accomplishments and excitement

I finally feel like I checked a lot of things off the wedding list this weekend!  We met with the priest on Saturday morning and went over all the readings, which version of the traditional vows we were going to use (and we're memorizing them so we don't have to repeat after him), bought and ordered Andrews wedding band, got all of the invitations done and ready to mail, too bad we were one book of stamps short to get it all done!

I also spent most of Sunday cleaning the house because my cousin and her husband are coming from Pennsylvania this coming weekend to stay with us.  We've had people stay the night here before but not for an entire weekend so I'm super excited.  We have lots of fun things planned to do with them while they're here, going out on the boat, taking them to one of our favorite small town fairs and hopefully a truck and tractor pull as well.

Though I have been really stressed out about all of the planning and DIY projects, this has been a really fun time in my life.  I still have A LOT of projects to get done: making the signs to direct people to the reception, making cookies, figuring out how to make this tissue paper pom-poms I saw in my Martha Stewart magazine, meeting with vendors one last time, making sure my seamstress is cranking along with the bridesmaid dresses and in a month I am having my bachelorette party!  I need to keep reminding myself not to get so stressed out but sometimes that is really hard!

If you knew me.....

I'm stealing this from about 10 blogs that I've read this week and I've been a little obsessive about blogging so I thought this post would be perfect!

You would know that I legit make this face A LOT.  This was at my bridal shower when my brothers fiance couldn't get my camera to work.  Way to go capturing the real me!

You would know that I worry a lot, all day everyday about things I cannot control.

You'd know that deep down, I am such a hillbilly - I love going to tractor pulls, love being on the boat all day, think diesel trucks are so awesome and a boy in some tight wranglers is sexier than one wearing girl jeans.

You'd know that I have been in love with Jon Bon Jovi since I was in middle school and I've seen Bon Jovi in concert 5 times.

You would know that my favorite color is pink and that I was/am obsessed with Barbies.  I am a girly girl to the core.

You'd know that I really want a Volvo station wagon and no I don't have any kids.  I just love those cars!

You'd know that my mom and I are so much alike that it's hard for us to get along.

You'd know that I love scary movies but I still cover my eyes when the creepy music starts.  I like to get scared but I also like to control when I'm going to get scared.

You'd know that I know the following movies by heart: Princess Bride, all Austin Powers movies, Mean Girls, Runaway Bride, Father of the Bride and Caddyshack.  Pretty random variety.

You'd know that I love listening to my dad play the guitar and that he's the one who made me fall in love with the sounds of Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughn and any other amazing guitar player.

You'd know that my brother is one of my best friends now after years of us not getting along.

You'd know that my favorite way to calm down is one of the following: cleaning, ironing, baking, cooking or listening to music really loud while no one else is home.

You'd know that I have known my best friend since Kindergarten, she's going to be my maid of honor and we are basically the same person.  I don't know where I would be without her in my life.

I know there may be a few of you who knew these things about me :)

So What Wednesday!

I'm linking up with Shannon over at Life After I Dew for another edition of So What Wednesday.

This week I'm saying So What that.....

*I have been obsessively eating tomatoes non-stop thanks to my cherry tomato plants over producing this year.  Andrew hates tomatoes so I have to eat them all....

*I am sad that this season of Deadliest Catch is over.  I love that show!

* I have guests coming next weekend and my house is kinda trashed from my purging after the bridal shower this weekend.  I've got some time to clean things up!

*I have been obsessively painting my nails and toenails, I can't handle the same color for long.

*My flowerbeds are so full of weeds you can't see the flowers, I've been much too busy doing other things to weed!

*I got a little Bridezilla with my mom on the phone last night because she wants to take over EVERYTHING for this wedding!

So what are you saying "So What" to this week?

Free books and a book review!

I started using Bzz Agent a few months ago and didn't get invited to a campaign until recently.  I received two free books for my Kindle (score, I love read) and they were murder mysteries which happens to be my favorite genre!

I read reviews on Amazon about the books before accepting my campaign invite and they sounded good so I went ahead and requested the download.  I'm not going to lie here, it took me a while to get into the first book (The Hangman's Daughter).  I don't normally read historical thrillers, but after getting so into The Woman in Black I figured this had to be just as good.  The suspenseful moments in both books were so well written that I could picture everything that was going on in my head (my own personal thing I love about a good book) and I often found myself so entranced that I didn't know what was going on around me.  Like the dog barking at the door to come back inside....whoops!

I liked learning the history of the family of an executioner and how no one in the town wanted to really be known to associate with them.  I guess that would make sense in those times.

Once I got past trying to get into the story, it flowed really well.  There was a bit of jumping around between characters but once you realized they were still in the same scene it came back to making sense again.  There was a little romance thrown in as well which made the books a little more light hearted as opposed to all dark and dramatic.

All in all, I was pretty pleased with the characters, story line and plot and I was surprised that a free book was this wonderful!  I've even suggested these novels to my mother-in-law and sister-in-law as they love this genre as well.  Want to know more about the books or are you interested in purchasing them for yourself? 

The Dark Monk

The Hangman's Daughter

bridal shower

My amazing bridal party - I feel so blessed to have all of them in my life!  L-R: Laura, Megan, Me, Jessica (maid of honor) and Sarah)

Yesterday was my bridal shower and it was an amazing, fun and wonderful day.  My mom hosted at her house, we put card tables in the yard so everyone could eat and enjoy the amazing weather and I realized how blessed I am to have so many great women in my life.

The food was wonderful (five kinds of "salad" sandwiches), fruit, veggies, potato and bean salad and more pie than you could dream of - everything was so good!  My family from Pennsylvania came for the day along with my aunt from Toledo and my bridesmaid from Cleveland.  

My cousin Crystal and her team won, she's standing to my right in the back.  My mom would kill me if she knew this picture was on here and Facebook.  Shh don't tell!

We played the toilet paper bride game, which was a blast and I got to pick the winner. 

When it was time to open gifts I sat down and felt so overwhelmed.  I introduced my bridal party and really started to tear up.  I couldn't believe this day had finally come.  I've been to so many bridal showers and been in so many weddings that it feels surreal to be at my own!

My next task, to find a place for all of these amazing gifts and to get my thank you notes in the mail ASAP!