21 weeks... DONE!

Millie has been ON THE MOVE!
I'm usually really tired when I get home from work (not like sleepy tired, but definitely ready to put on comfy clothes and hit the couch).  This week I have been relaxing on the couch with the computer on my lap and listening to Kari Jobe.  Around 4:15 each day Millie starts to wiggle-- A LOT!  I'm hoping she will be as big of a Kari Jobe fan as I am :).
Ben finally felt Millie move last weekend.  It was SO fun to watch his face.  He doesn't quite think it is as neat as I do so I was a little disappointed in his reaction... then I realized, my experience with this baby is completely different than the one he is getting right now so, of course he isn't going to get as "into" all the little details as I am at this point.  He has been very sweet this week and putting his hand on my belly to feel her and talk to her each day! I love it!

I'm in full maternity clothes wearing mode.  It is insane how within one week my belly "blew up"!  It's crazy to compare my 19 week picture with my 20 week!

At 21 weeks: I am unable to sleep comfortably (yes, already), wearing all maternity pants (leggings quite a bit--thank you Jesus for that invention), and feeling Millie move ALL of the time!!!  I have gained 5 pounds... mostly in my FACE AND ARMS lol.  It is disgusting how puffy my face is :(  Ben says "Won't everything just get bigger?!" ha.. he sure knows how to console his wife and make her feel better!

Here I am yesterday 21 going on 22 weeks! :)

(my pants need ironed... I hate to iron...)

My family came to visit for the weekend.  My sister and I bought my mom a black pug for her birthday (she has been very lonely since sweet zoe passed away a few years ago), and my sister got the boys an English bulldog so they came up to pick up the puppies!  I was super busy all afternoon yesterday so I didn't have time to have the usual meltdown that I do when they leave.  It definitely hit me this morning, though.  Of course, I miss my mom and sister (and dad) so much, and it is really hard being away from them--especially being pregnant because they don't get to experience the little things with me that people who live near me are getting to.... but it is even harder knowing I have three nephews whose lives I don't get to be a big of a part of as I would like to be.  Every time I see them I get so emotional because they change so much.  Pete Speer is a mature Kindergartner---he has overcome mountains that I prayed he would for so long.  I pray for him daily that his teachers and classmates would have the same love and patience for him that we do.  He truly is the sweetest most kind-hearted little boy I know.  Brody is a mess.. but the cutest mess you'll ever meet--SUCH A HAM.  He and Pete are the best big brothers to Brennan (who is just a cute little chunk monster!!!)  Brennan has changed so much since I saw him in the summer :(.  Luckily, I get to see them again this weekend for Brody's birthday!  I know it is going to be even harder once Millie is born and they don't get to see each other as much as I want.  UGHHH... life surely isn't "fair" sometimes...  So thankful to be their aunt, though!

Millie's room is painted!!! Thanks to my amazing husband who stayed up all night Thursday to get it finished before my family got here.... (we should've thought through the whole process more and not started in the middle of the week.... but I don't have a brain these days!)

We are waiting for her bedding to come in (should be in the middle of November) before painting or planning anything else for the nursery. :)

I'll end with a pic of my mom's dog... Miss Daisy .. she has my heart!!

  

I want her!!!

Half Way There!

Ah! I can't believe tomorrow marks 20 weeks of walking through this life with a precious baby girl in my belly!  This morning I was thinking back to those hard weeks when it was difficult to even get out of bed (praise the Lord that was during the summer).  I remember a few times telling Ben I didn't know how people went through a pregnancy with other kids to take care of at the same time.  Honestly, thinking back I can't really even remember what was so hard!  Of course, I remember feeling nauseous 24-7 and that certain foods sounded awful, but I don't remember the feeling I had inside of me that was saying "I can never do this again!" because now it all seems like a small portion of this 20 week long blessing.  Every single little feeling (good or bad) is completely worth getting to the point of pregnancy when you feel movement inside.  Feeling Millie move makes all of this feel so real... I can't wait for Ben to be able to feel her move, too.
Seeing her on the "big screen" at the doctor makes it feel real, too. We went for our "20 week appointment" on Thursday and I will say--it never gets old seeing her precious profile or her tiny hands and feet.  She already seems to have so much personality!

I'm not very consistent with this weekly picture thing, but I try to have Ben take one when I do remember!  Here I am this morning... 19 going on 20 :)

My bump isn't really what I think of when I think "baby bump", but I'm thankful to finally be showing (I know I may eat those words in a few weeks).

At our appointment Dr. Gorman said I am measuring small, but Millie is actually measuring right at her due date!!  She weighs about 10 oz and is about 7 in long!  CRAZY!

I finally broke down on Friday night and ordered some maternity clothes.  Friday at school I wore some skinny jeans and I was absolutely MISERABLE (even with a hair tie holding the button/fastener together).  I'm pretty sure it put me in a bad mood.  So, I will soon be a maternity pants wearing lady.  I'm holding out on shirts for a while because I usually wear my shirts pretty big anyway and they still fit for now :).  

My students are so interested in Millie!  It is so fun!  I was very sick at school on Wednesday (throwing up.. I think either a bug or something I ate) and they kept asking if Millie was okay.  Carter even said, "What if when you threw up in the trash can Millie came out?!?"  BLESS HIM :)  I'll save that explanation for you, Kylie Moad :).

Since we found out we are having a little girl, I have become mildly obsessed with making bows and headbands!  I can't stop!  I decided it'd be cheaper for me to make a few myself instead of spending $10-12 each plus shipping from etsy ;)

We've been busy bees getting things together for the nursery :).  Ben finally let me order Millie's bedding! So excited, but it won't be in until the middle of November.  We have also decided on a color to pain the nursery.  Last weekend we got the crib finished after three weeks of hard work!  I am very pleased with the end result!  It matches the changing table perfectly!

One of the fun fabrics in Millie's bedding!

Let the next 20 weeks begin!!!

Going on 18 weeks....

It is still very hard for me to believe I am pregnant.  Thankfully, now, if I forget, I have a small "baby bump" to remind me!

We found out last Monday we are having a GIRL!  I am honestly sooooo thrilled, and I knew a girl was what Ben was hoping for (me too, maybe just a little).

We have an official name for our baby girl- Millie Everett Willard.

I am currently 17 weeks pregnant (will be 18 on Monday).  I have taken a few "bump" pictures but in this week's you can actually see her poking her way through!

My pants still fit-as of today.  They are starting to get slightly uncomfortable, though.
My shirts fit in my BELLY area, but are SUPER tight on my CHEST.. gerrrr!

Of course, it has been extremely difficult not to spend every extra penny we have on Miss Millie because there are SO many cute baby girl clothes out there and we all know I LOVE to shop!!!  I have gotten her a FEW things, though.  :)  I have her nursery all mapped out in my mind.  I found this awesome site called lullaby paints (they are nursery safe) and will be painting her crib on my own!  I am so excited and hope it turns out as planned!   I have the bedding sitting in my etsy cart waiting for Ben's okay- ha!

Ben's mom told us Dillard's was having a big summer sale so we went last night to see if we could find Millie anything.  Ben looked like a kid in a candy store holding up outfit after outfit.  He was tearing up within the first 5 minutes.  Then he said, "I just don't know if I can do this emotionally.  It's all so cute."  That just shows how excited he is, and that she truly already has him wrapped around her finger!


Dawn Hellard (the most amazing person in the world) has been doing ultra sounds for me since my doctor only does one at 20 weeks.  I got to go see Millie yesterday and she is quite the wiggle bottom!!! She was doing front and side flips the entire time we watched her!  I seriously love seeing her.  She has already grown so much since last week!  I'm trying to savor every little second of being pregnant (thankfully I'm finally in my second trimester and have my energy back!!!--yeahhh), but it is so hard not to just long to hold her and see her tiny little hands and feet externally!

My doctor gave me the OKAY to switch to the gummie prenatal vitamins (even though they don't have the iron needed) since the others had been making me SO sick.  I will switch to prescription ones when I get to my third trimester---so I get the iron I need to help my blood clot during delivery!



Thank you, Lord for this healthy baby girl growing inside of me.  I know she is truly a gift from You.  I pray she will have a heart that seeks You at an early age, and that she longs to glorify Your name in all she does.

"Pregnant"!/scariest day ever

AHHHH!!! Still cannot even believe it!

It has been a few weeks since we saw those words "pregnant" on the first pregnancy test I've ever taken.  It was a random Sunday night and my breasts (yep I said it) were feeling SO sore and swollen.  I was about two days late which was completely normal for me because I'm never regular.  We'd have a very relaxing day/night, and I just stood up from the couch (around 10 pm) and said, "I'm gonna go take a pregnancy test just for fun".  Apparently, Ben didn't even hear me say that.  I had a test in the ovulation kit I had bought because we had planned to start "trying" at the end of June.  When I took the test and saw "pregnant" I felt like I was watching the new Huggies commercial where the couple gets excited that they're pregnant and then says "Now what do we do??"... I walked slowly into the living room (mouth dragging the floor) and just held up the test.  Ben quickly said, "WHAT???".. HA  So, not knowing what to do next, we jumped in the car and drove to wal-mart neighborhood market.  I took three more tests that night---all read "PREGNANT"... I continued to take a test a day for the next five days!  I was in disbelief!  Of course we weren't trying to PREVENT baby Willard from happening, but I was just in shock that it happened so quickly---on the FIRST time!  I had been worrying for months that it would take us years to get pregnant.  So much, that I was starting to stress over it quite a bit.

I can't help but think (every time I think about this little lentil bean.. which is pretty much every second) about how TRULY BLESSED we are.  And when I say blessed, I'm not saying it nonchalantly. I mean down right BLESSED by the our living Lord.  I know so many people who have tried and tried to get pregnant, and i was convinced that would be me.  I have no idea why the Lord chose to bless us with the amazing miracle so quickly, but I have promised Him I will not take this blessing for granted.  I pray so diligently for those sweet mommy wanna-bes that He would bless their deserving hearts as well.  I seriously tear up every time I think about the fact that I was chosen to carry a child.  Ben and I were with our friends Sarah and Jared last night for dinner--and I couldn't help but look at little Hudson and think of what a miracle it is that this baby inside of me is the size of a lentil bean right now, but will soon be sitting beside me in his or her carseat.  AHHHHH!  Thank you Jesus for your tiny yet so amazingly HUGE miracles.

Oh.. Can I just take a few minutes to say how ADORABLE it is how excited Ben Willard is about this baby!!! He is SOOOOOO stinkin' excited (I was a little worried he was more excited than I am, but then I thought nah--not possible).  He is all about reading reviews on things, looking for baby stuff, and even talking to the tiny nugget already.  I LOVE it!


I had a slight (well if you know me you know nothing is small... I usually tend to dramatize things) scare today.  I woke up around 9 (woooo hoooo for sleeping in), and was spotting when I went to the bathroom.  I knew the doctors had said this is completely normal (as well as the 3 books I'm reading).  I ran a few errands, and then got to school around 11:30 to work on my classroom.  When I went to the bathroom then there was more bleeding and some in my underwear (still not the bright red freak out kind of blood but getting pinker and heavier).  Ahh... i took deep breaths.. and tried not to freak and sent the pic to a few people (definitely TMI but I knew they were all people who love me and baby Willard).  About an hour later it was bleeding pretty excessively (I'm still trying not to freak at this point), and a few people said I should just call the doctor to reassure myself everything was okay.  When I called and explained how long I had been bleeding THEY panicked me...  The girl asked how far away I was.. I said about 15 minutes and she said "Leave right now".  ahhhhhhh.  Luckily, Meredith had just showed up at school to check on me and took this nervous wreck mommy-to-be to the doctor (best friend ever.........seriously, so thankful for her every single day).  We prayed on the way to the hospital... can I just say again how thankful I am to have a best friend that loves me for me, is there for me, who has such a big heart, who seeks the Lord's will, and who I can just be a complete idiot with.......      Ben met us there (he made it in record time which is scary enough).  I had an ultrasound then met with the doctor.  Apparently the site of implantation at my uterus hadn't healed up and there was a pocket of bleeding next to the placenta.  Everything other than that looked good!-baby's heart rate was 167... and when they did measurements (just as Dawn Hellard had also told me when she measured) it appeared they that the original due date wrong... so baby's expected due date is March 2!  Thankfully I freaked out most of my family for nothing---well not nothing it was still super scary.  I can't work out for two weeks... gerrrrrrrrr... just to give the implantation area time to heal and HOPEFULLY the bleeding will stop.  Could have been MUCH worse.  Possibly one of the top 5 scariest days of my life.  Thankful for so many people who surround me with love, prayers, and support daily.  You know who you are!! Prayers answered... yet again.  Thankful to serve such a faithful and delivering God.


Another plus side I've noticed from my pregnancy (Ben prefers me to call it OUR pregnancy.. yeah buddy you can take on this constant nausea any time ya want)... I feel like I've already become much closer to my sister and sister-in-law.  Since they both have kids and I don't (yet), we don't always have the same things on our minds or have as much to talk about.  The Lord is making these relationships stronger and I am so thankful.
It has been hard the past couple of years being 4 hours away from my family. I has definitely put a strain on the relationships with my mom and sister.  I am so blessed to have a sister who cares so much about me and wishes so much happiness upon me.  I love that we can now share in motherhood together.  What a blessing.




Wooo hoooooooooo for baby WILLARD!!!!! longest blog post ever is now complete! :)  Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement!!!

Grace flows down..

Yet again, here I am saying.. "Wow!.. I haven't blogged in forever!".
I guess I got pretty wrapped up in getting married... honeymooning.. enjoying my summer... decorating a house.. and starting a new school year.  Oops..
I've been quite the busy bee lately.. The Lord has provided me with QUITE a few Christmas orders for door hangers, canvases etc., and I am so thankful!  Ben may feel differently because our living room and dining room have looked like Santa's workshop the past few weeks!
I of course, couldn't wait any longer and ended up decorating our house for Christmas THREE weeks ago.. Oops again!
I am so excited to spend this Christmas as a married woman!! I can't wait to fill my husband's stocking with lots of love and goodies.  I am so thankful this Christmas that through the grace and mercy that flowed from the cross and through Christ's resurrection, that the Lord has blessed me with a man who I am certain was created just for me.  Ben and I aren't really the "mushy" type, but we are learning every single day how to make our marriage work.. and the only way that is possible is through Christ.
We have been fortunate the past two months to get to share our lives and stories with a few other couples after joining a young married couples small group.  What a blessing it is to sit with other couples every Sunday who are going through some of the same joys and challenges as we are.

We are having my family stay the weekend with us the Friday and Saturday before Christmas!! Cannot wait!!!
Ben's family has lots of birthdays to celebrate in the month of December.... I know the Lord likes to laugh at us when we make plans--seeing as He is the ultimate plan maker--but I surely hope we do not have a child in December :).  Ben will be 31 this year.. .he has finally started admitting that he has gray hair, but he says he's just thankful to have hair :)!

Now that I'm caught up on life.. on to the reason I decided to blog today..
Ben had the opportunity (blessing actually) of growing up in a Christ centered home.  After moving to NWA when he was in 2nd grade his parents searched for a school for their three children.  After searching for a while they decided to home school Ben, Brooke, and Zach... The decision was made when Ben was in 10th grade for them to start school at Shiloh.  As I've met many of the people that Ben became close to at Shiloh and at Cross Church Springdale (formerly First Baptist Springdale) the past three years I have met many Christ-loving people.  However, I didn't have the chance to meet the amazing man whose life we celebrated yesterday.  When Ben found out last week of the passing of Andrew Pray, I could tell he was devastated.  I had heard him speak of Andrew---how he led chapel in worship at Shiloh, and I knew his dad, Buster was the pastor at Cross Church at Pinnacle Hills.  Ben spoke about how awesome it would be if Andrew were our worship leader.  As I read articles, posts, and blogs about Andrew I quickly realized that I was truly missing out by not knowing him.  He sounded like one of those people I wish I could be friends with just because of the light of Christ that radiated from him.  He seemed to be an encourager and truly the hands, feet, and lips of Christ here on earth.  I couldn't help but think of how awfully devastated his high school sweetheart and children must have been.  Ben began to reminisce about how awesome Andrew was and how he remembered him singing "I Can Only Imagine" during chapel.  He immediately searched for the chapel CD Andrew had made.

Yesterday, I was able to accompany Ben to Andrew's funeral.  What a celebration it was.  I will say this.. there is a definite difference in the funerals of a non-believer and a Christ follower.  Everything I had built in my head to be true about Andrew was reiterated by the speakers at his funeral.  They talked about how he did everything whole-heartedly, encouraged everyone he met, thrived off of singing and worshiping the Lord, and how his constant joy for life influenced so many people.  WOW... Ben and I talked on the way home and he said something that really opened my eyes... "You know it's tragic that the world lost Andrew Pray.  The world seems so much worse off."  This reminded me of a sermon Nick (our pastor at Cross Church Fay) preached.  He said we were put here to fulfill a purpose.  Jamie Willard was placed here to do a specific thing to further the kingdom.  If we don't do it--there is no one else who can. No one else can fulfill that purpose.
Andrew's life celebration made me open my eyes to the things I've been living for.  I am a Christian and I rejoice in that every day.  However, there are so many times I sit back and wonder if that is evident to others.  I must find my purpose--- I know that involves serving, worshiping, and giving praise to the Lord, but there is so much more.  My life should be a living testimony to the grace that flows down from our Lord and from the cross.  His grace continues to flow down so abundantly.   Over and over again I'm reminded of how much He loves me and the ultimate sacrifice that was made to pardon my sins.  "My name is graven on His hands.. My name is written on His heart.."

Andrew Pray was a life well lived for Jesus.  His life was such a testimony.  I encourage you to view the celebration of his life on the Cross Church website. http://crosschurch.com/blog/?p=301
 Though his family is strong in Christ, grief is also a tough thing to overcome and they need prayers.

ONE Month!

Happy Friday!!
Ahh! I honestly couldn't believe it when I realized yesterday was ONE month until we get married! When we first set the date I kept thinking it was wayyyy too far away, but our engagement has FLOWN by!
Only a few tiny catastrophes have occurred.. my dress not fitting being the WORST!.. but it fits now :)
I haven't blogged in so long so I can't even remember where I left off!
I have learned so many things throughout this whole experience.  I believe the most important is that I learned how truly blessed I am--especially with all of the wonderful people I have surrounding me.
In efforts to try to keep my head on straight as the wedding gets closer, Mrs. Tinka gave me the best advice anyone has so far-- as we were working on wedding plans and I expressed how I hoped everything turned out just like I have planned in my peon of a brain she said something that really caught my attention along the lines of "People may not remember every detail of your wedding, but I'll tell you one thing--they will remember the way you acted the day of your wedding"...she probably said it much better, but that's what I remember of it... and I believe that is very true.  I don't want to be "bridezilla", I don't want to make all the wonderful people who are giving their time and love to help me to think I am a brat, and I want everyone to know how thankful we are to have them sharing in and helping make our day possible.  Blessed does not even begin to explain it well enough.

Ben and I have slowly been getting his bachelor pad ready to become the Willard home, and it has been SOoooOOOooo fun!  I cannot wait to be moved in, and share it with him!  Pictures soon to come (ha it may be a few months but they'll be here)

EmJay is still alive and well (as of last weekend, she is well).  We had a little scare with her!  She got out of the fence in Ben's backyard a few weekends ago, and she was in the brush near the creek behind his house (which is basically all woods).  She came back COVERED in ticks (and when I say covered I mean they were EVERYWHERE--you couldn't touch her without feeling tons of them--even around her eyes :().  It was SO sad because we could tell she was miserable!  We finally got her to the vet, shampooed her numerous times and put drops on her.  She is now tick free :)).  Hopefully she stays that way all summer! She wasn't allowed in the house for so long which was almost as sad as her being covered in disgusting blood suckers.

We have already had two wonderful showers--one hosted by a group of wonderful girls at the Springdale campus of our church and a couple's shower given by some of our friends at Brock & Emily's.
We have another this weekend in Helena hosted by my sister a few friends and a great group of women who I've known since I was little.  I am SO excited for the shower, of course, but also to see everyone because I haven't seen many of these wonderful people in years!!!
Can't wait to see Pete and Brody Speer either!!--

Ben finally decided on our honeymoon location! We will be going to Antigua (no, no, not ARGENTINA as my mother often confuses it).  It looks sooooooo wonderful! I cannot wait.  We will not be going until June 10 (to avoid conflict with my school schedule), but I know it will be fabulous!

We just finished Benchmark testing this week, and I am SO proud of my kiddos & SO happy to have that behind us!

The past few months have been SUPER busy, but I have had some great people helping me out!  I absolutely cannot wait to be Mrs. Willard and to have things slow down a bit for a while!  Summer break will be a great chance for me to catch up on life I've missed planning this wedding!

The Lord has been so good to me.  I thank Him daily for Ben Willard.  I have really taken time each day this week to think of all the reasons I am thankful to have him in my life & to know that I get to share the rest of my life with him! That is evident in my life.  My life hasn't turned out ANYTHING like the plans I had in my head, but it is so much better thanks to my Deliverer.  :)  I pray that I will be the wife that this man deserves.  He is everything I never knew I always wanted!!
 I was reading my devotional Tuesday night, & couldn't help but think of how the Lord truly does have a plan for each of our lives.  A great friend of mine (and bridesmaid), Emily Mayfield, text me as I was reading to share some saddening news that her mom had just found out she has breast cancer.  However, her text was so uplifting as she told me her family trusted that the Lord has greater plans for our lives than we can ever imagine.  Their family is so faithful, and it amazes me that they are able to see the hope they have by trusting in our Lord.  Prayers for them and her sweet sweet mother, please!



Countdown begins................29 days!

Crazy Lady onboard..

So much to catch up on!--WOW!
first of all...I'M ENGAGED!

Thursday, August 4 seemed like an ordinary day to me.  I had a CGI math workshop at school & had to be there at 8--of course being myself I was there around 45 minutes early... I had thrown on some shabby clothes-a jean button up and some khaki shorts.  Also, I decided the night before to paint my nails BLUE..who cares.. well I soon would!
A little while after lunch I have a text from Ben saying something along the lines of "where are you" or "what are you doing"..thought that was strange because he knew exactly what I was doing--I was at school most likely panicking because school was starting in a week!--ahh!  I didn't have much time so I ignored the text--OOPS!
After our workshop I of course was still in my usual panic-mode and my mentor, mrs. Bond came into my room to try to calm me down :).  I have my back to my door and I see her smile so I turned around.  Ben was standing at my classroom door with a bouquet of flowers.  I just assumed he was bringing them to congratulate me on my new job & say how proud and happy he was!....Obviously, mrs. Bond caught on because when he said can we have a minute I just told him that was rude & she did not have to leave.  Well...she left and Ben immediately turned red.  I kept asking "what did you do" & "what is wrong??"... He began telling me how much he loves me, why he loves me, and that he could not imagine his life without me.  He explained that he loved me because of my love for children and because of my desire to allow the Lord to use me however He needs... I so wish I could remember more, but my dementia has kicked in early and I have the worst memory!  I kept saying things and he kept telling me to be quiet and just listen to what he had to say....I was still a little confused.  Then, he said "well I have asked your dad, I have asked your mom, and now I need to ask you---will you please spend the rest of your life with me...us doing all we can to make each other happy?"...(he is on his knee at this point) and i am just talking away saying "shut up...shut up..." after he kept asking if I was listening to him...and then having to ask me to please answer him--I started crying..SERIOUSLY?!!! WHAT???
---what a perfect place..my new classroom that I was so very blessed to get this summer, also...  Little did I know, that was not the end of it.  He asked if I had a lot to do & I don't even remember my response because I had no idea what to do next!  He informed me that a helicopter would be coming to pick us up in a few short minutes..HUH?--YOU'RE KIDDING, RIGHT?!...so i slung my classroom door open & I don't even remember who all I talked to but I yelled to mrs. Bond and Andrea--I'M ENGAGED!!.....still did not seem real!
We walk out to the side parking lot of the school & the helicopter picks us up!---it takes us all over fayetteville....so cool to see old main from that view!-- However, I did not see much because I was still shaking and could NOT stop looking at my gorgeous, perfect BLING that was sitting on my left hand!! (oh forgot to mention he tried to put the ring on the WRONG hand..oopsy:))..

Once we got back to school I remembered we were supposed to go to his parents' for dinner--I wondered if that was still on?...I called my mom and sister & we had a little pow-wow :)...On the way to Ben's parents I called my dad to tell him the good news, too!
Guess I didn't catch on well to this either because Ben's family was waiting at his parents with an engagement cake for us! :))))
It was an absolutely perfect proposal! I could not have planned it better myself--and I am a PLANNER!!!!!...ha
Ben knows me so well, and this proposal including something I dearly love (other than him) and it couldn't have turned out any better!  I am so grateful to know that I will have someone so thoughtful and loving in my life!

....soooo now that the proposal is over I guess I need to plan a wedding?!.....  we have decided a date... have not told this to many people...but we will be getting married on May 12, 2012!!!...so mark your calendars friends & family!  We absolutely CANNOT wait-- so much that we contemplated changing it to October--YEAH RIGHT!...That definitely won't happen... I will be too wrapped up in my new NEPHEW--Brody Cole once he arrives!!!!
.....and I guess we should have considered how difficult it would be to be a first-year teacher planning a wedding--IDIOTS!
---but it is all coming together & has been so much fun!
We booked our photographer...YEAHHH...woo hoo for Dale & Meredith Benfield!...  We have also booked our florist! (I know, I know..I'm on a roll...)
I went to trying on wedding dresses for the first time while my mom was in town this past weekend for her birthday...she and Mrs. Tinka guided me through the process.  This may be a bit difficult task because anyone who knows me knows that i HATE making decisions.  I had to explain to the girl helping me that I was the type of person in high school who would buy a prom or homecoming dress & then go to another store and wish I could buy the next best one.  Not good for this girl who NEEDS a dress within the next month...TOO MANY OPTIONS, AMEN?
We have decided on our wedding party:

(I sent these self-made cards in the mail to my bridesmaids)

Bridesmaids: Wendi Speer (MOH), Brooke Ceola, Laura Jill Richmond, Saylor Prather, Hope Argo, Megan Fawley, & Emily Mayfield
Groomsmen: Zach Willard (Best Man), Ryan Ceola, Britt Speer, Trey Ferguson, Michael Yates, Caleb Snowden, & AJ Killham

woooo hooooo...let the fun begin!

School is absolutely AMAZING!--I have the best teaching team ever! They are all always willing to do whatever it takes!  My students are wonderful, too!  I have a very animated group & I love every one of them!

(please forgive any typing errors..I did this is in the little time I could spare :))