Homecoming, Thesis, and Invitations, oh my!

I forgot I never updated you on the turnout of Homecoming, so here it is: I didn't win. But it's totally fine; I never expected to, and I'm completely cool with it. It was definitely a memorable experience, and it was such an honor to be on Court in the first place! I wore a beautiful red dress (see right) from my "little sister"/bridesmaid Erin, and it was lovely but kind-of a struggle to go up and down bleachers in... Waiting to make my "entrance" was the most nerve-racking part, though. I was terrified of falling! Thankfully I didn't. Also, Eric (my escort) and I were the first pair to walk out, so were both worried we would walk too far or not far enough... etc. All silly stuff, but when it's time to walk out there, it doesn't seem quite so silly. I hope I'm not worried about stuff like that on the big day! I better not trip on my dress, either... Talk about making an entrance!

In other news, my thesis is still coming along slowly but surely. Organizing this beast seems to be the hardest part. Writing it isn't bad, but I've never done research on such a large scale before, so choosing what to include has never been such an issue. I want to include everything just to prove that I've done the research, but it doesn't quite work that way, especially if it's supposed to be more creative rather than analytical. It's definitely a learning experiment, and it's something I'm pretty sure I won't be able to understand or explain fully until it's finished. I had to speak about it the other day to a freshman honors class, and I hope I didn't scare them too much... I just wanted to be honest about the hard stuff so they wouldn't think of it as just a long paper. It's much more than that. It really is a beast at times, and it's pretty terrifying. It will be a great achievement once it's finally done, but until then every single sentence is a struggle, and finishing it honestly seems impossible most of the time. I pray daily for motivation and inspiration that rarely comes, and graduation starts to look like less of a guarantee after each day of little to no productivity. It's the largest burden I've ever carried, and I'm really glad I'm putting so much pressure on myself (otherwise I may never finish!), but when this thing is finally done, I honestly don't know what I will do... I will probably be too shocked to do anything for a while, except probably sleep... a lot. Haha.

So there's my thesis update... Now hopefully everyone can stop asking ;) I appreciate everyone's concern and support, but for whatever reason I hate talking about my thesis. I just want to write it and be done with it! I never thought that would be the case with anything I was working on, but I guess maybe it's the senioritis...

On a lighter note, I have a meeting tomorrow with Donette from Designs in Paper about save the dates and invitations. Yay! I'll finally get to see some real samples (besides the one I received in the mail - an invitation to my friend Kelly's wedding!). These are the next items on the checklist, and a decision needs to be made pretty soon about save the dates since I would like those to be out in less than a month. Ah! So wish me luck!! :)

Thanks for the continued support! I'll keep you posted!

Much love,

C & A

P.S. Collin will be here in TWO DAYS!!!!! I'm just a little excited... ;) And his family will be here in three! Yay!! Even thesis-writing is easier when I have something to look forward to :) I'm a blessed girl!

A little bit of this, a little bit of that...

I have LOTS of random news to update you on, so here goes!

First off, I celebrated my 22nd birthday last Thursday, the 18th! Collin came in the night before (actually, I picked him up at around midnight), so I got my perfect birthday present :) We went out to dinner with my parents that night at a new Mexican restaurant in Cool Springs called Chuy's, which was pretty good! Of course we had cake and all that good stuff, too, plus my parents forced us to sit through old home videos ;) It was a fun night! I'm a very blessed girl.

I got lots of great stuff this year, but one of the coolest birthday presents I got was a homemade necklace from my very own sister-to-be (and bridesmaid and dress-maker) Caitlin! It's so pretty and thoughtful! I think I might be marrying into a pretty decent family ;) Here's a pic of the necklace (I can't get it to turn right-side up...):

On Saturday, Collin and I had a birthday/engagement dinner at Firefly in Green Hills before my sorority's semi-formal. A bunch of my friends came, and it was so much fun! I definitely recommend Firefly... Delicious!

Collin and I also celebrated Valentines Day during his visit, and it was wonderful! I have such an amazing fiance. I hope he doesn't mind if I brag on him a little, but he did some awesome stuff for Valentines!! For presents, he unwrapped a bunch of Hershey's kisses, took out the paper slips, and rewrapped them all with slips he printed off saying all the things he loves about me (see below for an example) :) He also made me a mixed CD with a bunch of songs that remind him of me, and he even recorded his own track wishing me a Happy Valentines Day! The last thing he did, which was the best of all, I'll keep secret since I think he would be concerned about preserving his masculinity, haha. Just know that it was very thoughtful and romantic, and he's pretty much the best guy ever!

In wedding news, I think we have our photographers narrowed down to three:

1) Laurie Carpenter - http://www.lauriecarpenter.com

2) Keoni K - http://keonikphotography.com

3) Matt Andrews - http://nashvilleweddingphotography.com

Each photographer is pretty unique, but I like them all for different reasons... Laurie is more traditional, Keoni is definitely more eclectic, and Matt is a combination of both. My mom and I have already met with Laurie, and Collin and I met with both Keoni and Matt while he was here over the weekend. We liked them both, so I set up additional appointments with both of them so my mom could meet them. Our meeting with Keoni is tomorrow, and our meeting with Matt is next Friday, but he's holding our date for now. I'm excited to see how these meetings go, since my last meetings with them were pretty brief (they were both on Friday, and we had 2 other wedding appointments that day!) So, I'll keep you posted!

As for the rest, Collin and I had a marathon of wedding appointments Friday, as I said, so in addition to meeting with the photographers we also tried cakes (yum!) and met with Jennifer at Old Natchez. I think we may try to sample some food at Old Natchez when Collin is back in town in a couple weeks with his family! I'm currently awaiting some Save-the-Date samples from a company called Designs in Paper (http://designsinpaper.com/). I was referred to them by a sorority sister as well as by Jennifer. I also have a pretty good idea of the dress I want based on the lovely sketches Caitlin drew for me, and I have an appointment with a seamstress at b. Hughes Bridal on Thursday.

Everything is moving right along! Keep an eye out for more updates, because soon they will probably start pouring in!!

Thanks again for all your support! :)

Here's a few more pics from Collin's visit:

C & A

P.S. I forgot to mention that I've been nominated for Belmont Homecoming Queen haha! The game is this Saturday, so wish me luck! ;) But really it's an honor just to be on Homecoming Court. Definitely didn't see this one coming!!