Thursday, April 12, 2012

My name is Anne Marie and I am a terrible blogger.

Yes, yes, just like in support groups where you have to admit your problem, I admit mine to you! I cannot seem to keep up with this thing! I have zero diligence when it comes to blogging. Apologies once again!

I have a few fun updates for everyone. We have had some really exciting things happen since I last posted in November.

First of all, Michael and I are in our final semester of nursing school, thank goodness. We have been precepting all semester and we only have about 3 weeks until pinning and graduation. It is so hard to believe that we have been in school 4 years and now it's almost over. Very exciting and scary at the same time.

Many of you know that I have been able to precept in Labor and Delivery at Huntsville Hospital. It has been an incredible experience and my preceptor, Tiffany, is absolutely incredible!! Last week, I accepted a full time position on nights as a L&D nurse at HH. I am so excited and cannot wait to start. I want thank everyone who has said prayers on our behalf....it has been a big decision to stay in Huntsville. Prayers from friends and family were definitely heard and we are so grateful to be in your thoughts when we are making these big decisions.

This weekend we are having a wedding shower at my home congregation in Madison. If for bother reason, I am excited to have our families and friends together! My bridesmaids will be there and I am so excited to be able to see them! We are so thankful that the church is throwing this shower for us and we know that many blessings and advice will come from wise ladies and families of our church.

Wedding plans are pretty much done, y'all! I have to order a few small things this week for the ceremony, pay a few small things here and there, taste test food, get fitted for dresses and tuxes...and we will be done! I have to give a HUGE shutout to Terranova's. Many of y'all know that this is where Michael and I really got to know each other before we started dating. We wanted to use them for our reception meal, and they are doing it big! We are so excited for y'all to see what we have put together.

There have been a few updates on the wedding website. The address is www.weddingwire.com/annemarieandmichael go check it out and sign the guest book!

Only 23 days to graduation, about 33 til I start orientation, and 93 days to the wedding. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers....we have a lot of big stuff coming up in a very short period of time!

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Let's get caught up....

So I haven't blogged in a while. Saying that A LOT has happened would be the understatement of the century. I am actually currently bored to death in class....so we will see how this goes! :)

In August, Michael and I were finally, finally able to go and have our engagement pictures made! It was really exciting for us! Although the day was very humid and my hair was crazy curly and Michael was sweaty, it was really fun and we are BEYOND pleased with our pictures. We LOVE Alyson and the work she does! She was close to 8 months pregnant and she did not let that stop her! You can see a slide show of our pictures on her blog. For family, you can order pictures here. You can see a preview of one of our pictures below!



In the last few months, we have had the opportunity to take care of quite a few wedding things. We met with our reception lady, Barbara, and have decided on lots of things! We know what we are doing for food, decorations, flowers, etc. I have also decided on bridesmaids dresses and colors-for sure...finally!! We have also taken care of the layout of our reception and some other details with that. Michael finally decided on his groomsmen as well. It is very exciting to know that is out of our way now!

Our wedding website is FINALLY finished! You can view it at this link http://www.weddingwire.com/AnneMarieandMichael. Go check it out, meet our wedding party, check our registries, and sign the guestbook! We would love to hear from ya'll!

October was, by far, the craziest month we have had! We had the opportunity to re-take HESI's that we missed due to the tornadoes, in addition to taking our regularly scheduled tests and HESI for OB. Talk about a stressful few weeks! On top of that, our sweet, sweet puppy Tucker was hit by a car. We have had a really hard few days without him and we are hoping for things to get better soon. Please be thinking of us while we are missing our sweet baby!

This semester we have had the opportunity to go to Auburn and Knoxville and that has been great because we really needed to get away from school for a while. We were really glad to see friends and family, and of course, watch some football!

Another exciting bit that I want to talk about is one of my new purchases! Mom and I were in Hartselle taking care of some wedding dress things and we were able to stop by some antique shops and browse around. Thanks to my awesome Mom and Nana, who have taught me well about antiques, I was able to make my first antique purchase---a secretary! I am so beyond excited to add this to our future home and I am blessed that I had great guidance in buying this awesome piece of furniture. Pictures are forthcoming-we will be picking it up to bring home in the next 2 weeks!

This week Mom and I were able to go and choose my veil and headpiece for my wedding day. Very exciting and very surreal. It is all getting closer and more real...I can hardly wait! I am very pleased with my decisions and thankful for the guidance of my mother during this time. She rocks!

There are just a few more things I want to blog about. In the next few weeks we are supposed to be beginning our pre-marital counseling. We are really excited to take this next step in strengthening our relationship and preparing for our marriage and not just the wedding...because after all, the marriage is what really matters! I have also recently started a new job doing research with a nursing professor on campus. This has been an awesome blessing and I am so very excited to have this opportunity!

The final thing I would like to blog about is our future! There are so many uncertainties right now with what we will be doing next semester and when we graduate. Today we have the opportunity to decide where we would like to precept next semester. That is crazy that we are so close to being done! We are also trying to figure out what to do when we are done with school. This could include finding jobs, going to grad school, or taking a nurse residency position. Please pray for us right now as individuals and as a couple as we make some big, and tough, decisions.

I am desperately going to try to blog more frequently...but I can't make any promises! Hopefully it will be sooner rather than later, but we will see!

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Free at last!

So today at 3:30, M and I began our 2 week long summer vacation. What's in the works for the next 2 weeks? Work, sleep, getting ready for fall semester....oh and some wedding planning of course! I am extremely thankful to be done with class for a bit!!

I am in a list kind of mood, so here goes my blog post!

Newest updates about all things wedding....
1. I am about 99% positive that we have found our wedding invitations. I have one place left to look, but I think what we have found will be hard to top, at least in my mind. This invite is really what I was looking for...traditional, classy, timeless, etc. Thankfully, M liked it too so that is awesome!

2. Wedding website will be posted as soon as M finishes asking his groomsmen to be his groomsmen. When will that be? I don't know. Obviously my May 31st deadline for the website is WAY out the window!!

3. Our guest list is growing and our ceremony location is not. Decisions, decisions...possible changes, who knows! M has graciously volunteered his time in this area, so I am nearly willing to let it go and let him make the big decision. Who knows how that will go! I know he knows me well and knows how important this day is for us, so I am sure he will make a fabulous decision!

4. Engagement pictures are scheduled for August 22nd. We are really excited to finally spend some with Alyson and have these pictures! I am especially excited about seeing them and choosing portraits for canvases, etc. It makes me excited to decorate our future home!

5. We are meeting with Barbara soon! Very excited to nail down the food, flowers, cake, and reception details.

That's all for now....definitely some more int he next week since I will actually have a little time to devote to planning and spending some real time with my love!

Saturday, July 30, 2011

This One's for the Girls!

Once again I should be studying or something of that sort, but other things, like blogging, are just way more important!

This past week M decided that we should skip out on Thursday's class and head down to Backwoods for the week.

Disclaimer #1: Everyone that knows me really well knows that this is always a hard trip for me because I really, seriously dislike the "great outdoors", as fabulous as they can be. I also really enjoy air conditioning, and there's not a lot of it at this place......so you can see why I sometimes have a more difficult time saying yes to these trips. But, this is honest to goodness M's favorite place in the WHOLE wide world (for good reason), so I do enjoy going to be with him an his friends despite the heat, bugs, other outdoorsy elements, etc.

Anyway, we decided at about 3 that afternoon that we would leave for Backwoods...so we got the oil changed, dropped Tuck off with my parents, packed, and we were on the road by 6. Talk about a whirlwind of a few hours! M drove, I finished homework, and we stopped at McDonald's to use their WiFi and submit our homework. Crazy night!

I was honestly very excited to get out of town for a few days and I was really glad to get that school work out of the way. I was even more glad (and thankful!) when I learned that I was going to be sleeping in a cabin with A/C. I'm sure many of you can relate to my feelings! :) It was so great to get there and see so many people that we have not seen since last summer. I forgot how awesome it was to sit and not have to worry about things. It was great just to visit and catch up. It was also an awesome visit because we got to see just about everyone that we were hoping to get to spend some time with!

The second night we were there might be the reason that this was my favorite road trip to camp yet, and probably will be my favorite ever. The girls (I say girls, but they are all married and a little older than me...but just as fun and great girlfriends!)  that I was hanging out with decided to have a night of fun...and who knew it could turn out to be so eventful!

Around 3 AM or so we decided to play a joke on M because he was sleeping in a camper out past the main part of camp. Obviously we were being silly, we had the giggles and our idea was perfect (although not completely thought through)...until it took forever for him to wake up and notice the joke! After we successfully video taped the hilariosity (I think I just made that word up!) we headed back to the main camp grounds...where we got caught. We had been ratted out. We got lectured. And I was basically scared to death.

Disclaimer #2: Because of the events of that night (some of which cannot be revealed!) I am pretty sure that I love Backwoods and it is safe to say that it is one of my new favorite places. I also love, love, LOVE the ladies that I got to know this week and I am really thankful for the kindness that they extended to me in allowing me be involved in their crazy antics!

There are a few things developing with our wedding plans...but I will blog about that later this week when i am procrastinating during my study time for finals on Thursday!!!

Sunday, July 24, 2011

P is for Procrastination

Tuesday we have a test, and I should be studying. But, today I have been the master of procrastination....and it continues with this blog post! :)

There are a few things that I want to blog about....mainly work, school, and more wedding things! Very excited about some things that are happening right now!

Work has literally taken over my life in the last week. I usually work one shift a week (12hrs), but this week I worked 3! Seriously, it was an incredible shock to my sleep schedule and my body. It was definitely a great glimpse of what I can anticipate once I graduate and have to work all the time. Of course it may not be as bad then because I won't be in school and planning for a marriage and a wedding, but who knows. Life seems like it runs 9087536 mile an hour all the time.....so I am learning to enjoy every second of what is going on in my life right now-whether good or bad-because I won't ever be in the situations I'm in right now.

School? What is there to say about school? Two words: Burned. Out. That's all. The end. Those 2 words are probably the reason that I am not studying right now!! Definitely ready for a few days of "summer" so I can relax and do "nothing." <----Is there such a thing?!

A few new things have happened with our wedding plans. Things are slowly starting to become more real, and for a few different reasons. I think the biggest reason is the fact that we have so many friends that are engaged and many more that will be married in the next few months. This almost makes me think "WHOA! We are old enough for THAT?!" Today my little sister Becca (she's 11) said "Why are all these people that you getting married? It's really weird!" And she is totally right! It's weird to think that we aren't little kids in elementary school like her anymore...but that we are adults that are about to commit the rest of our lives to each other. What an awesome (and scary) thing!

So wedding plans....

-I ordered one of the gifts for my bridesmaids this past week and got them already! They turned out great and I am really excited about them!!

-Last Friday, Mom and I drove out to Hartselle to visit Something Blue. I was having some cold feet about something about my dress. I know that comment was really vague, but I don't want to give away too many details! Anyway, we went by and everything is fine and that was a HUGE load off of my mind! Funny how we (and by that I mean "I") sweat the little things.

-Last Saturday M and I went to a wedding reception to see some work that Barbara, our caterer/baker/decorator was doing. She is just a fabulous in person as her pictures have been from previous weddings. We were able to get some great ideas from seeing her work in person. It was really great for M and me to connect over this reception stuff, too. He sometimes doesn't enjoy wedding things so it was fun for me to have some good input from him. I am really pleased that we are going to use her!

-I think Michael is going to ask his groomsmen to be his groomsmen soon. This is basically the biggest development ever because that means I will be able to complete and debut our wedding website. Awesome!

-I have ordered some sample wedding invitations. This is probably one of the biggest decisions I will make outside of my dress. I absolutely love stationary/personalized things and this invitation is no exception to that love and obsession. I am really excited to see and touch those samples and think about the fact that that invite has our names for our wedding on it. Another thought that makes everything seem more real and a little bit closer to happening!

Ok, so I have successfully wasted about 45 minutes on this post so I think I should at least try to get back to studying. Hopefully my next post this week will be about a few more wedding things and our house! I am still trying to get some pictures together so we can show it off!

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Let the coutdown begin!

Well, today marks exactly one year from our wedding date! So of course, I am pretty excited! Now the wedding madness is truly about to be full speed ahead until the big day!

A few updates....

First of all, I am going to start posting at least once every week. It is always such a great stress reliever for me to sit down and "blog" about what's going on in my world so I am really going to do my best to update as much as possible. Another reason for posting is because the majority of M's and my family and friends, and even wedding party, are out of town. So this will also be an easy way for us to keep in touch with everyone, rather than having to re-tell information over and over again! I'm hoping that this will also take some stress off of me with summer school. Booo summer classes!

Another thing that I am also going to start doing is telling you about our jobs (with no HIPPA violations, duh!), hopes and plans for our future, and updates on the new house! This way everyone gets the FULL picture of nearlyweds in nursing-which could sometime be a good or bad thing. And obviously I am loving some alliteration tonight!

The next update we have is that we had to postpone our engagement pictures again. In case you missed it, Monday it was a steamy 100+ degrees outside (yuck!) with a 100% chance of rain (yuck again!) at 7PM when we were supposed to take our pictures. Thank goodness for a flexible and gracious photographer, Alyson with Eternal Reflections Photography! Can you tell I'm slightly obsessed with her?

The last thing that I want to talk about is my cousin's friend Amanda Perna. She and my cousin, Amy, roomed together at the University of Alabama their freshman year. Amanda will be on Project Runway this coming season! SO awesome! So, here is a link and EVERYONE needs to go and vote for Amanda!

Look for another update next week!

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Moving Madness

So we all know that I am a really terrible blogger...so I apologize again for a considerably large length of time between posts! But, here goes the last month of my life in a nutshell.

WE MOVED! The end.

Ha!! I wish moving was that easy! In all seriousness, Michael and I found an adorable 2 bed, 1 bath home in the Medical District of Huntsville that is in walking distance of Huntsville Hospital. It is white with black shutters, has a cute little red door, the most adorable door bell ever, and an upstairs that has been renovated and now includes M's new man cave and a 10x20 walk-in closet that will be mine when we are married. Can I get an amen on the closet space? :)

Basically this move blindsided both of us and the last month or so has been an absolute whirlwind. We found this house, I moved back home with my parents to save some money, and M moved into the new house...all in about 2 weeks. I am thankful for my awesome parents/family and our incredible friends for helping us move things all over Madison/Huntsville. We truly, truly appreciate your help, support, and encouragement with this big move!

While all the moving has been going on we have also been in class and I have started a new job at Hunstville Hospital. I will definitely be thrilled when this mini-mester is over. I am ready for some time to relax and forget about projects and papers.Hand in hand with school and moving has come lots of stress and not a lot of time for lots of fun things. Right after we moved the stuff into the new house, M and I shared dinner on the floor (we didn't have a couch or loveseat yet!) and realized how crazy the last few weeks had been. I am really thankful that we have been able to spend time with eachother recently and that we have been able to work through some things that have been thrown at us. This opportunity to move has made me appreciate him so much and it has also made me more excited for our wedding and our marriage. Which....in case you're wondering....is only 385 days away!

In the last 2 weeks, I have gotten a few wedding things done. We have chosen colors (and a bridesmaids dress!) and I am so glad to have that weight lifted from my shoulders! The bridesmaids will be wearing a blue color...it is a cross between a royal blue and a navy. It is a really beautiful color and it should really compliment my dress. Flowers will be whites and light pinks for another touch of color. I am so excited for the girls to get measured and get these ordered in the coming months. I can't wait to see them.

Our engagement pictures have been rescheduled for July 11th. Between orientation at work and moving, there was no way we could keep our original June date for pictures. M and I really looking forward to our shoot with Alyson and can't wait to see the pictures.

We have also decided to have Two Strings and Ivory play at our ceremony instead of our reception. I am super excited about this!!! I think it is going to be a perfect touch to the ceremony. And speaking of the ceremony, during May we had the opportunity to visit our ceremony location, Randolph. I was especially glad that we were able to go because Nina and Laura beth were able to see it for the first time. Here are a few pictures!


Center aisle and old wooden pews

Stage area...obviously a lot of these things will be moved!


The final piece of excitement from the last few weeks is with our website and wedding party. M is getting his guys together and as soon as he is finished deciding and asking, I will have the website posted. I am really looking forward to having that checked off of my to-do list.

Finally, in the next 2 or 3 weeks, we are planning to meet with Barbara of Barbara's Wedding Shop to discuss flowers, catering, cakes, lighting, etc. for our ceremony and reception. We have heard and seen awesome things come from her wedding decor so we are excited to see what she has in store for us! After we take care of this bit....it will be smooth sailing for a while!

Hopefully for my next update there will be pictures of the new house, a sneak peak of our engagement session, and the wedding website debut!!!