ONE WEEK

ONE WEEK from today I will marry the man of my dreams! I cannot wait! Nathan and I recently took the last half of our engagements but this time we did them in Moro. We cannot say thank you enough to Dale for driving down to capture these for us because you totally caught us in our element...thank you! Check a sneak peek out here on Dale's blog.


           

O N E M O N T H

Holy moly! Our wedding is ONE month away! Emotions are flooding me; happiness, excitement, anxiety, love, stress, etc. You name it I bet I am currently feeling it. There is so much to be done in the next four weeks but one thing I keep reminding myself is a statement our pastor who is marrying us says every time we talk, “It’s not about the wedding day its about your marriage.” Yes, that statement gives me perspective. I love the wisdom Nathan and I have gained from Todd and his wife Bethany through our premarital counseling sessions. And I am even more thankful for a fiancé who reminds me of the many points Todd and Bethany speak to us about. What a leader Nathan is!

So, this little post is really to share in my excitement for July 18, 2015! I am so excited to become Nathan’s wife and to share in all of life’s adventures in the coming days, weeks, months, and years! I love you, Nathan, and I cannot wait to marry you!! XOXO

P.S. With the wedding closer I can begin sharing (next post) how we stuck to using ALL small Arkansas businesses for our vendors! Call me dorky but I love that we did this theme for our wedding and kept our vendors local!

Our first game day together=Our first photo together!

One of our many favorites from our engagement photos!

          

Sweet Home, Arkansas

This past weekend my mom and I spent Friday evening and Saturday morning addressing all of our save-the-dates! I addressed as she stuffed and stamped. It was a great time to be together and talk all things wedding and life in general. She is pretty wise so I always love soaking up her wisdom. Oh, and shout out to Dale Benfield of Benfield Photography for our adorable save-the-dates.

You may be wondering about the title of todays blog so let me explain. Before Nathan and I were even engaged we were traveling to White Hall one weekend and to avoid the construction traffic coming out of Little Rock we got off the interstate and took the “old highway” until we could get past the traffic. During this little journey we found a town called Sweet Home. Immediately, we both said “Ah, Sweet Home, Arkansas. That is pretty cool!” So, in my mind I thought to myself when/if we ever get engaged I am mailing all things wedding from Sweet Home. And I have done just that! Mom and I moseyed up to Sweet Home this past weekend and mailed the save-the-dates (add one more check mark on the “to-do” list). May seem crazy to some but being detailed oriented myself I wanted our postmark to say Sweet Home, Arkansas. 

Once we were engaged, Nathan and I began discussing vendors, etc. and we decided we wanted all of our vendors to be from Arkansas and we wanted as many as possible to be small businesses. Both of us grew up living in and learning the ways of small businesses because of our families so we wanted to be able to give back to the community of Arkansas small businesses. I know you are probably thinking is that even possible?! Yes! Yes, it is! If you keep coming back to read you will learn of all the small business vendors we are using.

           

Pretty much Sweet Home, Arkansas was the cherry on top to our theme for our wedding! All things Arkansas and it sure is sweet!

Our Save-the-Dates with our fun stamps! It's all in the details for this girl!

          

Adalynn Comes to Jonesboro

If you are reading this you are probably just as shocked as I was when Nicole finally gave in and let Adalynn come stay with me in Jonesboro. Yes, it is 2 ½ hours away from home but Adalynn handle it like a pro! And so did Nicole! 

I picked her up early Monday morning and that is where the fun began. We sang Jim (AKA Alan Jackson), Frozen, Mercy Tree, and other southern gospel songs on our drive back to Jonesboro. Adalynn LOVES music! Our first stop was Uncle Nae’s office! He is simply her favorite. Here is a little look as to how her visit to his office went....

Helping out in the office!

Just doing some financial work, ha!

Showing Nathan the grand total of her calculations! 

He spoils her! Picking out a new Armor t-shirt! 

Next, we did lunch at Chick-Fil-A where she enjoyed playing on the jungle gym and making new friends. It always makes me so happy to see how loving and friendly Adalynn is. She never meets a stranger, and I haven’t decided if that is a good or bad thing.

After lunch she and I watched a couple of episodes of Barney and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while lying down to take a nap but she quickly informed me “I not tired, Mae.” So, what does any good aunt do?! She says ok then, and you take her shopping. Well, that was the plan until she fell asleep on the way to shop. Not tired, huh?? Instead of shopping we road around for 1 ½ hours while she napped.

After her nap she was insistent that we go shopping so to try and compromise my need to get groceries and her “need” to shop she agreed to shop at the grocery store. This was a fun experience! Might I remind you she is one little person and she needed to ride in the buggy that has the seats attached to it for two kids. O.M.G I tried to reason with her but it was not happening so here I am in the grocery store looking silly having ONE kid in a cart that could hold 2-3 kids! The things I do for her! Ha! Oh, and we also bought a Dora the Explorer birthday card that plays music because you guessed it...It was her birthday! It really wasn’t her birthday, but she sure thought it was. Silly girl!

Once our shopping was complete we did dinner and then Uncle Nae and I took her to see Cinderella! This was Adalynn’s first time at the movie theater and she LOVED IT!! She constantly waved at Cinderella (it was so cute) and she sat with her eyes wide and mouth opened in awe most of the movie. No worries, I sent her mommy and daddy pictures (Nanna and Poppa, too).

Helping cook dinner :)

Her face is priceless! She was so in awe of the movie theater. 

Day two of her stay in Jonesboro consisted of rising at 7 am, eating toast with jelly, and lounging around the house. Aunt Ashy (Ashley) came over to hangout with us for the day, too. After lunch, we went shopping at Target where Adalynn went crazy with her ‘monies’ from Nanna & Poppa. In fact, when we checked out the lady made the statement we must be buying for a birthday party to which I replied, “No ma’am, she just thought she needed all of this.” I know the lady thought I was crazy but that’s ok. Adalynn’s shopping trip ended with 2 pairs of shoes, a giant egg full of smaller eggs, a Sofia the First placemat and wand that teaches numbers and ABCs, an Elsa mason jar, 2 journals with fuzzy pens (because she has so much to write about), a Cinderella dress and a Cinderella baby doll. Oh, and a purse you can color and a badminton game! Here she is with some of her loot!

Her shopping trip must of wore her our because she napped for two hours afterwards!  That evening we did dinner and played, and played, and played! She had such a fun filled day and it ended with us snuggling in bed watching Veggie Tales until she fell asleep! Sweet moments!

Day three of her stay in Jonesboro started out with sleeping until 8:30 am (YES!), eating chips (AKA cereal), and playing outside, and then packing up her stuff to prepare for her departure back south. She was NOT ready to go home! She cried, she repeatedly told me she “not go home” and that she “stay witch you Mae”. I must admit I was not ready for her to leave either but I knew her mommy and daddy were missing her (and she was missing them too despite her telling them she didn’t). Ha!

Cinderella!

She LOVES badminton! 

After a quick lunch with Uncle Nae she said her goodbyes and we hit the road. She slept for all but the first 45 minutes of the trip, so I just sang my way back to White Hall. When we arrived at her house she was SO excited to see her mommy but when it was time for me to leave she informed her mommy she was going back to Jonesboro with Mae. Ehh...that broke my heart because of course she whined and cried some but she was totally over it once her mommy told her she was going to the zoo the next day!

To sum it all up, I LOVED having Adalynn come stay with me! I learn so much from her and often find myself getting emotional when I sit and watch her play or sit and have conversation with her. She has the biggest heart! She lives life to the fullest, she genuinely loves everyone she meets, and she gives the best hugs and sugars! One of my favorite moments of her time here in Jonesboro was when we were watching Cinderella and she randomly stands up and puts her arms around Nathan and says, “I wuv you Uncle Nae” and gives him sugars and then comes over to me and does the same thing. It doesn’t get much sweeter, folks!

I also love how she loves Jesus! Her favorite songs are about our Savior and she prefers to be the one to say the prayer before every meal. I feel extremely blessed to be her aunt and I am so thankful for her mommy and daddy who are raising her to learn to love God and love others! Kudos, Trey and Nicole!

When she says, "You take my gasses and I take yours" you do it! 

             

SNOW IN LOVE

If mother nature thinks we need to continuously receive this snow then I am determined to make good come from it. Nathan & I braved the roads and drove to Walnut Ridge, AR to see my friend & bridesmaid Ashley for a fun afternoon full of photos! Here are some of my favorites...

And then this happened...

Thank you so much, Ashley! 

         

Engagement Sneak Peek

O. M. G. Y'all, I am in LOVE with our engagement photos! I literally squealed (yes, like a school girl) when I realized Dale had featured our photos on his blog! I read his blog daily so when I saw yesterday's blog title it was such a fun surprise! Thanks, Dale!

Nathan and I spent a rather cold Sunday afternoon with Dale in Fayetteville taking these photos but we loved every second! Dale has such a gift for what he does and a great personality to add to it, so of course he made the photo taking process especially fun despite the elements we were in (racing to beat the the winter weather that won't seem to go away).

Here is a sneak peek at just one of the photos so be sure to click here to see the rest on Dale's blog!

           

This Is Your Year To SPARKLE!

This past weekend I had the honor of directing the Miss Greater Jonesboro and Miss Greater Jonesboro’s Outstanding Teen Pageant. I will be honest and say I was nervous about embarking on this endeavor because I already direct Miss Arkansas Delta and Miss Arkansas Delta’s Outstanding Teen, but God has blessed me greatly with four wonderful young ladies! I look forward to getting to know these young ladies and being able to witness their growth throughout this year.

I could write a lot about these incredible young women instead I’ll let the pictures do the talking. Oh, and be sure to check out our websites (here and here) and join in on cheering on these ladies at Miss Arkansas’ Outstanding Teen in Russellville, AR on June 11-13^th (find more information here) and at Miss Arkansas in Hot Springs, AR on July 8-11^th (find more information here)! They are sure to SPARKLE! 

Enjoy!

Miss Greater Jonesboro 2015 Kasey Welsh & Miss Greater Jonesboro's Outstanding Teen 2015 Raegan Snell

Miss AR Delta Elli Fowler, Miss Greater Jonesboro Kasey Welsh,
 Miss Greater Jonesboro OT Raegan Snell, & Miss AR Delta OT Lacey Moore

My girls!!