life update--including that i found THE DRESS!

so, i know. i haven't been writing very often. and that's because things have been crazy. between vacation and holidays and wedding planning and that other thing--oh yeah, work, i just haven't gotten around to it. or cleaning my house (which is a whole other story).

after we got back from florida, we went back to work for a couple of days, and then we headed off to visit andy's family for the thanksgiving holiday. we went out for a whole week, because andy really misses hunting. well, and he sure got to go hunting a lot. he shot a turkey on thanksgiving morning, and he got an 8-point buck. he got to spend a lot of time with his dad, which made him really happy. i spent my time doing wedding planning online, spending a lot of time on pinterest, and even getting some time in at the local Y out there (yay for the Y AWAY program!)

when we got back, we decorated the house, and then a few days later, my mom, my sister and i met up with some old family friends and resurrected our formerly annual holiday cookie baking extravaganza. we used to eat raw cookie dough bake cookies from noon until 9pm. and i mean sugar, spritzer, choc chip, gingerbread, snickerdoodles, fudge, and everything. dozens of dozens of cookies. we didn't make nearly that many this year, now that we're older (i think the last time we did this was maybe 10 years ago?). but it was fun.

in wedding news, i have done a lot of dress shopping (which resulted in a lot of crying--mostly from stressing out), but i'm so glad that on the first day i was able to go with my mom (who lives in TX), my sister (who lives in PA), and my best friend/twin (who lives in SC).  mostly the morning after i thought i liked a dress, i woke up at 3am, panicked because i found a bazillion things wrong with the dress. i did find the right color/fabric dresses for my bmaids on the first day, although i didn't find my dress. on the same day of my first dress shopping adventure, we met with an invitations person, and got to check out another band. it was a good day, so i'm glad i've been able to get a lot done. and we LOVED the band! (we being: andy and i, my sister and her hubby, my mom, and twin--so happy i could have almost everybody there, just missing my dad). I'm so glad we were able to get that figured out and we're all set with the band. And the invitations I think will come along nicely!

after my first dress attempt, i had to head out to more stores. i made three appointments the next weekend, and twin was able to come with me and spend the night. i really liked this organza with fern design dress at david's bridal and i thought it fit my personality perfectly, it was just a little too much dress and train than i was looking for. although i didn't get a dress, i'm so happy twin was able to spend the night, and spend time with andy and i. andy even made waffles and mini omelets the next morning!

organza and fern dress by vera wang
this was not the dress i chose,
but still beautiful!

on sunday i had two more appointments scheduled with my sister. i liked the first place (some things were a bit too expensive), but i found a dress that made me look AMAZING. i liked some details of another dress, and they said since each dress is made to order, they can make it how i want it to be. i didn't want to commit to anything since i was thinking about the fern dress, and i knew we had another appointment. we went to lunch first, and i realized that the fern dress was really not what i wanted and that the amazing dress was what i had been looking for all along. the 2nd store was a DISASTER. both places said "bridal couture"--which i scoffed at, and my sister told me it didn't mean couture like i thought it did. but for this place, it did. nothing looked good, most dresses actually made me look like a house.

i had been so overwhelmed with how awesome i looked in the dress at the first place, that i forgot to picture myself walking down the aisle. we called them and asked if we could come back before they closed. i knew when i put it on that it felt so right. i was hesitant because i hadn't slept on it and it was more than i anticipated spending on a dress. but i was going to be so comfortable in it, and i wouldn't have been in any other dress. and it was going to be made custom for me. so we placed the order! and the more i sleep on it and think about it, i'm so glad that's the dress i chose.

so, we got our save the date proof--it looks ADORABLE. i still have a little shopping to do, although most of my shopping was done and wrapped before thanksgiving. which is a good thing since i really haven't had any weekends free since then. this weekend won't help: we're going to a wedding! [since i'm surely not wedding-ed out] the bride, andy and i were 3 out of the 4 interns the first summer at PEEC. it is crazy where life takes us in just a few years.

hopefully i can blog a little more frequently than once a month! just in case, happy holidays and a happy 2012!

(i have a feeling that 2012 is going to be a wonderful year! i can't believe this time next year i will be MARRIED.)