Now Showing: YOUR PARTNERS for the Accesory Swap

I know it's a little early but I figured since
 it was ready I can go ahead and share!

I'm so excited about this swap.
This is my first time hosting & I think I'll do it more often.
Okay, so now for your partners...

I've already started buying & can't wait to see what everyone receives.
Who wouldn't be?
Make sure to contact your partner & swap information -
 mail out your gift by the 6th of January.
Share your goodies {with a post} on the 16th!
I.Can't.Wait♥
....
Here are your partners.

  Carly 
Carly.Moorehead@gmail.com
 &

Danielle

daniellechance@gmail.com

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pamela

pamelasplace5@yahoo.com

&
Ashley Hudson
ashleynh72@yahoo.com

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aly
analyzethisblog@gmail.com
&

Jessica W.
jessica_walker11@yahoo.com

 ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Holly R.

hritter18@gmail.com
&
 Holly M.
missholly169@aol.com

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ashley

ashley.barr@hotmail.com

&

Jessica S.

prettyphysicist@gmail.com

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Erin
 erin.motes@gmail.com

&
 Kristina
mynewwifelife@aol.com

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Angie
Aelbert1980@hotmail.com
&
Ophelia
OCooper89@yahoo.com

---------------------------------------

Stephanie Y.
redstilettos24@hotmail.com
&
Amy P.
amyrenepowell@hotmail.com

-----------------------------------------------------
Meredith
mpenzo00@hotmail.com
&
Ashley C.
ashleychilders83@yahoo.com

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Molly J.
hottamolly_07@hotmail.com
&
Lori W.
lori.williams522@gmail.com

------------------------------------------------------------------

Dana
msvannus@yahoo.com
&
Carolyn C.
cchrestman1@hotmail.com

---------------------------------------------------------
Marcy
themrsburris@yahoo.com
&
Carolyn R.
lifeloveandpuppyprints@gmail.com

---------------------------------------------------------- Carrie
csmilleighfraces@gmail.com
&
Jennifer S.
Jennifer.Megan17@gmail.com

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Valerie G.
valeriekgriffin@gmail.com
&
Christie
cristieyoung@gmail.com

---------------------------------------------------------------
Morgan
morgan.chrestman@yahoo.com
&
Summer
famousinmyownmind@gmail.com

------------------------------------------------------------------Jessica D. {aka ME!}
Stilettosandafishingpole@yahoo.com
&
Dayna Thompson
bamabelleandabucketlist@gmail.com

 --------------------------------------------------------------

Due to an ODD number of people the last three ladies I drew
will just have to swap without having the same partner back, like a rotation.

Julianne
jlford20@yahoo.com

buys for

Jenna
nenna_1981@yahoo.com

buys for

Quincee
quinceetaylor@gmail.com

buys for

 Julianne
jlford@yahoo.com


The End!

 

In the year of 2011.

Well another year has come and gone!
Once upon a time I was the girl who was told "the older you get the fast time goes" and didn't believe it. Well, I believe it now because 2011 went in a hurry!  December 2010 pretty much determined how this year was going to be. I got engaged the day after Christmas and we set our date before the first of the year. 2011 meant Wedding Planning!  Yet life threw me serious curve balls by dealing with the loss of two very close people in my heart. All in all, it was the happiest, most special year I will never forget!

Here is my year, 2011♥

We brought in the New Year with a lot of our friends by attending the DeLoaches annual New Years Party 

 Spent most of January finding & booking vendors which got a little stressful but my favorite was dress shopping with my Mom & ladies.

Then the following weekend was the Savannah Bridal Show. My first action as a bride-to-be - great fun!

 Aaron threw my for a surprise when he told me a heart drop/exciting secret ... not really. Thank goodness that was just a phase. Wedding planning was in full force planning in the month of February along with

our Engagement Party

Engagement Pictures

& my second bridal show

We celebrated the Super Bowl as the Packers took the title - Aaron was jealous & Paul and Amanda were stoked. We had a blast. Who could forget about Valentines Day? Aaron & I spent the weekend in Santee Cooper relaxing & fishing, a wonderful weekend it was.

March  & April were easy months filled with a lot of dinner and beach dates & our nights were American Idol & two shows we were introduced to us - The Bachelorette & Swamp People .

 May kicked it up a notch when all the preparation & DIY projects started for the wedding. Morning coffee talk was wedding wedding wedding! Spent Memorial Day weekend down at Ft. McCallester camping on the river with several groups of people.

Wanted to surprise my "fiance" by taking him to one of his favorite singers, Brantley Gilbert who was putting on a concert in Savannah. It was such a wonderful date until we cut it short because somebody was a little intoxicated. Whoops!

And also saw Luke Bryan & Tim McGraw in concert {I don't really remember the month, I just know it was after this concert.}

June was a month when 'Getting Married' felt real. Mama threw me a Bridal Bash where my maids & Moms put together 30 table arrangements and other wedding must do's. It was a great.

June also was the month weddings flew in. It was three to start with but sadly we only ended up making one which was a hometown friend of mine, as a blogger Caitlin from A Country Nest & her hubby Cliff.

The following weekend Aaron and I made a 17 hour road trip to New York where we ended up in the city... driving. I was driving. #Couldn'tPayMeToDriveThereAgain  Ending in the month of June was my first bridal shower thrown by Aaron's sister & cousin "Around the Clock Shower".

July kicked off with my 26th Birthday which was spent in St. Augustine with my parents & my niece & nephew. Great getaway! We want to go back soon!

Daddy & Diane came down & stayed the weekend at our house just in time for our His & Her shower hosted my bridesmaids with all our family & friends - It ended up being 8 hours long & in the pool by the end of the night! It was the perfect day.

The world welcomed our fourth nephew Ryder Patrick on July 28th - he made us an Aunt & Uncle to NINE! Whoa! Ended the month with new debt... we bought a camper!

Pressure & stress hit when August first arrived. I had one month before the wedding & I pretty much shut myself out from the world the first week due to seriously freak out.  Thank GOD for an addiction that was created right around this time.. Pinterest it brought me back to pure happiness - we went on our

 Bachelor/ette Party in Atlanta Georgia {girls} & Jacksonville, Florida {guys} {which I've yet to post about}. It was pretty awesome!
History was made: It was my last night ever letting myself get completely wasted. I made a new best friend that night... the Marriott toilet. I said I'd never do it again after my 21st birthday however I lied. I'm serious this time. The last weekend of August, Rachel my bridesmaid hosted a Lingerie Shower for me. It was so fun & made me feel so special.

Just six days before the wedding & three days before September I took my Bridal portraits {that weren't supposed to happen due to getting my dress back so late} Never have I ever felt like a fairytale more than I did on this day. So.Much.Fun! She's the BEST for making it happen!

Three days before the happiest day of my life, there we were completely devastated over the death of our extremely close friend, Cj. This was hard to juggle with family members arriving and happy times ahead. But nothing could stop my from marrying my other half of my soul on September 3, 2011. The happiest day of my life, my dream came true, history was made! My ever after happened & I was now a wife.

Had the  most amazing Honeymoon sailing Caribbean Sea - visiting Mexico & the Cayman Islands. We didn't want to come home. {Honeymoon Post coming soon, I promise!}

After days of getting adjusted we celebrated two special birthdays - his  mom & my step dad. We took my parents out downtown Savannah to dinner & then to a 50's show. Nothing could ever re-pay the love & cost of our wedding day. We had a wonderful night!

September ended with a my biggest Pure Romance Party, I sold $1100 worth of product! = Awesome!
October was insanely busy & started off directing my first wedding for Ashly & Jeremy and then to follow another wedding of Lindsay & Timmy -also celebrating my husbands 27th birthday. Jon & Shanna found out the sex of their twins with a wee-miniature gender reveal - Girls!

We attended our third wedding for Tiffany & Trey the last weekend of this month. Holy Love!

November started celebrating Reid's 2nd birthday & drifted into an extremely relaxing month for us. Home together we were - cooking, movie dates, & just doing nothing. However we did attend my childhood best friends wedding -

& also had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebrating with both our families.

December is always busy

Gingerbread House Party, Our annual Christmas Party, Heather & Brett's holiday party, Christmas at Mom & Aaron's, Christmas Eve, Day, but the most special thing that happened was it was our first Christmas as husband and wife.

What I learned this year♥

My gosh, I learned so much this year; little things & big things. However, something that hits home {& was my biggest struggle} was learning to let go. Even though this year had so many high moments I can't even begin to explain the joy in my heart, 2011 had it's low moments as well. One thing I finally came to realize is people change & friendships can be lost and out grown. Being I've always held on tight to the ones I love and who are apart of my life, this year challenged me and brought me a whole new outlook on letting go of people that no longer are good for your life.

2011 was oh.so.happy, yet it also was one of the hardest years.  Good-byes have never been easy for me but what I learned is my friendships are more valuable than I ever ever EVER realized they were.  In this year I've become more grateful & learned to not take anything for granted -

Life is precious and you never know when a person can be gone forever. Count your blessings everyday! And I do.

 

.... & that's a wrap!

2012 plans to be much slower, more relaxing, & doubled the get-a-ways... or we hope anyway!

First Christmas Morning...

M.A.R.R.I.E.D♥
&
by ourselves.

Technically, this wasn't Christmas morning.
This is actually Christmas Eve. Being we were staying the night with his parents
on Christmas night we decided to have our own time as newlyweds to open & enjoy the holiday. It was perfect. By far, the Best Christmas EVER! With my new camera {Nikon D1500 aka an early Christmas Present} I was able to
video the whole thing - which I didn't upload. However, with just my digital camera we were able to snap pictures as a keepsake in our family Christmas album that I've started this year.

Christmas Morning 2011

I couldn't sleep all night - awake as if I were a kid waiting on Santa Claus.
When 7:30am hit I turned the Keurig on, getting ready to serve my husband with coffee. I was so excited. No kidding.  Originally, I planned to make breakfast in bed... that didn't work so I  figured Mama's homemade cranberry bread with cream cheese would fill the belly.

It only took me 20 minutes to get Aaron out of bed - he couldn't understand why it was so important to get up so early.

 Ugh... It's Christmas Morning, Duh! Nobody wakes up late.

Soon enough we were in the living room ready to open. 

Being we watched National Lampoon Christmas Vacation the night before,

I turned on ELF on {his early Christmas Present- a 55'' TV} as we opened our gifts.

Apparently he was freezing & I wasn't...

Nothing like getting a pouch filled with gift cards! :)

One of my favorite gifts I got him - a new watch.

a charm bracelet♥

#truestory - I've been begging him for one for years.

When we were 16 years old, he bought me one for Valentine Day.

It had a heart charm with both our names engraved on it, that Christmas

he bought me a Cheerleader charm... I lost it soon after.

He has never let me live it down until be purchased this. :)

my favorite gift♥

It came with a charm & then he purchased three other charms.

A Christmas Tree for our First Christmas, a Camera {which he was really excited about}, & a cubed block with the letter D on all four sides for our last name.

It was perfect.

 He them told me "When I first picked out the bracelet, I then started picking out all the charms. I had like 8 and then she told me the price and I had to take a few away." I then explained to him that a Charm bracelet is collected throughout all the years - his response "Well in the commercial the whole bracelet is full. I didn't know."

I thought it was cute.

My camera bag - I was SUPER excited about.

Stocking Time
my favorite part

a new wallet {a Christmas Ritual}

I was proud of Aaron for all my stocking goodies.

However this was hilarious.

I never shared last week about me buying him {youth boxer briefs} & how

he tried putting them on.. hilarious - anyhow well now he can't make fun anymore after receiving children's Q-Tips. We laughed pretty hard about it then both tried

them. Which they were bad at all.

 After we were threw with presents we cleaned up & tucked away on the couch to finish
ELF then together we started preparing our covered dishes for our Christmas Day events.
Soon it was time to head to his Grandparents for their yearly Oyster Roast with Family & Friends.

More Christmas Re-Caps to come!

moments.

A year ago today was the day my biggest dream happened...

As cheesy as it sounds, it was the greatest {& easiest} decision I ever made .

More than I ever imagined & happier than I ever thought I could be.

Here I am today married to my match, my best friend.

Life is so good & love is amazing!

okay, okay

I'll quit with the mushy gushy stuff.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas Holiday! Can't wait to see all the re-caps as well as re-cap our first Christmas married.

It was perfect in every way.

Last chance to SIGN UP!!!

Hi Bloggers!

December 26th is the deadline.

This is your

LAST CHANCE

to sign up

for this swap!

We have a lot of ladies participating, so join the fun!

Please DO NOT SIGN UP ON THIS POST

 Click HERE to read the instructions

& to sign up!

Merry Christmas to everyone!

there is always one.

9:51am - text message

Wife: Christmas Eve Movie Choice: ELF, Home Alone,  The Polar Express,

or Chevy Chase Christmas Vacation? You pick.

{no response}

 12:17am - husband calls

Wife:So what movie are your picking.

Husband: Daddy wants to watch the Chevy Chase one.

{every year Aaron and his family watch the original Gringe. It's a tradition}

Wife: No, I mean for you and I on Christmas Eve? We're gonna

watch one.

Husband: {whiny} Whyyyyy we gotta watch one?

Wife: Because baby, we need to get in the Christmas Spirit?

Husband: Okay, well go to the redbox on you way home and get

a non Christmas movie & we will wear Santa hats.

Wife:Aaron.

Husband: I don't wanna watch a OLD Christmas movie?

Wife: Well, The Polar Express isn't old.

Husband: Yes it is. I saw it TV last night.

Wife: It's like a year old. We haven't seen it.

Whatcha wanna watch?

Husband: {draggy voice} whaaatever you want toooooo.

HO one, HO two & HO three.

Every.Single.Year

Aaron and I receive a calendar from his Aunt. Not only is it like the strangest calendars but it's ALWAYS the wrong year. Therefore it's no good.

#itsthethoughtthatcounts.

 Hands down  ELF .

I can watch that movie year round. If you haven't seen it watch it this year.

You are missing out. It's filled with great humor.

 Mama's homemade cookies.

ALL of them. She makes all sorts of cookies and I look forward to them every year.

---------------------------------------------------------------

 I want to wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas!

Have a wonderful holiday filled with laughter and spirit.  Remember what his day is all about! Don't forget to make memories & enjoy your families.

Oh... and to leave milk & cookies... Duh!

This is my last post until after Christmas so link up.

 I'm gonna keep it open throughout the week. I'll still be reading.



The Drew House

Our mantle -

which is SO not how I decorate our Christmastime mantle but I loved my

fireplace look this year. Frankie even made it in the picture!

I actually painted my mantle a different color JUST to match our new stockings.

New Ornaments

Our unity sand -

I didn't keep the entire unity sand therefore I made it into an

ornament so we could have it forever.

Last year - we stayed the night with my parents -

#plan a: Aaron was supposed to propose that morning in front of my parents.

my parents waited. waited. and waited.

mother was so sad.

#plan b: he proposed the next day by ourselves, which was the day i finally received

this ornament from my parents.

the man snowman is actually proposing to the lady snowman.

moving along.

This ornament we got on our honeymoon.

It's says 'Cayman Islands'.

I'm sad we didn't get on from Mexico {even though I did look}

but it still holds the memory.

My Daddy sent this to us this year.

Ever since I can remember he has always given us special ornaments.

This year he gave us a few.

&

he knows my love for frogs & always seems to get lucky enough to

find certain things during whatever time of year that is dealing with frogs.

He too, is a man-child. :) Gotta love em'.

They say a lady always marries her daddy.

Even though frogs make me cringe, I loved these ornaments.

next up...

a gift from one of the sweetest little girls I know.

my bestie Rachel & her daughter made these.

Not only are they snowmen  but it's her hand print.

How cute! I loved it.

I bought this one back when I went to Charleston over Thanksgiving.

There were so many to choose from but I decided on Reindeer because I want to try

to keep the reindeer's every year, even when our family expands.

Next...

it's more of a tradition.

this ornament has no meaning really.

but it's a tradition I'm following from my mom.

Anywhere we go {starting this year} I want to get an ornament.

My mothers Christmas tree tells a story & I love it.

It never gets old.

This ornament I received at our Engagement party from our friends

Jeremy & Brycelyn. When I first started planning, I was going to have peacock feather Incorporated in our scheme - Yes, I still did however they were all beige - not the really peacock feathers.

isn't it pretty?

Last but not least

Aaron Christmas tree.

I made it a tradition while we were dating to get him an ornament every year.

He has NINE. Golf, Hunting, Fishing, Bow-Hunting, Video controller, Etc.

Whatever he was really into that year - was what the ornament was.

.... and I put it in his tree along with lure rs & fish lights.

Sorry, you can't really see his ornaments but they are on there.

And now...  for the tree.

It's a HUGE deal for me to have a REAL tree.

Growing up I always had a real tree and there is nothing like the smell of

a fresh Christmas Tree.

Aaron surprised me this year by picking it out himself {i was a little bummed but also happy because we were late getting it} while I was at the Gingerbread house party.

He bought. Brought it home. Put it up & ever watered it...

waiting for me to come home. He did good.

.... and I'm just now noticing this is NOT my final tree picture.

Half of the garland is missing and all my over-sized ball ornaments are NOT on there.

But you get the picture, right?

hopefully.