My Bachelorette!!!

Woo hoo! It's time for Wedding Wednesday!!

Today I'm going to be filling you in on my bachelorette!

But first, a little background on my lovely bridesmaids!

I had 11 bridesmaids. I know that number sounds obnoxious and I could read it on some people's faces when they would be politely asking details about my wedding. Even my hubby felt it was a little overboard.. until I named off each bridesmaid and said, "exactly who would you like me to cut off?!" his reply was "okay, I get it." because..

They are all truly my best friends!!!

I'm really fortunate to remain very close with 5 of my best friends throughout high school. I'm also still really close with my first ever college roomie and another friend from my first year of college (I actually ended up transferring after my second year) . When I started my job at the daycare at my new University, I really connected with two of my coworkers and we still remain close. I have one younger sister and Tommy has one older sister ... and that's how it adds up to 11 bridesmaids!!

Not only are they all my best friends but some of them live pretty far away! Two live in Nashville, one lives in Brooklyn, and another (from previous post) lives in Abu Dhabi! I felt so fortunate that 7 out of my 11 bridesmaids could attend my bachlorette - those who didn't attend were obviously my friend that lives half way around the world, Tommy's sister (who has two young children), my sister (because she is underage) and another bridesmaid who's sister was having her baby shower the same weekend

Okay so now onto bachelorette details!!!

On our way!!

The girls started a facebook group and that is where they did the bulk of the planning for both my bachelorette and my bridal shower.

One of the girls rented a huge SUV that fits 8 people and that is what we got around in while we were down there! We left super early on Saturday morning of Memorial Day Weekend (with a starbucks run before taking off!)

They rented this beautiful condo in OCMD!!! Seriously, I want to live there forever!!! It was the perfect size for all of us and the view was beautiful.

In order to not spend so much money on food the girls had pre-planned our meals (with one night of eating out) and each of them pitched in for buying groceries. 

My two friends that live in Nashville ended up leaving on Friday and driving all day so they were there waiting for us on Saturday when we arrived! 

After unpacking and getting settled we made some sandwiches for lunch and headed to the beach! It wasn't hot enough for us to go into the water but it was perfect laying out weather. We just chatted and soaked up the sun! 

My bridesmaids got me a basket filled with lingerie for our first week of marriage as well as a bachelorette survival kit! So cute and thoughtful!

For dinner that night we just decided to get a pizza and eat in. We figured it would take a long time for 8 girls to shower and get ready so eating and getting ready at the same time made sense. There wasn't really a game plan for exactly where we were going to go for the night but we ended up at a bar that had a live band. The band was great because they were playing all fun songs that I actually knew! A lot of late 90s pop that is fun to sing and dance and jump around to!

Yes - we used a selfie stick! No - I don't regret it! Fitting everyone in the pic was so much easier :)

The next day was Memorial Day and we had planned to go to Secrets (I had never been there before). We had also all planned to wear red, white and blue for the occasion, because again, I love any reason to dress in a theme!!!

At first - Secrets seemed suuuuper shady. Just too many drunk people in one space. However, we got a table off to the side which was far away enough that we had our own space but we could still hear the music. The day was filled with laughter, spilled drinks, shot Russian roulette, and great girl talk!

I was so sad when the weekend came to an end. To be honest, I was a little worried about all 7 girls getting along - but I truly could not have had a better time! I know all of my bridesmaids felt closer to each other as well. A few of them even said "I feel like your friends are now my friends!" 

I may or may not have wanted to write this post just so I could relive the weekend :) haha can you blame me!?

Thanks for taking the time to read! I will see you back here on Friday for another H54F!

Love Always, 

Lis

Weekend Recap

Happy Monday!

This morning I tried to make my husband a quick batch of pancakes before he left for work. I had bisquick leftover from making peach cobbler over the weekend so I thought that would be a perfect way to finish it off. It must have been too early in the morning because I put twice the amount of water that I was supposed to into the jug! Needless to say, he had a bagel for breakfast haha

This past weekend was packed with friend filled events and adventures!

Early Saturday morning my mom, my friend Lisa and I pack up and drove almost 4 hours to see our friend Nicole who was having an "I'm home" picnic! Nicole is a teacher in Abu Dhabi and is home for a little less than a month.

I got to see her when she came home for my wedding (what a friend to literally travel half way across the world to be there for your big day!!). But this is the last chance to see her for another whole year!

Our initial plan was to just drive up for the day and come home late Saturday night so I could be up early to get ready and head over to my other friend, Erin's gender reveal party to help set up. 

Well, we last minute decided to stay the night and go out with Nicole in her hometown. I'm so happy we did! Even though I was running on three hours of sleep Sunday, I was thankful to get to spend some extra time with Nicole and make some great memories. 

Nicole, myself, my Momma and Lisa!

I had been waiting for Sunday to happen for what felt like forever! 

The day was hot and the party was outside. Luckily my 2 year old Goddaughter grabbed my hand and said "lets go lis!" and we ran through the sprinklers a few times which really cooled us off! (even if she hadn't asked me to go through with her I probably would have done it - but a 2 yr old is a good excuse, right?!)

Us running through the sprinklers while also getting hit by water guns! 

 

 

 

 

 

Erin had set up a canvas and filled black balloons with both pink and blue paint. They assigned someone to look at the note from the doctor and place the appropriate color balloon into a white bucket. Erin and her husband then through the balloons at the canvas and.. here is what happened....

A baby girl!!!! Although I kind of  thought it was a boy - I was just as excited when I saw the pink paint!!

Now - it's time to plan the baby shower! Erin has asked a few of our group to take the lead with shower planning! I LOVE to plan things so you can already imagine I've been going crazy over pinterest! I believe we are going to do a white & gold theme. Anyone have any tips/ fun things that you've done or seen at a baby shower?! All ideas welcome :) 

Have a wonderful week and check back Wednesday for #WeddingWendesday where I'll be giving you the low down on my MDW Bacholorette!!

Love Always,

Lis

Don't forget to check out my instagram!

H54F #2

Welcome back to another H54F!!

Again, thank you so much to Tif at Bright on a Budget, Caitlin at Coffee With Caitlin, Della at Della Devoted and Katie at Cup of Tea for hosting!! It was awesome last week to discover some new blogs so I'm really looking forward to this week!

So, lets jump right in :) 

1. We're not going on our honeymoon until December (Disney & a cruise to the Bahamas). But of course I'm planning my outfits (and headband ears) way ahead of time! My heart almost stopped when I found Pretty Little Monograms & SailBows !!!!!!!

I will ABSOLUTELY be wearing this our first day in Magic Kingdom!!

Minnie ears & matching monograms!! What more could a girl want?!

2. Speaking of honeymoon and wedding things - I started a Wedding Wednesday series! Check out more info and our love story here!

3. This past weekend we celebrated my mom's birthday. We spent the day hanging out by the river and in the evening we went out to dinner. I got the best frozen drink I've ever had! I'm normally a "beer girl" but we were sitting outside and I just felt like sipping on something fruity. I told our server a few things that I enjoyed and she recommended a "Miami Vice" -  strawberry daiquiri mixed with pina coolata! Sooo yummy! I may even try to make one for myself at home! 

Miami Vice - the perfect summer drink!

 

4. I chopped of a decent bit of my hair Wednesday night! Pictures to come in a post next week!!

5. One of my very best friends is expecting a baby in the beginning of November. This Sunday is her gender reveal party and I couldn't be more excited!!! We're supposed to wear whichever color we think the gender will be - I'm pretty sure I'm wearing both pink & blue because I can't decide (is that cheating?!)! I just can't wait to love up on their baby!

I've been working on these chalk boards for the occasion this week ...

That's all for now! I hope you've enjoyed reading and I thank you for stopping by! Please feel free to add me on instagram!

Love Always,
Lis

Our Love Story

Welcome to the first installment of Wedding Wednesday!!!

Although my wedding has past (May 30^th, 2015) I thought it would be fun to do a series of Wedding Wednesdays so that I can reminisce in all things wedding!

 Here is what Wednesdays will consist of for the next couple of weeks..

 

                                       How We Met (this is what I’m going to be talking about today!)

                My Bachlorette

                Days Leading Up to the Wedding/ Rehersal Dinner

                Our Wedding Day!

                What I Learned/ Tips for Planning a Wedding

So.. lets jump right into the first topic.. Our Love Story..

My undergrad degree is in el ed and at my school – men in education classes are few and far between. So on the first day of class when a male enters the room, he is noticed! And boy did I notice Tommy! He looked like the definition of a ‘surfer dude’. Long blonde hair, tan skin, blue eyes. I used to skootch my chair so I could get a better look at him in class ;) 

 

 I could never get up the courage to talk to him in class. The semester ended with zero words being exchanged. 

While we were out being typical 22 year old college students on Saint Patrick’s Day, my roomie called to inform me that Tommy was at the bar (she was also in our class the previous semester). So what is a girl to do besides book it to the bar! 

Once I got there she encouraged me to go and talk to him, I had liquid courage on my side so I decided to go for it, what did I have to lose?!

I walked right up to him and asked him to dance. He agreed and we danced the rest of the night! He got my number and called the next day – the rest as they say – is history!! 

Want to know what the kicker is? He doesn’t even remember me from class!!

Making the first move ended up changing my life!

We've been together for 4 years - and married for a little over 1 month. Here are a few pictures of us over the years.. 

He's 6'5 so in order for our shirts to work he had to bend down a little! haha

My favorite from our engagement pictures last October!

My roomie was one of the bridesmaids at our wedding and since I give her all the credit for encouraging me to talk to Tommy – I asked her to tell the story of the night we met at our wedding, so you will get to hear her side once I post our wedding video!

 

That’s all for now! Thank you for reading and if there is something you’ve been wanting to do but have been too afraid to just “go for it” I highly suggest your try – what do you have to lose!?

Love Always,

Lis 

Instagram

First Ever H54F!

Welcome to my first ever High Five For Friday!!

I’m going to have a lot of “first evers” on here because well, this is only my third blog post! However, I’m particularly excited about joining in on this HF4F!! It’s always fun to read a little recap of other bloggers weeks and it was fun for me this week to think back on how awesome life is! I love the sense of community and support for one another during all of the H54F posts!

A big thank you to Tif at Bright on a Budget, Caitlin at Coffee With Caitlin, Della at Della Devoted and Katie at Cup of Tea for hosting!!

<div class="bright-on-a-budget-button" style="width: 200px; margin: 0 auto;">
<a href="http://www.brightonabudget.com" rel="nofollow">
<img src="http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e232/coffeewithcaitlin/h54f2_zpsc7e1f4e7.jpg" alt="Bright on a Budget" width="200" height="200" />

I’m crossing my fingers and toes that I can get this right!

Here it goes.. 

1. On Sunday we celebrated the 4^th of July with my hubby’s side of the family. We went to a cute park near where he is from and grilled burgers and just hung out all afternoon. While it was a little hot out – we found the perfect shaded area that was also private! It was so nice to just get to hang out and chat with everyone! 

Tommy and I at his family picnic! Everyone wore red, white and blue! May or may not have been my idea - I love anything with a theme!! My monogram shirt is from Marley Lilly.

 

2.    2.  On Tuesday we had my mom and step-dad over for dinner at our apartment. We made shrimp tacos and mahi-mahi (I guess we could have called it Taco Tuesday!).  This was our first time making both dishes.  While I thought the mahi-mahi was okay --- I loved the shrimp tacos!! It was a great summer meal and I will definitely be making them again! 

3. I’m so happy and so excited about starting my blog!! This is something I’ve been thinking about doing for a long time but I’ve been too nervous! If you have any tips for me I would loooove to hear them!

My cat - Baby!

4. I'm trying to enjoy this whole “job search process”. Even though I’m getting quite antsy, I keep telling myself it’s only temporary and I need to enjoy this mini-vacation while I can. For instance, getting some extra snuggles in with my cat! 

5. Last night we got to have a little date night at home including ice cream and a redbox! We rented Jupiter Ascending (Tommy has been wanting to see it since it hit theaters). While I wasn’t exactly pumped about watching it - I figured if it had Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis, it couldn’t be too painful! It was a little sci-fi for me but overall, not a bad movie! I mostly just enjoyed the ice cream and snuggles!

Okay so there you have it! My first HF4F! I’m looking forward to finding some new blogs to binge read! :) 

Have a wonderful weekend!

Love always,

Lis

Instagram

Life Update

I woke up at 3:30 this morning. I was up for about two hours. I just didn’t feel tired and my mind was racing. Guess what I was thinking about? This blog!

How I wrote one post months ago. How I couldn’t really remember what I wrote about. How I just felt like writing.

So, I had to look up my own blog (I didn’t even know my own URL!).

What I saw made me happy.

I had made some goals for myself. The goals weren’t anything crazy – but they were mine. The things I truly wanted.

So, since I’d really like to keep up with this whole blogging thing, I figured I would fill you in on the past 9 months (no – I didn’t have a baby, just happened to be the time span, unless you’d like to think of this blog as my baby, then yes—it took me 9 months to ‘cook-up’ the courage to write again).

Here were my goals and how/ if I achieved them:

graduate with my Masters (fingers crossed that will be happening in May 2015)

YES! I did graduate with my Masters on May 8^th 2015 (with honors!) Going back for my Masters degree was the best thing I’ve ever decided to do. The things my mind was opened up to, the people I met, the experiences I had, and the field I fell in love with! I wouldn’t change my decision to go back to school for a split second! 

                                          My husband, Tommy, and I at my graduation!

*get a FULL TIME job after graduation 

UGH. The high of graduating followed by the low of job searching is rough. For real. Still working on this one. I’m trying to be optimistic. More on this later..

*run a half marathon

SO.. I didn’t run a half marathon, HOWEVER I did run a 10k (6.2 miles) that I am super proud of!!! I think it was wise to start with a 10k rather than a half marathon because I got the real experience of training and how my body felt running (I AM NOT A RUNNER – NEVER HAVE BEEN). Although I don’t despise running as much as I used to, I’m not sure I have the desire to do a half marathon anymore. I’d like to keep doing 5ks just to stay running, but I believe the only half marathon I’d be excited about doing would be the Disney Princess Half Marathon!! Maybe one day!?

 

Tommy and I ran the race with two of our dear friends. It was nice to have another couple to not only talk about training with but to get to spend the day with them as well!

*feel confident and beautiful in my wedding dress (I'm getting married in May!)

I got married on May 30^th, 2015 I plan on dedicating a whole blog post to the wedding day (maybe even more than one post) but I was so afraid that I was going to look back on pictures and regret how I looked. It totally freaked me out when one day my now sister-in-law said something to me about how my wedding day will be the day I am the most beautiful, ever. THAT’S A LOT OF PRESSURE!! Up until she said that to me – I hadn’t thought about it that way. So, the thought of not feeling beautiful in my wedding dress had me stressed out! The dress I went with ending up complimenting my body type wonderfully. While I lost about 7 lbs for the wedding day (I wanted to loose more) I felt comfortable and happy! Of course there were still moments when I thought “I hope I don’t look pregnant right now!!” (my stomach is my biggest problem area) I’m happy and thankful for the progress I did make!

                                       With my sister and my momma shortly after the ceremony!

                                                           Dancing with my dad! 

More wedding pictures to come :) 

Now, I feel as if it’s time to make some new goals! 

One is definitely staying the same – this whole finding a real, full time job thing! The other is keeping up with this blog :) any tips you have would be awesome!

What are some of your goals!? I’d love to hear them!

Also, please feel free to check me out on instagram -> LoveAlwayssssLis

Thanks for stopping by!

Love always,

Lis

 

Why Blog?

I created this blog almost exactly a year ago and am just now getting up the courage to write my first post. 

Why am I even beginning the blog in the first place?

For one, I love reading other people's blogs. So many times I've been reading and thought "I'm happy someone else feels the same way I do" or "Wow, they're really doing some awesome things"..

I started to think about how maybe I could help someone too.

I'm in the helping profession (education - one reason why I am keeping a lot of things private).

I'm also a goal digger ;) 

I have a lot of goals that I'd like to accomplish but have been having a hard time getting myself started. 

Speaking of goals.. I'll share some of mine right now. Some of which I have never even spoken aloud, but have held them deep down inside of me. 

My short term goals:

*graduate with my Masters (fingers crossed that will be happening in May 2015)
*get a FULL TIME job after graduation (I'm sure I'll be posting more details about this later)
*run a half marathon (also - will post more about later)
*feel confident and beautiful in my wedding dress (I'm getting married in May!)

So. There you have it. I'd like to complete these goals within the next 6-8 months. 

Okay so what does this have to do with blogging!?!?

Well.. I'm hoping that writing this blog will help keep me accountable. To be honest - I'm scared!!! I'm scared of failing. I'm scared of letting the people I love down. I'm scared of letting myself down. 

Why didn't I start this blog a year ago!? Because I was scared. Scared to talk about my feelings.

Fear has been running my life a lot lately. I'm ready for that to change - and I'm hoping this blog will be my public diary that may help someone else who is dealing with a lot of fears. Although, I doubt anyone will be reading this blog- so if you are -- thank you :) and stay tuned!!

Love Always,
Lis