014: It's the end of June...

... and it's also the end of one of the LONGEST months of my LIFE. I cannot wait for July 8th. That's the first time since May 11th that I'll see Cage. I can't believe I've made it this far. Being without him is horrible, but knowing that he's serving his country, that he is working for our future... it makes me content to be away from him. I've never been happy to be away, but I am able to describe myself as content. I'm sending a card to Cage today with a few random pictures, not sure what OF yet, but it's a fun anniversary card and, yeah, it's not a year or anything... but at this point I am celebrating even the small fact we've been married 67 days. We've been apart for 51 of those days. Oh, the numbers make me sad, so I'm moving on! haha.



The youth camp my Uncle put on this month was AMAZING. Not only was it fun to be with my family for two weeks, but the camp itself was a blast. The daily outline: 7a - 7:50a Breakfast. 8a - 8:45a Quiet Time. 8:50 - 9:15 Worship. 9:20a - 10a Games/Trivia. 10:15a - 11:15a Big Session. 11:15a - 12:15p Lunch. 1p - 4p Activity. 5:30p - 6:30p Dinner. 7p - ? Service. 11p In room Devotions. 12a Lights Out. Usually, we didn't get back to the hotel until after 11:30p and there was more than one night where we didn't get to sleep until after 1:30a. Even though I was incredibly tired, it was very rewarding.

Well, I have pictures to gather and send to Cage. I see him in one week and two days. Oh, I can barely wait!

013: Lucky Number?

Hoping that 13 is my lucky number since I'm driving 10 hours tomorrow to Owasso, Oklahoma to my Uncle's house for two weeks! Well, the second week is their church's youth camp, but still. Oklahoma. Two weeks. This is going to be such an awesome break up in the time that I'm waiting to see Cage again. I am really glad my Mom suggested it. I have received 5 letters and 1 phone call from Cage. I cannot wait for Sunday, because I have the chance again to talk to him. I know this sounds selfish, but I hope he calls ME! He has the option to call anyone, really. I can't lie, I'm living for the chance to hear his voice. So much of our relationship has been developed over the phone (since we spent two years at different universities) that it's the most natural thing in the world for us to talk or text. I don't look down on this form of communication.

Other plans... Hoping that my new sisters will be able to come to Cage's graduation with me in July. I'll be there Wednesday afternoon through Sunday evening, and I'd rather not spend the night times by myself. If we were to split a car and hotel... I think it would be crazy fun. What else can I ramble about... well, actually. I'm going to leave this post as is. Instead, I'm going to work on letter 21 for Cage that I will put in the mail in the AM before we leave for OK.

Goodnight all. Give your loved one a big hug, you never know when the next time may be.

sgym

012: Excitement!

Let me share some exciting things coming up:

Getting my first letter back from Cage!

Cage's graduation on July 9th! Looks like I'll get to see him on the 8th! AHHH!

My wedding pictures are coming in June!

MOVIES: Toy Story 3, Shrek 4ever, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Eclipse

Two weeks in Oklahoma with my uncle's family!

Fourth of July weekend with my Dad's side of the family!

Short post... but I just wanted to post a few updates.

Also, I have a mind to make my sister do a photoshoot. With her as the photographer. She's 14 and she's crazy good. You can see some of her stuff (and some of mine) at our photography website.

That's all.

sgym

011: Finding It Difficult.

For those of you who don't know, Cage is in San Antonio for training. He'll be there through his graduation on July 9th. He left this past Tuesday and I have to admit, I've been a robot. I would say I've been a mess, that I've been crying all the time every day, and that I mope around the house all day. Except, that wouldn't be true. I've been hanging out with Cage's family, tonight I'm having dinner with a friend and I've got a Starbucks date set up with another friend. I call myself a robot, simply because I'm trying incredibly hard to keep a brave face in all of this. This is probably the only time I will admit (to anyone outside of Cage and family) that I'm legitimately feeling pain in my chest from missing Cage. Just keep us in your prayers. We need strength and patience... and for time to pass by really REALLY quickly!

And what's a post by me if it doesn't have pictures? HA. No kind of post at all!

This is one photo from my bridal portrait session with Andy Morris of andycam productions.

It's rather random, but I love it. :) And, here are a few from our Honeymoon in Disney World.

010: We Are Nashville.

009: It's April!

First things first...

HAPPY APRIL! Cage and I are getting married THIS MONTH! AHHHH! I can remember looking at the TheKnot.com countdown and thinking "I've got over 400 days to go!? Am I EVER getting married!? GAH!!!" ... Yes! Yes! I can barely believe it.

Well, what would a blog post be if I didn't do some kind of picture post? Not much of one, that's for sure! These aren't the best quality, but they're from my blackberry which I have with me at all times. So, they're good enough.

I witnessed two rainbows this past month! I have a picture from the double rainbow that happened last Friday. (taken with my blackberry through a car window)

Below is a small snapshot of our wedding "loot" so far. And this is all from wedding showers! We have been truly blessed by all of you! Thank you again!

And this... well... Cage and his Dad were doing push-ups. And it was funny.

And below is a picture I didn't take. I got it from facebook, but I wanted people to see the Youth Center on the Bethel Community Church property. We'll be having the wedding behind this building in the backyard of Seward Hall. But, hey, in case of severe weather we'll have a solid building around us! Though I'm praying for sunny with a high of 75.

I'm sure there are other things I could update on... but I'm tired and I just wanted to exclaim excitedly about it being April and ... I did! Ha. Thanks for reading. Get those RSVPs in if you haven't!!! Thank you!

sgy

008: Goodwill Green Glass

On Wednesday, I had another "holy cow the wedding is fill-in-the-blank" day. The particular phrase this time was "Holy Cow! The Wedding is one month away!!!" I tried not to freak out in a visible fashion, but I'll admit here to you that I was half girly giggles and half panic. Ok,mostly girly giggles with some panic mixed in. It was a fun day though! Mom, Jodi, and I met with Oksana out at the Franklin property. We also met with a lighting guy to tell him our ideas and to hopefully get an estimate (which we're still waiting on, hmm). The day was balmy with a breeze. Jodi kept saying over and over that this was what the weather needed to be one month from today. I couldn't agree more!
After the meeting, Momma and I popped over to Wolfgang Puck Express to make ourselves a plan of attack for the rest of our few precious free hours. Our list consisted of:

• visit David's Bridal to inquire about the bridesmaids dresses that were overdue
• and to look at their selection of veils
• check out Hobby Lobby and Goodwill for some more glass pieces for our candy buffet
• search some Franklin antique stores for a unique table piece for the ceremony

Our afternoon ended up turning out great! The remaining bridesmaid dresses had been at the store since February 25th! There had been a mix up in the e-mail system and we were never contacted for some reason (very odd, btw). So, dresses... DONE. And to the veils, I wasn't so sure if I'd actually find something. My original idea was for a birdcage veil sans feathers. Unfortunately, I couldn't seem to win anyone over to the idea of my Jane Austen dress with a birdcage veil. Eh, that's life. Mom and I picked through the selection and stumbled upon an elbow length veil with very delicate pearls and teensy rhinestones. I'm normally against any gaudy jewels or anything that takes me over the edge into princess cupcake bride... but the decoration on this one was minimal and tasteful. Besides, it will look fab-u-lous with the pearl trim Angela Muir has added to my already wonderful dress. This veil, I've realized, is like a slightly longer version of the birdcage look I wanted originally. I think it paired with my grecian hairstyle will really be fantastic.

Next, Goodwill. I have to give my MOH Casey credit for this idea. She mentioned to me (after I giddily texted her about her dress being here) that Goodwill had good glass pieces sometimes. Eh, what can it hurt, right? Mom and I lucked out on this one! I stood there, staring at 12 feet of shelves with nothing but vase after vase... Thinking to myself that I need to keep two feet between myself and the shelves for fear of breaking every last item! I began to notice the green glass pieces. There were 6 different large vases. I also began to have visions of my blue hydrageas, purple tulips, white baby's breath, and green carnations in these vases. I knew I wanted something different for the buffet / food table decorations... but green glass vases? Hey. It's my wedding, right? So. I picked out six different green glass vases and then the bud vases caught my eye. Well, hellooooo there my pretty little friends. I asked Momma what we could use them for, and she recommended the bistro tables. Small, simple, pretty, done. We walked out of there with six green glass vases and nine green glass bud vases for under $20. Oh, and we found a large crackle glass clear vase for our candy bar. That fits into that $20 price tag. We perused Hobby Lobby for any candy bar pieces, but we decided we wanted to check out our candy order again before committing anymore money. Here is a picture of the green glass as I collected it in the Goodwill in Franklin on Highway 96:

Now. I love Franklin, Tennessee. I really do. I love the agricultural and historical feeling I get when I am in downtown. Like, if I wanted to wear a sundress and sandals everyday, I could. If I wanted to wear jeans and flannel camp shirt, that would be just fine too. Wednesday was just a great day to be in Franklin. Mom and I visited one of our favorite places ever, The Franklin Antique Mall and even found a few items we could be interested in purchasing. In the ceremony, we need something for our unity candles and other ceremony items to sit on. Mom suggested one of our card tables with a table cloth over it. I hate to say it, but I made a face. A not nice face. What am I, five years old? Then I used my words, like the adult I supposedly am now, and expressed that I would prefer a white console kind of table, beat up, vintage, antique, reproduction, primitive... Whatever. Long, thin, and preferably whitewashed. Personally, I think that would be awesome. Now, to fulfill that vision. I'm doing my best to compromise, with what is actually out there, but I don't want to spend $100+ on something unless I'm going to use it in my future house. I'd rather spend much, much less on it.

Tomorrow morning (if the weather permits) Momma, Dad, and I are venturing to the TN State Fairgrounds and the Flea Market to look for the "perfect" table for the ceremony. I'm also going to keep my eyes peeled for anything embroidered with an M, glass pieces for the candy bar, and vintage Little House on the Prairie books. To you, dear reader,

God's blessings on you and yours.

sgy