Top 5 movies... EVER

Today I'm going to share with you my top 5 favorite movies EVER. I'm hoping by sharing this list with you that you will be able to get a better glimpse at my (awful) personality! xoxo

1. Pitch Perfect - This movie quickly became one of my favorites the first time I saw it. Witty humor, song covers, and a cheesy love story line. What more could you ask for?
   
2. The Perks of Being a Wallflower - This is my favorite book, and the screen adaptation was absolutely perfect/anything I could ever want.
   
3. Remember the Titans - I am a sucker for inspirational movies, namely inspirational sports movies.
   
4. Grease - This movie has been one of my favorites since I was just a little kid. The music was my favorite part, but now that I've gotten older I've come to appreciate all the snarky innuendoes too, haha! This movie also helped me realize my genuine love for John Travolta.
   
5. The Blind Side - I told you I can't get away from those inspirational sports movies... Plus this one is a TRUE STORY and has Sandy in it. Sign me up!
   

Video of the Week:

"What A Girl's Hair Means"

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Last but certainly not least... Hannah Stears!

Fact 1: Hannah and I have the very same birthDAY! I am 2 years older!

Fact 2: Hannah and I both wish that my eye lashes were fuller than they are.

Fact 3: Of almost everyone I know, Hannah is the most creative! She's constantly making things, bedazzling things, coming up with great ideas... I'm hoping this serves me well in the wedding planning process ;)

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Lucky number 7.... Who else could I possible even dream of giving this number aside from Jessica Shook-Prawl soon to be Gerry. It's only fitting!

Fact 1: Jessica and I played on the same basketball team in 7th grade. Both of us are still VERY athletic...

Fact 2: We lived together for a while in Columbia during college. We did everything from make lip sync videos, to throw parties for our friends (Rock vs Rap, anyone?).

Fact 3: Jessica is in the process of planning her own wedding that will take place in May! It's kind of neat to have someone close to you planning their wedding at the same time as you are.

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Day 6: Crystal Landers

Fact 1: Aside from my brother, Crystal has known me the longest of any of my bridesmaids. Obviously because she's my cousin.

Fact 2: Making this post made me realize how few photos that Crystal and I have together, which is ridiculous because I have a million pictures of her three daughters.

Fact 3: Crystal has not had it easy, and I am so envious of her courage and strength in proceeding on to make her dreams come true. Going to college full time with 3 young children could in no way be easy, but she does it with grace and ease (and honors!).

Cutesy (semi) DIY!

I decided today to show you guys a "throwback" DIY that I made last summer right after I got engaged. These boxes are how I initially asked my bridesmaids to be in the wedding. I asked 3 of my girls in a different way, and technically I never asked my brother, haha.

Anyway, I got the actual boxes at Hobby Lobby. Stuff like this goes on sale for 50% ALL THE TIME, so I got a great deal on them. I liked these because they were just the plain brown, and I didn't feel like I needed to decorate them very much. As you can see I just put their initials on them, and tied green (our wedding color) ribbon around them into bows!

The contents of the box were pretty simple. I got the bridesmaid sashes at a party store. Same with the huge plastic engagement rings. The rings actually started as necklaces, but I cut the beads off because my vision was just a huge ring. They were reasonably priced at the party store as well, so it was worth the tweaking! I included the silver ornament (with a green ribbon to hang it) to represent the main colors of the wedding, as well as the decor scheme. You can also see there's a little piece of black fabric - to represent the color I'd be having them wear in the wedding!

I also included this card on the lid of the box. I found this on Pinterest and tweaked it just a bit to fit my situation more accurately!

Overall, these boxes were a cute/unique way to ask the girls (in my opinion) and they really didn't cost very much at all!

In what ways did y'all ask your maids to be in your wedding??

Flashback - NYC 2011

These snapshots are just a few of the photos I took when I visited NYC in summer 2011. My aunt lives there, and I love going to visit. NYC will most definitely be on my preference sheet for placements if I get into TFA!

Meadowview Gardens

I just wanted to drop a quick post to highlight the beautiful venue we've chosen for our wedding!!!!!

Check her out, you won't be disappointed!!!!!!!!!

http://www.meadowviewgardens.net/

TFA

I wanted to write something today that wasn't a bridesmaid profile. As interesting as those are, that's not what you want to read every time you look at my page... Unless they're about you, then you probably love them...

So today I just wanted to drop a quick post about what's actually been going on in life. I'm not that interesting, but HEY, LET'S TRY IT ANYWAY.

Now that school has started back up, I'm pretty busy. Full time school, and two jobs is pretty rough, but I'm motivated to get to where I want to be in life.

I applied for Teach for America - to be a part of the 2013 corps. It's still early in the process, but I did get moved on to the phone interview stage, and I had my interview yesterday! I think it went alright, but phone interviews are so AWKWARD! I find out on the 5th if I have been moved on to the final interview stage which is a day long interview process in Columbia, MO that includes group interviews, etc. It is my hope that I get accepted into the corps, and get to move to a new city for a year or two. TFA is located in 46 cities across the nation, so my options are open as far as that goes - but I've definitely got my sights set on a certain few!

With that said, please keep me in your thoughts this next week or so! I would be so grateful for this opportunity, and can use all the help I can get!

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Lucky number 5... Michael Helms

Some would say that it is a bit unorthodox to have a man standing next to you, but I guess you could say that my brother and I have never been normal. He's been my best friend since birth, whether he knew it or not. There's nothing like the bond between siblings, nothing thicker than blood in world. That's the reason he's my MAN of honor.

Fact 1: My brother went to college on a soccer scholarship originally. He's always been super athletic (baseball, soccer, etc.). He's one of those people that can not go running for a year, decide to work out, and a week later be running 6 minute miles. It has always pissed me off, haha.

Fact 2: Things were not always good between us. He used to fart on my face and I used to rat him out to my parents for sneaking out, missing curfew, etc. But my fondest memories are with him, and when it came down to it - he was always there to protect me. From boys, from family, from everything.

Fact 3: Making my brother proud of me is one of my biggest motivations in life. How I do in school, what jobs I have, the guys I date. I honestly feel like if my brother thinks I'm doing alright, then maybe I really am.

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Profile 4: Ally Richardson (Mason)

Fact 1: Ally was my roommate for the semester that I attended Missouri State University in Springfield. We first talked online a couple months before moving in and discovered we were twins! (Curly hair, mom's were nurses, white grape flavored water, psoriasis, etc.).

Fact 2: Ally and I don't see each other as much as I'd like considering we live 3 hours away from each other, but she is without a doubt one of the people who has been there and been supportive through everything that life has thrown my way.

Fact 3: I was a bridesmaid in Ally's wedding this past October, and I could not be happier that she is going to be doing the same for me in my wedding next January.

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Profile #3: Mercedes Bartlett

Fact 1: Mercedes and I knew of each other in high school, but really became friends when we both moved down to Mizzou and lived in the same dorm.

Fact 2: I'm a pretty blunt, outrageous person... Mercedes puts me to shame.

Fact 3: Mercedes is one of those couponers that you see on TV! She gets free stuff all the time and has a whole walk-in closet full of her stock pile!! Her ability to find a deal may come in handy when it comes to wedding planning! ;)

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Today's victim profile?: Stacey Butts

Fact 1: Stacey and I met (and actually started hanging out) in high school. We did everything from go to basketball games and kool-aid parties, to underage drink.

Fact 2: When I went to school in Springfield and Stacey was at school in Warrensburg we talked on the phone about our lives almost every night.

Fact 3: Stacey is going to be the best wife ever someday. She loves football, beer, and is one of the most genuine people I've ever met in my life.

Flashback - Fall '07

Fall 2007 was my very first semester at Mizzou. I somehow made friends with a girl down the hall, it stuck, and our circle expanded. The 5 of us were pretty inseparable for a while! Love and miss you all! xxxx

BRIDESMAID PROFILES

As I mentioned in a post a while back, I'm going to be having 8 bridesmaids in my "Evergreen Wedding" come next January. It's been tough for me because I've been blessed in the friends department over the years and I could probably ask a handful more of girls to stand with me, no questions asked... but what would Ben think? haha. With that said, the 8 I've chosen are wonderful, and I'm going to do a quick profile of each of them! 1 profile per day for the next... 8 days... obviously.

First up: Shelby Eagan

Fact 1: Shelby and I have known each other since the 6th grade (12.5 years). We met on the bus.

Fact 2: We used to live down the street from each other (about a mile apart). We would walk to each other's houses or meet in the middle almost daily, but then we got cars/lazy.

Fact 3: Shelby will always be more tan than me, which is obvious in these photos of us from 2004 and 2012.

Engagement Story:

Friday 05/18:

During the day on Friday, Ben, his mom, and I went to Fernwood Botanical Gardens. It's this awesome little nature reserve park that has all these different kinds of gardens with all different kinds of plants/flowers/etc. in them. My knees were suffering a bit from all the walking, but it was SO pretty there.

Friday night was a big night in our lives. Ben and I had been planning to go out to eat one night when we were in South Bend to celebrate my graduation. There's a seafood restaurant there called The Blue Lantern that is really reasonable and REALLY delicious. We went there to celebrate both of our birthdays this past year. On Friday though, we kind of decided we weren't really in the mood to go there and we were going to pick somewhere else.

I decided Thai food sounded really good. We hadn't had any in a while, and because our first date was at a Thai restaurant, it kind of holds a cute/special place in our relationship. Little did I know, I'd chosen the perfect restaurant!

The food was delicious, and the restaurant was right in downtown South Bend, so we were able to walk from the restaurant to the South Bend Chocolate Factory's Chocolate Cafe and have Fondue for dessert! If any of you follow me on Twitter you've seen me declare my love for SBCF chocolate many times before! To say I was full after dessert is an UNDERSTATEMENT!

After leaving the Chocolate Cafe, Ben said he wanted to take a walk down by the river that is right there (the St. Joseph River). I told him I was full and my knees hurt, but I guessed we could. He said we needed to go to the car first. I guess I misunderstood this because when we got to the car I was very upset that we weren't driving to the river that was 2 blocks away, haha! Anyway, we walked down to the river, to a little island landing behind the Century Center and Ben gave me my "present" that he had needed to get from the car.

    

I opened the box and there were three layers of tissue paper. Wrapped in each was a set of stickers somehow relating to engagements or proposals. At the bottom of the box was a piece of scrapbook paper that said "Will You Marry Me?"... I looked up and Ben was on his knee with a gorgeous ring. I was excited and nervous and happy and embarrassed all at the same time. So what was my natural response? To say NO! Of course I corrected myself and said yes though!

Flashback: Italy

I should be doing homework, but I am having a hard time concentrating on the tasks, and I haven't blogged in a bit. So, here I am.

Today's flashback? My study abroad trip to Italy in May 2010.

     

 

 

 

 

 

Flashback - Prom

I'm going to start a new reoccurring blog topic called "Flashback." In the flashback posts I will be recapping some of my favorite, most important, most memorable, etc. moments via photos!

Tonight - PROM