May 25, 2011

Life Size House Wife

I was given a bridal shower on May 15th by The Thomases good friends Sherri and Sharon. This shower was held in Arlington so we invited friends and family who lived on that side of town. It was good to see everybody! Sherri and Sharon did a beautiful job at entertaining us all! We had great conversation & delicious desserts! Recipes must be shared!!

I was quite surprised to walk in, and see the Life Size House Wife! This is the one of the most creative wedding gifts I've seen at a shower! They blew a picture of me, and attached it to an iron board. A mop was used as my hair with pink tulle to make the veil. A house wife's look is not complete without kitchen & garden gadgets attached to her apron!

I'm thankful to be joining such a happy family with such kind friends. :)

Ryan's Mom, Me, and My Mom

May 23, 2011

National Holiday

Us before dinner. :)
I'm wearing my birthday present from my MOH, Missy-Pooh
If you know me well....you know what a big deal my birthday is! I usually celebrate the entire month of May! Getting older doesn't scare me...well especially now that I'm on my way to dreams coming true! I just love the joy of birthdays!

This year...was...an...exception. My birthday (May 14th) morning was spent getting hair & make up done for bridal portraits! I felt so beautiful thankful to the hair stylist who has done my up-do's since middle school, and the make up artist who has shown me how to let true beauty shine! Mom and I met my MOH, Missy & photogapher at the Dallas Arboretum. We came prepared with a sheet to change in the parking lot, but thought we would TRY to change in a bathroom or something...NOPE! SHOT DOWN! So there I stood in the parking lot with a sheet to hide me while I got dressed in my bridal gown. Without giving away details of the gown...let's just say...it was interesting to make that work!

Our photographer took us way back into a quiet part of the Arboretum where we got some of my favorite shots! I was nervous about not looking "natural" since I was just standing/sitting there by myself without Ryan to lean on...like our engagement photo session. Thankfully I have an excellent photographer, hysterical MOH, and adoring mother who helped me feel at ease & enjoy the day!

Ryan knows how important my birthday is to me, and wasn't going to let it slide! When I got home after a long, exhausting, but incredibly enjoyable day he (and Ryder) had baked brownies for me with candles! I was quite impressed! We waited to have dessert after to dinner so we wouldn't spoil the exquisite dinner we were about to INHALE!

Ryan took me to Bin 303 which is an old house in Downtown Rockwall that was turned into a Texas Cuisine restaurant. We enjoyed an appetizer, red wine, and a delicious meal. Then of course...dessert was chocolate brownies!

When we got home I opened a package I got from BFF for my birthday! It was FULL of goodies! Gold glitter TOMS that I've been wanting, the Wizard of Oz Find It! game, Tervis Tumblers, and a homemade card TO:::BFF, SFAM, AUNT ANGELA:::FROM:::BFF, SFAM, MARK & DYLAN!! I took a picture of the fabulous-ness of it all, but haven't gotten it off Ryan's camera yet...(Next birthday wish list from Husband will be a camera!) Ryan got me the gorgeous bracelet I'll wear on our wedding day. A very special gift! I think the best gift for him is knowing I will be older than him for 17 more days...As I write this I'm only 8 days older than him!

May 8, 2011

Couples Shower!!!

Last night (05/07) was our Couples Shower at Ryan's Nanny's house. Ryan's family's good friend, Mel, and his aunts, Aunt Gina, Aunt Janet, Aunt Kathy, Aunt Linda, and Aunt Denise were the hosts. They did a FABULOUS job!!!

The shower was outside on the deck that Paw-Paw built. Everything was absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!! They went with a FIESTA theme! There were beautiful centerpieces, lanterns hanging, and table cloths (duct tape included). ;) Despite the wind...good thing I brought a wardrobe change!

We started off the evening with some DELICIOUS food! I need ALL recipes please!! Mel had called Ryan and asked him a few questions. When we got to the shower she asked me the same questions. We were pleasantly surprised that we got MOST of them RIGHT! I believe there are some objections to Ryan's favorite toy as a child...Angel, his cousin/babysitter, says Ninja Turtles! Ryan answered GI Joes...I went with the practical answer of...A FIRE TRUCK! DUH!!

We were overwhelmed with the amount of gifts! The shower theme was things you would to host a party! My daddy wasn't aware of this, and started questioning our lifestyle as we opened up shakers, wine corkers, etc! Everything was beautiful & perfect! It was all JUST what we needed!! I'd love to post ALL the pictures of all the gifts, but going through 200 pictures to crop, edit, and post to the blog...well, that will just have to be a Facebook-er! We got the most precious, emotional gift from Ryan's Great Grandmother, Moos. Nanny fulfilled her request that it be given to us...we got her silver, a school house cookie jar, and a blanket she knitted!

We are soooo thankful to everybody who came to celebrate with us! I'd also love to post pictures of our guests, but again...Facebook-er! We had the best time! It's great to be surrounded by such loving family & friends!! Thank you for supporting us! Lot of love!! ~Ryan and Angela

Us with Amanda & Calen...me in Outfit #1


Us with the hostessses (Me in outfit #2-Diva!)




May 3, 2011

A Long Weekend with Minimal Sleep

Our Weekend

Friday: Ryan worked hard waitin for fires to fight or patients to be treated. ;) I was a team member for Relay for Life. A group of us from school formed a team. The theme this year was Around the World. My team totally ran with this! Our first choice was Ireland because we wanted to be CLP Fightin' Cancer!! Since that was taken we were happy to be CLP Jamaican a Difference! We made an awesome banner of the Jamaican flag, had awesome t-shirts, and set up an awesome camp! 5 of us lasted until about 4 AM then 4 of us until about 5 AM then 3 of us until 6 AM. Cancer never sleeps so neither did we....

Saturday: Oh how I wish I would have slept...I came hom Saturday morning, showered, and slept for about an hour and a half. Ryan got home from work about 8 AM. We packed the truck, and were off to Austin. I was so tired I didn't even care about stopping in West for kolaches! We made it to the 5th Annual Backyard Boil at 2 PM. We were hungry for some crawfish, potatoes, and corn! The tail was a little spicy, but who doesn't like spicy tail?! We had a lot of fun with good friends...aside from the terrible Austin allergies! (or so I thought...)

Sunday: I woke up with a super sore throat...thinking it was a combination of allergies & no sleep...little did I know. I toughened it up, and made it to meet one of Ryan's childhood friends & his girlfriend. We met Grant & Melissa at their apartment then rode with them to a yummy restraunt on Lake Austin. It was nice to meet somebody I've heard so much about! Grant's in med school & Melissa is in grad school. I'm hoping we'll get to see them at the wedding! Boy was it a shock to drive from 90 degrees in Austin to 50 degrees in Rockwall. Since I was still feeling icky we thought it had something to do with the extreme change of temperature. After picking up our Puppy Child from Grandma & Papa Gary's (thank you!!) we were finally home to rest!

And now I have 2 days to rest since I went to the doctor yesterday & was told I have strep. :( I have the best fiance ever though! He knew I didn't feel well & hesitated to go to work yesterday, but since I was so sure I could go he went on...a couple hours later...he was home to take care of me. :) Waited on me hand & foot just like a good husband does! Through sickness & in health...