I'm going to be cutting out a little early in the blogging world this weekend. I've got lots to do!

Tonight we're having company over--two of E's friends from school. I'm kind of excited to have our first dinner party (we had a barbecue for Labor Day, but burgers in the backyard doesn't exactly count)...and I'm a little bit nervous even though they're two single guys probably eating frozen pizza 3 nights a week! We're having meatloaf, my special garlic feta mashed potatoes, and corn on the cob. I'm still trying to think of a dessert...any ideas?

Also, I have been sitting on Anthropologie gift card since my birthday in May, and I'm hoping to head there with MIL over the weekend to shop. Confession: I've never actually been in an Anthropologie store, but I have a wish list a mile long on the website. How will I ever pick only one thing! (But do I have a cool MIL or what? ...she picked it out entirely on her own!)

Here are a few of the items I might be drooling over come Saturday:








It doesn't stop! *Sigh* Our budget commands "Only 1 item" so I have 1 1/2 days to find some self control.

any other suggestions?

what's next?

I apologize for the absence. I've been having a hard time getting together what I need to do a really good DIY post, and I am missing a lot of pictures of the "finished products" while I wait for my professional pictures. (No fun writing a DIY post without the results!)

I don't want to go without blogging for terribly long, so I'm going to fight my organized nature and start some recaps out of order!

Here's the question--do you guys want to hear about the Italian honeymoon



or the day before/rehearsal first?



Whichever you decide, I will start on Monday!


Thanks for being patient! here's another photo from our first look to keep you until then!

this photos makes me sigh with contentment every time I see. it. It's so hot, I can't believe it's E and I! I'm so blessed :)

great grandma

This is my great-grandmother, Hildred.
She was born in 1908.
She got married in the Great Depression.
She sent her sons off to WWII.
She lost a husband of 30 years to a heart attack.
She raised 4 children, and now her descendants number: 76--including 1(+1/2!) great-great-grandchildren
She married her elementary school sweetheart at the age of 69. (he found her after all those years and had never forgotten her!)

She has lived for the last 5 years only 5 minutes from my parents house (where I was living pre-wedding) I have been able to see her about once a week, and she is the most lovely person you will ever meet. I wish I had spent more time with her when I was younger.

Her century old body is shutting down bit by bit but she never complains. She is always thrilled to see her family. She tells stories of her two mischievous boys growing up in Chicago in the 40s (one of whom is my grandfather), her travel adventures with her sister after the death of her first husband, and life in Arkansas with her second husband.

But she recently turned 101, and I knew she wouldn't get to make it to the wedding. She can hardly get in and out of car anymore and the drive to our ceremony location would be 45 minutes. But I wanted to include her somehow. So after getting ready with the girls at my parents house, we packed up a little early and headed to her retirement home for a quick visit before the wedding.

I can't wait to share the rest of these photos in my recaps. She is the most precious person, and I'm so thankful for the time we've got to spend together. I don't know how many more days God has mapped out for her life, but she has lived a wonderful one.