25 Random Facts + I Got An Award! Woo!

I love my blogger buddies...

One of my favorite blogs (ever), Beer Budget Bride's Musings just did a really cool post titled "25 Random Facts," and I got a huge kick out of it! It's fun to learn a little something about the people writing our favorite blogs. It's not like we ever get to see them or talk to them directly so seeing their picture and reading about them is pretty cool, if you ask me.

1. In college, I smoked a pack of cigarettes a day. Awful, I know.

2. I'm a workout whore. I love running and lifting weights, and I go to personal training twice a week.

3. My fiance is my height. No, that's a lie. He's probably a little shorter than me. Truth is, I love him anyway and think he's perfect!

4. I secretly (really, really) wish I was one of those go-against-the-grain artsy types of chicks with lots of tatoos and a rebel attitude.

5. I listen to country music and used to go line dancing with my mom.

6. I had actually never, ever thought about what kind of wedding I wanted until my fiance told me to start thinking about it, which was a little over a year ago.

7. Okay this is really gross, but I love you so much I'm going to tell you anyway - sometimes I pick my nose! Bahaha! Seriously it's way faster and more effective than going for a tissue. Sorry. Yeah, I might go back and erase this one.

8. On a more serious note, I really want to write a novel. A best-selling novel. I feel like I'm supposed to write a book, but maybe that's wishful thinking.

9. I also really want my book to turn into a movie (wishful thinking, huh?). It could happen, right? One of my favorite books, Eat, Pray, Love is going to be on big screens soon.

10. I love my yorkshire terrier, Rocky, but I don't walk him often enough or give him treats, play with him, or rub his belly as much as I should.

11. My grandmother nicknamed me motormouth when I was young and it's seriously so true. I could talk for hhhooouurrrsss.

12. I'm really frustrated with our wedding plans. I hate to say that because I sound like such a sad, sulky bride, but I have so many ideas and yet I'm not doing anything. I have this fear it's going to be a really lame wedding :(

13. When I was a little girl my dream was to travel the world. I'm 25 and yet to leave Virginia. I've done some traveling around the States, but I've never left the country. I think I'll DIE if I don't get moving soon.

14.  I'm one of those people that writes a to do list all the time and there's never enough hours in the day to get everything done.

15. My mom lives in a little cottage in the country and I love it there. I wish I could live with her.

16. My hair has been all sorts of colors and styles. In all of the photos of Aaron and I over the years, I look like a different person! Here's a picture from when my hair was short and blonde. I can't wait for the PWC (post wedding chop!)

17. I'm a die-hard fan of the music artists Kelly Clarkson and Pink.

18. Even though we're spending nearly $20,000 (don't shoot me, please) on our wedding, I definitely have a hard time justifying it. All the brokeass brides are right. It's only one day.

19. My parents are split and even though it's been a tough thing to deal with, I wouldn't trade my two little step sisters for anything in the world. They are the cutest children EVER.

20. It's really hard for me to sit still and do nothing, but I absolutely love to watch movies with my fiance.

21. My favorite television programs are 48 Hours Mystery and Snapped.

22. My weight watchers screenname was addictedtogreasensugar, and I've always thought that was so perfectly fitting.

23. Most of my friends don't read my blog, but I love them anyway.

24. My wedding ring is perfect. My fiance has immaculate taste.

25. I want to run a marathon.

Hopefully you've enjoyed that little peak into my life the same I enjoyed learning more about the Beer Budget Bride! I'm sooo totally overwhelmed and excited to share that she's given me a cool new award below:

She seriously made my day with this!!!!

I am so thankful for her following and all her (and yours) awesome comments!! I'm glad that there's a few people that enjoy reading Olive Weddings, since it is my little pride and joy!! It's amazing that more people I don't know read this blog than folks I do know, like friends and family. I think it just goes to show the blogging (and especially the wedding blog) community is really there for each other.

*tear*

I'm so glad to be a part of it all! Thank you, Dancy!!!

Please note that this award was created by JEM at Aquabride and the she says: the only rule is now you pass it on. It doesn't matter to how many people.

Therefore, I'm going to pass it onto my co-worker and blogger friend, Mark over at Running With Blue Sponge. He has some really awesome Random Facts. He went so far as to do installment posts, with an extra (false) fact, which readers had to guess!

I also would like to award D. Marie at The World Around Her for being such an awesome blogger pal! I see her on all of the bride-to-be blogs leaving her two cents! She must know how much we all love comments. She just posted her own 25 Random Facts, be sure to check em out! One of which is that she just finished reading Elizabeth Gilbert's latest book - I'm dying to know how it was!!

Thanks again, Dancy!

Dessert: Best of Both Worlds

Put the cake in cupcakes...

Lovely dessert duo of cupcakes and cake.

Classy, yet cost effective. Simple, yet stunning.

Yumm.

everything fab & hello naomi via thoughtful day

Invitation Wording

You already know I'm obsessed with having beautiful invitations. Did I mention they have to read well too?

As you know, we've been thinking a whole lot about the desing of our invitation lately. Probably over-thinking them to be honest. I am really torn about what we want and what we should do (DIY, store bought, online printables,or custom suites).There are just way to many choices and...Wait. Huh? It's not that serious.

I know! I know! Somebody shoot me already.

 I never thought I'd be this obsessed over words on paper. Sheesh.

Truth is, I am this obsessed. I'm hell-bent on having beautiful, cohesive, color-coordinated, and unique invitations and it's made me somewhat of a invite connoisseur... Well, not really, but I've discovered quite a few awesome stationeries. My most recent find is a company called Wink: Rediscover the Value of Invitations, based in - you're not going to believe this - in the Phillippines!

Wink has really pretty invitations and they are a lot less expensive than those I've seen here in America. We probably won't get our invitations from Wink simply because the shipping costs would be outrageous, but nevertheless, their ridiculously pretty and well-put-together invites have been great eye candy.

Also, they've got me thinkng about our wording. Here I've been so worried about the design and haven't given the wording a single thought. While fliping through the Wink Gallery, I discovered an invitation with the most moving, thought-provoking (mademewanttoshoutwithexcitement) wording. Here it is:

TO EVERYTHING THERE IS A REASON. A TIME AND A PURPOSE.
ON THIS DAY I WILL MARRY MY BEST FRIEND.
THE ONE I WILL LAUGH WITH. LIVE FOR. LOVE.

*tear*

Allowing this new found inspiration to take over, I thought, goodness, let me see what else is out there! Here is another very romantic, at least to me, phrase I've considered using:

TWO LIVES JOINED IN FRIENDSHIP
TWO FRIENDS JOINED IN LOVE
ONE LOVE JOINED IN CHRIST.

I definitely love the (although it's a bit religious) spiritual tone of the quote above. It's very fitting for the ceremony we plan to have, focused on our mutual faith.

I don't know what I was thinking before! Hello! What the invitations say is just as important as how they look, right? I guess all my searches aren't in vain after all!

So, the search continues - not only for the perfect design, but wording too!

What did your invitations say?

My Honey Is Sweet

I love spending time with Aaron's family...

Like many other Saturday mornings I've spent in Williamsburg, Aaron, his family, and me started off with a lovely breakfast. It's sort of a tradition of theirs to have breakfast together (there are four of them, Aaron, his mom, dad, and sister), and I have really come to enjoy it.

I never did anything like this with my family. We always ate our meals in front of the TV and it was rare if all of us sat around and talked. Aaron's family, on the other hand, always spends this time together, catching up, and sharing about different things.

I know a lot of people don't enjoy their in-laws, so I consider myself lucky. They are so supportive of each other and it's really refreshing. I really enjoy watching them interact, and talking with them, I feel so comfortable and at peace. I care a lot about Aaron's family, they are truly unique, and I realize this more and more. I found myself truly enjoying them this weekend and it might sound cheesy, but being around them I feel at home. It feels like they are my family too.

His extended family is great too...

Sunday morning we didn't have breakfast, but we went to church and then to Aaron's grandmother's house, which is another family tradition. I absolutely love Aaron's grandparents! They are so sweet and always so glad to see me (to see us, I should say). A few of Aaron's distant relatives were in town so I met a bunch of family I had never met before, and everyone was really nice!! During all the visiting, I really felt blessed to be marrying into such a wonderful family.

It would be enough that Aaron's sister, Amber and I are really close or that his parents liked me, but it's so much more than that. Aaron's family has been so supportive of us and welcoming of me. There's a lot of love in his hometown and I told him this weekend that I really loved it down there. I feel like we spend more time with his family than we do mine (to a certain extent), but I really don't mind. I enjoy being with his people and I really, really look forward to more occasions like we had this past weekend.

And I love when it's just Aaron and I too...

If you think we did the family thing the entire weekend, guess again. I told you Friday that our anniversary is the fourth of July and Aaron, being the sweet guy that he is was sure to set aside some alone time this weekend to relish in our 4 (or is it 5?) years together. He really out did himself too! Last year we had an awesome view of the fireworks on Duke of Gloster street in the heart of Colonial Williamsburg and I had no idea how he would top that this year, but he did!!

He took me to this wonderful bistro that is located in heart of Colonial Williamsburg. The food was amazing, but what made it so special was that we had an amazing view of the fireworks - unobstructed - from our table, and boy, was it romantic!!! The resturant dimmed the lights when the fireworks started and I couldn't believe our view!! I was really excited and I felt so touched. I felt so lucky that Aaron went out of his way (and not because I told him too because I didn't mention anything about our anniversary and plans for the fireworks) to set this all up.

He even timed our reservation so that we were finishing up eating when the fireworks started! He's soo good!!!

Source

We picked up an ice cream cone from baskin robins afterward and let me tell ya, I was in heaven!! I had fallen in love with Aaron all over again and I just couldn't resist sharing our special time with you. Of course we did a few other fun things this weekend, but our anniversary dinner and view of fireworks stole the show.

What did you do for the fourth?

Does your guy do awesome and romantic things to commorate when you met? Share them!!

Our Anniversary

Happy Fourth of July folks!!

It was about 5 years ago this time when sparks flew between Aaron and I! It all began on a road trip that my brother and I took from Richmond, which is where I was living, to Virginia Beach. Aaron decided to join us at the very last minute and at the time, I hardly knew him. Needless to say, he did everything in his power to impress me and I was smitten with his charm! 

We're going to Williamsburg for fun at the amusement parks, quality time with family, and hopefully a good fireworks show. We hope you have an amazing holiday! Do something for us and remind your significant other of the time when you first had feelings for each other!

Source