Talk about MIA!

Wowzers.. it's been practically a month since I last posted! Can we say "Lost in Translation"? Or how about "Lost in WEDDING PLANS?!" yes boys and girls, this bride-to-be has been running around like a chicken with my head cut off! I'm so proud of the hard work I've been putting in for this wedding. It's going to be so wonderful! I can see it all unfolding the more that things come together.

First off, here are parts of my center pieces:

sorry in advance for the head tilting! :) these are mason jars with raffia tied around them that will be used as vases!

there will be a mason jar filled with corks like this one on either side of the flowers for the center pieces as well.

pretty fuchsia colored napkins with the utensils inside them with raffia tied around it will be at each place setting.

these cute little things are the favors that will also be at each place setting!

just an example of the table name displays :) I'm naming each table after a wine grape.

Ok ok.. I know that those pictures won't rotate, but I guess that's all part of the fun in not giving too too much away! Now, back to work for me!

Things To Look Forward To

65 more days until I say I do

First fitting for my dress is on July 30th... just one month from today!

this is me... looking at myself in my dress :-) and of course, I cropped this pic!

 Just a little over a month now until my Bridal Shower

my best friend ordered these for my shower invites :) I've blocked out her personal info for her privacy of course!

 My last blast... aka Bachelorette Party!! is now just 9 weeks away!!

We're getting a PARTY BUS and heading to San Francisco! Bow Chicka Wow Wow!

 Oh my... since my Bachelorette is 9 weeks away- that means that my WEDDING is now 10 weeks away!

can't wait to marry the LOVE of my life

That's all for now.......... :-)

What's on my mind?

I was just doing my morning Facebook browsing and I got to thinking..... For once, all of my friends are happy and it's been showing in their posts and pictures. What an amazing thing to witness! I don't know about you, but it becomes pretty annoying to read about people's drama or negative posts in my newsfeed.. I tend to remove those things pronto!

One of my best friends just got married (as you may have read in my previous posts) and I can't help but feel warm and fuzzy for her every time I see another person post on her wall calling her "Mrs. Vipond" Ahhhhh!!! How exciting! I can't wait to feel what she felt on her wedding day! I can't WAIT to call John my hubby.. and I can't wait to experience the newlywed bliss that she is currently in.

Another one of my dear friends is 8 months pregnant.. I just love seeing her new maternity pictures and what she has to say about her journey during her pregnancy. I couldn't be happier for her and her hubby.. what makes their story even more precious is that her due date is on their wedding anniversary! Could that be any more perfect?!

John and I have a lot of great friends in our lives that we are thankful for each and every day! Although we all lead different lives, we always find a way to come together and remain close.. no matter how far or few between our hang outs can be.. Whenever we get together with any of them, it's as though no time has passed. That is such a great feeling.

Most of our friends are married, in a relationship, pregnant or already have babies. We are now the only ones who aren't expecting a little one.... for awhile I felt sort of like the odd girl out with group get-togethers since I didn't have a little baby or a baby bump to talk about. Yes, I may be an "odd" one currently, but seriously.. I enjoy being around all of the mamas and mama-to-bes that are in our group of friends. I can feel their joy and their love and it's a good vibe to be surrounded with. John and I are in a bliss of our own since we're engaged and our wedding is creeping closer and closer. Having a baby is not a top priority for us at the moment, but it will come when it's ready and meant to. We love kids and we love being around our friends who have kids... that is good enough for us as of now. My sister-in-law had a baby at the end of March this year.. His name is Cal and we love our little nephew... I honestly don't think that the timing could have been more perfect for Erika having that sweet baby boy. It has really released a lot of pressure off of me... I get to enjoy our nephew and the joys of being an auntie (again.... I have another nephew who is 13 and a niece who is 9).

One thing that I try not to let annoy me too much is when people constantly ask me when John and I are going to have a baby... I get that everyone is so excited that we are getting married and it would only be natural to jump ahead towards the future and get excited for what is to come.... There are just a lot of things that are unknown for us at the moment. The one thing we are the most excited about is making our relationship official and getting married! Soon after our wedding we will be finding out news on whether or not we will be moving to Arizona for John's work. His family owns a construction company and they are currently working on building contracts for big jobs over in Arizona. If everything goes according to plan, we could be finding ourselves in Arizona by next year. So, naturally, we want to wait before we try getting pregnant. I don't want to move with a baby or even while I'm pregnant.. moving causes enough stress by itself, I wouldn't want to add to that stress if I could avoid it. I know that you can't predict your future to a "T" and I am more than willing to accept whatever the future brings on to our plates. I know that everything happens for a reason and I'll be ready for it whenever it happens.. but for now, I'll just enjoy being engaged and planning for our big day... as that is the closest BIG event in our future.

Wedding Planning Madness

I've totally been MIA for the past couple of days because wedding planning has CONSUMED my life! Not that I'm complaining... in any way, shape, or form! I actually enjoy it very much! See.. I'm a detail oriented type of girl... I pay specific attention to certain details and think that it all ends up making for a spectacular event.... or wedding :-) I'd love to share some pictures of what I'm doing.. but I don't want to give too much away! So, here's a couple of things that I've been working on.........

Wedding Party Corks

 

 

Ok, so let me explain these corks... My theme is basically vintage winery with sunflowers.. So, I made my own placecard holders out of wine corks. I decided to use champagne corks for the wedding party so that they are more special and different of course! You can't see from the picture, but all I really had to do was cut a slit through the top of the corks so that I could fit the name tag on top of the corks. It really looks great with the cards places in the holders and having them all lined up.. I didn't take a picture with all of the cards in the corks, but I'm sure you can imagine what it would look like.


That's all that I'm going to share for now... like I said, I don't want to give too much away! You'll have to wait for pictures from my wedding to see how everything turns out.... But you never know, I might feel generous and let you see more soon.

Another Good Weekend for the books

This weekend was a success.... I got to workout, relax, enjoy the sun, my man and hung out with my dad on Father's Day! I don't know about you.. but I seriously love relaxing weekends with no real "set" plans. There's no greater feeling in the world to know that you don't have to frantically get ready to go somewhere.

Saturday morning, I made it to the gym just as a I promised! Ran myself a good 2 miles followed by the stationary bike for 20 hard minutes and finished off on the elliptical for another 20 minutes. I always like to throw in a good ab workout after my cardio sweat sessions too.. In my opinion, you can never do too many crunches!

BOOM! Talk about motivation!!

Saturday night was nice and relaxing... My hubby-to-be took me out to my favorite sushi place for dinner and then we rented Just Go With It with Adam Sandler.... I highly recommend it! It was a good laugh and a really precious ending :-) I love those kinds of movies!!

Sunday morning I did my favorite: Rode my bike to the gym!! Ran myself a good 5 miles and then finished off with another good ab workout (of course) hehe! And then.......... I did another one of my favorites:

Definitely tanned in my strapless bikini! I can't wait to get my tan heiney in my wedding dress! Coming on two more months! Wow..... so crazy! I can't believe how fast the time flies by!


After a couple good hours of getting my vitamin d, I went over and spent the day with my Dad on Father's Day BBQing and chilling outside in the nice summer weather. Can I just say something? I love my dad.... So much! He's such an amazing man. He does so much to provide a good life for the family and is such an amazing man to my mom. They are seriously my role models when it comes to marriage. I'm going to strive for that everyday when John and I become man and wife. I know that we will be happy and in love forever... and I seriously can't wait for the adventures ahead! Here's a special little picture to share of me and my Dad when I was a baby :-)

So, I'd definitely say that this weekend was a success! I'm looking forward to some more relaxing summer weekends ahead! This is definitely my favorite time of year... Oh and did I mention that I've lost the weight that I thought that I gained back from Shaun and Lisa's wedding?? Definitely helped to boost my motivation and morale in general! Woohoo!! Screw Manic Mondays! Today is a great day!!! Hope y'all enjoy this hot summer weather that we are having! FINALLY!!!

Almost the Freakin' Weekend!!

Awwwww yeah, the weekend is getting ready to start and I'm so ready! This week flew by! I still feel quite the bliss from Lisa's Wedding. She looked absolutely gorgeous.. the love was just pouring out of her heart and you could just see it. It was amazing.

Here she is dancin' to "Goin' to the Chapel" with her Daddy 

I can't help but feel so incredibly happy for her and her new hubby Shaun. They are two amazing people who deserve the greatest things in life. They are going to have a wonderful marriage filled with love, light and the utmost happiness. I have no doubts!

Speaking of Lisa's wedding... Did I mention that I met my long lost twin?! OMG you know how they say "everyone has a twin somewhere out in the world"... Well I'll be gosh darned- because I FOUND mine!

Here she be! My Twin: Karli

Shakin' our booties down the isle!

So, as you can see the Vipond Wedding was a total success on sooooo many levels. The love was more than apparent and hey- I even found my twin :-)

So... how the heck am I gonna top last weekend with this coming weekend? Well, I'm not going to worry about topping anything.. I'm still gonna float on this blissful love cloud and make the best out of the days ahead. I plan on sweating to the beat of some TOUGH cardio sessions Saturday morning followed by my favorite form of relaxation:

TANNING!! Poolside in my backyard... there's nothin' sweeter.. or cheaper! hehehe

So, y'all enjoy your weekend.... and incase I don't post between now and then.... See you Monday.

Until then... this is Miss Carter..... signing off.

Mid to End of the Week Motivational Rant....

Ok... So most of my friends and family know that I've been extra hard on myself during this entire engagement. This is because I want to make sure that I look my very best on the big day.... I've been kicking some serious ass at the gym and doing so great with my diet, but lately (especially after celebrating this weekend at one of my bestie's weddings) I've been totally slacking. I'm so crazy with this stuff and I take it very seriously! I lost a substantial amount of weight in a short amount of time and now I'm totally tripping and thinking that I've gained it all back. That's probably not even humanly possible, but in my small little brain, it most certainly is possible! So, it's time to get back on track. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and hear those wedding bells ringing already! So.... Here's a little somethin' somethin' to help me get my butt back into gear. Enjoy!

My upcoming beauty regimen:

#1. FIRST AND FOREMOST: I have GOT to get my butt out of bed in the mornings again and get a legit cardio sweat sesh in before work. There is literally no better feeling than starting your morning out like that. So, I need to get legit and wake my butt up at 5am like I used to.

#2. I need to start using a face masque at least 3 times a week again.. for all you ladies out there who are wondering about what kind of face masque you should be using, I use Mint Julep Face Masque.. and let me tell you, it works wonders!! I know for me, when I'm stressed.... or about to have the dreaded Aunt Flo pay me a visit my face really starts to break out... and boy isn't that hot! This masque helps me every time.

#3. I need to start up a whitening kit for my teeth between now and the big day. I'm all about teeth, actually I'm boarder line OCD when it comes to my teeth. I whiten at least once every 6 months, floss and brush twice a day and even use two different mouth washes.... Insane, I know, but hey! I love my teeth and I want them to stay in my mouth for as long as they possibly can! hehehehe my whitening kit of choice is the Crest 14 day whitening advance strips:

 #4. I need to be better about keeping my face and body moisturized. It seems as though I overlook this aspect during the summer especially.

#5. I'm going to try and avoid using heat products on my hair during the week. Such as: curling irons, straighteners, hair dryers, etc. I'm hoping this will keep my hair healthier for longer this summer. Seeing as though my wedding is at the end of the summer, I wanna make sure my locks are luscious... not fried.

#6. Since I absolutely love spending my time outdoors... especially around the lake or my backyard by the pool, I'm going to make sure that I tan in my strapless bikinis. I definitely don't want any tan lines when I have that white dress on in September.

#7. Bike Ride everyday. This is something that I LOVE doing so much. Luckily, my work is totally easygoing and they are all for me chosing to ride my bike. So, I've decided to ride my bike to and from work everyday between now and the big day.... I also plan to ride it to and from the gym in the mornings and afternoons. I ought to be getting to where I want to be in no time at that rate!

#8. Stick to my Lose it! App (for those of you who have iPhones you know what I'm referring to) diet plan. I set up an entire plan on that app that will help me to reach the goal that I want to reach by the time my wedding is here.... hopefully I will be a good girl and stick to this strict plan for the next 79 days.

#9. Continue my workouts after work. There's nothing like ending a hard work day at the gym. I am gonna stick to what I've been doing for months now, only step it up a notch... I need to get to my Marisa Miller body somehow!!!

#10. Keep up on my daily vitamins and supplements. I always feel so good once I've been taking these religiously.... Like I said, I've been slackin' so I need to get back on track and GET LEGIT!

Hope you all enjoyed my rant.......

See you in the gym!!!