such a good thing.

you might ask...what? what is such a good thing?? well, let me tell you...My Weekend!

Let's just say I've had a rather rough week with Greg being gone...(could it have something to do with my horomones, maybe) but nonetheless...it's been rough! It will be days-on-end before I will hear from him..and when I do hear from him...there are a bunch of screamy Army guys in the background. :( And, well..it's just weird. We hardly have anything to talk about..except for what he's been up to and he sounds like he's just EXHAUSTED! Which I know he is...the poor boy wakes up at 4am and doesn't arrive back at his room until 9:30 or 10...lights out at 10. He says everywhere they go, they jog...and just yesterday, they completed an obstacle (sp?) course all day long. Today, they are doing a swimming exercise where they have to jump in a pool with all of their gear on...release their gear..and make it to the top. Sounds dangerous? Anyways...I've cried more this week than the week I actually had to drop him off. Ya wanna know what it feels like? As awful as this sounds...it honestly feels like we have broken up. I still love him..def. more than I did before..but it feels like he was ripped from my life. Not being able to talk to him has been the hardest part of this training. I honestly had to tell myself one day..I've gotten through some rough situations in the past (ex: breakups)..I can make it through this training. Shewwww...

Ok..now that's off my chest. Let's talk about something more fun, festive, exciting?!? MY WEEKEND!! My best friend/Bridesmaid, Britty is coming into town :) This evening me, Britty, Laura, and Kt are going to get our nails done (yes, how fabulous does that sound?!?) and then have a girly dinner! And a sleepover! Yes, I said it...I'm 23 years old and still LOVE sleepovers with my girlfriends. Saturday is our once-in-awhile Dance Team Reunion and I'm freakin' excited to see all of these girls! We are attending the WCU Basketball Game to watch this years team perform, although the only one I know is my beautiful Buddy! I'm considered an old-fart now..hehe. And then after the game we will be making an apperance at Omalley's...my FAV. place on earth! Chicken Wing city! :) Sooo many memories from college at this place...including the place where Greg proposed to me after my senior year Homecoming football game (yes, it was a joke proposal..he just wanted to get my attention) hehe. Now look where it got us? ;)

I do believe girlfriends are what makes life so memorable...yes, boys are fun. And I certainly LOVE & ADORE mine more than anything..but girlfriends "get you" like no one else does or can! I'm thrilled to be able to spend my weekend with some of the most beautiful, smart, talented, and amazing girls I've ever met! :) I'm predicting lots of laughs in the next 48 hours...

How 'bout a toast?

With these super adorable Lenox Toasting Flutes???

Oh yes..I love these!! And best part...they were only $3.99! Since Greg has been gone, I've been finding myself with nothing to do on my lunch break! (He regularly met me for lunch or brought lunch to my office) Sooo...I head out for a lil browsing and it always turns into a wedding find! While it's good for the wedding...not so good on my wallet! But hey, $3.99 is basically a steal, right?? Another amazing aspect...they are UNBREAKABLE! woohoooooo!

i heart my wedding! no really...

Ok....so the more and more I get into designing and planning my wedding..the more and more I fall in LOVE with it! :) I'm sure that it's a good thing.

Friday night after being at the gym all evening..I came home to do some relaxing and some internet shopping (like always)...and I stumbled across these AMAZING ties on ebay! They are seriously everything I had wanted in ties..and I was beyond frustrated after not finding anything for months on end.

Groomsmen Ties in Green...


Greg's Tie in Pink...

As soon as the ties comes in, I'm going to take them to David's Bridal and match them up with the Bridesmaid Dresses! (which I picked out on my very successful Saturday!) And yes..I said David's Bridal (gasppp!)

Speaking of very successful Saturday....can anyone guess what I found??? Ohhhh yes! That's right..the most important piece to the puzzle (besides the groom of course!)

My D-R-E-S-S = PERFECTION!!

And no, don't ask questions...My fiance is a lil snoop while he's down there in the Army and I don't want him to know ANYTHING about it! (well, except for the price! haha)

I will however, tell you about the story...

On Saturday, we *me, my mom, Laura (MOH) & Katie (bridesmaid)* had made plans to go to TN to meet up with my Aunt and my cousin Tasha (bridesmaid) to do some dress shopping. We had only planned to go to one store, but then I found another place that I wanted to try out spur of the moment. At our first store, not to mention any names so we shall call it Store 1, we had a very weird experience. The lady who owned the shop was very pushy and decided that I had a 3 dress limit and that she would come in the dressing room with me because she didn't trust us with her precious gowns. While the dresses here were pretty..and the last one, I had almost convinced myself into believing it was "the one"..I still had this uneasy feeling in my stomach that I wasn't totally happy. So I decided that we should go to lunch..and if I still wanted the dress, we could stop back by.

While at lunch...there were a thousand things going through my head..every minor detail about that dress at Store 1. And so many details that I was unhappy with...soooo..I broke the news to the girls..we were heading to Store 2!

At Store 2 we were greeted by an adorable young girl as soon as we walked in the door. The store is rather upscale I would say and totally opposite of Store 1. The girl allowed me to walk around and view their inventory..then pick the ones I wanted to try on. She even let my best friends go into the dressing room with me and she just stood outside to help when needed...SHE WAS FABULOUS! :) I tried on probably about 8 or 9 dresses and loved almost all of them..haha. But didn't know if I had found "the one". The sales girl said..."I can't wait to see this one on you." and pointed to one of the 2 dresses left hanging in the room. Without further adue...I began my climb into it. And I pinky promise...that I didn't even have the thing above my waist before I started to cry my eyes out...yes, I had "that moment". That moment where every girl hears brides talking about and she rolls her eyes in disbelief and cheesiness...yes...I was having it! It was insane...my best friend Katie then proceeds to cry and my MOH Laura tears up a little. It was MY MOMENT! I totally had it! I never in a million years would've thought...

I had to take a second to catch my breath..then I decided to proceed from the dressing room. I cried again once I got up in front of the mirror..on that little pedistal thingy...and it was one of the best moments of my life! :) We took pictures...I cried...I sang..I danced..I even tried on & purchased the "fanciest veil" in the world! (haha, inside joke!) I kept picturing what Greg's reaction will be when he sees me for the first time coming down the aisle...

I'm pretty sure the thoughts in his head will be...

"yea...that's Shannon alright..that'ssssss why I'm marrying her!" :)

Well..to finish the story, I didn't even try on the last dress that was hanging in the dressing room..there was no point. I signed on the dotted line and CANNOT wait for my dress to come in and for me to have my 1st fitting! And if you're wondering what my perfect little dress looks like..you'll just have to come to my perfect little wedding!

.it makes my heart melt.

I stumbled across this quote today..and well, my eyes were filled with tears and I carry myself with a different sense of pride. I thought I would share with you guys...

"Soldiers do not fight because they hate what is in front of them, they fight because they love what is behind them."

On a different note, my nephew started swimming lessons a few weeks ago and I was so estatic when I got to go watch this week..here a few pics of my lil man turning into a fishy :) The beautiful lady in the pics is my sis-in-law and Landon's lil mama, Hil. I have a video that I will post soon!

shew flu bug..don't bother me...

uh. I've been out of commission for the past couple of days. I had to leave work early on Tuesday and took Wednesday off as well. NOT a fun experience. Back at work today, but still not 100%...

it seems like this time of year is especially horrible for the flu. I mean, just last week we were having 70-degree weather and this week, SNOW?!? No wonder everyone that I know has the sniffles...

And did I mention how incredibly COLD it is in my office?? Let me lay out the story, I work with 5 women...I repeat...5 WOMEN! who are all of the ages 37-65. What happens during that age range? anyone know?? That'sss right people...HOTT flashes. awesome. I'm 23, petite, and naturally a cold person. I'd say the average tempature in here is about 55-60 degrees. I seriously sit here with my winter pea-coat on...scarf..and today, I packed gloves. Who can honestly work on a computer all day in gloves?? Not me...guess I won't do my work then! Booooo on middle-aged women who think I'm insane for needing a decent tempature in here...and when we have visitors, they comment on how our office is an ice box. Hum...clue??? Next time the girl next to me's revolving fan blows this direction, I'm contemplating shoving it down her throat!

ahhh, that felt nice...I told you I was gonna "let it out"...

.flower power.

uhhh..wedding flowers. Headache! I love a good, round, gorgeous, full bouquet. Picking the flowers and deciding on the colors, however, is not my speciality.. :( I mean, there are so many questions...do I want a mix? do I want my bouquet solid fushia with the girls pink and green? or do I want their's to be a smaller version of mine? what about for the boys? uhhhhhhhh, the list could go on & on...And when it comes to me knowing ANYTHING about flowers...pshhh, yea right. This girl loves green, but certainly does not have a green thumb. I can barely keep my bamboo plant that Greg got me in my office alive..and mind you bamboo doesn't require hardly any upkeeping. Just a little water...

I'm in the process of setting up an appt. for me and my mom to go meet with an amazing florist that I met at the Wedding Festival here in Asheville. She used to own a florist shop, but now works from her home (I'm hoping the overhead will be cheaper). I need to collect some pics to take to her so I don't look like a lost orphan meeting with her for the 1st time....

This shall be my new adventure today! In the mean time, mad props to this gorgeous lady for some amazing flowers at her wedding...*sigh*

if the boss is away, this girl will play :)

This group is sooo hott. Super jealous of their fab boots!

sooo, while I've had some "down time" at work these past few days..*cough, cough*...I have collected some new wedding inspiration pics and I wanted to put them somewhere safe so I could easily find them. Anddd, to share with you! :)

Humm...I could easily see this look for my cake table...

I'm lovin' this new chair sash trend...I will participate :)

E-Pics...amazing!

We got our engagement pics back from our awesome photographer, Maggie Flynn, of Blue Ridge Photography! They were taken in downtown Asheville and turned out AWESOME! :) I love all the bright colors...here's a sneak peak. Take a look at our wedding website to see more!

And this one just for fun...(if you know me, you'll understand) =)

Dress Shopping Experience #1

Soooo, yesterday I had my 1st dress shopping experience! Let's just say..it was FUN! :) Anyone that knows me can def. tell you that I am one huge girly-girl! So getting to try on so many gorgeous dresses is my idea of a perfect afternoon! We went to David's Bridal in Asheville and had quite a crew tag along...my mom, MOH Laura, Matron of Honor Hilary, Bridesmaid Katie, FMIL, and FGMIL came. Shewww! I must say, lots of opinions!

I found 2 dresses that I absolutely love! We are going to TN this coming weekend for more dress shopping so I refuse to make a decision until I've found all my options! :)

Here a few pics that I showed Greg because it was absolutely KILLING him to not know! These dresses are NOT MY DRESS, or anything like what my wedding dress will look like...but it's still fun to try so many different dresses on :)

And this look on my face explains my reaction to the horrible "Sales Lady" while she was trying to tell me what she liked...uhhhh..she was just plain annoying!

My overall experience at DB wasn't the best as far as customer service goes...but I did find 2 super fab dresses to add to my list...

check.

longest.drive.home.

Well, on Monday I had to drive Greg down to Charlotte at the hotel for the Army. He flew out of Charlotte on Tuesday to Fort Benning, GA. Let's just say...it was the MOST DIFFICULT thing I've EVER done! We got to spend the day together so we did some wedding shopping, had a nice dinner, and then walked around downtown and grabbed some coffee at Starbucks. The entire time I was with him I didn't want to let go of his hand...people were probably wondering what was up with all the PDA, but i could care less. I think I've really been taking advantage of being able to see him everyday...and spend so much of my life with him. It's like my deepest feelings for him are finally out...and I guess that it's nice to have these feelings, because it reassures me that he is the man for me. There is no way I could live without him in my life...

For those of you that don't know...Greg has been in the Army Reserves for 2 years, but has decided to join full-time and got accepted to Officer Candidate School so he will be gone until the wedding...then I will be joining him at the base he is stationed at after. God has provided so many awesome opportunities for Greg and I'm so lucky to be a part of this journey.

I finally left downtown Charlotte at about 7:45pm...with my selfless fiance standing on the curb with his bags. Let me just say..finding the nerve and the willpower to put my Jeep in drive and press the gas was the most painful experience of my entire life. I was flooded with so many emotions...all at once. And now, only 2 days after saying goodbye to him...these emotions are still here. I'm sure things will get easier and the days will seem to go by at a faster pace, but it's just the initial shock of it all...I do have some good news though and Greg will be able to keep his cell phone on him after he gets out of class at 5:30pm each day! Since he's already attended basic training and been in the military for a while now...his O.C.S. training will be a little bit less restrictive. I'm also looking into visiting him the first weekend in March (if everything goes as planned). Realitiy has set in...we're off to start a long challenge! Please keep us in your prayers..for Greg to do well in his training and to keep him safe...and for me to be the strong, supportive fiance that He needs!

what superbowl?

blah. blah. blah.

what superbowl? I'm bored...

sooo, I'm gonna do some wedding planning.

This cake topper is too cute! I def. want a "W" cake topper..but this one is just as cute!

I've GOT to make my candy buffet look like this one :) So adorable!