one year down...

Mr. H and I had a wonderful anniversary.  Our actually anniversary was yesterday, but we started the celebration on Sunday.  Who wouldn't want to celebrate for two days!!

We checked in to the hotel we stayed on our wedding night.  Rosewood Mansion at Turtle Creek is by far the most luxurious hotel ever!  Everyone greeted us by name and their attention to detail is beyond what I could have ever imagined.  They think of everything!  

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We checked in at 3:00 sharp to take advantage of the entire experience.  Upon arriving to our room, a few moments later we were welcomed with iced tea (which was amazing!!) and chocolate covered strawberries.  What a great way to start our anniversary!!  

Mr. H and I lounged, watched TV and played a game or two of skip bo.  Our dinner reservations weren't until 6:30 so we had some time to just enjoy our room. 

I didn't want to risk saving the top of our wedding cake it and it tasting gross.  So instead, I had a mini cake made.  Christie McCabe with Daily Dose of Sweet did all of our goodies on our dessert table for our wedding so I asked her if she would make us a cake for our one year anniversary.  

She is so creative and has such an attention to detail.  I couldn't be happier with how our cake turned out.  I love the simplicity and the elegant flower.  Can you believe she made the flower out of frosting???  It looks real and so delicate.  Thanks Christie for yet again surpassing my expectations!!  

Mr. H and I got dressed up to head to the restaurant at the Mansion.  I love getting dressed up for special occasions...it's so fun.  Doesn't Mr. H look so handsome!?!?!  I'm a lucky girl. 

To give you an example of how detail oriented the Mansion is...our waitress told us that we were originally assigned to table #31, but since we were celebrating our one year anniversary they moved us to table #1.  We thought that was so cute.  It was a quaint and cozy little booth. 

After a wonderful dinner, we enjoyed our delicious anniversary cake.  I was so sad to cut into it.  It was just too cute to eat!

For our anniversary morning, Mr. H ordered us room service.  It sure feels good to be spoiled!  A yummy breakfast, fresh squeezed orange juice, fresh flowers...it doesn't get any better than that.  

Gifts....

Okay, I've been pretty excited about my gift to Mr. H for over a year!  That's right, I've been thinking about this for well over a year now.  I was originally going to give it to him for a wedding gift, but thought I'd wait to use a wedding picture.  Also, we decided to exchange traditional anniversary gifts and paper is the gift for year one.  

I found my inspiration through etsy.  I'm a crafty girl so I figured, I can make that...and for way cheaper.  You might be wondering what it is....so you can see the picture I used on the right, which is glued to the back, and then I used extra wedding invitations.  I cut the picture and invitations up using a heart stencil.  Then arranged them in this white shadow box.  I wanted to crease all the hearts so they looked like they were floating, but our invitation was too thick where it had a bad crease line.  I only ended up folding the picture hearts, which I think looks fine.  This gift was obviously to Mr. H, but I wanted it just as bad.      

I also wanted to make him a book of everything we've done this last year.  I think I'll do this every year as a great way to document our life together.  It was so fun to look back over the year and reminisce about the special times we had together.   

Mr. H gave me a very special gift.  His grandfather performed the ceremony at our wedding.  He's married his three kids and all his grandkids that are married.  We jumped at the opportunity to ask him to marry us too!  He even used the same vows that Mr. H's parents used.  

Mr. H asked him for a copy of the ceremony for us to have.  I LOVE this gift and it will be so special for us to have to look back upon and then show our kids someday.  Like I mentioned yesterday, I'm in the process of creating a wedding book with all of our wedding pictures and now I'll include our wedding ceremony in it as well.  

Wow, a year down!  I can without a doubt say this last year with Mr. H has been the best year of my life.  It's been a joy to walk along side him as we grow together in the Lord.  We owe it all to Him for our success as a couple.  We are beyond blessed to have the love and support of our family.  I look forward to year #2 and all that it will bring.  

I love you so much Mr. H!  Here's to another amazing year together.  Xoxoxo!!!!!!

  

9.10.11 is my special day!

Happy Anniversary Mr. H!  I can't believe we have already been married one year.  It has truly been the best year of my life.  You make me a better person and I am so grateful that the Lord brought us together.  It's only through Him that this year was so amazing.

I can't wait to see what the next year brings for us.  I'm so happy to be on this journey of life with you!  Mr. H, you are the only one for me and I am more in love with you today than I was a year ago, which is hard to believe.  9.10.11 will always be a very special day for us!

We had the best wedding photographer.  Kelly Beane captured our special day so beautiful.  I am so thankful for all the amazing moments she captures.  After a year of being married, I'm finally getting around to creating a book of all our wedding pictures!  Yea.

I love you Mr. H!  Happy One Year Anniversary!!

the proposal!

Our one year anniversary is in FOUR days!  I just can't believe it's almost been a year since Mr. H became my husband!!!  It's so crazy.  

I thought I'd share our proposal story with you.  It's very special to me and it was documented thanks to Mr. H and the help of my wonderful boss and co-worker!!


Here's our proposal story in the words of Mr H.......

Where do I begin? In thinking about how I was going to propose I knew I had to create something special and memorable for the both of us, something they would make a movie about. Anica knew that the proposal was just around the corner, which forced me to be extra creative, because I had two goals when it came to the proposal which were 1) Make it be a Surprise 2) Photograph the moment, as I only want to have to do this once!

February 21, 2011 (i.e. President's Day) 

So needless to say I had a lot of work to do, so I decided to seek the help of her boss Catherine Clay who was a huge help in pulling all this together, and could not have done this without her help.

I knew that Anica would expect me to propose on a Friday - Sunday, so I had to first eliminate those days, as they did not work in my favor in making it a surprise. This in turn made me think of Monday as the perfect day. The additional benefit to this day was the fact that it was Presidents day and it was an office holiday for me, but Anica had to work and help her boss for a trip she was going on the following day. Everything was working out perfectly!! 

Not only was I aware that Anica would not expect me to propose on a Monday I also knew that proposing at 11 in the morning would not be a thought process she would have in dreaming about how I would propose. Additionally, I had a last minute business trip to Phoenix, AZ on Tuesday, and told her I was leaving Monday morning to fly out and prepare. Brilliant I thought!! Not only is she not going to expect me to propose on a Monday, but also when she gets to the office she will think I am halfway to Phoenix, AZ. 

The Beginning of Forever

Now that you understand the background of everything here is how Monday went down.

Sunday night I couldn't sleep, as I knew I was about to take one of the biggest steps in my life. I finally get up, make some coffee and spend some time in the Scriptures and sending some E - mails to some friends to prepare my Heart for what I define as the Beginning of Forever.

At about 10 o'clock I head out and pick up some last min items such as flowers and the like and then head North to Plano and wait patiently outside Anica's office and wait for Catherine to give me the call that Anica has left to run some errands she had set up to get her out of the office, in order to allow us to set up. The set up was simple, table, flowers, ring, and two crafty women armed with a camera and video camera to capture the moment.  

Once Catherine, Brooke and I got everything set up all we could do was wait. By the way, this was about the time that everything was setting in that I was about to Propose! Finally we hear her coming up the stairs and my hope is that she would see the roses petals on the floor and it would it her what is happening. Nope not exactly, suddenly we hear the words... "Is something burning?" Not sure what to think at this moment, other than she still has no clue. Little does she know that her life, my life, our lives are about to change in the matter of 1 second. 

She walks into the room, and just stares at me taking all that his happening in. The 15 feet she had to walk from the hallway to where I was seemed to last forever. Which in a way was good, because I had no idea what I was about to say, and figured I would wing it as best I could. By the time she got to me I was able to collect my thoughts and say, well I don’t actually remember what was said but it ended something like. Anica Will you Marry Me? No response, didn’t hear a no so I proceed to put the ring on a very shaky hand, and then get the response, "Thank You” from a very happy and slightly teary eyed blue eyed brown haired girl." Mission Accomplished.

And if that wasn't enough

One of the things that hit me one afternoon as this whole planning process was going on, was how cool it would be to try and tie her family and my family into this very special occasion. So several weeks prior to the proposal I started setting the stage, made a few phone calls and slowly started letting people in on the after proposal surprise. The benefit was that the majority of the people that I needed happened to live up here in the area.

The place was also perfect, Urban Crust Pizza, a quaint local joint that Anica and her boss visited quite often. Having the location directly across the street from the studio was also special, as she would think of this as normal for us to go there and celebrate.

After the proposal, we eventually made our way across the street to the venue, which Anica at this time, believed it was just a lunch date for her and I to celebrate, but little did she know. We slowly made our way up the stairs and I could barely contain my excitement as I saw all the family at the top of the stairs. Needless to say she was very excited!

The after the proposal family & friends lunch was just as awesome and special as the proposal itself. The love and joy that Anica and I felt that day was unbelievable, and a wonderful sign of such wonderful family we have to help encourage and support us for the next 60+ years. 

A huge Thank You goes out to my boss Catherine Clay and co-worker Brooke Gehm for helping us remember the memories that were created below. Thank You!!

It was such a special day and it will always be one of my favorite memories!  Thanks Mr. H for making it so special!!!!

i need some advice...wedding dress preservation

Okay ladies, for those of you who are married, what have you done with your wedding dress?  Is it still hanging in a closet, did you get it preserved or something else?  Almost a year later, I'm trying to decide what to do with my dress before it's too late.

I am starting to research how much it cost and I had no idea it was so expensive.  The place I found has great reviews, but I was given a $350-$375 estimate.  Is that too expensive?  I have no idea.

I also hate to just put it in a box forever, it's just too pretty.  Let me know what you've done.  I'm curious to know what others do with their dress.

awesome birthday!!!

 I'm so blessed to have such an amazing husband, family and friends!  They helped make my 28th birthday so special!!!!!!  I can certainly say that I had the best birthday.

My mom helped me start my birthday by taking me out to lunch at a yummy pizza place.  We then went shopping at a cute little boutique where I got a few clothes and earrings.

Mr. H took Friday afternoon on to spend time with me on my birthday.  I had lots of gifts to open....it felt like Christmas.  

Mr. H got me that cute tote from J.Crew and lots of jewelry.  I love jewelry so that was perfect!  One of my sweet friends got me that Scentsy warmer and lemons and berries scent.  I've never had anything Scentsy so I'm excited to try it out.  My mother in law embroidered an "A" for me and framed it.  I love personalized gifts so that was perfect.  I put it up in our room already!  I also got some birthday money from my parents and several family members.  I'm soooooo blessed!!!  

Then after I had opened all my gifts...Mr. H tells me to close my eyes.  He had another surprise for me.  I opened my eyes and saw this HUGE Michael Kors bag.  He had already told me not to expect a super fancy gift, which was totally okay with me.  Needless to say, I was sort of in shock when I saw this!!

Mr. H got me my first big girl purse. Haha.  I've never had a designer bag before so I was giddy!  He did SOOOOOO GOOD!  I am in love with it.  It's a light cream so it's perfect for fall and summer plus the size is just right...not too big/not too small.  

Mr. H planned a fancy dinner at Old Hickory located in the Gaylord Texan.  I of course needed a picture of me and my new purse!!

Mr. H and I pose for a quick picture before we had one of the best dinners EVER!  Let's just say that Old Hickory will become a birthday tradition.  We each ate a filet mignon and then split olive oil and thyme whipped mashed potatoes and habanero cream corn.  Then we had carrot cake cheesecake for dessert.  Mmmmmmm.

We of course had to take a picture with the statue guy.  Mr. H was being silly pretending to be a statue too and then pretending to kiss him.  Oh Mr. H!

Saturday night we celebrated Chris and Laura's wedding!  She looked stunning and the reception was so beautiful.  I love weddings that are personalized.  You know when you leave the wedding and say...that was so "enter name."  Laura (and Chris) did an amazing job putting their wedding together.

Instead of a cake, they had mini bundt cakes and cookies.  I would describe their theme as rustic chic.  I loved all the burlap accents.

For the favor, they gave each guest an old fashioned bottle of coke with a cute picture of them and a prayer on the back.  I love all the little details at weddings.  It makes them so personal.

  

Here's one of my sweet friends Rachael and she actually got engaged just after the wedding!  I got a text at 11:24 pm saying she got engaged!!  I'm so happy for them.  They will be having a very short engagement so that will be #7 this year.  This is the year of weddings for Mr. H and I!

The groom and Mr. H are best buds.  Chris and Laura, Mr. H and I are so blessed to have you as friends.  We are so happy to walk along side you in marriage.  I pray the Lord will always be at the center of your marriage and remember to love each other daily!!  Congrats!

In addition to my birthday extravaganza and the wedding, my cousins are in town from Amarillo so we spent some time with them.  They'll be here all week and I'm excited to spend more time with them!

I hope everyone had a great weekend!  Thanks for all the birthday wishes on Friday!

it's my birthday, plus fashion friday!

Okay, I'm officially 28 years old!  Wow.  It's hard to believe in two years I'll be 30.  However, for now I'll just focus on being 28.

The best thing that happened during my year of being 27 is that I got married!  I think that will go down as being one of the best years of my life.  28 has a lot to live up to.

A little walk down memory lane...

Since I have a summer birthday I never had school on my birthday.  Then, once I entered into the real world I had things thing called work I had to go to on my birthday...yuck!  Ha.  I have been very fortunate though to be able to take it off.  So I will not be working tomorrow and instead I'll be spending the afternoon with my mom and then it's off to dinner with Mr. H!  I'm SO excited!!!!  I love celebrating my birthday.  Even though I'm getting older, I still enjoy it.

It's summer (although it's quickly coming to an end), which means it's the perfect time for summer cocktails and cold drinks.  I have a Pinterest board full of yummy drinks and I've never made any.  That was a goal of mine this summer, but hasn't happened yet.  

Here are two yummy ones I must try and I used them as inspiration in creating these two fabulous outfits.  

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*Side note: I wanted to get this dress from H&M to wear for my birthday dinner, but it was sold out in stores and now no longer available to view online.  It was adorable!

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The opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics start tonight!  I LOVE the Olympics and am so excited for them to begin.  Mr. H and I will be having my birthday dinner so we'll have to dvr the ceremony.  I'm sure it's going to be awesome.  Michael Phelps starts it off Saturday morning...can't wait!

Chris and Laura are great friends of ours and are getting married TOMORROW!  We can't wait to celebrate with this super sweet couple.  It's been so fun to have all of our friends join us in the married couples club.  Congrats friends!!!

I'm linking up with the lovely {av} over at long distance loving for my Friday's Fancies.  Check out some of the other great outfits fellow bloggers have put together.  It's one of my favorite parts of the link up.

I think that pretty much sums everything up!  I hope everyone has a wonderful day...I KNOW I will!!

HAPPY Weekend FRIENDS!!!