Caroline Reese

This past weekend Brittany, Stephanie and I went to Fayetteville so we could meet Caroline Reese Fite for the first time. Caroline is my bestie Heather's brand new baby and she is such a beauty!

We drove up early Saturday morning and spent all day at Heather's. I wish we had taken more pictures but here are the few that I have. We spent most of the day just sitting around Heather's house talking, it was fantastic!

Isn't she beautiful! Her skin is soo pretty!

Perfection

This is Adam's parents "Baba" and "Joodge"."
They spent most of the day fighting over who got to hold her. It was adorable. 

Saturday night, we stayed in a Motel (emphasis on the M). It was super gross. The first thing that came out of my mouth when we saw it was "at least lice washes out." I also kept saying that Candy Cane called to say he was on his way. The things you will do to save $30!!

Before we hit the road Sunday, we made breakfast at Heather and Adam's. We had chocolate gravy and biscuits. I doubled the recipe for the gravy and we had just a tiny bit left. I stole this pic from Stephanie, she had been craving chocolate gravy and I love making (and eating) it so we cooked while Heather and Adam got to visit with Heather's cousin that came by for a couple hours to meet sweet Caroline. 

Friday night, Me and C went to the Bryant football game because it was Senior night (I went for Senior night, C went to watch some sophomore that is already being recruited by Arkansas). Since Carly is a trainer, she got to walk down the field with her mom and dad escorting her. I didn't realize until we were there that my camera battery was completely dead so the pics are super blurry. I have been trying really hard to document all of Carly's senior events. I can't believe our little baby Carly is going to college next fall!

The whole Y family!

The dress

I'm so excited to say that I have found the dress I will get married in! The process however was not quite like what you see on "Say Yes to the Dress."

Earlier this month, we made the back roads drive to Brinkley to shop at Low's Bridal. I have heard quite a few horror stories from girls who had awful experiences at Low's. I also witnessed one first hand when I went with Heather to shop their semi-annual sale and they refused to give her a dressing room. Y'all she had to try on dresses in the middle of the store, horrifying! I had no intentions of shopping at Low's at all for my wedding dress. Lucky for Low's, they were the only store in Arkansas that had the bridesmaid dress that I liked in stock. Since I had no choice, I took a couple bridesmaids there to try it on. We actually had a fantastic experience. Our consultant, Ann was so amazing! I decided that I would shop Low's as long as I had her helping me.

I'm not sure if I have shared this or not but my only cousin on my Dad's side of the family, Tonya, is getting married one month after me and C. It's been fun to be able to share all the glory and horror of wedding planning with her. I made us both an appointment at Low's and made sure that I requested Ann. I was a little nervous because she said they couldn't promise that Ann would be my consultant but she would try. Thankfully, Ann (sidenote: my middle name is also Ann) was available!

Tonya and I

I tend to overwhelm myself because before I make a decision, I want to know ALL my options. Sometimes, this is a good thing because it keeps me from making hasty decisions. When you are planning a wedding for 14 months and building a house without a builder, it can be a nightmare. Before I went to Low's I picked out 30 (yes, three zero) dresses that I wanted to try on. Since you are only supposed to be allowed an hour and a half, I tried to trim that down. I ended up with 17 dresses. I am pretty sure I tried on close to that many. Ann was so patient with me, we had been there for almost 3 hours and I still hadn't picked a dress! I was so thankful that they hadn't kicked me out.

I narrowed it down to 2 dresses. One of the dresses had been stolen by another consultant and her bride would NOT take it off. I was so close to going bridezilla! I was so exhausted and really overwhelmed at this point so I just picked the dress that I had on. It was a gorgeous dress and it was WAYYY under budget.

That night I woke up at 2am and was near a panic attack because I knew I had picked the wrong dress. I'm sure you know that you can't just exchange your wedding dress and I was terrified that I was going to have to get married in the dress that I had bought. Low's is closed on Sundays and Mondays so for 2 days I was in agony. I had literally been praying that I knew how silly it was but please don't make me get married in that dress. Monday was the worst. My first thought that day was that I've been engaged for almost 7 months and haven't had an emotional breakdown yet but I am pretty sure it's coming. Tuesday morning I stared at the clock every 10 seconds until they opened. At 10:00:00 and with my whole body shaking, I called and told Ann the situation. I'm pretty sure she knew because when I told her I picked the wrong dress, she said "you did, didn't you." She checked with the people in the office and called me back to tell me that they hadn't ordered the dress yet so I could switch! It was like she gave me a rainbow raining skittles I was so happy. I can't wait to wear my dress on the day I marry my bestie!

Here is the almost but not really dress. It's gorgeous but it's just not the dress.

Annnnnd here's some more pics of the girls.....

The brides and moms

Tonya, Our Aunt Debbie and I

The brides again

Elaine, Kortney (Tonya's MOH), Me, Rebecca (my MOH and sister) and my mom

Grandma

I have had this post written for almost a month. I always struggle with writing a post and then critiquing myself for a few days before I post it. This post is a little different because I do my best to keep this lighthearted and fun but I also want to be real. I have gone back and forth about whether I wanted to even publish this but I felt silly talking about the wedding or the house without acknowledging the life of someone who so influenced mine.

About 4 weeks ago, my grandma passed away very suddenly. She was the kind of grandma that all kids deserve but not all kids get. She loved her family so intensely.

There are so many ways that she showed her love. One of my favorites were her birthday dinners. Everyone in our family got a birthday dinner every year. I didn't realize that all families don't celebrate birthdays like they should until recently and it made me appreciate this even more. Grandpa and Grandma weren't rich but I thought they were millionaires because every  Christmas they showered the grandkids with a house full of gifts. I think they are partially responsible for gifts being one of my love languages (the other part would be my aunt Debbie). Not too long ago, Grandma reminded me that when I was a child, she was my favorite. I'm not sure if I remember or if I have just been told but I knew she was right.

I have very few childhood memories that don't have my grandma and grandpa in them. They were so present in my life, from softball games to church plays, they were always there. My favorite days were spent with them at the lake, in their pool or watching a John Wayne movie at their house.  I will always cherish the time I had with both of them.

After she passed away, someone said that momma's are the glue that holds the family together so we have to work to stay close. I'm not worried about my family staying close. It's rare for a family to love each other and genuinely enjoy each other's company like my family does. I don't believe this is a coincidence at all, my grandpa and grandma were truly Christian leaders of our entire family and God blessed them and all of us with the kind of love that I wish every family could have. There was an article in the paper the Sunday after she passed away about an Arkansan soldier's funeral, the father of the fallen soldier said to his wife something like "grief is the price we pay to love." These words are so true as long as you are on this earth. While we are grieving her life with us now, we know that one day we will see her again.

I don't say all this because I want you to feel sorry for me, I say it because my Grandma deserved to have these things said of her. I was blessed to have her in my life for 26 years but she was the kind of person that you could spend 100 years with and still want more.

I'm so thankful that Bryce and Carly came to eat Easter lunch with us this past year or we wouldn't have this picture of the whole family.