thoughts at 3am...

• it's 3am, and i'm awake. i only went to sleep at 12:15am. stupid night shift has my sleep schedule out of sync.
• there's nothing on TV at 3am. not even on PPV - at least worth paying for.
• commercials are horrible at 3am.
• i did catch the last few minutes of bridezilla. i have to admit i laughed, but i think i have most of it planned in advance, that hopefully i won't be too crazy toward the end. :)
• i've looked through my blog - and i stated that if i worked 4 nights in a row - someone stop me. well, i've lost count on how many 4 in a rows i've done. however, i think this last one will be my last - i'm exhausted; i can't sleep; i don't feel good. and i've been told that i can't do more than 3 in a row anymore! :)
• i want a sense of normalcy - especially my sleep schedule, but that doesn't look like it's going to happen til at least June 3rd(tentative last day at VCH).
• the watusi are back - meaning they're across street from my parents. i'll have to take some new pictures.
• i'm so excited to be seeing my favorite doctor tomorrow evening.
• 93 days til i marry the man of my dreams.

100 days

I can't believe that March is here. Three and a half more months...100 more days! I'm so excited and yet nervous at the same time. So many changes, so many transitions, but absolutely worth it!

Psalm 100

Be Thankful

1 Show triumphantly to the Lord, all the earth.

2 Serve the Lord with gladness;

come before Him with joyful songs.

3 Acknowledge that the Lord is God.

He made us, and we are His --

His people, the sheep of His pasture.

4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.

Give thanks to Him and praise His name.

5 For the Lord is good, and His love is eternal;

His faithfulness endures through all generations.

I'm extremely thankful for all of the blessings He has provided. Thank you all for your continuing love and support!

Counting down the days...

I'm now at that point where I'm counting down the days til June 13th. I must admit, what Aaron and I are doing helps out tremendously. Some friends of who got married last July mentioned reading the books of Psalms - starting at day 150 days from the wedding. I mentioned this to Aaron - who liked the idea. Well, I started numbering the days - 150 days back from June 13th, so that I would know when we were to start reading. Day 150 was January 14th. I noticed that day 119 was on Valentine's Day. However, what I did was counted backwards, instead of counting numerical order. So, having said this, we've been reading Psalms, starting at 150. This, too, reminds us how many days we have left til our special day. I've found that these verses have been what I've needed in my daily life - time of reflection, thanksgiving, patience.

Reflection of 2008

As I was looking through some blogs, I saw a few reflections of the past year. So I decided I would do the same - almost halfway through January 2009.

2008

January

• Sinus surgery #2

February

• Don't recall anything significant

March

• Took a trip to Birmingham to see my sweet LeeAnna!

April

• Ordered glasses and contacts for the first time!
• Took a trip to Arkadelphia for the weekend - Prairie Home Companion & the beginning of some "negotiations."

May

• Softball season.
• 2nd annual trip to the Dancing Dog Bed & Breakfast.

June

• Stem-Crabtree Wedding
• The moment when I knew I had found love, peace, and the me I was meant to be!

July

• Meeting the Ward family
• A trip to Spartanburg, SC to see another beautiful couple married: Collins-Jett wedding!
• A short & sweet trip to Memphis - celebrating my birthday!

August

• A week long trip to Newfoundland - wonderful experience!
• Belleville River Bash.
• 8.29.08 - I got engaged to Pursuing Pineapple!!
• Ashley's bridal shower!
• Jarboe-Rowe wedding.

September

• The beginning of planning for the big day - 6.13.2009
• The remembrance of my nephew, Dalton (9.2.2005).
• Quick trip to West Virginia to visit the family! Wonderful weekend at the River. Weekend filled with food, fun, fellowship, and CORNHOLE!
• Greer-Singleton Wedding!

October

• 10 year high school reunion
• Dress shopping - where I found my dress at the White Room.
• 2 trips to Arkadelphia
• Halloween with Aaron, as Fred and Wilma. Had the greatest time passing out candy to the kids. I think the best moments were the children trying to figure out who Aaron really was.

November

• Same trip - 1st engagement party in Arkadelphia!
• More wedding planning, details!

December

• Spent the weekend with Aaron's family in Natchitoches, LA - the Christmas Festival. Tour of the town where Steel Magnolias was filmed. Got to see some plantations homes, which I loved. CHRISTMAS PARADE & FIREWORKS. Had a wonderful time with my new family.
• Signed the papers to put my house up for sale - a little emotional and overwhelming.
• Christmas with Aaron in Murfreesboro. It was a great weekend - I think we both gave gifts to the other knowing that we would both get them back. I got him the Wii, with WilPlay & Mario Kart. He got me a BEAUTIFUL 1994 Matisse painting - appears to be a fatigued bride lounging back in a chair - I'm sure I'll be able to 'relate.'

Just a few memorable moments of 2008. Already make more in 2009 - and we still have the year to go!

My apologies....

As you most know, I'm engaged to an incredible man! I'm extremely blessed that God gave us 'another' opportunity. I do apologize for the lack of blogging(to our dear friends from Maryland). I've been quite busy getting all the details underway.

Onto important things...

• The church and reception are booked. Had that done within about 2 weeks of the engagement. I know lots of people were teasing me, asking, "What are you doing to do next week if you get everything done this week?"
• The dress and veil have been ordered. Should be in by April. Love it. Can't wait to try it on(again), altered, fitted!
• Bridesmaids dresses. Easy. Black and white.
• Florist. Photographer. Cake. Done!
• Finally found junior bridesmaid dress that were on sale, that would fit my 3 girls, and that were in stock. (They were on sale, because the style was being discontinued. I wanted to make sure, without rushing the two families, that they were able to order the dresses without difficulty, so that all 3 girls would have on the same dress. However, honestly, it's not something I was going to worry about had they been different).l
• Thanks to some more dear friends of ours - we had some 'unofficial' engagement photos made in the downtown area of Arkadelphia. And we used one of the photos, and the talents of our friends to make our save the date cards - which will be mailed at the end of this month.
• Speaking of save the date cards, I've had to give Aaron a date for him to complete his portion of the invites/labels. His response, "I have a date to work towards." I did tell him that I didn't mind typing them for him.

Things to do...

• Finish the hotel accommodations for our out of town guests - which has somewhat been an ordeal.
• Menu for the rehearsal dinner and reception.
• Decide on invitations
• A calligrapher...or someone with nice handwriting. If you know of any, please let us know. I think I'm almost to the point - "Who cares? The guests aren't going to keep the envelope, right?"
• REGISTERING. We're doing this on Thursday, Jan 29th.
• Send the save the dates cards.
• Start working on our blog (that will be listed on the save the date card) that will have info about each of us, information, hotel accommodations, interests, touristy items.
• I'm sure there are more things I've forgotten.
• Most of all, PAYING for the wedding! :)

I'm so excited. It seems so much more real since we're in 2009. There's alot of transitioning that lies ahead, and each day, I keep trying to prepare myself. I'm ready...I'm ready to become Pursuing Pineapple's wife. I'm ready for June 13, 2009.

Thank you to each and everyone one of you - for your love, support, encouragement.

Veterans Day

I would like to take this time to thank all of the veterans who have served and those currently serving our country. I have several in my family that have served: my grandfather, Air Force; my aunt & uncle both served in the Air Force. None takes precedence over the other, but I'm proud to say that my father served in the Army in WWII, in the 9th Infantry. It's hard to imagine, but he did. And you're thinking, your father was in WWII. Yes, he was. He'll be 83 in February. I'm extremely blessed to have him as my father.

Weekend in Arkadoo!

Spent the weekend in Arkansas with Aaron. We decided to dress up as the Flintstones.

Within an hour and a half, we managed (mostly Aaron) to fix the curtains and make Travis a costume that he only wore for about 15-20 minutes! He sure looks cute! :)

Aaron and I also had some pictures taken - on Thursday on Feaster Trail and the urban part of downtown Arkadelphia! :) Thank you to D&L professional photogs!

Here is one of Aaron's favorites.

Here is one of mine...

Last, and certainly not least - what I was looking forward to - celebrating our engagement with family and friends in Arkadelphia. It was a wonderful. And it was truly a blessing to see so many people who cared! It couldn't have been possible with our Aaron's family - soon to be mine! They were awesome - making sure everything was where it needed to be, while we were greeting our guests. Thank you so much! Love you dearly!

It was a great weekend - went by very quickly! Had a great time seeing the family, friends. I was sad to see it come to an end.