Tailgating/South Carolina Football

As I was on my way to work yesterday morning, I was listening to a girl being interviewed on the radio who has written a book about football and tailgating traditions of the SEC. It got me super pumped up and I started thinking about my own experiences with football and tailgating.

Having been a die-hard South-Carolina fan since I was in my mother's womb, it's only second nature to me that Saturdays in the fall are devoted to football. Now I could watch football in general all day, but there are 2 college teams I routinely pull for, South Carolina Gamecocks, and anyone playing Clemson. (yes, i'm pretty sure that's a bumper sticker, but it's true!) :)

Growing up, my dad always had season tickets, and it was a fall Saturday tradition. Ever since I can remember, we would devote our Saturdays riding to Columbia with USC flags and magnets on our car and the smell of fried chicken and fresh made sides filling my nose. Most of the time it was just me and daddy, occasionally bringing my brother or, when I was younger, my teddy bear (who always had the nicest gamecock gear, of course).

We would have so much fun. Daddy would always take me around to his other friend's tailgates and we would socialize with them. I learned about football at such a young age, and I felt proud that I knew what was going on during the games and I could keep up with my dad and the people around us. I knew every cheer, our fight song, and most of the songs the band played.

The ride home was pretty lonely for my dad as I would drift off to sleep to the sound of Todd Ellis reflecting on the game.

As I got older, my dad and I continued to attend games and we kept our tradition alive. A few times while I was in high school, I'd get to bring friends or Shane along with us. During these years, my dad moved to North Carolina, so going to every single game was a little hard for him, but we still managed to go to most of the home games.

When I went off to college, my tailgating became a little more hard core. I was able to make crazy delicious tailgating food and of course we spent hours in the parking lots drinking, eating, and socializing.  Not to mention tickets for students were free, (thanks to daddy paying my tuition, of course!) 

South Carolina football has been a time where many new friends and unforgettable experiences have been made many times in my life.

This fall has been especially different for me, because it's the first time in my life I haven't been attending games. My dad is no longer a season ticket holder, and i'm no longer a student. I've had to watch the games at home this year. Don't get me wrong, spending time cuddled on the couch with the hubby watching the games has been great, but I'd be lying if I said we don't both miss it like crazy.

But watch out Williams Brice Stadium, this girl is making her return this weekend!!!

Tomorrow, South Carolina plays at home against Auburn and i'm excited to be going to my first game of the season! Shane is off work and our friend, B is coming up from Charleston. 

The three of us plan on getting out there pretty early to get our drink on and feel back at home. 

I'm so excited!

 GO COCKS!

It's our 1 month-iversary!

Hard to believe this time last month I was preparing for the BEST day of my life. 

This month has literally flown by. 

I get asked a lot now "how is married life?" and my response is always, "GREAT". Because it is. Not too much has changed as far as how much we get to see each other since we were with each other 24/7 even before we got married, but there is just something amazing about snuggling up next to your husband every night and knowing it's going to be like that for the rest of your life. 

In the past month, we've been pretty busy living our lives and enjoying every day of it. We've settled in to our new home,  visited with friends and family almost every weekend, celebrated my birthday, and gotten lots of mail to "Mr. & Mrs. Shane Hyatt". I love that. Referring to each other as husband and wife is pretty awesome.... I don't think i'll ever get tired of saying "hubby". Changing my name, however, was a long and not so fun process, but i'm officially Mrs. Olivia Casey Hyatt now and that's all that matters!

So to answer anyone's questions, married life is a-mazing. 

I love Shane more and more every day and can't wait to celebrate many many many more months and years together. 

 

Found this on pinterest, and decided it was us perfectly. As long as we can agree on these terms, everything will be just perfect. :)

Weekend Recap

Happy Monday everyone!

This weekend was super busy, but we had a great time!

It started with a couples baby shower Friday night for our friends, Adam & Heather. They are expecting a baby boy the first of November. Heather is quite possibly the cutest mama-to-be and she was glowing. The shower was at this place in Lexington called Kovachi's and OMG, was it delish!?!?! There was fresh brushetta w/ tons of garlic, (YUM) greek salad, and I had spinach and feta stuffed chicken with alfredo pasta. It was to die for, and I had enough leftover for about 3 more meals!
I took some pics of us with the couple, but left my camera at home, so those pics will have to wait. The shower was a lot of fun, and the alcohol was flowing. Can't say i've ever had booze at a baby shower, but it made the night totally fun...(despite my minor headache I woke up with Saturday morning. woops)

Saturday, I was up bright and early and fighting the gross weather all the way to Florence. It poured down rain and made for a not-so-fun drive.
When I arrived in Florence, I met my cousin Brittney and she gave me a new "do", chopping off about 4 inches of hair! I LOVE my hair, it's definitely a change, and so much easier to style.

new hair by my favorite stylist

After getting mah hurrr did, I was off to see my dad, stepmom, brother and sis-in-law for some yummy BBQ lunch at our favorite country buffet in Florence, Cain's BBQ. After stuffing our faces, it was off to the hospital to see the girls! Avery and Kadence were 6 weeks old as of Saturday and weigh around 4 lbs. They are doing great, but have a long way to go. Saturday was a HUGE day for us. Grandma got to hold the girls for the first time. It was pretty amazing seeing her hold her great-grandbabies, and I don't think I've seen her smile so big. We took lots of pics and did a little crying and lots of oohhh and ahhhing at the girls. They are so adorbs and I can't wait to continue seeing their progress over the next few months.

 Avery (left) and Kadence (right)

The family (minus my stepmom who took the pic)

 

 When we left the hospital, we went back to Sean and Nicole's for some birthday celebrations. Since Grandma, Sean, and I all have September birthdays, we always open presents together. I got some great new clothes for work and new shoes (YAY).

That night, I made my way back to Columbia and curled up on the couch with Shane just in time for the Carolina football game to come on TV. It was an uglyyyyy game, but thankfully we won. I won't even recap how frustrating it was to watch that game.

Sunday, we were up early again. This time, Shane and I headed to Charleston to help move in my best friend, Pam. Pam was moving down from Western MA, and because she has 2 horses, she had to drive straight through the night, for 18 hours. I made that drive with her when she moved up to MA last year, and it's not a fun drive. I knew she would be exhausted, so I wanted to be there to help her unload. Typical Pam though, she was running at about 100 mph, and after we unloaded, she was ready for mexican and a cocktail. I'm SO happy she's back, although my liver is probably a little scared. My drinking festivities tend to become a little more frequent when Pam's around. :)

us at the mexican restaurant

After stuffing ourselves with Mexican and margaritas, Shane and I made our way back to Columbia, driving through TERRIBLE storms again.

Needless to say, we had a chill night last night and got ready for our busy weeks this week.

Semi Homemade with.... Olivia?

Back in college, my friend, B, who enjoyed quite a few Olivia-made meals in his day, used to refer to me as Sandra Lee from Semi-Homemade w/ Sandra Lee. I have been known to whip up some tasty meals combining some fresh ingredients with some store bought items. This mentality of mine has always played a role in my cooking. I love to cook, but because of my crazy life, I sometimes don't find the energy or the time to make "made from scratch" meals. But whatever I do make, it's pretty damn good, if I do say so myself.

Last night was a perfect example of one of my "semi-homemade" meals. After working a crazy/busy day at work, I had to do some shopping for birthdays and baby showers i'm attending this weekend, as well as running some errands. I didn't get home until around 7:30 and Shane was supposed to be home soon. Nights like these, I could opt for take-out, but we're on a tight budget, and I had a pantry stocked full of foods that needed to be eaten.

So, using what I had, and playing off an old recipe of a pasta dish my mom used to make, I made this delicious meal.

Follow my steps as I show you this meal that can literally be made in 20 minutes, and is SO creamy and delicious, you'll think you got it from an Italian restaurant.

I don't have a name for it... but let's just roll w/ it.

Ingredients:

-1 pack of sausage. ( I used Jimmy Dean's reduced fat sausage. Try to use reduced fat or turkey sausage, it cuts WAY down on the grease, and tastes just as good.)
-1 box of bowtie pasta
-2 generous tablespoons of Garden Vegetable cream cheese spread (I used 1/3 less fat)
-1 jar of Vodka sauce
-Spinach (I'd prefer fresh spinach, but didn't have it on hand, so I used a box of Green Giant Frozen spinach)
-Minced garlic (once again, i'd prefer to used fresh garlic, but you get where I'm going?!!)
-1/2 block of grated mozzarella cheese
-Crushed red pepper
-Italian Seasoning

Steps:

In a large pot, boil water and cook pasta. When pasta is finished, drain and set aside.
In a separate skillet, beginning browning sausage, adding Italian seasoning and red pepper while it cooks. (Shane and I like a LOT of kick, so I was generous with the red pepper. Regardless of how much you add, it really contributes to the flavor of the meal.)
When the sausage is almost finished, add spinach and a tablespoon of garlic and reduce heat.

Continue stirring meat/spinach and add in Vodka sauce and 2 tablespoons of cream cheese spread.
Cook on low for an additional 10 minutes, occasionally stirring the sauce.

Last, add the cooked cooked pasta to the sauce and let it continue to heat on low for a few minutes.

Shred mozzarella and sprinkle on your plate, and Voila! A yummyyyyyy meal with a ton of flavor.

And yes, I realize I was cooking for 2, but I made enough for like 10. But Shane and I both have a generous helping for lunch today and enough leftover for maybe even lunch again tomorrow. Yes, it was THAT good.


Happy Friday Everyone! Hope you all have an AMAZING weekend. I have a lot of exciting things planned....and I'll be blogging about it next week.

Fall Line-up

It's seems like most of the blog world has had some post relevant to this, but it's only necessary that I share with you what will be consuming my nights this fall.... my DVR. I think this season, more than any, I may find myself getting in to wayyy too much TV.

I'm blaming it on my old TV addicted roomie who got me hooked on a ton of shows last year, and the fact that I work for a CW affiliate so I not only feel compelled to watch our shows, but to watch our primetime competition as well. (pretty snazzy excuse to watch a bunch of tv huh?)


Here's what my weeks will look like:

**marks new shows i'm trying out this year

Mondays:
How I Met Your Mother 8-9 pm on CBS

Gossip Girl 8-9 pm on CW
**Hart of Dixie 9-10 pm on CW



Tuesdays:
Glee 8-9 pm on FX
**Ringer 9-10 pm on CW
**Unforgettable 10-11 pm on CBS

Wednesdays:
Law & Order SVU 10-11 pm on NBC (favorite show of all time and i'm really upset Stabler isn't coming back this season)
**Revenge 10-11 pm on ABC

Thursdays:
Big Bang Theory 8-9 pm on CBS
**The Secret Circle 9-10 pm on CW

Sundays:
Desperate Housewives 9-10 pm on ABC


Whew....Guess it's a good thing I have DVR so I make sure I don't miss any of my shows!

Happy Thursday people!

Lazy bum with good intentions

I need to get out of this funk.

seriously... like I went to bed at 9 o'clock last night.

And it's not like I don't have things I need to be doing.

I have a huge to do list but no energy.

AND i'm swamped at work.

Oh, and have I mentioned I need to work out this flabby body of mine? 

thank you Pinterest for describing me perfectly.

Sorry for the random/pointless/pathetic post. But i'm in a weird mood today. 

And I really ought to get some work done. 

hmmm.

Weekend Recap

Happy Monday everyone! Hope you all had a great weekend. Shane and I had a pretty fun time.

Friday night, we totally had a lazy night. I'm beginning to have more of them now that things have calmed down and loving it! We chilled on the couch and fought over the remote half the night. :)

Saturday, we got up early, cleaned, and got groceries so I could make tailgate food for the football game.

Lyndsey and Yale came up to visit from Charleston, so we had a mini-party at our place for the game. It was a blast getting to catch up with them and trying out some fun recipes for the game.

What was on the menu?

Garlic chicken and cream cheese puffs.
Bacon wrapped cocktail weenies w/ BBQ sauce for dipping
Buffalo chicken dip (a tailgating staple!)
Veggies w/ ranch and spinach dip
Potato skins

I managed to snap a few pics of the food (between us pigging out) and of the fun serving dishes I got to use! (thanks to some awesome wedding presents!)

fun football bowl

veggies in a USC platter

cocktail weenies on a football platter

After the game and that UGLY win against Navy, (but Hey, a win is a win) we went down the street to a bar. Now that Shane and I are living on the outskirts of town, we've been trying to find some happening bars to go to that aren't too far away. The places we checked out this Saturday = not happening. But we made our own fun, so that's all that matters!

delicious pitcher!

love of my life

Sunday was just as eventful. Lyndsey and Yale left around lunchtime, and my mom and stepdad arrived about 20 minutes later. They came to hang out for the day, watch the Panthers game, and mom fixed my FAVORITE meal ever, Chicken and Rice. It was a-mazing. I get my love of cooking from my mom, and well, she has this hobby perfected. The woman can cook!

While they were visiting, we had a new little friend show up on our back door.
...Lilo, meet stray kitty.

Our spoiled rotten, stuck up little cat, Lilo did not like this cat hanging out on our back porch. She growled and hissed for it to go away, but it just kept hanging around. We all took our turns stepping out on the porch to see it, and it was the sweetest cat ever. It was in heaven being shown some attention. (Lilo should have been taking notes.)

So, I broke down, fed the damn animal, and named him Simba. (in honor of the Lion King 3-D which is now out in theaters, duhhhhhh)

Simba was hungry!

Guess he decided to make our porch his home. Who knows for how long, but he seemed pretty content sleeping in the chair on the back porch last night, and he was there when we woke up this morning. Oh well, enjoy your stay little kitty.


That's about it for our weekend.
Now time to tackle my busy work week ahead!

It's the best time of year!

The weather this morning has me in such a fall spirit! 

Today's high in Columbia is supposed to be 66 degrees.

66 degrees.....How PERFECT.

I mean seriously who doesn't LOVE FALL?!?!?!

There are sooo many things to be excited about.

FOOTBALL. um enough said.

Gorgeous weather

And on those chilly days, the first time you get to wear your new boots or scarves... it just makes me all tingly.
 

PUMPKINS. I'm such a pumpkin fanatic. Like, I loveeeee pumpkin pie. and pumpkin bread. and. hello. Pumpkin Spiced Lattes. Yeah, when I felt that first chill of air hit me this morning, I drove straight to starbucks before work.

Theres SO much to look forward to. 

The holiday season is right around the corner, and the beginning of fall builds that anticipation. I'm so excited to start decorating our place for the holidays and start getting things ready for parties and family gathering.

Seriously. It's Friday. And Fall is in the air. Despite the mountains of work piling up on my desk, i'm in SUCH a good mood! 

Have a great weekend!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

I'm linking up with Jamie again for my second post of....

I'm LOVING the awesome time I had last night with some pretty GREAT friends for my birthday!
A lot of my close BFF'ers have moved away, so I was a little depressed not getting to have them around for birthday celebrations, but my old roomie and some great friends who still live near me came out to celebrate with us last night at good old, Ale House.

I was loving these dessert nachos!

me and the hubby! :)

Along with my birthday, I'm LOVING the fact that Shane got me a card that says Happy Birthday to his WIFE. It's the little things that make me smile, and man did I smile when I read that card. It was my first birthday as a wife!!!

I'm LOVING the amazing process my twin nieces are making. They are now a month old and cuter than ever. They're also gaining weight, and despite the setbacks they've had, they are such fighters. I can't wait to see how much they are going to grow over the next few weeks.

You will need to prepare yourself for the cuteness of this picture that my sis-in-law surprised my brother with on his birthday last week...

Cutest little gamecock fans EVER!

I'm LOVING the fact that my friend Lyndsey and her fiance, Yale are coming to visit this weekend and watch the Carolina game with us. I'm pretty excited to try some new Pinterest tailgating recipes and get to spend some fun BFF time together. Plus, Lyns is in total wedding mode and I am so excited to talk weddings with her! Even though ours is over, I'm still a fanatic about wedding planning and can't wait to hear all about her details.

Lyn & Yale at our wedding!!! :) how cute are they?!?!

And i'm LOVING the amazing support I always get from Shane. Despite the fact that the stresses from wedding planning are over, work stress has really been playing a tole on me this week, and I love coming home to a husband who is so supportive every single night. It makes everything else so much easier to bare with him by my side.

Snapped this pic while we were watching tv together the other night. I love married life! :)

Happy hump day friends! 

The weekend is right around the corner THANK GOD!

The most awesome day ever.

 

That's right...

It's my birthdayyyyyy!!!!

My friend reminded me last night, that this is exactly how I act on my birthday: 

 

And it's true. 

Picture below taken right after I woke up last year wearing my crown and drinking mimosas.

Have a great day everyone! I know I will!!!! :)

Welcome Home!

Last week marked one month since we moved in to our new place, but it's just now beginning to feel like HOME! We're finally settled in, and with the wedding and everything behind us, we get to enjoy it a little more.

When we first moved in, we unpacked the necessities, and made it "livable." Having our place fully decorated (despite my OCD ways) was not at the top of my priority list. With it being the last month of wedding planning, I was a leeetttleee distracted by other events.

But now that we have received a ton of awesome gifts from our registry, we have been able to make our place feel like home! It has been sooo amazing getting to enjoy living in our place together and I'm beyond excited at the memories we'll make in our new place.

Let's take a little tour...

Our precious little place!

view into living room, dining room, and kitchen from our bedroom

 

 

Our mantle

bedroom w/ Princess Lilo on her throne

bathroom (it's weirdly shaped so I just got a pic of the color scheme and monogrammed towels)

office area off our bedroom

craft area in our office :) aka. my new "inspired by pinterest" station

guest bedroom (still have a little work left to do)

back porch (pic taken through our screen door)

Who is ready to come visit? 

I'm dying to have people over to entertain. I have a ton of new cookware/serving stuff and about a million new recipes i'm dying to try! :)

Have a fantastic week!!!

Our wedding weekend: Part 2

The Ceremony:

From the time the doors opened for my dad and I to enter the church until after the ceremony concluded, I don't remember much. I remember looking for Shane and seeing legit, the biggest smile ever. :) There was my man waiting for me at the end of the aisle. Our ceremony was not scheduled to be that long, but it ended up being shorter than we even prepared. Somehow, in the midst of saying our vows and exchanging our rings, our pastor read right through the part where we were supposed to light our unity candle and have a violin solo. It was no biggie though, we were still pronounced hubby and wifey and walked out of the church! And I did hear some sniffling from behind me during the ceremony (i'm guessing that was probably my MOH)
Apparently, I had been shaking (which I never do) because as soon as Shane and I got out into the vestibule alone, he asked me, "Are you OK? You were shaking!" And my response? "We didn't light the unity candle!" We both started laughing and kissing, and I think we said to each other, "We're MARRIED!?!!?" about 7 times. Yeah, we're cute.
Once our guests filed out and started heading to the reception, we went back in to the sanctuary to take pictures with family. I will be interested to see how those turned out. My dress (which had about 17 layers of tulle) came out pretty far from my body, and with the train, it was practically impossible for people to stand too close to me because they were scared of stepping on my dress. Hopefully the photos won't look too awkward, but they should provide a pretty good laugh if they do!
After family photos were finished, our family headed to the ceremony, and Shane and I, along with the bridal party, headed outside to take some "fun pictures" Thankfully, the weather was beautiful, (that's right, TAKE THAT IRENE!). We took pictures for around 30 minutes and piled in to our limo for a little fun on the way to the reception. Classy as we are, we had some mini bottles and champagne to cheers with on the ride over that actually had me buzzed in the 15 minutes it took to get to the reception.

photographer's sneak peaks. :)

The Reception

When we arrived at our reception sight, Osbornes, everyone was in place for us to make our grand entrance and we all lined up in the back room. Shane and I were in the far back and I'm actually pretty sad that I didn't get to see my bridal party enter because my family said it was quite a sight! When we were lining up, the reception coordinator told us to "behave" when walking out, and yeahhh.... that was a mistake. There is no telling our group to behave...We were ready to party! After a fun entrance, Shane and I had our first dance, followed by my dance with my dad and his with his mom.
The next 2 1/2 hours went by super fast! They were filled with me talking to so many people I had not seen in ages and dancing the night away. And my new hubby was showing a side most never get to see. He was breaking it down on the dance floor! :) Shane never really dances at weddings or in public for that matter, but he seemed to be having a great time, and so was I!
When it came time for cake cutting, I was totally bad and smeared cake all over Shane's face. But did you really expect anything different?! Shane said he knew it was coming! muhahahah...*evil laugh*
Our toasts we extremely sweet. My dad kicked off the toasts by thanking everyone for coming, telling a few embarrassing stories on me, and welcoming Shane in to our family.
Our best man Cory, who is Shane's brother, and my MOH's speeches were perfect. Not sure if they intended to do this or not, but they literally played off of one another. Cory talked about how I had put up with Shane even when he made a fool of himself or how we made it work when Shane moved to Florida. MOH, Pam, thanked my family for being so accepting of her in our lives, and talked about how perfect Shane was for me. How everything that is imperfect about me, Shane completes. I knew it was going to happen, and i'll be damn if she didn't make me cry! I was so happy with how sweet and meaningful each of the speeches were and they are words i'll cherish forever. After toasts we danced a lot more, and by the end of the reception, we were all smiles, drunk, and exhausted.

photo of us leaving taken by LKPJ

That night was literally the best night of my life. The DJ kept the party going, and my friends and family seemed to be having a great time. And for anyone who knows me, seeing other people have fun makes me beyond happy. 

Our wedding was everything that I could have asked for and so much more. 

I married my best friend and together, we were able to celebrate the happiest time in our lives with SO many people that we love.

Our wedding weekend: Part 1

Leading up to the wedding weekend...

The week before our wedding was quite possibly the busiest week of my life. I was non-stop at work trying to finish my projects and tie up loose ends in preparation for being gone a week and a half. I was also busy crossing things off my to-do list and making new lists to triple-check and make sure I had everything covered. And if you saw my last post before the wedding, I had this whole HURRICANE business to worry about. As the week went on, my worries died (thankfully!) but it was a little scary at first. Oh yeah, and there was an earthquake that shook most of the east coast. Talk about natural disasters stressing a girl out! WHEW!

Wednesday night was my last night alone with Shane before our wedding night. We spent it staying up late and packing our numerous bags that we would need for the night before the wedding, wedding night, and honeymoon. Shane was planning on leaving for Florence on Thursday to meet my dad and spend the night so they could have their guys golf outing early Friday morning.

Thursday

I arrived at work to find my coworkers surprise me with a mini-shower! They had Chick-Fil-A breakfast trays and gave me my entire set of serving pieces I'd registered for. I have only been at this office for 3 months, (and the last 3 months of wedding planning, at that) but my coworkers have made me feel so accepted and loved.
Anyways, after our mini-party, it was work, work, work! I barely had time to concentrate on any last minute wedding details. But I did get to take a lunch break to go pick up my Maid of Honor and meet her and Shane for lunch before he said goodbye to us! MOH came back to work with me and napped in my office while I finished up my day. After work, we met her friend for a drink, and the poor guy was probably annoyed beyond means because I was in SUPER wedding mode at this point. MOH and I spent the rest of the night preparing and making sure EVERYTHING was ready for us to leave Friday morning.

Friday

Bright and early Friday morning, we hopped out of bed about 7am and headed to Florence with our friend, and my right hand for the weekend, Shannon. We met my mom and other bridesmaid, Lyndsey and headed to get pampered at the nail salon for the first half of the day.

I can't even begin to tell you the emotions I was feeling Friday. Everyone with me kept asking if I was nervous/excited/etc, but I think it was a mixture of everything. I never felt nervous about the wedding itself, it was more about hoping the details were taken care of and that things would go to plan. Because of all the time and energy I had invested in the wedding, I wanted to make sure that all of my vendors and details were set. (which they were, I should have known, I had great vendors!)

After a day of running a few errands and finishing up our pampering, it was time to get ready for the rehearsal/dinner. Everyone showed up to the rehearsal on time and I began my directing. I had lists printed of how I wanted everyone lined up and seated, and the first half of the rehearsal was spent perfecting that list then explaining it to everyone involved. (side note: Shane and I have very extended/not traditional families, so our seating of parents, grandparents, and family was probably a little more confusing than most)
After the rehearsal, we headed back to the hotel for our dinner. I cannot tell you how happy I was with how everything turned out with the dinner. They had it set up beautifully, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

And then there was the groom's cake. (time for a little bragging). I may be biased, but it was the best cake I've ever seen. When ordering Shane's cake, I knew I wanted something to do with Carolina/drinking/tailgating, but that was about it for my ideas. The lady who made Shane's cake took those ideas and created this little beauty:

Amazing groom's cake

Everything on the cake was edible from the football (made from ride crispies) to the ice (made from blown sugar). And the actual cake part was a delicious yellow cake with chocolate frosting (Shane's favorite.)
After the rehearsal dinner, Shane and I said our goodbyes and it was party time with my girls in the hotel room. We had a great time talking and eating more cake. :) Everyone headed to bed around midnight and I tried to fall asleep but that was next to impossible. I finally fell asleep about 4 am, only to wake up at 6:30!


Saturday/Pre-wedding

I scheduled our bridal breakfast at the hotel for 8:30 Saturday morning. All the girls, mothers, and grandmas met in the room for breakfast looking bright eyed and bushy tailed. We ate and drank lots of coffee, then I gave the girls their gifts. I was so excited about the gifts I found for them and couldn't wait to see their expressions. They all seemed to love their wristlets that I got them and that made me very excited. Before the breakfast concluded, we had the traditional Charm Cake that my bridesmaid's mom, Linda, made for us. Each bridesmaid, bride, and honorary attendants pull out a charm and the charm they pull is supposed to represent what will happen next in each of their lives. It was pretty funny to watch everyone pull out their charms, and my favorite part was when my sister in law, Melissa pulled out the baby charm. She and my brother do NOT want kids so you can imagine the look on her face. The ironic part of the charms, were that my MOH and friend, Shannon pulled out the "true love" charms, because both of them are in pretty serious relationships with their true loves! It was pretty freaking adorbs if you ask me! :)

girls at the bridal breakfast

The next four hours were spent at my cousin's hair salon. We all hung out while everyone took their turns getting their hair done by my cousin or her friend, Allison. Hanging out at the salon was pretty fun and we had a great time having some pre-wedding cocktails and eating delicious cake balls and pizza. My photographer was at the salon to document us getting ready so I will be very excited to see the pictures she captured! Although we were at the salon for a few hours, it felt like 10 minutes to me. My mind was in a million places, and of course, I was wondering what Shane was up to as well :)

mah hurrr

 My first cry of the day came at the salon, when my friend Jess sent me the sweetest text know to mankind.  
A little history about Jess: I became friends with this wild and crazy girl my freshman year and even lived with her for a year of college. The minute she started hanging out with me and Shane, and declared us her adoptive parents, and it kind of stuck. Earlier this year, when I invited her to the wedding, she immediately said she would never miss her own "mommy and daddy's" wedding and couldn't wait because she always knew we'd be getting married.
Anyways, Jess lives in Boston and due to the hurricane hitting up there and her work schedule, she couldn't find a flight for returning to Boston after the wedding. Jess texted me to tell me how sad she was that she couldn't come and that she had even asked her Uncle Paul (who died last year and she was VERY close to him) to look over us for the day. When I read this, I burst in to tears. It was more of a moment when everything hit me that I have some pretty amazing friends who really care about me and Shane and were doing SO much to make sure this day was perfect for us. It's indescribable how much love I felt then from everyone surrounding me.
After I got my hair and make up done, it was time for everyone to head to the church. All of the girls were meeting Shane and the groomsmen where the limo was picking them up, and I drove to the church with my step-mom. When we arrived at the church, no one was there and I had a minor freak out because I wanted to be in the church before the limo arrived. I didn't want to run in to Shane before the ceremony and I didn't want him to see me all dolled up until then. Thankfully, the pastor arrived just in time for me to get settled in to the room I was getting ready in right before the limo pulled up. It was 3pm and we had 2 hours until the ceremony was to start.
I was very calm at this point and was just ready to be around everyone so we could snap pictures and finish getting ready. As I was in the room watching everyone pile out of the limo, I turned around to see my bridesmaid, Bekah busting through the door holding a candle. She was followed by the rest of my bridesmaids with worried looks on their faces, and my MOH who headed straight for her "emergency bag". I could tell something was wrong, and everyone started fussing about how my cousin, Brittney's dress wouldn't zip. (we had problems with these dresses from day one. The zipper always got stuck where the material changed and it was next to impossible to get them zipped.) Bekah proposed we put hot wax on the zipper to make it zip, while my MOH, Pam was looking for her sewing kit to sew Brittney in to the dress. I walked over to Brittney and after 2 tries, was able to get the dress zipped. Everyone just stopped and looked at me and went on about how they had tried to zip the dress for 30 minutes and no luck. (i thought of it as a sign that I was pretty damn lucky that day :) hah)

Brittney's dress

 That next hour and a half went by extremely fast. We got me in to my dress and veil and took some pictures with the girls. I kept asking everyone how Shane was doing, and made Pam go check on him and to give him a gift i'd put together for him. I remember looking out the window to see guests start arriving and before I knew it, everyone was clearing out to go get in place for the ceremony to start.

I felt like a princess

After everyone cleared out of the room, my dad came in and we both cried a little. I knew I would cry when I saw my dad. It was the first time Dad saw me in my dress and he told me how beautiful I looked. Next thing I knew we were heading down the hall to get ready to go down the aisle.

That's when the nerves kicked in. I knew it would happen right before the ceremony. Everyone kept asking me all day if I was nervous, and I said no, but I knew it was coming. It wasn't like normal nerves I've had before. I wasn't scared. I was happy. Beyond happy. This was the moment I'd been thinking about for what seemed like forever. This was the moment that I first pictured many many years ago when I realized I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Shane Hyatt. I was about to see the face I would get to see the rest of my life and I was so stricken with emotions I've never felt before. I don't think I'll ever be able to describe how I was feeling but I do know this...Among them all, I felt happy. I felt sure that this was EXACTLY what I wanted.

Shannon snapped this pic right before we were about to go in to the ceremony.

I'll continue this post tomorrow and describe the ceremony and reception! Stay tuned!



*photo credit: my amazing friend Shannon was snapping these pics along the way! We are waiting on our pics from the photographer, but don't worry I'll share more!*

I'M BACKKKKK!!!

Oh, where to even BEGIN. let's see.... oh yeah, I GOT MARRIED! But you all knew that anyways since it's all i've been talking about for the past year and a half.

It was literally the BEST. DAY. OF. MY. LIFE! It was more than I could have ever dreamed for and I had such an amazing time.

And then there was the honeymoon. oh my my myyy.... it was so relaxing and definitely a week i'll never forget with my awesome hubby!

I'll be blogging in detail about everything that's happened and reflecting on how amazing it all was, so hang tight. Today is my first day back at work, and to say i'm swamped would be an understatement. Between that and unpacking/decorating our house with all the amazing wedding gifts we got, i'll be back in the grind of things full swing!

Until next time, adios bloggies.

Love, Mrs. Hyatt :)