114 Days to Go: Sweet Tooth

It's been several days since I've written anything...18 to be exact...and my friend, Charmaine, who's also getting married soon inspired me to write a new post! :o)

I have had the biggest sweet tooth lately and am dying to sink my teeth into one of our delicious wedding cakes from Sugar in Norman, Oklahoma! But, I have several days left to wait which is a good thing for my diet! Christie, our baker, does such an incredible job! I absolutely fell in love with this Bubo cake up top, but it didn't fit into our budget and only feeds 20 people. I adore it, though!

This is a super rough sketch of what my cake will look like. It's round...I really wanted a square cake, but read that they're more expensive since getting them planed evenly is so tedious. You definitely get what you pay for! They are gorgeous cakes and I'll always secretly covet all square cakes at my friends' weddings, ha ha!

I have been obsessed with birds lately. I definitely don't want one for a pet, and would probably create an awful string of profanities if one landed on me, but my house and my wedding could very well be mistaken for an aviary! Have me casually walk by anything at Target with a bird on it, and you bet it's in my cart in a hot second. Mention that something has feathers in it, and it's now the inspiration for my whole wedding. Geez! Here's hoping that I can pull this all off tastefully!

Anyway, when I was going with the glamorous fall theme--gilded pumpkins, metallics, pheasant feathers, sparkly leaves--these two pictures of male pheasant feathers caught my eye and became the inspiration for my cake!

Originally, I fell in love with the contrast of your typical pheasant feather. Then, I gravitated towards them because of their texture. After I came across the first picture, I was shocked by the vibrancy of the colors! So, I took these pictures to Christie and she's going to whip something fun up with these ideas in mind. I'm SO anxious to see what she comes up with! Not knowing exactly what it looks like is about to make me pop! But, I love surprises...good ones, at least, ha...so I can wait! My cake's flavor is called White Wedding. It tasted really good, and I love the name!

Scott is a sweet, simple man, and his cake definitely reflects that! Originally, I had imagined that he would have something intricate and unusual, since he's a graphic designer. Then, I tried to think of crazy groom's cake ideas that he might like. I found these two pictures and just knew he'd choose one of them!

The Sooner Schooner...BOOMER!

A Master Chief helmet from Halo--I cannot figure out how to play this game!

So, what did my very interesting, super creative fiance choose? Something very delicious and mega chocolaty! His flavor is called Chocolate Chip Fudge and he's having chocolate butter cream frosting with milk chocolate curls piled up all over it. Yum! There's a small possibility that it will also have fresh strawberries placed around it, but Scott's not a fruit-man, so it'll probably just be a giant pile of delicious chocolaty heaven!

We're also having a spiced carrot kitchen cake with butter cream frosting to satisfy the penny pincher's sweet tooth! It's so delectable and such a great way to save a few more dollars! Mmm, all this talk about cake has me craving something sweet. Off to take a GIANT swig of sparkling flavored water...think that will do the trick? :o)

132 Days to Go: Bridesmaids' Dresses on The Cheap

Check out my great find on eBay!

These are my gorgeous bridesmaids' dresses! I got two of them for under $98.00, which saved me a ton of money! I figured Laura and Jessica could re-wear them. They're easy to dress up or down. So, in the link I included above, you'll see that this dress is currently $0.99 with a VERY small shipping and handling fee. Wow! If I had just been a little more patient...ha ha!

133 Days to Go: My Beautiful Dress

I am so excited about this dress! I found it online and went in to David's Bridal the next day to try it on. I think I tried on about 12 dresses there. This one was the third dress I tried on. I was so relieved that it looked good on me. I really fell in love with it the night before! It should be in on August 5, so I'll post pictures of it then.

In the mean time, check out my cute wedding shoes I bought to tide me over! :o) They're super sparkly! I think they'll be fun with my dress and can't wait to try them on together again!

134 Days to Go: Inspired!

Last night while I was watching TV, I saw a new show called Bridal Bootcamp. It follows ten girls (one is eliminated each episode) who are hoping to shed enough pounds to reach their goal weights and have the wedding of their dreams. Being a bride, and wanting to trim down a bit before the wedding, I was instantly interested. The show itself isn't extremely interesting, but it is kind of inspiring!

They had an ad for Anytime Fitness during one of the commercial breaks, and the girl featured in it lost about 25 pounds in just a few months--maybe two--and was the size she wanted to be for her wedding day. She looked great and I'm hoping I'll find the same success when I enroll next week.
One thing about Bridal Bookcamp that bothered me and reassured me at the same time, was all of these average-sized girls who hate their bodies! They're cute girls...girls I would never have guessed had an issue with their bodies! A lot of the girls on the show are size 12 and they'd like get get down to a size 6. I felt bad that they couldn't see how pretty they are already and that they didn't need to change. But, at the same time, it was kind of interesting to see that even those girls who I would kill to look like had things that they're not proud of, either. I guess beauty really is in the eye of the beholder.

Anyway, I'm going to follow this show (while I run/walk on the treadmill) and sign up for my gym membership next week. Wish me luck! I need all the encouragement I can get! :o)

135 Days to Go: Party of Twelve

I've never been one of those girls who wants 42 bridesmaids. Luckily, Scott isn't the type of person to ask every friend he's ever had to be a groomsman, either. We decided to keep our bridal party fairly small and it's a little bit nontraditional, but it suites us!

Something I have always imagined, though, is having my little sister, Laura, as my Maid of Honor and that's about it. Naturally, she was my first choice when that stage of preparation was underway. Laura is a government reporter for a local newspaper. She's recently moved out of town to be closer to work and I miss her so much! I wish she was able to come into town more often to go to my bridal appointments with me! I'm looking forward to spending time with her soon.

I also chose one of my greatest girlfriends, Jessica, to be my bridesmaid. I met Jessica about four or five years ago at a house party I had. My good friend, Nathan, brought his new girlfriend to the party and I fell in love with her immediately! We always laugh at that because neither one of us had really gotten along with other girls well in the past, ha ha! Jessica my hairstylist and she's going to help me figure out a way to wear my hair with my new headpiece that just came in the mail today! Scott's Uncle John is going to be doing my hair on The Big Day, so we're practicing until he gets in town. Check back for pictures after Friday! :o)

I'm having three flower girls: Jenna, Scott's youngest niece, and Presley and Addie, two of my previous students. Jenna is five and lives in a small town in Oklahoma, just about three hours away from us. She loves ladybugs, singing, and making pizza with bizarre ingredients! Jenna is such an adorable girl. She's got an incredible since of humor--I just love being around her! Presley and Addie will be in second grade next year. I taught both of them in Pre-K and Kindergarten and am so proud at all they have done in school this year! I love all of these girls so much and am so glad they can be part of our day.

Scott's best man, Josh, and his groomsman, Brian, have recently moved to Seattle. Josh moved there with his wife, Mali, from L.A. They were married last October in Bella Vista, Arkansas and it was an absolutely gorgeous wedding! Oh, you should have seen the chapel! It was tucked away in a quiet little spot in a park and it's made out of glass and wood. Their wedding was really sensual: you could see the changing leaves falling, it smelled like fall, you could hear the wind blowing through the trees...ah! I loved their wedding. My favorite of all time!

While Josh and Mali lived in LA, he worked on the sets of movies and TV shows. It was always so fun to hear his stories about which celebrity he had worked with, or which one he had run into on the street! He and Mali decided to move to Seattle after the wedding last year and moved there a few months ago. They're getting used to it and like it a lot, so far! We are planning on visiting them sometime after the wedding. We really need to save up some money for the trip, though!


Brian moved to Seattle from Arkansas. He's also enjoying it and has recently started his own blog and is still uploading videos to YouTube! If you ever need a good laugh, or want to hear a cover of almost any song or a strange original, check out his channel.


Jackson is our ring bearer, Scott's youngest nephew, and Jenna's older brother. He is super athletic--we have high hopes for him! :o) Jackson recently met Billy Sims and even got to do the Heisman Pose with Billy! It was one of his proudest moments, ha ha! Jackson is a great football player and won several awards in Track before school let out for summer! He's such as sweet boy with amazing manners! We couldn't be more proud of him!


Finally, Scott's oldest niece and nephew, Ashley and Cameron are also going to help us! They are our guest book attendants. The guest book is actually going to be an address book. I figured that we'd need addresses for thank you notes, Christmas cards, and invitations, and that I probably wouldn't look at an actual guest book very often, so this just seemed like a more practical choice! Believe it or not, it's pretty difficult finding an address book these days...not shocking because of the Internet, I guess!
We're just really happy that so many of our family members and close friends will be helping us out! It's always nice to surround yourself with happy, positive people in stressful occasions!

136 Days to Go: He Liked It, So He Put a Ring on It.

On Saturday, May 1, Scott and I went to the OKC Zoo to participate in the MS Walk, sponsored by my school. It was really drizzly and pretty cold for May, so by the end of the walk we looked pretty rough!

After the walk, we came back to my house. Scott asked me if I was hungry, since we hadn't eaten breakfast yet. I told him that I was, but we would need to go get some ingredients from the store in order to make breakfast. He needed to get his wallet out of his truck and walked out to the driveway. I heard the doorbell ring, and when I answered it, he was proposing!!!

I was so excited and wanted to call everyone we know, but we decided to wait and surprise our families in person. It was difficult to keep the secret, but it was worth it! Our families couldn't be happier. We are so loved!

Here is a picture of my gorgeous ring! It's very effective a recess--oh, how it sparkles! We're going to be shopping for an enhancer in the next few months, so keep your sunglasses close by. 8o)

137 Days to Go: How It All Began

Scott and I attended UCO at the same time. He was studying graphic design and I was taking education classes.

One day, I decided to stop by Starbuck's in the University Center. I got in line behind a tall redhead with a very interesting hairstyle, a labret piercing, and headphones. There was just something about him that immediately interested me!

The guy in front of us was taking FOREVER to complete his order, and he was being difficult. Scott turned around and said something to me that cracked me up! I was so ashtonished that he had spoken to me that, to this day, I'm unable to recall exactly what his first words to me were! All I remember is that he said something really dry and witty about the situation, and I was hooked!

He waited for me to get my drink, and we walked me to my class. I had class in the Education Building and he had class in the Art and Design Building. They were pretty close by, but we had never seen each other until that day! On our walk to my class, we made plans to go out for a drink at a different Starbuck's that weekend.

I was so excited to go out on our date; he just seemed really cool, ha ha! That afternoon, Scott called to confirm our date. We talked about getting tea and sitting out on the patio to talk and get to know each other a little better. Somehow further plans for the evening came up in the conversation...something about what we'd do after Starbuck's. And, that's when it happened. Something I'll never forget and Scott may never completely live down. He said, "We'll just see how the night is going and then we'll decide if we want to do something afterwards."

He (supposedly) didn't mean it like that, but I took it to mean: If-I-don't-like-you-the-night-will-end. Ugh, dread. So, all through our date I was trying to judge if he was into me or not. Turns out he was and hadn't been testing me at all. He says that when he said that, it just meant that we'd see what was still open by the time we'd finished talking...sure. :o)

Well, we ended up going to see In Good Company--blah--and Denny's since it was so late. Before he dropped me back off at Starbuck's, I asked him for a goodnight kiss (fresh, rawr!) and we made plans to go the the OKCMOA the next morning so he could help me with an assignment.

Five years and several days later, we're still together. I must have been fantastic at Starbuck's!

138 Days to Go and I'm Starting a Blog

Sure, there are a million things I could be doing right now to prepare for the wedding...especially working out...but, instead, I have decided to start a blog about my life as a fiance, a wife, everything in between, and everything after.

I guess you need to know a little bit about me, if you plan on keeping up with this blog. My name is Hillary, I'm 27, newly engaged, and on my cherished summer vacation from teaching Kindergarten at a very competitive Independent School in Oklahoma City.

I've taught Kindergarten for three years, and pre-k the year prior. I attended the University of Central Oklahoma in my hometown, Edmond. I studied early childhood education and I'm currently pursuing my master's degree in reading. I love my job dearly--all of my students are exceptional. I especially love it during the summer, after an intense year of teaching my kids things I didn't learn until 2nd or 3rd grade! They are super advanced, so I use the summer to recoup and soak up as much me time as I can so, naturally, I started a blog about myself! :o)

When I'm not in my classroom, I'm running my garter business, Below the Belt. I finally have more time to dedicate to it and am in the middle of making more of my most popular seller, the Zebra Hot Pink Garter Set. Making garters is just something fun and "grown up" that I like to do after a day of singing Raffi songs.

Other than that, I love spending time with my two super sweet sugar dogs, Walker and Holden, my friends and family, and of course, my fabulous fiance, Scott! I've got several home improvement projects going on at my house right now. His parents are coming down for his birthday (July 3) to meet my parents, so I'm trying to get everything in tip-top shape! In fact, I'm pretty sure that in the time it took to create this blog, the newest coat of paint has had more than enough time to dry.

With that being said, I'm off to touch up the ceiling and start sanding cabinets. Be sure to check back tomorrow when I tell you a sweet little story of how we met! Thanks for reading!