Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Christmas Adventures

For Christmas we headed to Hillsboro with plans to shoot some guns in the morning at Rancho de Schlittler, enjoy a pajama party at my parent's house then go to the families Christmas activities on Christmas day. We had fun shooting with our friends, saving all the shells for the wedding decorations,and letting Tucker run around the farm.
That is until we were moving a boat for my uncle when Tucker decided to jump in the frozen pond and cut his leg open. Trying not to freak out, we all looked at it and thought it might be ok without stitches, so we cleaned the wound and bandaged him up. That night we enjoyed our pajama party with the family and kept a close eye on him.
Me, my sister, Olivia and our Mom
Olivia, our Dad and Me
Me, Great-Grandma and Olivia After going to family Christmas on Christmas day, we realized Tucker needed stitches and we should have taken him to the vet right away, so we rushed to Webster Groves Animal Hospital at midnight and sure enough he needed stitches. Luckily the vet said we took very good care of it and kept it clean enough that they would be able to stitch it up even though we waited too long. Note to self, any cuts that look questionable go straight to the doctor/vet to determine if stitches are needed. So we drove back home, packed up our stuff slept for about two hours, then at 6:00 a.m. we picked him up from the vet and headed back to Columbia, once we got home we all napped, due to the little sleep we were able to get. For two weeks we kept Tucker in my 3/4 sleeve and long sleeved shirts to keep him from licking his stitches. He looked so cute, especially in my card's shirt!
Having dogs is great training for having kids!

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

A Very Merry Mimi and Squirrel Christmas

Christmas time is here and it means family photo time. First we went down to the local tree farm in Columbia, picked and cut down our very own tree. I had so much fun decorating the tree and our house. After all the decorating was done, we had our neighbor come over to take our family photo. Our dogs love getting their pictures taken...and we decided to add some silliness too!
Merry Christmas from Squirrel, Mimi, Bo and Tucker!

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Relocation

Less than 2 months after our engagement we moved to Columbia because Jeff had his job in Jefferson City and I quickly found one in Columbia. We were lucky to find a beautiful home to rent that was conveniently located 2 doors down from our friends from my high school and SEMO...and they just so happen to be in the wedding party.

Here is our Columbia House

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Famous in a Small Town

"Famous In A Small Town" -Miranda Lambert They say life is so much sweeter Through the telephoto lens of fame Around here you get just as much attention Cheerin' at the high school football game I dreamed of going to Nashville Put my money down and placed my bet But I just got the first buck of the season I made the front page of the Turner "Town Gazette" Every last one, route one, rural heart's got a story to tell Every grandma, in law, ex girlfriend Maybe knows you just a little too well Whether you're late for church or you're stuck in jail Hey words gonna get around Everybody dies famous in a small town Ok well in this case we made the Jefferson County Fairgrounds sign in Hillsboro!

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Engagement Photos

We had so much fun taking our engagement photos. We went to August A. Busch Memorial Conservation Area and downtown St. Charles to take our photos with the very talented Stephen Smith of Stephen's Photography in Arnold, MO. We stayed true to our country theme and had fun acting like we were going to be featured on the cover of a Country Music Album. I can't wait to get them and display them everywhere!
Thank you Stephen...and your assistant Allison! The photo's turned out amazing!

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

The Announcement and First Few Plans

After we announced our engagements to our family, friends and members of our very large wedding party of 10 bridesmaids, 10 groomsman, 2 ushers and 2 flower girls. We began the planning process. Knowing that Jeff was going to be in Columbia/Jeff City for work, I knew I needed to get a lot of planning done quickly because I would be job searching to relocate with my new fiance. So we quickly picked the day, July 7, 2012, the location, Rancho de Schlittler, my uncle's farm and the concept of a country wedding with BBQ, Beer in mason jars and lots of singing and dancing...think Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert's wedding on a smaller budget. At my first wedding show I booked Fish Eye Fun and can't wait to have them as our photo booth vendor.
Me and Jeff's twin sister at the bridal show...she's getting married on 5-5-12. Jeff and I fixed her up with her future hubby :)

Why a Country Wedding?
Growing up I always pictured myself having this formal wedding, very fancy because that was what I thought a wedding was. After doing some heavy research at the nine weddings we attended in the past year, I decided it was more than fancy meals and banquet halls, I realized it was celebrating the marriage of me and Jeff and doing what we feel a celebration should be like. It made it easy to decide on our country wedding plans because we love what Country is all about and we tend to show that side more being two love birds from Jefferson County who met while attending Southeast in the bootheel.

Posing in the spot where we will be married on 7-7-12 at Rancho de Schlittler

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Say Yes To The Dress

My favorite part of the planning process so far was trying on wedding dresses. What girl doesn't dream of trying on those beautiful dresses, seeing herself walking down an aisle, etc...

I decided I wanted to go to Desoto Bridal Garden where I bought all of my dresses for High School dances, because I knew I would have the best luck there. Boy was I right. My eye caught this beautiful dress, which I cannot describe because it is a surprise, while our consultant was telling me to look around and be open to all styles. I had her hang up the dress along with about ten others my sister, mom and I liked. Olivia, my sister and maid of honor assisted me in the dressing room so my mom could take photos as I came out in each dress. First dress I tried on was nice, not what I saw myself in, but loved the feeling of putting a dress on. On to dress number two, the first one I picked out... instant tears from me and my sister, as I walked out my mom caught the tears and we all agreed I had found my perfect dress! It was one of those Say Yes to the Dress moments that I wish every bride could have. An important moment of my life that I will never forget, and I'm happy I could share it with my family.

After pretending to be at my wedding in my new dress, I did have to reason with myself to try on the other dresses I had selected. I said, I need to do this, I have been waiting my whole life to try on dresses and can't believe I found it first and tried it on second. Let me tell you, none of the others compared, ok a few were top 3, but very far from my number 1 pick. I can't wait to post pictures from the dress shopping day. You will see puffy, but happy eyes from my entire family, even dad as he was racing to get to the bridal shop to see me in my dress.

The only photo I can share for now ;)

Monday, July 25, 2011

Engagement Weekend in Nashville, TN!

Amy's Story

Thursday, July 14, 2011: I began packing my bags on Thursday to head to Nashville for the weekend with Jeff, for a friend's wedding. We are big Nashville fans...there's something about country music and cowboy boots that makes us both smile! Being excited and trying to decide what to wear, my roommate, Tammy was assisting me while I try to find the most Nashville appropriate outfits. After finding the perfect outfits, I was finally packed...I of course added a few extras that she hadn't suggested (I'm an over-packer).

Friday, July 15, 2011: Jeff had to work a half day, and I had taken a vacation day to prepare for the trip. I had to tan, get the wedding present, Jeff's birthday present and a baby gift all for the weekend. Jeff called me as I was buying his present to let me know he would be at my house soon, so I rushed home wrapped all the gifts and began to get ready. Jeff came in and greeted me and our dogs and I told him to go ahead and open his birthday present on the table. He responded with, "It's my birthday?" I said, "Yes, on Sunday...did you forget your birthday?" I found this strange, that he forgot his birthday, but told him to open his gift anyways. I figured he would want to wear it, a new Wrangler button up and jeans. He had been wanting a pair of Wranglers for a while now. After opening gifts, I was ready to go. I went through my out-loud checklist, double checking everything and Jeff chimed in saying he wanted to check out this Bicentennial Park while we were there and asked if I had my camera, I of course did and said that would be fun, since we never really sightsee when we visit. So off we went to Nashville to meet up with everyone downtown!

Saturday, July 16th: Off to lunch we go with some friends before the wedding, we found more of our friends (the groomsman and groom) at this charming bar called, Doc Holliday's Whiskey Saloon. There we had a few cold drinks, laughs and enjoyed singing to country songs including the song of the weekend Jason Aldean's, Dirt Road Anthem.. After rounding up the last groomsman, we hailed a cab and headed back to the hotel to get ready. The wedding was beautiful, it was hot out so we were thankful for the fans. After the wedding we headed to the reception where there was lots of dancing for me and guy time for Jeff and the other girl's dates that don't get down on the dance floor. I kept checking in on him making sure he was doing ok, of course he was and I was having a blast dancing. When the reception became close to the end time, we decided to meet our friend downtown who had left earlier to change out of his tux. With no cabs in sight we started walking and talking about the wedding and what we would do at ours. We want a fun, country wedding and he wanted to make sure I didn't need the Princess ballroom, because he would be fine with it. I said no, I want to be surrounded by what we enjoy and that is boots and a good time! So we kept walking to our destination and of course ended our night at our new favorite bar, Doc Holliday's, which we all agreed is way more fun when your group is taking over the bar during the lunch hour, but still a good time.

Sunday, July 17th: Happy Birthday Jeff! We went to lunch with our friends Daniel and Ashley and walked around downtown searching in shops for souvenirs. After a good distance we parted ways with Daniel and Ashley and headed to the car to drive to our sightseeing destination of Bicentennial Park. When we walked up to the car, Jeff said, "I need to put on some deodorant," I just chuckled and said, "did you forget to put it on today?" he responded with, "yep!" So I hopped in the front and waited for him to apply his deodorant and then we began our search. The first park I put in the gps was not the one we were looking for so we stopped at McDonalds for a pit stop and some Orange HiC's then made our way to search for the capitol park. When we pulled up I was so excited because I noticed it had a farmer's market, I had recently told Jeff that I thought we needed to start shopping at farmer's markets. I asked him if we wanted to walk around the park or farmer's market first and he said the park, so I told him well I'm taking off these wedges and putting on my flip flops, my feet are killing me from walking downtown and want to be comfortable. We began walking around and I said, Wow this is pretty, I am going to take some pics!" We kept walking and finally he said, "Let's go over there and we can sit down." I was completely happy about that and responded with, Wow, you know me too well, my feet are killing me and would love to sit down!" When we sat down he was quiet for a second then said, "Well I brought you here for a reason, (and reached for his pocket, I instantly put my hands up to my face with this excited open mouth expression realizing what was about to happen as he got down on one knee) I want to spend the rest of my life with you, will you marry me?" I said, "YES!" I couldn't help but be so happy, he had created the most perfect ring for me, PINK and SPARKLY! (which I kept saying over and over again). I did not cry, because it was one of the most exciting and perfect moments of my life and I enjoyed every minute of it! I love you Jeffrey Earl, Always and Forever!
My pink and sparkly ring!