day ha

Shirt: "vintage" men's shirt... had forever, it's wearing thin
Khakis: Target
Shoes: Target 

workin' on my fitness

Shorts: Victoria's Secret
Shirt: Hanes
Shoes: Nike

Shirt: NY&Co
Pants: Forever
Shoes: Loehmann's


after spray tan

Errand day on Friday- I dress light for spray tanning :) and because it was 99 degrees here in GA. 


The FIRST time I EVER wore pants with a zipper to school... because I got out of class at 9:30 and Ordy landed at 9- we were meeting at 9:45 for a dinner date :) Trust me, people thought it was the end of the world wondering why I was so gussied up... I'm about to see my boo, I have to pretend I'm always put together! jk, he knows. 

Saturday: Completely tuckered out
10am: Started my CrossFit plan.... and was so sore. for three days. make that 4. 
Pants: Spalding
Shirt: Old VBS shirt 

Sunday- Church and Yeah Burger in the Highlands for lunch
Dress: Old Navy

Random Outfit that made me laugh. It was the first thing in my closet. Nothing matched :)
Pants: Forever
Shirt: NY & Co
Shoes: Steve Madden
Cardigan: Nordstrom Rack

Well, there you have it. I dunno how you folks do it! I am one pooped lady. I can't believe how jam packed my schedule has been- I hardly have time to sleep or read!!! I'm ready for August of NEXT year :) 

Linking up to Pleated Poppy

Monday, August 29, 2011

Monday Flashback

This is part one of a few posts on catching up where I've been all summer...eventually posting about our engagement and how Ordy proposed.

This one is a brief post on some pictures from the Cayman's- enjoy the pictures :)


The house we stayed at was gorgeous. The decorating was PERFECT for a beach house! Such amazing natural light and bright paint- sorry for the dim lighting in the pictures!







We were a few miles away from Rum Point and it was soooo gorgeous. The crystal clear water was perfect for snorkeling. Of course Ordy spent all day looking for treasures. haha



Dinner outside with Ordy and his cute sister.


Our cliche beach pictures before we left :) 



LOVE this boy to death
And of course, no trip is complete without my personal collection of iPhone photos... you know the ones I immediately would e-mail or tweet... like specifically- "Brainy" pics... Don't know that story? Get ready for some nastiness...


1st Day There

Ordy jumped in from the dock at Rum Point- couldn't wait



The BEST Pina Coladas

killer tan lines... i know...it's bad. 

incredible food. my favorite meal the entire trip! 

The royal couple


One night we bought fresh fish from her and grilled them- delicious
Annnnnnnd here comes brainy... I don't even know how to tell this story... But here goes.

Ordy's mom and I kayaked out past the break one day while Ordy and his dad went snorkeling. I figured no big deal, the water was clear and I was safe with Ordy. BIG MISTAKE. Ordy and I were out looking for pretty fish while he pointed down below at something. I came up to ask him what he was pointing at and he said, "Sea urchins. Tons of them. Don't you see?" That's when panic set in. Sure enough there were THOUSANDS of them. I know I tend to exaggerate, but there were seriously tons of them, looking down it was just a floor of thousands of sea urchins. I couldn't even breathe properly in my mask and practically hyperventilated. I swam as fast as I could to the kayak and jumped into it (how, I don't know- I couldn't try to get back in again if I tried... the panic and determination was insane). I practically envisioned a shark behind me about to bite my feet off, I hauled my soaking wet body onto that kayak faster than fast.

I laid on the kayak for 5 minutes trying to catch my breath. That shark attack image was enough to send me in a frenzy. I begged Ordy to un-anchor the kayak so I could float safely back to shore. I was done snorkeling. I tried and it just wasn't for me. Of course, Ordy couldn't undo his knot. The waves knocking into the kayak made the knot stronger and it was impossible to undo it without a pocket knife. Great. My only choice was to swim back to the house. For some reason- I thought floating to the top without letting my feet touch the bottom {Sea Urchin covered bottom} was the best idea.

Even in 3 inches of water.

Bad idea. I was such a moron. Instead of standing up and walking over the sea urchins gently in my water shoes to shore, I sucked my belly in and prayed I could float over the coral. HA. Not. Ordy's mom kept trying to get me to see how shallow the water was and where she was standing was ok, so she was encouraging me to stand up. I start to stand but I'm so panicked I start flailing around like a fish outta water and a wave hit me right before I could get grounded and knocked me on my front, then my back, then my front again. I got beat by a wave. Subsequently, I got beat by brain coral.



Who knew brain coral attacks? I surely didn't... I guarantee you I'd never have gone in the first place if I knew...

immediately after- the brain coral imprint in my back


I can't tell you how bad it stung/burned/oozed. I looked marked by an alien it was so weird. All I could think of was, "OH MY GAH MY WEDDING DRESS" hahaha.


The brain coral turned into one huge burning sensation of a scab. With even the detail of me brushing against it- the motion of the fall- engraved in my skin. Awesome.


I was too embarrassed to wear a tank top- but in the tropical weather had no choice. I had my long hair cover it- but I needed it exposed so I could have Ordy scratch around it when I got the awful itch. I would lean against any corner just to satisfy the itch.


Brainy turning into a scab
Anyhow, along with awful brain coral injuries, I got the worst sun burn on my face making me look even more like an alien. My skin was peeling in chunks so instead of a nice even tan, I had patchy bright white areas on my cheeks and forehead. Hence the vacation nickname of, "Pinky (my face) & the Brain (my back)".

All in all the trip was fun and relaxing. (Minus brainy, and the last day where I was alerted that Bandit was missing...ugh.) It was fun to see the other side of the Caymans. We went horseback riding along the beach and in the water- I wish I had pictures of that! But just imagine, my horse in the back lagging in the water while all 3 horses in front of us take a massive dump, while their poop floats all around me/my feet/my horse. I had to ride with my feet on my horses's mane while they excused themselves all over us. haha.





my fav hat y'all encouraged me to buy, thanks!

Thanks for letting me catch up- I love having these written down for my own record to look back on!

Monday, August 22, 2011

Bandit's Blessing

Before I mislead you... Bandit is still missing. We didn't find him this weekend... but we did find something else... and because of Bandit. Get ready, because here is a crazy story...

2 months ago we got a call from an elderly woman that she spotted Bandit... She was 100% sure it was him, she was outside washing her bicycle and said he came SO close to her she could have grabbed him. She said he was so gentle, just stood next to her watching her, but his size startled her and she got up and shooed him away with her broom... I guess I can't blame her because she is older and if a great dane/pit bull was just staring at me I might be scared too... I am sad though. She said she regret it later when she saw how mild mannered he was. She called me after she spotted a flier two days later... I misunderstood her and HAULED AAA to her house to scan the neighborhood- along with 6 other people... She said she felt bad to break it to me that the spotting was two days prior.

Her husband told me their property backed up to 40 acres of "dog haven" and that a lot of lost dogs hang out back their because of the creek, running field, and railroad tracks. He said the property was actually owned by HIS neighbor, who was a bed ridden 98 year old woman who wouldn't notice if we wanted to sneak back in the property to scan the field for our lost pup. Remember pictures of the gorgeous property here

At the time, I was too busy boo-hooing and sobbing over Bandit to even notice how gorgeous the property was. In fact, I was miserable. I was eaten by mosquitoes and cut up by all the brier, not to mention scanning the property feverishly for my dog- all while screaming his name. Fast forward two months.

I had a dream Thursday. In this dream, Ordy and I were getting married on this property. In the dream I saw all of my ideas and I woke up ecstatic. I was so excited my emails to Ordy were almost incomprehensible... I was giddy and I said, "THIS IS IT. THIS IS WHERE WE ARE GETTING MARRIED." I had to refresh his memory and remind him about the property. I said, "the 40 acres we searched for B! Remember??!" Vaguely. You see, we both were pretty caught up in the search.

Ordy and I made it our mission to go ask the kind elderly couple if they wouldn't mind putting in the request to their neighbor, the lady who actually owned the property. We knew they had a better relationship with her and it might help us if they asked her if "friends" of theirs could get married on her property, vs. some random kids who might have a drunken party on her property...

We went up there this Saturday afternoon and the gentleman remembered us immediately, he asked if we had found our dog... we let him know we didn't, but we were there to see if he wouldn't mind putting in the good word about possibly getting married in the field...

He said, "I have good news and maybe bad news..." We held our breaths, I had no clue what he was about to tell us. "The lady who owns the property died two nights ago. But her daughter and her husband are here settling up final affairs." WHAT?! Wait, what?! SO the lady passed away the night I had the dream?? Goosebumps. Creepy. Too weird.

We hesitated for a few moments whether or not we should bother the daughter in this time of mourning to hassle her with our proposition, but the fact that they were leaving in the morning to go back home to Florida made me want to at least leave my contact information and put a face to the proposal, I wanted them to at least meet Ordy and I.

I was so nervous, I pushed Ordy to the front of their door and whispered, "YOU'RE doing all the talking!!" He just gave me a look and rolled his eyes. "Chicken." He knocked on the door and I felt my stomach fall. But the moment that door opened and a smiling lady opened the door, my heart was at ease. I could just see in her kind face we could pitch our idea to her. I was expecting someone bawling with tissues wadded up in their hands and feeling like a jerk for even knocking. I was relieved.

Ordy did all of the talking, I found myself reinforcing stuff like, "I PROMISE we'll clean up afterward, and leave it better than we found it!" I saw the husband chuckle in the corner of the kitchen. The daughter was just grinning ear to ear. After we were done with the proposal, the husband was still laughing and the lady finally spoke, "OF COURSE you can get married there!!!! But are you SURE?!??! It's been abandoned for years!!!! You have to do so much to it!!!" That's when Ordy said the term, "bush hog" for the first time in my life (and I heard it many more times after that)- telling them he'd bring out a tractor and level it and promise not to have any cars park on the property. The husband finally spoke (while still laughing, almost in disbelief that anyone would want to get married back there), "listen, if you do ANYTHING back there, you'd be improving it... y'all need to get back there and make sure you want to do it there..."

Are you kidding? Of course we want it there! It's GORGEOUS and would be the perfect backdrop for my "backyard wedding" concept!!! We exchanged contact information and we talked for a few more minutes regarding logistics, and it was apparent they could care less what we did- in fact the husband suggested a fun bonfire. Um, hello perfect wedding. I was so happy I hugged the lady and squeezed her with glee. The couple was so sweet and perplexed why we would want to get married there, but you could tell they were just happy to make our day in such a way! I bet they never expected that question when we knocked on their door!

They told us to consider the property ours for the wedding and to feel free to go back there whenever for planning. Ordy told him plans for bush-hogging and the husband said, "good luck..." Ordy said, "that's hard work I enjoy doing, sir. It'll be worth it." I think they're happy we're even doing anything there, mostly the clearing out of 10 years worth of growth. This was such a blessing I can't even put to words, but I just tried. Thank you Bandit, in some way leading us there. All that would make it perfect is for you to show up for the wedding. I swear I would mess up my dress for you, I would scoop you up in my arms and never let go... Thank you for our blessing and for our wedding venue. We couldn't have found a better place with better people. You are the best dog even while away- good looking out :) {Really, I'm thanking Jesus, don't think I'm thanking a dog- but through Bandit we found the place!}

Here are some pictures, I know you want to see! Please imagine the grass cut down and a lot of work done...













What do you think, think we're crazy?? Too much work?? Um, any help as far as practically making this work are welcome... I hope my guests don't hate me... But, I'm truly in love!