Our Wedding Blog

Jason and I send greetings from Corsicana, Texas, Jason's hometown! We hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday weekend. We have been blessed to spend lots of quality time with my family and his and to visit with friends we haven't seen in awhile.

We have officially started our wedding blog! I told you it would be coming soon. We created the header together today and would love for you to stop by!

We named it, The Perfect Catch Wedding Blog, for the obvious reason that we are each other's perfect catch, but to also highlight Jason's love of fishing and all of the time we have spent doing this together. It felt appropriate since we even got engaged on the beach during a fishing weekend.

Visit it often so we can share our stories and pictures of our planning process as we make the transition from boyfriend and girlfriend to husband and wife.

http://theperfectcatchwedding.blogspot.com

Rachael Ray's Wedding Rescue

So remember this couple from my last post...

Well, they were planning on getting married in July 2009, had picked a reception venue, put down deposits, and was trucking along. Post, Hurricane Ike, we all learned that their venue along with others in Houston went bankrupt due to the storm and bad business practices. All of the deposit money was lost!

In comes, Rachael Ray, who surprised dozens of couples, John and Carol included, with a group wedding at Minute Maid Park! The only catch-the couples had to get married the very next weekend (and they could only invite 10 guests) and this was back in October so needless to say, John and Carol felt too rushed and decided to move forward with creating their dream wedding which is now to take place in April 2009.

You can see the whole episode of the "Harris County Brides" on Rachael Ray's website, but here is a clip of where they told the couples the plan...it is hard to see Carol because she is so cute and tiny, but John is in the lime green shirt...he gets a close-up!!!

http://www.rachelrayshow.com/show/segments/view/rachael-ray-giving-us-wedding/

Congratulations Ashley and Wentzel!

A dear, dear friend of mine got married last night. You can read all about Ashley's wedding planning process at her wedding blog, Ribbons and Bows. All of Ashley's hard work and eye for detail paid off because it was a GORGEOUS wedding. I was honored to be apart of their special day. Ashley and Wentzel are on their way to Hawaii as we speak. Enjoy the pictures I took from last night and visit Ribbons and Bows in a few weeks to see more pics and hear about the honeymoon!

Now I am soooo excited for Jason and I to begin our wedding planning. Jason's resort has it's grand opening this weekend too (I'll post those pics later) so we can really focus on us now!

[The gorgeous flowers that lined the pews of the church. BTW, the wedding colors were brown, white and green.]

[This was at the entrance of the reception...loved the large photo that Ash chose]

[Notice the white damask table linens...this was a huge debate for Ashley of either ivory or brown. You chose right Ashley!]

[Mr. and Mrs. Bouwer at their sweetheart table]

[The first dance as husband and wife!]

[MOH and BM Amy and Robert gave the best speeches filled with embarrassing stories of Ashley and Wentzel's early days. Everyone was cracking up...great job you two! You can also see how great the bridesmaid's dresses were.]

[I love this shot because you can see the back of Ashley's gown]

[This is a great DIY project. Ashley and her mom made the wine labels and the table cards]

[I love this cake! So simple and classy! Each layer was a different filing flavor. I had lemon and it was amazing! I wanted more, but I didn't want to be that girl.]

[Wentzel's grooms cake. I don't know the official flavor, but it tasted like dark chocolate and amaretto to me...also amazing!]

[The work girls: Me, Ashley, Page and Dianne]

[I wore polka dots in Ashley's honor...we both just love them!]

[Next wedding on the radar is Carol and John's. They are getting hitched April 2009!]

Congratulations once again Ashley and Wentzel! I hope you have a wonderful honeymoon. See you when you get back!

Surprise!

This past weekend I was lucky enough to attend my stepfather's 80th surprise birthday party! He is truly an inspiration to Jason and I on how to live life. The party was at Carolina Creek Christian Camp-a camp that my parents started. It was a very emotional day filled with lots of fun!

The grand kids performed their camp song for everyone.

Shelley gave a speech and introduced into a video of LE's life.

LE was presented with a gorgeous ariel shot of the camp from the camp staff.

The cake...the theme of the party was "The Best is Yet to Come"...that's a fire hazard!

Whoa!

Gorgeous day!

The huge zipline that we did is behind me...I was not nervous until I got up there!

Mom and me!

Jason and LE

We survived the zip line!

More engagement pics!

My mom emailed me a few more pictures from the engagement weekend. Thanks Shelley!

This was my first attempt at the wedding blog header for Jason and I...truth be told, I did this one way before we were ever engaged! As soon as the blog is ready I will let you know!

Weddings, Weddings, Weddings!

We are a little excited. My co-workers Ashley and John are both engaged too! Ashley's wedding is next Saturday and John is getting married in April. So when are Jason and I tying the knot? We are not absolutely sure, but we are thinking about August 2009!

Nice ring John...he is actually jealous...he wants a 'mangagement ring" so bad!

The Perfect Catch

Jason and I are engaged! We are so excited and can't wait to begin the planning process (maybe me a little more than him). We will let you know as soon as the wedding blog is up, but don't worry...Life's A Beach is here to stay!

Now to the story! Jason and I planned on going to Matagorda, Texas for the weekend where my mom and LE have a house. Jason and I love to go to get away, relax, and enjoy the scenery. When we are there, we are super casual (picture me with no makeup), and just kick back usually fishing, laying out, and taking lots of naps! We were supposed to leave Friday after work, but I didn't feel well (thank you Chick-Fil-A milkshake) and Jason was exhausted. I complained about not wanting to go this weekend because we were so beat from our week, but Jason convinced me how relaxing it will be and that we need to get away!

Saturday morning we hit the road for Matagorda around 7:30 a.m. and arrived around 9:30. Jason immediately hit the dock and began fishing and I just hung out with my mom and played around. One side note, I never wear makeup or bring cute clothes to Matagorda because there is no need. We NEVER go anywhere or see anyone so it is pointless. I used to pack tons of outfits, but then learned after a few trips of over-packing.

Mom urged me to put some make-up on with the guise of wanting me to show her my eyeliner, shadow, etc...we were just playing around. I then had a group project for my MBA class that had to get done so I busted that out for a few hours. Around 3:30, I asked Jason if we could go to the beach. The beach is one of my favorite places and one of my favorite things to do in the entire world is walk it with Jason. We have done this many times, picking up shells, chasing birds and talking.

As we were walking around, Jason kept drawing things in the sand with his walking stick. I thought he was just being silly, but now looking back it was odd behavior. We walked around for awhile looking for shells. I separated from him for a moment to chase some birds (yes, I am weird). There was also a little boy walking around that I was getting a kick out of because he was holding a giant crab claw. Jason yelled over to me to come and look at the picture he drew me. In my head I was like, "oh goodness!"

Then I saw this and he dropped to one knee. I will spare you the amazing speech! I freaked out and said yes (although I can't remember actually saying it) and we celebrated!

Here is the ring that Jason gave me. This picture does not even come close to doing it justice...it is the most beautiful and unique ring. I love how everyone that sees it, says that it just looks like me!

Oddly enough, there was a guy playing guitar in the water which created an awesome soundtrack to the whole event making it so much more romantic. I immediately asked Jason if he had hired him, but no, it was just fate!


We then drove back to the house where mom and LE were waiting! We went to the Waterfront restaurant for a celebratory dinner. Remember how I said that I never pack any nice clothes...Jason even thought ahead and packed a few dresses, purses and shoes for me to wear to dinner...sneaky man!

It was the second best day of my life...the first being the day that I met Jason on February 23, 2007.

He truly is the perfect catch!

Jason and I are engaged!!!

Details and pics to come...

The PedEgg

Yesterday I discovered the PedEgg, a "Pro Pedicure Foot File". It claims to remove callouses and dry skin better than pumice stones, other related products and even pricey pedicures. Nothing can replace pedicures because I love getting my feet rubbed and relaxing, but they really don't get down to the nitty-gritty and remove all of the rough spots on my feet.

I ran to Sally Beauty Supply last night and went home to watch Grey's and give myself a home pedicure. I must say, I was skeptical, but hopeful and I was pleasantly surprised. It really did soften my feet and made them look so much better! At only $9.99 for this product, I think the PedEgg is an easy sell. The best part is that the shavings are contained inside the PedEgg so you don't make a mess...but it is really fun in a gross kind of way to see what you scraped off! It's ind of like looking at the aftermath of your Biore strip.

The product comes in white, black, or pink (the pink one donates a portion of products to breast cancer research). Happy buffing!

I'm Not Jumping on That Bandwagon

Well, sort of. Everyone in the blogosphere is talking about Obama. I guess I am jumping on that bandwagon, but with a shallow twist. What did everyone think of First Lady Elect's outfit? It is catching praise for being fashion forward and it is catching flack for being too-edgy and bold.

I really want to know what you think. Please leave comments on fashion forward or fashion faux-paus?

My comment is...Michelle, last week you were on Jay Leno acting all high and mighty for wearing "clothes of the people"-J.Crew. I even found this laughable. J. Crew might not be Versace, but is a far cry from what everyone is wearing. Don't pull an Oprah on us! Back to last night, her dress was Narcisco Rodriguez...def not J.Crew. Everyone was so quick to jump on Palin for her pricey wardrobe, but now everyone is calling Michelle fashion forward. Oh the hypocrites...

But the dress...my vote is yes. I like different and edgy, but do not think it was right for the occasion. What do you think?

Bachelorette Update: DeAnna and Jesse

Okay ABC, as much as I love watching The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, give it up! It just isn't working. I feel like I keep getting dumped! Yes, you had success with Trista and Ryan, but is 1 out of 12 really good odds? I'm not sure my mom can take this anymore. First Andy and Tessa call it quits, then Brad dumped DeAnna and Jenni, we all knew this would happen, and now no more Jesse and DeAnna!

As predicted, DeAnna got the 15 minutes of fame bug, dumped her man because she loves him, but is not in love with him, and will move to Hollywood. Check out the depressing statement by Jesse and others pics on their joint website.

Sad day...

So, when does this one get to go down the path of destruction and broken hearts? Season 13 here we come!