Let the festivities begin!

Saturday was the day -- my FIRST bridal shower.

I'm just gonna get real personal and tell you that I could not stop sweating on the car ride there. I bought this cute new navy lace top on sale and not even kidding. My pits were a mess and I started getting that feeling I got back in school when I had to present about a topic I wasn't prepared for. I know, I'm crazy. This day was going to be FUN! & I knew that... I just don't do well with everyone paying attention to me.

We pulled up to the place though and OH MY WORD... all that weird anxiety went away and everyone was there ready to celebrate this new adventure in my life! It was such a great feeling.

This shower was thrown by my MOH Lyndsie. Um. Let me tell you something... girl just gets me. Mason jars? Check. Cupcakes? Check. Yellow everywhere?! CHECK CHECK CHECK.

The decor was just too cute, as you can see. One of my other friends (and bridesmaid) Marie took care of all the food...and I'm not talking take-out.

We're talking like, she home-made ALL of it right there. Chicken salad croissants, grilled on the spot bruschetta, quiche, meatballs, stuffed mushrooms, and a couple delicious cheese balls.

After we all got stuffed silly, we played a few hilarious games.

A silly round of he said/she said.

& then I had to leave the room & each table inappropriately decorated a pair of briefs.

Check out THAT face, and my sweet great granny checkin 'em out.

THEN... everyone gathered around to watch me open all the presents. I was ecstatic at this point, Caleb and I are so blessed.

My sweet great grandma Agnes, cracking up at some of my presents.

UM amazing!

My grandma (basically a second momma to me) surprised me with THIS bad boy. O-M-G. In love. Caleb and I absolutely cannot wait to find the perfect spot for this in our place.

Tryin not t  break TOO many ribbons.

My incredible SIL-to-be and MIL!

I've been so blessed by this lady. My great grandma Agnes, so happy she gets to see her only granddaughter get hitched.

I know this gorgeous gal needs NO introduction, but this is Erin, my super soulmate. I don't know WHAT I'd do without her. She is such a constant "happy" in my life, and I hope she always knows how thankful I am for our friendship. Just saying, the two of us are kind of awesome when we're together, but you add our men to that mix & you've got yourself the most ridiculous bunch of craziness you'll ever see. In the best way possible. Moral of the story; I love her to the planets and back 16 times.

That is Marie, yes...the amazing chef. I legit asked her not to buy me ANY wedding presents but to just teach me how to cook.

You think I'm kidding? Nope.

& that is my MOH, Lynds. She did SUCH a great job planning my shower, it was exactly what I'd always thought of in my head. I mean, really. She was in Cali for her last semester of college and she came to OHIO for spring break!? Uhhh... that is true love. We've been friends for over a decade now, and I am so unbelievably thankful for her.

So, that was my exciting Saturday :)

After everything was loaded in the car, I met Caleb at our apartment and just the two of us went through everything and put it all away in cabinets. It was probably the most romantic thing we've ever done. I about cried of excitement!

Thanks for sticking around for THAT crazy long post!

I'll be back to finish up the rest of my weekend, tomorrow.

 

Weekend rollout.

Its Friday, and I have nothing planned for this pretty lil' blog of mine (which PS my gorgeous SIL-to-be Erin designed a while back, and I'm STILL so in love with it!!) -- which means Friday letters it is!

Dear Caleb, thank you for pushing me to my limits in our work outs. If it weren't for you I wouldn't have made it this far... even if Wednesday's workout made me cry... literally. Dear first Bridal Shower, YOU ARE THIS WEEKEND! I can't even wait for your arrival. You're going to feel like Christmas morning all over again! Dear Lyndsie, thanks for coming home for Spring Break to throw my shower. So happy to have you back in Cincy, if only for a few days! Dear blog giveaway that I won, not sure how that happened. I never win anything. But you provided me with the CUTEST customized stamp that I plan to use on every last invitation we send out in the next few weeks! I am so excited! Dear Red Lobster, why are your cheesy biscuits sent from heaven? I cannot believe I only had TWO of you last night. Dear Snapchat, you  bring me so much more entertainment than I would care to admit. Dear Spring, get here... like now. Anna and I are ready to wear white pants, like all the time. K thanks! Dear 'spring forward', although I'm not forward to losing precious pillow time this weekend, I AM excited about all the extra sunshine we'll be having. Dear R. Kelly, thanks for blasting through my speakers on my drive into work this morning. Ignition is my jam. Dear Erin, your freaking shower invitations rocked my socks off. As if I expected anything less. They are sooo adorable, can't wait to keep it forever. ;)

Have a GREAT weekend everyone. I expect snap-chats and picture messages out the wazoo all weekend long!

A true throwback

So, I searched for my old Myspace a few weeks ago... and absolutely couldn't remember my password. Do you want to know what I finally figured out was my password?!

(this just proves I'm a fat girl at heart...)

"muffins09"

MUFFINS?!

Okay, so I did go through an Otis Spunkemeyer stage back in breakfast period of high school... judge me.

Anywho... lets change THAT subject! I began looking at all my pictures...ughh. I'm more motivated than ever to get that my 17 yr old body back. Caleb keeps reminding me that I wasn't "a women" yet... pffft. Now I guess I just have "more to love" (which PS- is an actual "body type" choice on Myspace!).

Basically all I could find on there were silly things from my last year of high school...and my prom dress. I only went to ONE prom all of high school... and dress shopping for it went very well for me. I saw the dress, tried it on... and knew it was "the one".

You know I needed a diva pose... you like my multi colored walls?

Since we're on the "throwback" subject....I'll take you into my past a little bit ;)

Yeah, I went through a short hair stage... a REALLY short hair stage.

I keep wondering if I should go back after the wedding? I truly don't think long hair is for me...its SO hard to keep up with, and just gets more expensive to get colored... gaaah.

Decisions.

Then there is a tiiiny album when I met Caleb... can you all believe Myspace was still around!?

There he is...forcing me to eat an entire elephant ear...okay, I took it willingly. Carnival food is my crack.

There we are being super hotttt at our first concert together...we weren't even together yet ;)

Apparently I wasn't eating enough...

Continuing to look at the profile section of my Myspace...oh lord

The first song on my Myspace playlist is; Jason Derulo "Watcha Say"... lordy.

My bio;

 I work in the mall, and eat way too much food. I have been blessed with a great boyfriend; Caleb Magness. He is amazing! I also have thee best friends ever, they are always there for me..... Photography is my passion and my lifelong goal is to own a successful Photography Business on my own. I'm a little too obsessed with strawberry cheesecake and milkshakes. If you ever need anything; get at me!

Get at me?!! Who am I?

THANK GOODNESS THAT IS OVER.

I bet in 15 years I'll look back at my Facebook and crack up at myself. But, that keeps people humble I think... learning to laugh at yourself.

Happy Thursday everybody!

Yummm.

Good news. My MOH Lyndsie is home from Cali for Spring break! I know right? She came to Ohio for SB?!? Well, its cause she loves me THAT much and she is throwing my first bridal shower this Saturday! 

We celebrated our birthdays together at Benihana... we were babies. Ripe age of 19.

Speaking of how awesome she is... lets talk about the fact that she ordered her MOH dress from Modcloth, it came in... and she tried it on for me last night and guess what?

IT FIT HER LIKE A GLOVE!

Did I expect anything less? Girl is teeensy.

 Switching subjects entirely...it ended up snowing here like FREAKING crazy last night up until this morning.& all I could think about is how badly I wanted to stay home, get in sweats, drink hot chocolate.. and bake something warm.

Speaking of baking....

I know quite a few of you asked for my recipe for the "Cheese Pockets" I spoke of during my random Wednesday post quite a few weeks back. SURPRISE - they don't actually have CHEESE in them.
Sorry, folks.

I happen to make these for work back in January (and last minute for a chili cook off) so you even get a couple iPhone pictures of this masterpiece creation.

Ingredients needed:

2 packages of Cream Cheese

2 tubes of Original Crescent Rolls

1 Cup of Sugar

1 Tsp Vanilla

1 Egg Yolk

1 Ugly Christmas Sweater

just kidding... but it does make baking more fun, guys.

In your blender (unless you can use a spatula and your hand, & trust me... you can't), mix together the 2 packages of cream cheese, cup of sugar, tsp of vanilla and the 1 egg yolk until blended well.

Layer first roll of crescent rolls on the bottom of a 9x13" pan (perfect fit).

Once the mixture above is blended to a smooth consistency, lather it on top of the crescent rolls in pan.

Then, once the first layer of crescent rolls are covered with the mixture, throw on the second layer of crescent rolls on top. In the meantime, make a light cinnamon/sugar mixture to sprinkle on top before sticking it in the oven for 20 minutes on 400 degrees.

After it comes out looking amazing, let it cool for about 45 minutes, then stick it in the fridge over night.

I know it doesn't look beautiful, but hey... I was in a rush ;)

Then the next morning, cut into bite size pieces (I always throw more sugar on top afterwards, duh!)

ENJOY! Let me know if you try it out!

PS- if you made it through this ridiculously random post, 4 candies for you, you go glenn coco!

Checking in!

So its now March 5th... which means most of us have given up on our "New Years Resolutions"...right?

WRONG.

I am proud of myself. Does it make me a total loser to say that I have stuck with my 3 main goals for this year?

1. Floss every night before bed.

2. Read my Bible every day.

& 3. Send snail mail once a month!

I can honestly say I have done every one of those. What blows my mind? I used to HATE flossing... like, with all of my being. Especially since I have that stupid permanent retainer on my bottom row, and I have to buy that expensive floss to even get to it.. I used to think why bother? Then I realized, hmm...I like my teeth...I'd like to keep my teeth.

I'm now more than 16% through with my Bible App that has me reading daily scripture so I can finish the entire Bible by day 365 of 2013. CAN'T WAIT. To me, that is a huge accomplishment. My faith is stronger than ever and I am finding so much more joy in the little things in life.

Sending snail mail once a month...? You betcha! I actually just mailed out an adorable little hand written note to my girl Kaitlyn because she is just so great. I am so excited about all the packages I've been sending, its just so fun to get REAL MAIL instead of an email/text...but don't get me wrong... I LOVE texting/emailing all my favorite blogger ladies out there... you know who you are!!

As far as working out goes... we haven't given up. As you know...back in February Caleb and I decided to start Insanity. We had to put that on hold for 4 days because he got really sick... so there have been a few off days...however! We are now 14 days into the 60 day program and I am ALREADY seeing results. I've dropped 5 pounds and I'm trying to eat cleaner. For the most part I am... but if anyone has the secret to NOT crave those cupcakes left in the office kitchen... please, let me in on it.

Or else I'm stuck staring at them like this hilarious dog above.

Its not much easier to say NO to my yummy favorites (cupcakes, candy, mountain dew on the DAAILYYY), but it will be worth it when its all over.

I HOPE!!

Gosh... my post-workout faces need some work.

We did do the fit test last night... and O-M-G. I talked to some of you yesterday about how bummed I'd be if I saw no improvement... I am excited to saaayyyy...

*haallleluujaaahh*

I IMPROVED ON EVERYTHING!!!! This is a HUGE deal to me... I really was slightly convinced that I my not improve. So after work I went straight to Caleb's. I intentionally left my results from the FIRST fitness test at home so I had nothing to compare it to. That way I'd go into this fit test "blind" and could compare numbers later. I came home, and was thrilled. The work outs suck... they really do. In the best way possible. I truly believe after this is over it will be the healthiest me I've ever seen.

How are you doing on what you set your mind too back on January 1??

We got the keys!

So Friday I think my heart was going to beat out of my chest if I didn't get to leave work right on time...I picked Caleb up and we drove very quickly over to the lease office of our apartment complex. We initialed our little lives away and got those keys as fast as we could.

Drove the 30 second drive over there and ran inside so quickly I almost tripped over our cute little welcome mat.

Video Camera strapped to Caleb's hand... he hit that record button and we made our first "home video". The first of many many many. We've made it a goal to be sure we grab the video camera for random nothings in our new home, the big moments and the silly ones. That way, at the end of the year... we can make one huge compilation from 2013! The thing is, neither of us have many "home videos" from our child-hoods, and I want to be able to look back on moment's like these when were 70 and laugh our butts off, still so in love.

We traipsed all over the apartment, and checked out the brand new place. I pretended I did laundry (yes It came with a washer/dryer INSIDE!!!) and then did some silly jumps and frolicked in our new home.

YOU KNOW we had to take some selfies in the mirror... isn't that what bathroom's are for?!

We spent almost a full hour in the apartment just taking in every sweet, sweet moment.

I just can't believe this is my life. At one point, after we shut down the video camera... I looked at Caleb while he checked out our new balcony, and I just smiled so huge. I cannot believe I have someone so in love with me... and I with him, & this is the first chapter of the rest of our lives together. I can't wait to see how many memories will be made in this new home of ours.

After leaving our apartment... my man surprised me by actually picking a new restaurant out to try. It was in a little town on the main street, and it was SO cute.

That was the only part of the restaurant....

so we thought.

There's a sign that lets you know to seat yourself... but Caleb sees a hallway and some stairs and tells me to follow him. I start pulling on his arm like CALEB! We can't go back there!! Right when I say that, the hallway turns into this cute platform set of stairs...

Then you go up some more stairs....

Sorry about the bad quality...I was trying to be discreet!

Yes, that is a blue ceiling and BRIGHT orange walls. The lighting was sooo dim and the upstairs that I thought was off limits turned out to be a loft lounge. How amazing?! If you go back to the first picture... you can see the ceiling goes really high... that's because from the top of this lounge you can look down and see the bar area. If we had gotten there just an hour later we would've seen a live band, free!

We got seated immediately and it was our waiters first night, bless his heart. He did so great!

Scary, right? ;)

That's my man being all Yeah, I did good. Brownie points, babe.

Seriously... my weekend was amazing. Saturday was spent doing Insanity, then relaxing cleaning my room, and picking out wedding invitations with my grandma. That is one thing Caleb didn't mind missing out on! We will have to send those out soon! YAY!

Sunday, Caleb and I taught the K-5 kids at church... we volunteered for the whole month of March. I've missed their sweet little hearts! Then did another day of Insanity... and now I feel dead.

Tonight's agenda? Insanity fit test... Kill me now.
Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend!!!

TODAY IS GOOD!

I am absolutely flooded with work here at the office so I am going to make this a short post.

Caleb charged up his video camera last night, I charged up my camera so we can document the place and our excited reactions!... and we are prepared to sign the lease and get our keys TONIGHT! This is the first time we'll even see our apartment... as they were JUST built and we have only seen a one bedroom one bath... so basically this is one huge surprise! & I couldn't be more pumped!

This was a picture taken on vacation back from 2011 in Hilton Head... we'll be more excited to see our apartment than....

We then plan on doing Insanity, cleaning back up and taking each other out on a hot date. Woo!

Happy Friday!!!!!