Wedding Progress

Travis and I were in the paper! His mom put an engagement announcement in the paper (in Idaho) and sent us a copy when it printed.

It was really nice to be able to see it and it got me thinking of ways to share what's going on down here. I know that she hasn't been able to see many of the details for the wedding (or hear about them since Travis has no clue on some of it, like the flowers), so I've decided to post some pictures and information about the wedding...

The location is Neverland Farms in Cleveland, GA. I have some pictures of other weddings held there...

The property is a farm with horses, so there will be horses in the pastures and I will arrive at the ceremony (and Travis and I will be taken away from the ceremony) in a carriage.

Here are some other pictures of the location..

This is the cabin where I will get ready for the ceremony and where Travis and I will stay that night.

The guests will wait in the "barn" (where bluegrass music will be played) until the ceremony begins.

My favorite part of the barn is the loft. This is where Travis and his friends can hang out until things get started and they can overlook everyone in the barn or sit in a private area (if Travis is hyperventilating).

The ceremony is outdoors under an arbor right by one of the pastures. Hopefully the horses will roam close enough for photos during our ceremony.

The reception will take place in a covered pavilion that looks like a barn, but it's open. I put a picture of it during the day and at night...

Here is a picture of the buffet table and cake table.

The menu that we picked out from the caterer is:

Starter:
Fresh Chipotle Salsa & Spiked Sour Cream

Salad:
Fancy Spinach Salad

(Baby Spinach, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Slivered Almonds, Bacon & Parmesan, Country French Dressing)

Entrees:

Neverland’s Hickory Smoked Pork Loin

(with Secret Brown Sugar Rub and Moonshine Vidalia Peach Sauce)

“Smoked on the Bone” Chicken
(Ellijay Apple Cider Brined and Finished with Garlic Shallot Vinaigrette)

Sides:

Pecan Crusted Squash Casserole
(Squash, Zucchini, Bell Pepper & Vidalia Baked in Cheesy Cream under a Pecan Herbed Crumb Crust)

Roasted Garlic & Cream Smashers
(Yukon Gold and Baby Reds Smashed in their Skins and loaded with Neufchatel, Herb Butter, and Sour Cream)

Then, from the bakery for the cake: I picked the hexagon shape of the first cake and the design of the second cake (minus the bottom layer - our cake will only have four layers). The brown/green layers will be chocolate cake and the ivory/ivy layers will be white butter cake.

I also picked a Willow Tree topper. Travis will even be wearing an outfit that looks like that! It seemed much better than the traditional ones with the groom in a tuxedo.

Then, when we leave the reception, there will be a sparkler farewell.

On to other details...

The flowers: I finally decided to use calla lilies. I will be carrying white lilies and everyone else will have yellow.

Some of the other flowers and plants that will be used are: star of bethlehem, lily grass, hypericum berries, and variegated pit.

For the favors, I ordered matches online and I made decorative candles. I got the candles at Wal-Mart and tied ribbon around them with a heart charm at the knot. This took me a while, but it was like the invitations... it seemed more personal and it saved money.



My mom and Heather (the maid of honor) have picked out what they are wearing.

I got my dress (but can't show it because Travis reads this) and my accessories - antique looking jewelry and flip flops as my shoes.

Travis and I both got our rings for the ceremony. Mine is a band that matches the engagement ring and his band looks a little like a tire tread and is made out of titanium (I put it on my thumb to take a picture, but it's still a little hard to see).

I finally picked out a guest book. I couldn't stand the idea of white "pillow top" guest book, so I bought a journal from a book store. It has lined pages and opens flat, so it should work well. It also looks like a normal book when you turn it sideways, which means that we may actually keep it on a bookshelf somewhere.

Ok, well, that's it for now. I still have to pick out music and a few other things... and we meet with the officiant tomorrow. We had to take personality tests for this, so I will post the results (although I already looked up our results on-line, which makes sense based on my personality).

Rock Town

I know that I haven't posted anything in a long time... I've been really busy with school, preparing for the wedding, and planning the honeymoon. So far, I've gotten a lot done with the planning, but it has left me really stressed for time and I haven't planned many other activities (I even cancelled my Spring Break beach trip so that I could get wedding and honeymoon plans done). However, Travis and I did go rock climbing with the AOC in April the weekend after his birthday (which was convenient timing for me because I was able to get him climbing shoes as his present). Here we are the first day of climbing:

Unfortunately, I had a sinus infection and was sick during the trip. I did climb some, but I spent most of my time hanging out on the ground with Bailey and taking pictures. This is my favorite picture from the trip - Travis' first climb outdoors!

Here are some other pictures from the trip... look at how big the group was!

Well, hopefully things will settle down soon and I'll have more time to blog... but don't expect to see too many posts until late June after the wedding and honeymoon.

Valentines – Part II

I love technology – I am stuck in the car right now, yet I have plenty to entertain me. First off, there is always my Nintendo DS or I can get on the Internet on my phone if I get bored. Secondly, Travis has a Bluetooth device that lets you listen to music that you have stored on your phone in the car. It’s so much easier than remembering (and charging ahead of time) an MP3 player. His music started to repeat, so I am now in charge of the music selection.

Wondering about the first sentence of the blog where I said that I was in the car? Yes, I am now sitting in the car typing up a blog on my netbook (an Acer Aspire One). It’s basically a smaller version of a regular computer that I got for Christmas (thank you Santa!). I can even load my pictures easily because Travis took them on his camera and the memory card from his camera fits into the SD slot on my computer. Here are some pictures we took on our drive through the mountains today:

My computer is great for traveling… speaking of traveling, Travis and I are now on our way back home from snowboarding at Sapphire Valley. Yes, snowboarding – and nothing is broken – I can still type with both hands and walk around without crutches.

We went on Valentine’s night from 5:00 to 9:00 (it was a better deal than going all day and we figured we would be tired after four hours anyway). We were right; practicing on the bunny hill was exhausting! It took a lot of work to get back up to the top each time for 20 seconds of attempting to ride down. I’m just glad that I am good at falling without hurting myself because I fell a lot! It wasn’t too bad though, it seemed like a mix of skiing, wake boarding, and skate boarding – all of which I have tried before.

I don’t know what was scarier, the first time I went down the bunny hill (not knowing what to expect once I started moving) or going down the big hill later that night. I guess it was the big hill because I was so nervous that I felt like I was going to puke as we were going up the lift. Travis said that is how he feels before giving presentations… I’m glad that doesn’t happen to me because it would be really hard to be a teacher.

Anyway, the big hill seemed easier than the bunny hill. I don’t know if it was because I was too scared to not do well (there is only so much you can mess up on a bunny hill, but I could have really hurt myself on a big hill) or if it was because I finally had a chance to take a break and recover from walking up the bunny hill. It was probably just that the snow was softer and that made it easier to control your speed and turns. Travis seemed really surprised once I got on the big hill – he looked at me and asked “Where did this come from?” He was good at turning and slowing himself down on the bunny hill, but I wasn’t very skilled at that until the big hill.

So there’s my new adventure – and I survived. I’m a little sore (and jealous of Travis for not being too sore – he picked up on it after about an hour when it took me about two hours, so he fell a lot less than me), but it was fun and I learned how to do something new.

Now if I could only post the blog… maybe Travis will drive past somewhere with free wireless, or I guess I could transfer this to my phone and do it from there – I do have Internet as part of my phone package. Nah, too much work, I’ll just post it later on tonight.

My Valentines

Travis and I have already gotten our Valentine's Day gifts. Yeah, it's not for a few days, but we didn't wait to play with them since they weren't a surprise. He wanted new bike tires (which I couldn't pick out) and I wanted a bike trailer, so we already knew what we were getting and opened them when they arrived. I know we won't have any gifts for the actual day, but I'm OK with that - the holiday is really used anyway as an excuse to buy something for the other person that they will like.

So, Travis' bike tires aren't that exciting (at least to me), but check out what I got!

Yep, that's right - a bike trailer to haul Bailey around in. It should be a lot of work to pull a 100 pound dog behind a bike, but Travis has an electric bike (notice the battery over the back wheel). It's great - I push a lever and Bailey and I are zooming down the street! So now there's one more reason for the neighbors to stare at me, but look at that big smile on his face...

This was the second trip that Bailey took in the trailer (I didn't take a camera the first day). As usual, I hyped him up about going before we left. Travis and I do this all the time when we are taking him for a ride or walk; and Bailey bounces around and barks. Before our ride today, I ran into the back yard while talking about "going" and Bailey chased me so that I wouldn't leave without him. Unfortunately, he was so excited about going this time, that he jumped through a window in the screened in porch!

Notice that the door on the right was propped open. Why he felt compelled to take a shortcut through the screen (and bushes), I'm not sure. He can run so much faster than me that catching up with me isn't a problem. Apparently, his brain wasn't running fast enough though... he seemed a little shocked when he landed in the bushes (as were Travis and I). Here he is checking out his demolition once he came back in the porch (using the door):

Well, at least he likes the new bike trailer...

I (Almost) Have a Niece and Nephew!

Courtney (Travis’ sister) just had a baby girl! While we’re technically not related yet, I am very excited about the prospect of having both a niece and nephew. I have never really watched anyone grow up from birth. I have seen my students age from 10 year olds to 16 year olds (which is a big change), but that’s not the same as knowing someone from the time that they are a baby and then getting to watch them become adults.

Here is a picture of Tamzyn…



… and I can’t forget to include the new big brother Boston in this post, he’s just too adorable!

Cumberland Island with the AOC

Travis and I went to Cumberland Island for New Year's with the AOC.

We camped out for a few nights and had a lot of fun with the group. But don't worry, we weren't roughing it... the weather was great and we took plenty of stuff to have all the comforts of home!

And if you got in the right spot, you could even get cell phone reception and the Internet (which was good for the boys to keep up with the football games).

Even without the Internet, there is so much you can do there! First off, it's an island - so obviously, there is a beach.

There was also plenty of wildlife to look at... and for - I found 12 shark's teeth.

The most memorable event though was when we went on a 14 mile bike ride to the north end of the island (28 miles round trip)! I still can't believe I made it back to the campsite.

After the ride, hanging out at the campsite with the group was especially fun - I was really tired and didn't want to move too much!

And at night, we found plenty to keep ourselves occupied...