Countdown

One day until I walk down the aisle

One day until Mom crys like a baby

One day until I marry my best friend

One day until Chris and I have the time of our lives

One day until all our hard work pays off

One day until I marry the man of my dreams

Countdown

days til my Daddy give me away!

Countdown

days left as a single woman!

Last Fling Before the Ring!

Last weekend, some of the wedding party and I traveled Austin, Texas for my fling before the ring a.k.a Bachelorette Party. *Warning, get ready for picture overload!*  I don't think we were quite as extreme as the movie The Hangover, but we did have a good time. We got there Friday early evening and checked into the Omni. It was a fabulous hotel right in the heart of downtown Austin. We loved it. And I snagged us a good deal and we stayed on the concierge's floor which included free snacks and drinks before dinner and breakfast! The hotel had a great pool on the roof. We didn't get to use it but we did take a peek. 

So we got ready for dinner and headed out to Manuels. Since we had snacks at the hotel, we decided to just get three appetizers to all share and some adult beverages. The food was fabulous. And I cannot say enough about our waiter. Forgot his name, but he was awesome!!! Attentive enough , but not pestering. And just generally nice and chatty.  

Girls at dinner at Manuels

One cool thing about Austin is they have petty cabs. They are "free" rides around town in a buggy powered by a, generally, cute and entertaining guy. We did see one girl pedaling though. 

Our petty cab drivers!

Me and MOH in the petty cab!

From Manuels we went to Pete's Dueling Piano Bar. It is exactly as it sounds. Two pianos dueling and playing back and forth. They can play pretty much anything you can think of. We heard Summer Night from Grease and Garth Brooks. Really, they can play anything. And for special occasions like, Bachlorette parties, you even get to go on stage and be serenaded. 

Me and a birthday girl being serenaded.

The girls at Pete's

 So we had our giggles there and we went next door to do some real dancing! We headed to Pure. It is one of those places that we would never go to in Shreveport, but hey, we were on vacation. Very cluby, and normally if we were in Shreveport, very creepy. But really, we were like the only people in there so it was great! Haha!

Champagne toast!

So Saturday morning we woke up and it was shopping day! We went to South Congress Street. But first, we had to EAT! We love our food. We went to Homeslice. It's a local pizza-by-the-slice place, which seems to be very popular in Austin. The pizza was delicious!

At Homeslice. YUM!

We did lots of shopping. Stopped by University of Texas campus and Mellow Mushroom for a quick ice cream break. 

We headed back to the hotel to get ready for the evening. We went to Annie's for dinner. It was a little French bistro on Congress Street. They had very yummy food! I had the veggie plate that had grilled veggie on a bed of mash potatoes. Awesomeness. After dinner, we went to J. Black's and The Ranch. Very different feel from the night before. You could tell we were in the "uptown" part of Austin. Not so friendly. But we still had fun. 

Ready to hit the town!

Toast to the night!

 We went to Eastside Cafe for brunch. Another local place, off the beaten path. It was soooo yummy! I had french toast that was to die for. 

Girls before brunch.

We all had a great time and I can't thank each of them enough for coming and for joining me on my big day! 

Calm before the storm...

My life is insane. I know I say that a lot, but seriously. It is in.sane. 

I have determined that wedding planning is the reason God intended for people to only get married once. There is no way in the world I would want to do this all again. I will be more than willing to help all my friends, as long as I don't have to make any decisions. LAWDY, I am tired of making decisions.

But I think I have dotted every i and crossed every t, and I don't have anything to do tonight. Well, I do have a few things, but I am not having to run around all over the place. I have some bags to pack and clothes to wash, but I can at least be at home for that. 

This is what they would call the calm before the storm. I am home tonight, but tomorrow it.is.on. Work all day, one last dinner with Mom and Dad. A last little dinner just for us. 

Thursday, thankfully, I am off work! But I won't be bored at home. No, no. Car wash, oil change, meet with minister, finishing packing, finish up details at Hill Country. 

AND THEEEEEEN, girls' night! We started a tradition. (Well it's only happened once, but it will be a tradition. How many times does something have to happen for it to be a tradition???) The accountability group of girls from high school got together the Thursday night before Lindsay's wedding last year. So, we're going to do that again this year! And it is a surprise to me! I can't wait!! I didn't have to plan a single thing. All Lauren told me was "Pick you up at 6:30 and bring your swim suite." So that only makes me a wee bit nervous, but I can't wait!! 

Friday is busy busy too! Bridal tea at 11 and nails after that. Then the rehearsal that night! Can't wait for the fiesta at Hill Country! 

And Saturday is the big day! 

Dear Mr.

Dear Mr. Pimple,
If you plan on making an appearance on my face anytime in the next two weeks, I truly wish you would come sooner rather than later. If you make your appearance now, I can go ahead a ZAP you. If you do come and I shoo you away, you are not welcome to return!

Thanks!

xoxo,
Jennifer

What I did this weekend...

NOTHING! I did nothing this weekend. And it.was.awesome. 

I mean not completely nothing, I did shower and actually put on make up and went to church. But I did everything on my own schedule- not rushing to the next meeting/appointment/store. 

Saturday was spent at the pool with mom. Reading. Leisurely reading. Fabulous. And I ate the chicken salad with fruit yum! Saturday night i got to play with my brother's dog. (by the way, I need a dog.) 

Sunday was church, followed by Counter Culture. And theeeeeennn, nothing. I sat on my couch and indulged in trashy tv. I did pick up empty boxes, grilled turkey burgers and made a salad. But when you realize I have been at home for 8 hours and that's all I accomplished...i'd say that adds up to nothing. 

Anywho, it was great. And maybe I will go to bed and be completely rested for the week....yeah right. 

How awesome, I am not

What a stinkin crazy day!!! Work was ridiculous. Nothing went horribly wrong (for me), but after work was a whole other ballgame.

First I get in a fender bender. Not going into all the details of all that, but it was minor. No one was hurt. No one went crazy. It was fine. But I did get a flat tire. And it was a monster to change. Dad came to help and even the fender bender guy helped before dad got there! He was super nice to help. IT.WAS.SO.HOT. I got a little queasy at times.

So after two hours we got the spare tire on. Well the low tire signal was on, so we decided to stop by Walmart to get some air in the tires. In the process of that....I lock my keys in the car. No, I'm not kidding. No, it was not a joke. I really did lock my keys in the car. Lawd. So Dad drove me to the house, got the extra key. Drove back to Walmart. And I get in my car. Oh, and the air machine was broken anyway. So I drove out to my parents and Dad put in air in the tires out there.

Lawd.Have.Mercy.

What a day.

I know you are probably laughing now. But I assure you, it was not funny at the time.

How awesome WE are...

Chris and I were awesome- yesterday.

During the day, Chris went and purchased all his groomsmen's gifts. And I went and finalized the music with the string quartet.

Then, after work I came straight home and we got right to work.

• We went to Lowe's to get supplies for a little project for the wedding. 
• We went to Hobby Lobby for ribbon and supplies.
• We went to Ross's.
• We went to Bistro Byronz to refuel.
• We went to Best Buy for a computer bag.
• We went to Target for groceries.
• We went to my parents to drop of things and pick things up. 

We made it home about 9 o'clock. Then put groceries away. Then I wrapped all the presents. Then I think I fell asleep. Whew! WE ROCK!

Wordless Wenesday

When LSUS Has extra money laying around, I'll put the logo on all the soap dispensers. 

Firecracker 5K!

Dad and I did another 5K this morning!! We are becoming pros, uh sorta. Thanks to Calvin for snagging a picture for us! (Uh, don't judge this. It was 8 in the morning and we just ran.)

Getting an accurate time at these things is quite a struggle, especially at this race because there were approx. 3,500 people there. And why, oh why, do people who are CLEARLY going to walk the entire things insist on beginning the race at the front?! 1. You are going to get RUN OVER! 2. You are going to make some one break an ankle because they are running full stream ahead and you are WALKING in the middle of the road! Ok, now that I got that off my chest....

The official race clock said 33:02. BUT I didn't actually get to the starting line when that clock started. Dad's watch said 31:47. But he started it a  bit after we started, and I finished about 7 seconds before him. So what was my time? I have no idea. But I'd say about 32 minutes works for me. Which is faster than that stupid Flashback race in the boiling heat. I'll have to check the official time on the website later.

Until next time runners....HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!

Fourth of July

Happy Birthday America!!

Land of the Free and Home of the Brave!

God Bless America!

...Just some of my favorite American sayings. Hope everyone has a safe and happy fourth of July!

26 days!!!