11 Days and Counting

At this point we are officially 11 days away from getting married! I have also officially become a college graduate. I had two completely different and amazing experiences in my internship placements that I am so blessed to have been put in. I learned so much about the kids as well as myself. Due to my experiences I am now looking to get my master's degree in Special Education. I feel that the Lord is leading me in this direction and that I was placed in my internship placements for specific reasons.

We also have an apartment now! On on of my last few days my wonderful future husband called me to tell that an apartment we were hoping to get refused our application. I was immediately depressed. Suddenly he said I am just kidding and you dont have to worry about it because we have the apartment we wanted. We had been wanting this one apartment for months but there was never an opening and we had resulted in looking at other locations. Then my wonderful fiance stopped by to talk to the owner of the apartments and found out that the man had been holding the apartments for a lady who never returned his calls. He went into his office to find her number and soon realized the lady was my own mother! Weird how things turn out. So now we have been moving boxes and all our showers presents into our apartment. My AMAZING sister went with me to clean and even got on her hands and knees with a magic eraser to clean our bathroom floor. (I am truly blessed with the best sister on the planet.) It is slowly beginning to look more like a home and less like a storage closet. We had our internet and cable installed today. Each day one thing leads us closer and closer to being in our happy home together.

11 Days until the wedding and we are all officially in stress mode. I am trying to stay positive and look forward to our wedding day instead of trying to rush it to get here. I am an emotional train wreck and cry at the drop of a hat. Luckily I have an incredible future husband that is use to my sudden crying outbursts and knows exactly how to comfort me in my times of need. I am truly marrying an amazing man who makes my life better with each passing day.

Right now our groomsman from Colorado is also on his way home! Finally our entire wedding party will be here. I am so excited to see him! It has been several months since we have been able to see him. Luckily for us we are able to text and call on a regular basis which makes it easier to cope with him living so far away from us now. We have a brother/sister relationship and I could not function if we did not have the kind of relationship we have with each other. It feels so good for him to call to talk about his girl troubles or even just to hear our voices.

Christmas is also fast approaching. We are all in a hussle and bussle for this wedding but are still trying to remember Christmas and all it brings to us. This is my last Christmas in my own home which feels weird and scary while also feeling exciting that next year I will be celebrating with husband. Emily's birthday is also coming up on the 27th of this month. I feel like I took Christmas and her birthday away from our family with our wedding, yet I know she loves me and is being extremely understanding during this time. I am doing my best and will do my best to make her 20th birthday memorable to her without it focusing on this wedding. Hope everyone has a GREAT Christmas! Remember the reason for the season and God bless you all!

Thanks To My Sister!

Tonight we celebrated our upcoming wedding with a Lingerie Shower. My sister has been working on this shower for a couple of months now. She ordered invitations, paid for them to be printed, got food for the shower, decorated, cooked, bought presents, made up games, performed her hostess duties, and even made me a wonderful panty line complete with poem. I could not ask for a more precious gift in my life than to have a sister as wonderful as mine. There is no doubt in my mind she is my best friend in the world. Without her around I would completely lose my mind. She has helped hold me together during the craziness of this wedding and performed her sisterly and maid of honor duties beautifully. I know that she is truly excited for me and I know that she loves Chris. It is going to be so hard being away from her everyday once Chris and I get married. I am so use to her being right there next to me everyday. I am use to being able to shout down the hall for her if I need her. I love how she is right next door if I need to talk. I am so blessed to have such an amazing sister but am also having trouble coping with the fact that I will soon be leaving her and my parents. I am still not quite ready to leave. I know I must grow up and I know they can still come visit...it's just different. I am excited for my new life with Chris as husband and wife but sad to close this chapter in my life. My sister and I, I know, will have our daily talks and visits with one another. Of course with our busy lives I know there will be days that is not possible. I can only do as much as I can and hope for the best. We will have to work at it but I have no doubt that we will always stay close and always be there for each other. I could not imagine my life without my sister in it. She is everything to me and my best friend. Thank you Emma for all you have done and will do for this wedding. You are an amazing sister and I am so blessed that God chose to put you in my life. I could not ask for a better sister than you! You are the best and I love you more than you will ever know!!

Halfway to Graduation

Yesterday was a bittersweet and emotional day. It was my last day with my sixth graders. At the beginning of this placement I was so scared about being in sixth grade. I was most worried about teaching math, I have to admit I really stink at math. As this last eight weeks have went by I have fallen completely in love with each of my sixth graders. They all have such amazing and different personalities. I never imagined that I would become so attached to them so quickly. First thing in the morning I was bombarded with cards and presents. My cooperating teacher even got me the most amazing teacher bag with my future married name on it, my first thing with my married name that I have! Of course, I immediateky started crying. The rush of emotions of leaving these kids and realizing how close our wedding really is completely made me loose it. Through this time with sixth grade I have come to realize I can do this. I am capable of teaching older kids. I am capable of having fun and presenting amazing lessons that the students are acutally excited to talk about. Throughout this time I have done a huge unit on the planets in our solar system. The kids have fallen in love with science due to this unit. Everyday they wanted to know if we could do science or they would bring in exciting information they had found on a planet. Things like that help you to know what and how you are teaching is have a major effect on the kids and makes you want to keep going. One of my students even wrote me a card that read "You're cooler than Neptune." At the end of the day I took the kids outside to play. I took my dad's video camera and had all the kids get together and wave. The kids began to count down from 3-2-1 and without my knowing they all shouted, "We love you Ms. Auten!" My heart melted and the waterworks started again. I have been so blessed to have been put in this classroom with these kids. I will never forget this amazing experience. I feel like I should be staying with them to continue to watch them transform and mature. My cooperating teacher was telling me that after Christmas the kids change so much. I plan to attend their Christmas pageant and graduation at the end of the school year. It is going to be so different to see them in such a new light. I feel I have had a major impact on their lives. These were an awesome group of kids that I know will succeed and go far in life. I can not wait to keep up with their lives and see where life takes them. Next I am going to Kindergarten. I am now TERRIFIED of Kindergarten. I feel I was made for higher grades and right now I am in "sixth grade mode." It is going to be hard to adjust to being around little kids that are learning the alphabet instead of algebra and the planets in the solar system. I know I am capable of anything I set my mind to. I know I can make it through Kindergarten and I feel I will even grow to be good at it. I am halfway to graduation and the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter. Sometimes it feels it is coming too fast. I am not ready to be a college graduate. I still feel like I am a little kid, not a grown up. Two weeks after becoming a college graduate I will become a wife. This year is such an amazing year for Chris and I along with our families. We are closing one chapter in our lives and opening our own new story. Am I ready to be a grown up? In my heart, I know I am but at the same time it is hard to let go of being little.

Multi-Tasker

Since school got started I have zero time to write. Even now as I am taking the time to blog, I have english, social studies, and science books laid across my bed, staring me in the face, waiting for me to stop procrastinating and plan my lessons for next week. This semester is different than any other semester because I am finally an intern! It is so hard to believe it is actually here, I never thought this time in my college career would come. I am in 6th grade right now and will be heading to Kindergarten in mid-October, talk about two separate worlds. I was so scared of sixth grade and now I am terrified of Kindergarten. I am getting so use to my cooperating teacher, students and the way things "roll" in the classroom and school it will be hard to basically start over. On top of my already busy schedule with internship I am in the midst of planning our wedding. Therefore I literally have no free time. Whatever time I am not on a computer looking up lesson ideas or typing plans, I am looking up wedding stuff. We are now just a little over three months away. It is getting so close I can not believe it! Each day I am one step closer to graduation and one step closer to becoming Mrs. Hughes.

Also for the last three and a half weeks my sister and I have been using the exercise system, Insanity. It has definitely let us have it. We are both losing weight and toning up for this up and coming wedding. We dont get to actually do the workout together everyday due to our crazy schedules but knowing we are both doing the same things, working hard for the same goal makes me feel so much closer to her.

Chris and I also had a set of engagement pictures made by my wonderful daddy a couple of weeks ago. We had so much fun together along with my parents and sister. I am so lucky to have such an amazing family that will stand in the heat, fixing my hair holding, my hair brush, holding water and towels, and posing us. It was also so wonderful to be so close to Chris laughing and giggling together. One of the many reasons I love him is that he also knows how to make me smile and laugh. I cant wait to be his wife!

"Small" Things Become Bigger

This week Chris and I have begun to look at wedding invitations. Emily went with me Friday to pick up a few wedding invitations albums to bring home for us and our families to look at. Emily had spent the night with a friend and had to get up early to go to the doctor so needless to say she wasnt too up for wedding invitation shopping. But like a good maid of honor she went and looked through endless amounts of books with me all while literally falling asleep at the table. I informed Chris I had picked up three books that I found many things I liked in and I wanted him to look at them with me later that night so we could narrow it down before we showed our parents our options. I cleared off our kitchen table and laid the books out. If you have ever went invitation shopping you know the books are no ordinary books. They are not small and magazine shaped yet they seem to weigh twenty pounds apiece and be HUGE! Chris was definitely expecting magazine sized books because when he walked in the house he stopped and just stared at the gigantic books staring him in the face. It definitely made him not want to go through the books with me but like a good fiance he did. We soon found out our tastes in invitations are completely different! Chris likes the plain, simple look while I go for over the top and different. We just ended up making each other aggravated and gave up after looking through the three books after placing sticky notes on every single choice one or both of us liked. The next day we shared our picks with my parents and Chris' parents. They both weighed in on the options yet both told us it was ultimately our decision. Of course when you show that many people everyones picks are going to be different. I did not expect this small task to be so strenuous. Not only do you have to pick our the invitation but also the envelope, lined, plain, or colored. You also have to pick our monograms, sticker seals, thanks you cards, the format of the card, the colors of ink on the car, the color of the card itself (ivory or white-yet again Chris likes white I go for ivory), the wording on the card, etc. It is CRAZY!!! Sunday night we decided to try to narrow down the picks to our top 5 because the books had to go back today, Monday. We narrowed it down to our top 4 that we both agreed on and could live with. I took the books back today and our two of our favorites priced. Emily and I then looked through more books. Chris and I are going back this Friday to go through the books together so I dont bring home three more huge books that he doesnt like anything in. I want our parents to like the invitations as well seeing as they are paying for them yet ultimately we know it is our decision to make. We are both having to learn to not sweat the small stuff and to learn to compromise and figure things out together. Other items we considered to be "small" are also turning into bigger matters than I first realized. Napkins, save the dates, thank you cards, plates, food, flowers, set up for everything at the church, favors, etc. Weddings are definitely more tiring that I ever realized. It is never ending...once I get one thing done something else pops up. However, I am becoming much better at my multi-taking skills. Chris and I are getting better on compromising and listening to each others opinions so I have no doubt we will be able to come to a decision on everything involved in our wedding. I know we will still have our arguments but in the end all will be worth it and we will be husband and wife. Just 145 more days! I cant believe it!

A Good Week Going

Well this week is slowly becoming an amazing week! Tuesday I received information that I had won 500 dollars off a wedding package from a drawing I entered while attending the Marriott Bridal Show on Sunday. I already have a photographer and this winning is pretty much impossible to use it still makes you feel good to know you won something. Wednesday Chris and I celebrated our 7 year anniversary. Even though it didnt start out as the best day ever it definitely ended amazing. One tire on my mom's car went completely flat in the morning and she had to drive my car to work. My dad was at work and my sister had to go to school to finish out her summer classes. Chris' truck has no air. In the middle of summer here right now it is over 100 degrees outside so riding to town in a truck with no air isnt the ideal situation. We finally decided to take the car to Chris' mom at her work and trade it for her car (with air). We ate a quick lunch at McDonald's since we were going out for a nicer dinner. We then went to see a movie, Despicable Me. It was my second time to see the movie and Chris' first. It is by far even better the second time around, I highly recommend it to everyone! It is hilarious! We went to the mall to look around for some wedding registry ideas. Then we had to have some keys made at Walmart for Chris' mom. We had planned to have dinner at Osaka, a Japanese steakhouse. Instead we decided to go to our favorite place, Applebee's. After eating we decided to come back to my house to go swimming. All in all it was an amazing anniversary!

Before we went swimming last night I got a call from Simplicity Gourmet to tell me I had won another prize from the Bridal Show I attended. We go next Tuesday night to go for a cooking class with this company as part of our prize among other things involved in the package. I am so excited to have won and even more excited to experience this with Chris.

Today I got my placement letter for my student teaching internship. I am going to be at Kilby in 6th grade for my first placement and Harlan in Kindergarten for my second placement. I am nervous yet excited. It makes it seem so real to have the placements in my hand. Hopefully everything will go well and I will learn alot in the process. It made me feel a lot of relief when I got a call from one of my good friends from high school to tell me his new wife is going to be at the same schools at the same time as me. She will be in 4th grade at Kilby then we will both be in Kindergarten at Harlan. Then I found out another girl from my class will also have Harlan Kindergarten with us. It makes it so much better to know I am going to have people close to me right there with me. It will be nice to talk and collarborate with them as well as express our emotions and feelings about things that we are going through. Wish me luck for we have an orientation meeting the 23rd of August then things will get going on the 24th.

We also are now less than 150 days away from the wedding. Alot is starting to go on and Chris and I are trying to keep our stress levels down. With intership fast approaching I am trying to get as much done as possible. It is going to be crazy but I am up for the challenge. Bring on the multi-tasking!!!

August Comes In With A Bang

The last week of July my family and I went on vacation to Orange Beach, AL. My dad, mom, sister, grandmother, step-grandfather and I all piled up and went to spent a week together. We had an AMAZING time. My family has not been on a family vacation together since I was a sophomore in high school. This vacation was extremely special not only because we got to all be together along with my grandmother but also because it marked the last family vacation I would be spending as an Auten and without Chris by my side. It was nice being able to feel like I was 5 again spending time with my family and my sister especially. It gave us time to bond even more and enjoy each others company. Of course it was always in the back of everyones mind that this was considered our last Auten family vacation without the newly married Hughes' tagging along but we were able to enjoy our time together and make it a vacation I will never forget. We all got completely burned laying out on the beach (even after going to the tanning bed all summer and laying under an umbrella the majority of the day I looked like a lobster), we all gained at least 10 pounds through all the wonderful food we got to eat, we fed the seagulls (And that was an experience haha), we also played putt putt golf the last night at Adventure Island.

After returning home from a relaxing time on the beach it was time to pack up Chris' apartment in order for him to move home as his roomate moves to Colorado. It was definitely a bittersweet feeling. I am highly excited that Chris has moved back home. He is going to be able to save alot more money than was able to be saved while living out on his own. He is also five minutes up the road from me instead of a 25 minute drive. I just hate it had to happen by losing Clayton to a completely different state. They have lived there over a year. It felt like home to Chris and now he is re-adjusted to calling Greenhill home. It is also different not to walk in seeing Clayton everyday. However the difficulties, it is nice for XBOX live to not be an option at Chris' parents house right now haha. Right now Chris is living out of boxes in his old room at his parents house. His sister, Tessa, had moved into his room after he moved in to his apartment. For now the room will stay just how Tessa left it (Twilight posters and all) with the mere change of Chris' bed replacing her day bed. After Chris moves out and into our own home the bed will become Tessa's and she will return to the room. Some may say it is cruel for him to take back over his room but for now Tessa is just happy to have her brother in the house again. This step of moving back home is one more step into moving into our place together. Around Novemeber Chris will be moving into our new apartment (that we have not found yet) in order to begin setting things up for when we move in as newlyweds!

As the first of August as rolled around we are now 5 months and counting until our Big Day! Also with August comes our 7 year anniversary on the 4th of this month. Seven years ago I never imagined I would be in the midst of planning my wedding to this man. We are both so blessed and lucky to have found in each so early in life. For now we continue planning and trying our best to stay stress free and happy. This is a once in a life time thing for us and we are trying to soak up every minute. We also remember to cherish those around us for you never know when it can be taken away in the blink of an eye. Just yesterday a girl that went to school with Chris and I was killed in a car accident. She was a year behind me and a year ahead of Chris. She has a 3 year old daughter. My junior year, her sister (a year older than me) was also killed in a car crash. Everyone keep this wonderful family in your thoughts and prayers for the times they are and will be going through. Think of what you have in your life and cherish every single second. God bless and I love you all!

The craziness continues...

Well tonight concluded our, me and my sister, week at VBS as the three and four year old teachers. It is definitely bittersweet. I am exhausted yet feel so fullfilled and uplifted in God. These kids have been amazing and kept me on my toes. Of course there is never a dull moment with one three or four year old, but 15 three and four years old...well you can understand how exciting my week has been. No matter how frustrated I became or stressed out I got seeing the kids faces and seeing and being told how much they are enjoying VBS truly made me feel like I was meant to be teaching these kids this week. They all learned from us as much as we learned from them, even if they are only 3 and 4. I learned to laugh and love everything around me. Appreciate having the opportunity to go to church freely and worship an amazing God. I learned not to sweat the small stuff because honestly in the end, it doesn't matter. All that matters was that the kids had a blast and they wanted to be there to learn and to be with us. Here are a few more pictures of our amazing week learning more about our God with the most amazing kids ever!

Tomorrow I go to pick up my wedding dress!! I am SOOO excited! I can not believe it is actually happening. Tomorrow night there will be MY wedding dress hanging in my house. I know the wedding is still 5 months away but I am having my bridal pictures taken while it is still warm outside. I would not do well trying to take pictures with my teeth chattering the entire time. It just makes the wedding seem even more real and like it is actually getting closer. It still feels like it will never get here. I can not wait to marry Chris and start our lives together as husband and wife. We have been together for almost 7 years now and I know he is the perfect man for me. He is going to be an amazing husband and I am the luckiest girl in the world to be blessed with a man who loves me for me, even all my flaws. He is a Christian, believes in God and basing our relationship on a Godly foundation. I am truly blessed to have him in my life.

Saturday my family and I leave for vacation. My mom, dad, sister, grandmother and my moms step-dad are all going to Orange Beach. We also have found out a hurricane is suppose to hit there tomorrow night so everyone please pray for a safe trip and clear weather. It is going to be so much fun. We have not took a family vacation since I was in the 10th grade. It is not only our first vacation in a long time but our last as me still an Auten. From now on we will be taking family vacations with my future husband coming along as well as me being a Hughes. This vacation is going to a great time to spent with my family and a great time to be with my sister. My sister is my best friend in the whole world and my biggest fear about getting married is losing her. We do everything together now and I am so use to constantly being around her. I know she loves Chris as Chris loves her but of course once we get married it will be different. We will be in two separate houses with two different lives. I know we will continue to have a great relationship with one another we will just have to work a little harder to keep it going.

Uplifted in God

This week starts the VBS at our church. It started last night and goes through Thursday from 6 to 8 each night. We have classes for children starting at age 3, a youth class and even adult classes. Let me take this opportunity to invite everyone out to our VBS! We would love to have you all join us! My sister and I have taken on the task of teaching the 3 and 4 year old class. We have always been known to have a lot of patience (Emily definitely more than me) and therefore always volunteer to teach the younger children. When teaching the younger kids you can always expect the funniest, sweetest, and most stressful things to happen all at once haha. Just a glimpse into our time last night includes: 12 three and four year olds at one time!

During story time our children were so excited to shout out the answers to the questions asked (I was so impressed with the childrens knowledge of the Bible). The teacher in the story room brought out a belt and asked the students what this object was. Of course all the kids shouted "BELT!" The teacher then began to talk to children about how we wear a belt in church, it is called the Bible. She brought out a Bible and showed it to the children. "Boys and girls, I know you can't read yet but one day you will be able to and I hope you all decide to read the Bible. (Hold up Bible) Do you know what this is?" Child: "We don't know...we can't read!" Next we went to the activities room. In order to get the kids from room to room we designed the "hand holding train line." First line the kids against the wall. Have the children hold the hand of the person in front and the person behind you. One teacher at front of the line other at the end of the line. Of course this method takes time to master with 3 and 4 years olds, but was the best method we could think of. If you have never worked with younger children, they tend to want to run away from the group so staying in a simple line doesn't appeal to them. The theme for our VBS is Bible Boot Camp. The student were given "dog tags" to decorate. The students were given foam stickers to decorate their tags. Of course the majority of the time was spent pulling og the white paper to get to the sticky part. Our dog tags were definitely unique; covered in fish, seaweed, random letters and animals. We then went to games. We took the kids outside and the "game drill sergeants" gave each child a bottle of bubbles. They also have three large bubble wands for the children to share (By the end of our game time we have managed to break two...). One of our children simply took their bubbles and dumped them onto the ground. Other students did not understand the concept of holding there bubble container up while they blew through the wand...which resulting in wearing more of the bubbles than were actually blown. Other children liked the taste of the bubbles, managing to lick the bubble wand and/or lick the bubbles off the ground. Other children were obviously champion bubble blowers, standing in their designated spot blowing bubble after bubble beautifully and without help. Chris even came out to help with the bubble blowing, although like the children, managed to wear more bubbles than he blew due to having difficulties opening bubble packets. After games Chris and Cory Becker took the four boys to wash their hands while Emily, myself, and one of the moms took the 8 girls to the bathroom. The bathroom in itself, with 8 girls, is an adventure. Three sinks, eight girls, lots of soap, paper towels, and of course potty breaks. I do believe more soap and water ended up on the floor than on the hands of my girls. And yet again some of the girls liked the taste of the soapy water from the sink. We then moved on to refreshments. We lined the children up and by this time had halfway mastered the idea of the hand holding train line. We walked into the "Atlas Mess Hall" and seated the kids. They were given red fruit punch along with white and chocolate cream filled cookies. Each child was given two cookies. I was shocked to see that the red punch actually stayed in the glasses and not in the laps of our children or floor of the church building. We soon found out some of the kids like the inside of the cookies more than the actual cookie. Other kids had more of the cookie on their mouth instead of in their stomach. The older kids had fruit roll ups but we opted out of giving each child their own. Instead I tore pieces off for each child. After snack we went to class time. Each child has their own coloring book with Bible verses of what we are learning this week. The kids did a great job staying on the two designated pages they had to color for the night. One of the kids decided the taste of the crayons was better than actually using them to color with. We then ended the night with singing where it was announced that the class with the most kids by the end of the week, the teachers would receive pies in their faces. At this time I think our group is in 5th place. One of the little girls came up to me, tapped me on the knee with a very serious look on her face and said, "Ms. Sarah, I don't want a pie in my face." It was all i could do not to laugh as I explained to her that Ms. Emily and I would be the ones receiving pies, not her. She simply looked at me at said, "Oh...." Then quietly returned to her seat. All in all it was an amazing night! At least with the threes and fours there is never a dull moment and I can not wait for Day 2!!!

During VBS, as with other church events, it is easy to feel uplifted! I have been inviting anyone I can think of and truly hope they all show up. I want to continue having this feeling of being uplifted and closer to God even after VBS is over! Life can be stressful and tough and is constantly throwing obstacles at you. Through God anything is possible. When I am closer to God I feel like I can do anything I set my mind to. It is also amazing to have the feeling that someone is always there at your side with you no matter what. God will never leave you! We just all have to remember not to leave him in the process of life!

Realizing how blessed we are...

Through the stress and strain of wedding planning comes alot of meaningless arguements. It is a tough, yet fun, time in our lives. However, sometimes it can be hard to take the time to stop and looked at how blessed we are. An arguement over what song to play or what microwave to buy seems selfish and small when you think of all the things going on around us. We found a few months ago a guy we went to school with was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He had surgery to remove the tumore and seemed to be getting better. Just yesterday it was found out that he had an infection in his shunt. The shunt had to be removed immediately and signs that he had a stroke have also been present. They are unaware of exactly how he is because he has been in and out from what we understand. We had special prayers for him tonight at church, as we have said our own prayers as well. I know God hears our prayers and that anything is possible through him. It truly has made me feel how truly blessed and lucky Chris and I are. Our families are healthy. We are healthy. I can not imagine going through what this family is experiencing. Everyone needs to take the time to look at life and find the blessing instead of the burdens and troubles. Many times in life we all look at the negative parts of life instead of looking at the positive and even sometimes simple wonderful things that are in our life. Just being able to walk down the street is a blessing in itself. Our God is amazing! He knows everyones troubles and triumphs. He will listen as long as we take the time to talk to him and let him in our lives.

Life goes on

We have 176 days left until our special day. It seems to be speeding by. When we first got engaged we had over 300 days. In the last week Chris finally had an off day and we went wedding band shopping. When Chris bought my engagement ring he also purchased the band so now it was time to figure out what he wanted. It was so much fun and yet felt so unreal to be picking out his wedding band. It was weird looking at a ring on his finger. We also continue to look up songs. There are so many songs out there I feel like we are getting "song overload." We have a pretty good list set right now we just need to narrow things down a little further, which is the hard part.

Now another matter has come up in our wedding, if we didn't have enough to deal with, now one of our groomsmen is moving to Colorado. Clayton is Chris' roomate right now and one of his best friends in the world. They have been living together for about the year and a half considering they lived together in their fraternity house and now in an apartment. His oldest brother lives in Colorado and he went to visit him last week and obviously fell in love with it. He applied for a job, did a phone interview, and got the job. Now Monday he will find out how soon he has to arrive in Colorado. Right now it all seems unreal. With the two of them living together the matter of the apartment has to be resolved. Their lease was to go up middle of this month but they are suppose to give her a 30 day notice, which they didn't have at the time. Hopefully their land lady will be understandable and let them out of the lease instead of having to renew it for another 6 months. Chris would be unable to live there by himself and not many people are looking to move out to room with him at the moment. I have been so use to seeing Clayton almost every other day for the last year and a half. He is more than Chris' friend and roomate, he is my friend and like a brother to both of us. Since Clayton is accident prone, we have been through alot of things with him in the last year a half, which includes wrecks and a very scary couple nights in the hospital after a boating accident. We also have been there to see him through girls he has dated as well as him recently getting back into church, a true blessing. Not only have we been there with him, he has been there with us. He has seen us fight and argue. He was one of the only 4 to know when and how Chris was goin to ask me to marry him (the other 3 consisting of my dad, Chris' dad and another friend). We have all been there to laugh and cut up at all hours of the night. I can't imagine having him hours away from us, especially when so much is going to be happening in the next few months that I need him here for. It is going to be hard simply calling him to say "happy birthday" instead of simply walking into their apartment. Once he leaves I won't see him until the day of our rehearsal dinner. After the wedding I fear I won't see him ever again. With him living in a completely different state on the other side of the country, a plane trip away, it will be nearly impossible for us to see each other often and for him to be apart of mine and Chris' life. I am extremely happy for him and he deserves this job. At the same time I don't want him to go, which in return makes me feel selfish for wanting him to stay. I am not just losing Chris' roomate or a friend, I am losing what feels like a member of my family. As much as Clayton may hate to admit it, he is going to miss us too :) Hopefully things will work out better than I anticipate. For now we continue to plan as normal. At the moment I am trying to push the idea of him moving out of my head and concentrate on planning our wedding and life in general. I know God had a plan, for Chris and I as well as Clayton. I can't step in the way of God's plan for Clayton, which could turn into the best decision of his life. I wish nothing but the best for him in everything he does.

Fourth of July Weekend

Well this weekend was 4th of July weekend. Exactly one month from the 4th Chris and I will celebrate our 7th anniversary together! Seven years ago I never imagined we would be in the midst of planning out wedding. Going into this weekend I wanted to spend as much time with my family as possible. I know I am not being kicked out of my family but it will never be the same spending holidays at home again. Next year I will have a husband, two families to juggle and later children of my own. Since the 4th was on a Sunday my family and I got up and went to church. After church my dad grilled chicken for lunch and soon after we all hopped into the pool for an afternoon of fun in the sun. Chris was at work, as usual, and he quickly found out he was having to work over. (As a side note: I am so proud of Chris. He has worked a full time job for almost the past year and gone to school. He is tired a lot of time but rarely complains. I know he has been working to afford for us to get engaged and now to afford our lives together. He is an amazing man that I was lucky enough to grab up.) Around four in the afternoon I left to go spend some time with Chris' family at the park, even though he wasn't going to be able to get there anytime soon. I love my future family in law but it is hard juggling my family and Chris', especially without him around. I am lucky that I feel right at home when I am around Chris' family when he is not there. They treat me like a part of the family and have for many years now. Chris finally texted me and informed me he would be able to get to his families gathering about 5:30. I told everyone to try to stick around for him to be able to see everyone. It has been hard on him, working full time and living in Florence. He doesn't get to come home as often as he would like, mainly due to his gas burning truck (poor thing haha). We try to rotate driving to and from our homes to each others. However, it does make it hard when he comes home to see his family when that time is also my time at home as well. We do the best we can to see everyone as much as possible, it is just hard figuring out right now. Chris spent some extra time at his parents house while I headed home to go hunt down firewords with my family (another past time that will be weird to experience with a husband next year). My dad cooked steaks and Chris came over for dinner. We sat around talking and then my family watched a movie while Chris headed off to his friends house to celebrate the 4th. Don't get me wrong with this post, I am highly excited to start my life with Chris as husband and wife. I have just always been a daddy's girl and a home-body who over thinks everything that changes in her life. It is just going to be different, yet amazing, to experience holidays beside my husband while still juggling my family and my in-laws at the same time. Just sometimes hard to let go of my "little girl" days.

Registry Adventures

Today my wonderful mother and grandmother took me to look at stuff for mine and Chris registry. They also took me to look at furniture for our new apartment (when we get one haha). It was all so overwhelming but extremely helpful to have both of them with me showing me what was the best brands vs. the worst brands and things I needed and didn't need at all. I found a beautiful couch and loveseat and dining room table and chairs. I took Chris to see them although his reaction was typical of any boy when looking at furniture. I simply wanted him to see the things I was in love with before I made the big decision to purchase them. I didn't want him to see the furniture for the first time on the day we moved in. They also took me to look at things for our registry. Chris and I had went a few weeks ago to look around and I was completely lost. With mom, my grandmother, and my sister, I was able to find alot of things I loved and figure out the best things for the best prices. It was so much fun looking through kitchen appliances with them and even finding myself in the middle of the floor with my sister to look at dinner silverware sets. It was a wonderful day. Without them I would still be lost and would be left crying in the middle of a store surrounded by appliances on the day Chris and I go to register. It is funny how when you get engaged and begin to plan you don't think of all the things you will need in order to live after the wedding occurs. It is so weird to think "I need a pizza cutter in my house." I have always been accustomed to it being within my reach as part of my mom and dad's house, but now I will need my own things for my own house. Due to a extremely wonderful sale we found today my grandmother decided to start me out with a few kitchen appliances. It is definitely weird to own my own toaster over haha.

Tonight my sister and I will be going to see the new movie of the Twilight Saga, Eclipse. Yes we are Twilight fans and we have both read each book...twice. I am excited about the movie but also excited to be able to spent the evening (and early morning) with my amazing sister!

Wedding Dress Alterations Day

Today I had my wedding dress altered!!! My friend, Allison, met us at my house this morning and rode with us to meet my grandmother in Rogersville. Once we got there we were also met by my future mother in law and future sister in law. My mom, me, Allison and my sister, Emily all hopped into my grandmothers car as Connie and Tessa followed behind us. One of my other bridesmaids was to meet us as well but got stuck in traffic in Killen and had to drive straight through to the bridal shop. Once we got there we were so excited to see my flower girl, Anna Kate (my cousin), as well her her mother, aunt and grandmother! I was so happy they all came to share in this special day with me as well Anna Kate's excitement! When we got in I send Emily and Allison to look at shoes. I have been to every shoe store in Florence and almost Huntsville and could not find a white, fancy shoe to wear on my wedding day! Of course, Alli and Emma came through for me and found the most gorgeous shoe in the whole store! Next we moved on to look at flower girl dresses. I knew of a dress I liked from when I first went to David's to look at dresses. I immediately when to it and found out that Anna Kata's aunt (my cousin) had picked that one out as her favorite as well. Anna Kata couldn't wait to get into the dress. Her mom and I talked about the sizes because at her age it is highly possible that she will grow before our wedding in January. We made sure the dress went up a few extra sizes just in case and luckily it did! Tessa came out in her bridesmaid dress first. I was really worried that she would have to wear a junior bridesmaid style of the dress instead of the same one as everyone else due to her being so much younger than everyone else. Lucky for me the dress I picked out for the bridesmaids ran small and Tessa was not only able to fit into the dress but needed a size above what I had originally planned. Then out came Anna Kate. This was when I about lost it today. Her dress is white, has a full beautiful bottom and looks almost identical to my dress. She was too adorable! She twirled around in it and stood on the stage admiring herself in the big mirrors. I wanted a sash to go around her dress in the color of bridesmaid dresses so we spent some time figuring out what type of sash looked right with the dress. She didn't even want to take it off. Next was Morgan, then Allison and Emma decided to re-try on their dresses to be sure about the size and fit. We spent several minutes taking pictures with each other and talking about the style of the dresses. Next it was my turn. I could not wait to see my dress! The anticipation was killing me. They took me back to the alterations room where my sister and I got to see my dress together for the first time. It was really strange because this was MY dress. Not a dress on a hanger on the sales floor used as a sample, this was MINE. The dress I am going to walk down the aisle in and marry the man of my dreams. My sister helped me into the dress and then Allison brought me my new shoes to put on. Alli and Emma each grabbed a foot and shoved them onto me. Just like true bridesmaids, they flared out my train and prepared me to look beautiful for everyone to see. I was so nervous before everyone came in to see my dress. "What were they going to think?" My mom was the first to walk in, and even though she has seen my dress before and looked at pictures of it a million times, she immediately burst into tears. It was such an amazing feeling to have everyone telling me how beautiful the dress looked and how it looked like it was made just for me. As I stood there I asked Chris' mom if this made it feel more real for her to see me standing here in my wedding dress. Then she immediately started crying, no matter she might have told Chris haha. Chris is completely unaware of what my dress looks like and will be unaware until the day of the wedding. He will not even see a picture. He has no idea about any of the details of the dress at all. All it knows is it is big, which was one thing he told me not to get before I left the day I went looking. I just hope he says how gorgeous I look instead of how big the dress is when he sees me haha. According to his mother he won't even be looking how the size, yet how beautiful I look in the dress. I didn't have to have alot done to the dress except I know my wonderful bridesmaid are going to kill me with all the bustling they will have to help put together after the ceremony :) Sorry girls but I love you! My grandmother did not cry one time, until we went to finish paying the last bit of my dress for the alterations. I could not be doing this wedding with out my mother, grandmother, sister and bridesmaids. My mom is the most amazing woman and is truly excited for my wedding. My sister has been my back bone every since we got engaged. All I have to do is ask and she jumps right in to help. I definitely would not make it through this wedding without her as my maid of honor. Today was an exciting and emotional day. It made me realize this is actually happening, in 6 months I will be marrying Chris in this dress. I am so happy and can not wait to be Mrs. Hughes!

Our Crazy Wedding Plans So Far

From the time we engaged it has been nonstop planning. Before school was out for the summer I had met with every photographer in Killen, Florence, and Rogersville, booked a florist, caterer, photographer and videographer and found a wedding dress all by the end of March (a month and a half after we got engaged.) With my hectic school and work schedule the wedding planning was put on halt until the summer but thankfully I had put a huge dent in the planning process. Since school has let our we are in full wedding mode. We are trying to get the majority of things done before I begin student teaching in the fall. I recently have order my cake and Chris cake from a girl in our area who has done many cakes for friends and family members. We are continuing to look for favors, chairs, tables, and a sand ceremony kit. We also are busy looking through endless amounts of pictures of Chris and I growing up as well as beginning to get addresses for invitations. The major disagreement we have is our song list. We have extremely different tastes in music. However, we are managing to agree and are beginning to see a song list form slowly but surely. Tomorrow we will making another trip to David's Bridal to finish having my bridesmaids fitted for their dresses as well as having my wedding dress altered. My flower girl is also coming with us. I am so excited to get her into the dresses and be there with us. I know she is going to have a blast! I also am looking forward to seeing my wedding dress for the first time in three months! I feel like it has been forever! It should be an eventful day with 4 of my 8 bridesmaids, my mother, grandmother, future mother in law, flower girl and her mother all coming with us. Even though the planning is extremely stressful it is a great feeling to be with the majority of my wedding party trying on dresses and looking at my wedding dress. I can not wait!

Today was also the 27th wedding anniversary of my mommy and daddy! I just want to wish them a happy anniversary! I am so lucky to have such amazing parents who love and care about me the way they do me and my sister. I bet they never imagined 27 years ago they would be in the midst of planning their oldest daughters wedding. Thanks for all you guys are doing for me and Chris to make our day so special. I love you both and I couldn't ask for better parents!!

Us

Well since this is my first blog I thought I would introduce myself and my fiance. Chris and i will have been dating for 7 years on August 4th of this year. Chris remembers meeting me at the schools youth softball field while I was talking with a group of my friends during my sisters softball game. I remember meeting Chris through school and through talking online. It was the summer before my 10th grade year and Chris' 8th grade year. To me, Chris was a baby, not dating material. We talked online nearly every night, mainly about things going on in our lives. The more we talked the more we got into playful flirting, but still in my mind Chris was too young for me to date. Closer for time for school to start a girl I cheered with invited me over to spend the night. Another girl I cheered with was having a swimming party at her house and invited us over. Both girls were in Chris' grade so when I showed up to the party I immediately noticed Chris. Chris and I spent the rest of the night talking and flirting. Once we got back home, my friend asked me if I liked Chris. I said I thought he was cute but there was no way I could date him because of the age difference. She informed me that age didnt matter and that we looked too cute and happy together not to give it a try. To this day we both say that she is the reason we are together and we are eternally grateful to Rachel Mactolff for helping us to find each other. Of course the first year was tough, tougher for me than Chris. I was teased about dating a younger boy and basically being a cradle robber or his mother. Once people discovered that Chris wasn't going anywhere we had no more problems. One Valentine's Day of this year Chris and I got engaged. He took me back to the youth softball field, where he has a blanket with pink rose petals. He had made me close my eyes therefore I had no idea where I was. He began to say all these absolutely amazing things to me then told me to open my eyes. When I did he was on his knee with the ring box open and asked "Will you marry me?" Due to still being in school we were unable to plan as much as we liked. Now that summer is here we are in full wedding mode and trying to get as much done as possible before I start student teaching at the end of August. Wedding planning is stressful but alot of fun at the same time. I decided to start blogging to help me keep track of our planning process as well as help friends and family members keep track of us as we go through this amazing time together.