Special Blog...

My best friend has made a special posting for me today with pictures & everything. Check it out...

www.toddandcandice.blogspot.com

Thanks!!!

I am loaded!!!!

This morning at 10 am, Brandon's dad and my dad went with me to the storage unit place and watched as 3 professional mover-guys loaded all my stuff to be shipped to Washington! That was a long sentence! :-) Thank God that is over!!! It was a very positive experience! And the temperature was 49 degrees when we got up this morning. It was chilly in the shade. Great day for moving!

Then, my mom, Granny and Brandon's mom joined us at Chili's for lunch! It was so fun! This was the first day for my parents to meet the Rays. We had a really good time together. I really enjoyed it.

Next on the list... I'm headed to the nail shop in about 30 minutes for my mani/pedi. Can't wait!

By this time tomorrow, I will have my BF Candice and Brandon in the car with me!!!! Yay!!!!

3 more days!!!

Actually, it's less than that... I think it's only 63 hours if my math is correct... it's 9 pm right now.

We drove my Granny to Texas yesterday. We had an easy trip to Arkansas & back. Praise God!

My U-boxes arrived at the storage unit today. We are having movers load the boxes in the morning at 10 am.

Brandon's mom and dad arrived tonight! It was so good to see them! We had dinner together at the best Mexican food restaurant in Huntsville. Yum! :)

Tomorrow will be a busy day... loading the U-boxes at 10... lunch with the Rays and Fraziers... I have a pedi/mani at 4 pm... then I have to finish packing for my honeymoon! YAY!

I pick Candice and Brandon up Friday afternoon. I can't wait!!!! :) The wedding day is almost here!!!

Another great day...

My wonderful friend and pastor's wife for the last 19 years came to Huntsville yesterday and spent the night with us last night. We had an awesome visit! Suzann & I had dinner last night and talked until 3:00 this morning. We got up and ran errands all day until 5 pm when she left to head back to Beaumont. We had a great day together and got alot of things accomplished! :)

Tomorrow morning at 6 am, Mom & I are leaving for Arkansas to go pick up my Granny for the wedding weekend. Please pray for us as we travel. We are driving 5.5 hours there and 5.5 hours straight back to Huntsville. It will be a long day, but we're soooo glad Granny gets to come down for the wedding! :)

Pray for us! I pick up my boy in 4 days! I can't believe it! :) I'm getting married!!!!

A few more pix...

What a great day!

My mom and I attended my shower in Conroe today. It was a gorgeous day! And we had such a fun time. :) Thanks to my sweet friends for all their hard work! It was soooo good to see everybody. I am so blessed.

Here are some pix from the day...

Almost 1 week...

Next Friday I am picking up my best friend at the airport at 1:20 pm and my honey at 2:30 pm. Then we will drive to central Texas for the non-rehearsal dinner. :) Ha,ha... this is what I call it, since we aren't having a rehearsal... just a dinner. I can't believe it's only a week away! I'm so excited! It all still seems like a dream. :)

I'm still working on various projects every day. My mom & I worked at the storage units (where all my stuff is) yesterday for 7 hours. That's terrific because I thought it would take 3 days to prep my stuff for the move to Washington. Thank God we got it all done in 7 hours!!! My stuff is being loaded by movers next Thursday. Brandon's parents are shipping my stuff so we don't have to drive a Uhaul to Washington on our honeymoon! Thank heaven for awesome in-laws! :)

I've decided to re-do my wedding bouquet. I think it's not big enough. I deliberately made it smaller than most ones I've seen because sometimes I think they are a little too large. But, I think mine is too small. So, back to Conroe to Hobby Lobby. :) They must know me by name there now.

I'm so glad my Granny is going to be able to come to the wedding! She's been having some health issues and needs your prayers. We thought she might not be able to come, but it looks like we will go get her on Tuesday. Yay for Granny! :)

I hope you guys can make it to the Conroe shower this Saturday. Drop me a note if you need info.

Love ya! See you soon!

Progress...

Every day I have to accomplish certain tasks. Yesterday, I went to the courthouse in Huntsville and got our marriage license. This was a little bit of stress because it takes 72 hours to get one and Brandon will only land about 22 hours before the wedding. So, we had to apply with Brandon as an "absent applicant". No big deal, just a little more red tape than normal. I got it! So... now it's looking more official. ;)

Today, my mom and I finished the party favors for the wedding. That's been a little bit of a challenge. But, we're finished! :)

I have finished my thank you cards for the Beaumont shower. I'm really looking forward to the Conroe shower this Saturday at 3 pm. Send me a note if you need details. It's going to be fun!

Love you guys... 11 days until I become Mrs. Ray! :)

Can't believe it!

Two weeks from now I will be sitting down at the restaurant in the top of the Tower of Americas in San Antonio with my husband! :) We have reservations at 6 pm. We will get to watch the sun set over the city. Romantic!

I am a very happy girl!!! :) I love BR!

Busy week!

Wow, this past week went by so fast! I'm glad! Only 14 days until my wedding! :)

My mom & I ran some really important errands this week. We took my dress to get it steamed at a nice bridal salon. We picked it up today and it looks amazing! I can't believe the difference it made.

Also, we picked up all the flowers & ribbon I needed to make the corsages, boutonnieres, and my bridal bouquet yesterday. I made them all last night! I'm really pleased with how well they turned out. Major accomplishment! :)

There are so many things to do before the wedding. We have been working hard every day. It has been a good week. :)

As I type this, I'm listening to Brandon snore on the other end of the telephone. We watched a movie together on the internet and he fell asleep before it was over. I actually like listening to my honey snore. Ahhh... true love! I love BR! :)

I saw Las Brisas today!!!

I LOVE IT! It's even better than the website depicted... I totally love it. I can't wait until my wedding day! :)

Last of the Beaumont Shower pics...

My friend Jeanne took these pictures. She is in the striped blouse at the top.

The ladies made me tell our love story. That's the picture of me talking, looking funny. :)

Pastor Suzann wanted to pray for me as they blessed the food. I love my friends!

For some reason, I can only ever load 5 pictures at a time. Hope you are enjoying them!

More Beaumont Shower pics...

Shower pics!

Here are some pictures from my Beaumont shower. It was a great day! :)

Shower #1

I flew back to Texas Friday. I had a good trip and my wedding dress is fine (I had some apprehension about traveling with it... I've heard some horror stories). But, all is well. I just miss my boy. :( But I get to see him in 19 days. Who's counting? ;)

I had my first wedding shower yesterday. It was fun! I really enjoyed seeing everyone. And Brandon & I were really blessed with all the gifts. Thank you!!! :)

I have some pictures, but they aren't loaded yet. Also, a friend from my church in Beaumont took some nice pictures with a Canon camera. She's going to email those to me. So, I will post all the pics when they are loaded.

My friends in Conroe are hosting a shower for me on March 26th. I would love to see you there. Send me a note if you need information.

20 days until my wedding! Woo-hoo!!! :)

I have wedding hair!

I got my hair highlighted and styled for the 1st time since the end of October. Hallelujah! I hope I never go that long again.

Anyway, my new stylist here wanted to give me some ideas for my wedding hairdo. I really like this!

23 days...

...until I become a wife! Brandon was saying something to me last night about being his wife. It was cute! :)

He also gave me my wedding gift last night. He got me a charm from James Avery. I love James!!!

I am leaving my honey tomorrow (on a jet plane... we sing this song frequently). I'm sad to leave him because it will be 21 days before I see him again and 22 days until our wedding. I know time will go fast, but nevertheless, I'm sad to leave him. :(

Say a prayer for my heart and my honey. He's going through a hard time right now with his job and he is loaded with his masters degree classes. Thank you!

Funny stuff...

I can't remember if I've ever blogged this and I didn't want to take the time to go back through and check. Brandon and I have a little thing we do that makes me laugh my head off every time we do it. For whatever reason, sometimes in parking lots, we will take off running for the front door of whatever establishment we are going to. It has to be hilarious to watch... 2 grown folks laughing and running full blast in a parking lot.

Brandon walks faster than most people run. And he gets out of the car lightning fast and is already at the door before I even have 1 leg out of the car. So, sometimes, we race each other. We did this a couple of weeks ago on the morning we donated blood. He won, naturally. As we were walking in the front door of the American Red Cross Center laughing at ourselves, Brandon looked at me and said, "Wow, they should have had a hidden camera on us making a commercial about how excited people are to come down to the ARC to donate blood!" :) So silly...

Another time recently, we took off running for the front door of our local grocery store. I never know when it's going to happen, but it's funny. Pray we don't get run over! Ha,ha... ;)

More pics from Triple Falls...

The Columbia River Gorge is so beautiful. We like to say the Gorge is GORGEous... :) ha,ha... If you look very closely at the picture of the mountains and the vast Columbia River, you can see Beacon Rock, where we hiked on President's Day.

Beautiful Sunday...

Brandon and I went to our new church today and then to lunch. After lunch, we decided to go hiking. It was a beautiful day today... 47 degrees and sunny. We went to a beautiful trail in Oregon, near Multonomah Falls. The trail was called Triple Falls Trail. It also merged with Horsetail Falls Trail. It was gorgeous!

We stopped at an outlet mall on the way there and did some shopping. I love being with my man!!! :) We have so much fun together.

I got some new pics of Brandon and me. I look awful, but he looks so cute! I'm getting my hair done this Wednesday for the first time since the end of October... yeah... INSANE!!!

Have a good week! I'm flying to Texas on Friday. My Beaumont shower is this Saturday! Hope to see you there!

One month from today...

:) I will be married to the love of my life and will be driving on my honeymoon! YAY!!!

Cute picture of my parents!

My mom just sent me this. I thought it was cute! :)

Snow day... Woo-hoo! :)

Actually, I was looking forward to working at one of the elementary schools for the first time today. But instead, I'm drinking coffee and watching Price is Right (2 of my favorite things... ha,ha... seriously).

The 1st pic is the view from Brandon's parents' garage. :) Snow!!!

Brandon is going to pick me up in an hour and we are going to lunch and running some important errands. We are taking passport photos. He thinks we might go to Europe in the summer. Yay! I've never been outside the U.S. except for my 3 trips to Mexico.

So, it started snowing huge chunks yesterday right around 2 pm. Brandon and I drove behind the snow plow truck in his parents' neighborhood last night. That was really interesting... I've never seen a snow plow in person. I was thankful that we just happened to drive up behind it.

I took this picture at Walmart yesterday. I've been passing this display of flip-flops since at least the beginning of February, which really surprised me. I know they put flip-flops out in Texas because it reaches 80 degrees in February. But Walmart puts them out in February in Washington, too?

Yesterday, in the heavy snow downpour, this display was just a little funnier to me. :) Everybody hurry and stock up on your flip-flops!