This day last year....

.... I became his beloved wife!

Yup, today is my one year anniversary with the ever-so-handsome Mr. V. I am still in complete shock that a whole year has passed since our wedding!
We celebrated this weekend with a surprise trip to Atlanta, GA to go to a concert! I will write more about that tomorrow because today I am so gushy and reminiscent on my beautiful wedding day.

Lets take a trip down memory lane. (dream harp music)
 - . - . - . -
 getting ready!

yes.. we went to in-n-out before the ceremony. hehe.

i loved the back of my dress

my sister (matron of honor) put on my veil

making sure that dress was tight!

sis-in-law and I were spying on the guests walking in.. but we got caught. lol

my girls and I

my friend's beautiful daughter! I designed her dress from a woman on etsy! (:

Boys & my groom

 Family  togetherness

Ceremony & Reception

husband & wife 

- . - . - . -

And that was my day of love. 

Thank you all for sharing this day with me! (:

anniversaries and love. - Mrs. V
♥ . ♥ . ♥

Friday's Letters

Friday is seriously my favorite day! The weekend is just about here and I get to write some letters (:




Dear Sophia, 
You sleep in the silliest of places! How is it comfy on the floor? Or with your head on the cable wire? Or on an empty box?! Hehe. You are too funny! I am so glad that your daddy is off this weekend so he hang out with us.  Hopefully he will take you out to go potty at 3am. (:
Love, Your momma.

Dear Honey Vanilla Chamomile Tea , 
Thank you for being our companion these past few evenings. Not only are you absolutely delicious but you help to relax my love and I for bed. I have so enjoyed our time together and I hope we make a habit of it. (:
Hope to See You Soon, A relaxed Wife.

Dear Washer and Dryer , 
I adore you! The way you make our clothes so sparkling clean is so wonderful. Mr. V is so excited when he comes home to clean relax clothes and clean work clothes. I am overjoyed with clean kitchen towels. I couldn't do it without you!
So Grateful, Mrs. V

Dear Love, 
I cannot believe that it is already your birthday on Monday and then our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY shortly after that. Time has gone by so quickly! You truly impress me with your ability to get up every morning and work as hard as you do! It just amazes me. You are an incredible man with a fantastic work ethic. I know God will open more and more doors for you!
Love Forever, Your Rib

Our first dance 8.20.11

Dear Lord, 
You are always awakening my heart to You. You are so incredibly powerful and gracious that I cannot even wrap my mind around it. You are all powerful and yet You still want to know me on a personal level. Wow. Thank You! I am trusting You more and more, Lord, and I believe in Your promises for my life. Thank you for blessing me and my little family. I want to always praise You and give You all the glory. I love you.
Always In Awe, Your Princess

Dear Follower/Friends, 
I am so glad that each and every one of you found my little blog! This blog started out with just a way to document my wedding planning and to keep friends/family updated... but now I have 50 followers! I am so blessed and humbled by you all. I hope that you all feel encouraged and uplifted when reading my little blog. I am so glad when I get to know you all better and I love every single comment that I get. You all inspire me to keep documenting my life. I really want to look back on my blog, smile, and remember my life just as I write it and in this process you are all making me feel so blessed!
I have decided to change my 'Confession Tuesdays' weekly link-up into 'If You Really Knew Me Tuesdays'... with all the new followers I am getting I would love for you all to get to know me a little better and to get to know you all a little better. (: I will start on Tuesday! (:
So Thankful, Monica


Have a fantastic Friday!

Letters and Love. - Monica
♥ . ♥ . ♥
Also don't forget to check out my new facebook page. (:

1st day of Lent

So when i decided to do this 40-day fast... i didn't even realize that it was Lent. He he. :)

Today is my first day of self-denial of coffee and sweets... and its been a good day to far. I read my devotional and listened to Bethel worship on my phone while getting ready for work. They sang 'Be Thou My Vision', which was the song that was playing while my husband and i took communion at our wedding... so obviously its close to my heart.

My prayer for today:
 God, be my vision! I pray that i never ever lose sight of who You are and who You have made me! With each day that passes i pray that i continue to get closer and closer to You and closer and closer to the realization of who i am! Once again, i surrender my all and i give you all the praise and the glory! Holy Spirit, guide me. Show me ways that i can represent Jesus in everything that i do.
 Father, i want to see with YOUR eyes. I want to love what You love and hate what You hate.
In Jesus Name - Amen!

clearer vision, growth, and love. - Monica
♥ . ♥ . ♥

Shutterfly = love

A friend of ours got married a few months before us and sent the family a personalize thank you card with their wedding photos.
I fell IN LOVE with that idea! I knew i had to do it with our wedding photos. Well... almost 2 months after my wedding and i FINALLY bought the thank you cards just right now. haha. (:

I used the website Shutterfly.com which i am sooo happy about! It was easy to use.. i would just drop down my beautiful wedding pictures on the card. There were tons of different styles and i got to write on the inside and the back. I am soo pleased with them! They are reasonably priced and they offered TONS of discount codes. I saved over $40 on my order!!! AMAZING! i cant wait to get them in the mail and send them off!

5x7 Folded Card

View the entire collection of cards.

This is one of my cards i made. (:


If anyone is making save the dates, thank you cards, baby announcements, or Christmas cards you should definitely use Shutterfly!

cute cards, shutterflying around, and love. - M

registry stalking & to-do lists

Tomorrow is my rehearsal dinner... for my WEDDING!

Can you believe it is already that time?!

I have a VERY long to-do list today after i get off (in another 2 hours and fifteen minutes.. time is going by way to slow). Tonight my friend, Alyssa, gets into town and i am hoping i can get everything (well at least the majority) done before she is here so that i can have some relaxing time with her (OR she can help me finish the errands hehe).

My Fiance is currently getting his hair cut for the BIG day! (:
Yesterday i got my nails done (french tip.. of course.) and my Fiance... well... his nails look nice too. (;
Its so funny to me how i can instantly feel girlier when my nails are pretty. It puts a smile on my face.

Today i have a few more "beauty treatments" and also do my guest seating. I made little out of town gifts (well... its a thank you note, fun facts about our town, a map, and directions from their hotel to the ceremony site, with some m&ms and ribbon) and i have to deliver them to all the hotels so they can put them in our guests room before they arrive. Love it!

Tomorrow i have to pick up our champagne flutes, aisle runner, and arch from the rental place, pack everything up and have rehearsal at 3pm. (:

I am still a little in shock that it is that time already! It really did go by fast!

I stalked my registry today and i cant wait to get my gifts! I know its a little like opening the presents before Christmas.. but i couldnt help myself! It was right there, on target.com, just waiting to be clicked! i gave in to the pressure. BUT i am still excited (i think JUST as excited as if i didn't look... i mean... a picture isn't as good as the real thing!)

All the reservations are all set up for our honeymoon too! Everything is falling into place. Drama is trying to creep its way in the wedding... but i am keeping the bridezilla away! hehe. I trust it will all go smoothly! (:

God is continually blessing us with the whole process and we can't wait!

- lots of to-dos, gifts, and love - M

♥ . ♥ . ♥

i'm an adult. when did this happen??

Yesterday i signed  my lease with my future husband! (3 days... he will be my husband!) I am sooo excited!

The other day, all while working an 8 hour shift, i got renter's insurance for our place... AND waited on hold for 45 minutes to get utilities put in OUR name. (:  But it got done.. and i think my wonderful Fiance will be sleeping in our apartment tonight. (:

It felt SOOOO weird when they were putting the big King bed in our new room. I like realized "oh my goodness... next week i will be sleeping next to my HUSBAND!" hehe.

I am starting to feel soooo adult now. I have always been paying bills (rent, utilities, car insurance, etc) but it feels different now. This apartment i got on my own with my soon-to-be husband. (no co-signer). We will have our bills, cell phones, cable, internet.... all for our new life. IDK... i just feel not like a kid anymore. hehe. (had to happen sometime)

Don't get me wrong - i still plan to be silly, dance around my house, sing super loud, cook mac-n-cheese, and color in my coloring books (i LOVE doing this when i am stressed or need to relax or feel creative) but i am ready for my wife role. (:

Cook for my husband, support him, love him, clean the house, work, pay bills... its exciting! hehe. (: Its not ALL mundane too. We will be able to go on trips together, relax together, take walks, go to church, and have dinner! (:

I know not everyday will be sunshine and rainbows. Not everyday will i feel like breaking out into song and dance. But it will be worth it. (:

growing up, fun times, and love. - M

♥ . ♥ . ♥

grab your umbrella...

... 'cause i just had a shower!!! (:

My bridal shower that my wonderful sister put on was this past saturday. (: My sister really went all out! There were gorgeous pink and purple flowers all over the house and she made soo much food! And all the food was absolutely GORGEOUS!!! We had  pesto salmon, rosemary shrimp kabobs, ceasar salad in Parmesan cheese cups, asparagus and cheese sandwich things, melted cheese with apples and crackers, beef and sweet onion bruchetta, mozzarella and tomato salad, and passion tea lemonade (like from starbucks.. only homemade!).

For dessert we had my all-time favorite - tiramisu!

It is lady fingers (like cookies) soaked in coffee (espresso) with mascrapone cheese and chocolate... its like an Italian cheesecake... only better! It is my favorite dessert in the world! 

My very-talented sister also made this creme puff tower with spun sugar. They were scrumptious and beautiful!

She also made chocolate moose with homemade cinnamon whip cream. She really out did herself. It was sooo good! 

Then of course we played some games. (: So we played a really hilarious ice breaker where we would say our least favorite chore- and 3 reasons why we didn't like it. Then we would replace "i hate this chore because" with " i hate sex because" hahaha. 

So mine was "i hate sex because it makes my hands smelly and slimy, it takes to long, and it gets my clothes all wet." My chore was washing dishes! hehe. everyone was cracking up!!! 

Another game was celebrity couples... my future mother-in-law won that game and got a prize. She got a "lunch kit" prize. So it had a super cute insulated lunch bag, a sandwich container, a small water bottle, and a insulated cup for soup. 

Then we played "who knows the bride the best" and my future sister-in-law won that game. She got a "movie night" prize. So it had 2 wedding related movies (27 dresses, and Monter-in-Law), 2 starbucks mugs, a tin of ghiradelli hot chocolate mix, popcorn, and 2 apple cider packages. My sister got GREAT prizes!

The other game we played was a purse game... and you scored your points of all the stuff you had in your purse. My sister's friend, Kelli, won that game and got the "pamper yourself" prize. It had a manicure set, a towel, and some nail polish, in a little carrying case.

The last game we played was the alphabet and we had to write a wedding related thing starting with each letter of the alphabet. Of course the other bride-to-be in the room won that game. So my, 

wonderful friend shawna got the "dinner salad" prize. It had a large salad bowl, cute salad tongs, different salad dressing, and cute containers to put oil and vinegar in. (:

It was such a wonderful and beautiful shower. i had soooo much fun!!! I got some amazing gifts of gift cards, books, and picture frames. And my sister made everyone caramel apples for a party favor! (: 

The next day future mother-in-law, future sister-in-law and i went out to breakfast and i got to show them my small hometown. We went to a craft fair... and my wonderful future sister-in-law totally bought a turtle!! She named him henry and i am incredibly jealous!!

Overall i had the best weekend! Then we took the 2 hour drive home and stopped to gaze upon the Lord's creation. (: 

Now.. i am only 2 weeks and 5 days away from my wedding! I have Shawna's shower this weekend, another friend's wedding on the 13th and then my big day!

Its getting soooo exciting!

Cute turtles, beautiful showers, and love. - M

♥ . ♥ . ♥

look what i got!

Well with this wonderful wedding only 3 short weeks away i feel like i am hitting new levels of stress.

The to-do list is getting longer and longer and my amazing wedding planner is sending me emails what still needs to get done, still needs to be paid, and even more GORGEOUS ideas!
I just know that my wedding is going to be sooo spectacular but like i have said before i am ready for it to be over. hehe.

Yesterday, i had a solo session of pre-marital mentoring (my Fiance is out of town for work this week) and we ate at the delicious Cheesecakes Unlimited (and i have never been there before!). It was actually a really nice restaurant. (: It had little candles at the tables and everything! I was there from 6pm - 8:30pm just visiting with my marriage mentor.

I love her!! She is an amazing woman of God and i learn soo much by just visiting with her. We talked about the excitement of the wedding.. and about marriage... and about Fiance and i and how we are doing. She told me some solid advice and we prayed. it was fun! (: I am blessed to have her in my life. And i ate a delicious piece of white chocolate raspberry cheesecake!

 

Soooooo good! I, of course, couldn't finish it because my stomach can only handle so much sweetness but what i ate was heavenly! (: 

Also i got my cake topper in yesterday! hooray!!!

exciting!!!! (: 

cheesecake, toppers, and love - M

♥ . ♥ . ♥

Etsy... i adore you

So (one of the biggest) challenges in this wedding planning process has been to find a flower girl dress for my adorable flower girl. Lorelei (my friend Shawna's little girl) is such a joy to my heart! I have been looking EVERYWHERE for a dress that is in price range and is what i wanted. I am VERY picky with flower girl dresses. I didn't want an all white dress (i always wanted to be the only one in all white. hehe), but i didn't want all color because my girls are in black, his guys are in black, and Future husband and i are in white... so i thought TOO much color would look funny.

I found a dress that i totally fell in love with from Alfred and Angelo. But... paying for the name.. its about $160! really?? for a dress for a 4 yr old who WILL only wear it once! This is almost as bad as the veils! (c'mon who needs to spend $85 on a 2 pieces of tulle?!)

I then went on a chase for an affordable, pretty, good color combo dress. Jcpenney. Macys. Kohls. Other sites online... but i couldn't find anything i really fell in love with!

I have looked on Etsy.com before.. but it felt soo overwhelming. There was just sooo much to look through. A co-worker and i started looking on Etsy for a dress. I came across Barbara's shop and fell in love!!! She makes custom clothing and jewelry! You can show her a picture or an idea and she can make it!!! She even puts the name of the person on the tag! This is what she made me!

I am sooo happy and impressed with her work! She made this dress in about 2 days! She kept me updated on every step! The best part is this dress was under $50!!!! (: The dress is $37.50 and i added $10 for the flowers on the skirt! 

I am sooo overjoyed! (: (: 

cute dresses, etsy, and love. -M

♥ . ♥ . ♥ 

Wedding, Planning, Marriage

Well i am less then a month out of my wedding and "Busy" is an understatement. For sure.

We have a few more vendors to pay off with the due date approaching quickly (August 6th more most). We are thinking that everyone (besides the photographer and few last minute details) will be paid off by the end of July. wow! sooo crazy! Adding up the cost of everything that we have paid for already (and everything left to be paid) just makes me wanna throw-up and cry at the same time so i like to just look at the one by one smaller amounts rather then the big picture.

The next big assignment my wonderful Fiance and i have to do is pick the song lists for the reception (like our first dance, entrance song, garter/bouquet toss song, anniversary dance song, bridal entrance song, and a play and do not play list.) wow! a lot of songs to go over! I FINALLY made a final decision on the ceremony music and i am very happy with it. I have also made a promise to myself that i will not listen to another option of ceremony music... just so that i dont change my mind... AGAIN!  I really think it will be beautiful though. (:

Also, due to the intense heat in the summer at 4 0 clock i made the decision to move the ceremony inside as well as the reception. I think that our guest (and i in a huge wedding dress) would feel a lot better being in an air conditioned room. So because we changed from outside to inside we had to make some changes in how everything will be set up.... and i am reminded again how much i ADORE my wedding planner! (: Every bride should hire a wedding planner... she calms you down and makes everything go smoothly. (:

My wedding shower is in 2 weeks and i am extremely excited for it. My sister (matron of honor) is putting it on and i think it will be a lot of fun! It is going to be a very classy and fun event. hehe. The week after i am putting my friend's wedding shower on. It makes me feel a LITTLE stressed because it is a week after mine and 2 weeks before my wedding... but i think it will be fun. It will be a little more laid back and just a great chance for everyone to celebrate the bride. (: Hers is going to be an ice cream party theme... and i think it will be very cute. i printed out custom made invites with a little bride holding a bouquet of flowers and an ice cream cone! (:

I printed one copy out and then went to the trusted FedEx store to make more copies and use a little cutter to make straight lines.

So everything turned out great! I will be mailing them out today or tomorrow. My sister mailed mine out last Saturday and i think everyone has got their invite... but no one has RSVP'd yet! 

And this seems to be a theme since yesterday was the cutoff to my RSVP and there are a handful of people who still haven't RSVP'd! I dont know if they are just not coming and don't want to tell us.... or if they are assuming that we know they are coming and don't need to. Whatever the reason... i will have the wonderful duty of calling everyone, starting tomorrow, to ask if they are coming or not coming. My caterer needs a headcount by the end of the month. 

There is a lot to do in the next 4 weeks... and honestly, i am ready for the wedding to come, the planning to stop, and the marriage to begin! ha! (: 

With a month left until THE DAY i decided to work out. I have lost quite a lot of weight since last summer (i am about 15 pounds lighter then i was last summer which is a GREAT accomplishment! But i need a little extra push with the wedding approaching. I thought it was effective to get Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred.

She TOTALLY kicks your booty!!! I didn't workout properly though ( i had wedding errands and stopped working out before the cool down) so my legs are KILLING me today! it is literally hard to walk! But i am pretty sure i will lose those extra few pounds and get toned for the wedding. So the pain is worth it! (: 

lots of planning, sore muscles, and love. -M

♥ . ♥ . ♥

thirty-nine.

Well i have 39 days until my wedding!

wait!!! what!!! only 39 days??? HOW am i going to get through this?

I just had an ongoing conversation with my wedding planner via e-mail on all the things we still need to do in the next 39 days.

Some of which include... pay everything off! ha! easier said then done. My new super hero name will be 'Super Budgetter'. My wonderful Fiance and i will have to plan out every single dollar to make sure that we have enough for all the wedding bills, my bills, and our apartment bills. It feels overwhelming but we are just taking it one paycheck at a time.  we can do this! (:

Other things we need to do is meet with our ceremony music guy, our dj, and photographer. We need to make a music list - including a 'do not play list' along with certain songs for certain activities. (like our first dance, the honeymoon dance, anniversary [elimination] dance, and the song that will be played when we walk back into the reception after pictures). We need to write up a "must take photo list" so that our photographer knows exactly what we will want. (:

We have to give all of our vendors our wonderfully typed out timeline that my amazing wedding planner typed up for us .. so that everyone is on the right page. We need to figure out what we wanna do for our ceremony and talk to our officiant to discuss it.

I have to go buy stuff for our super-fun kid's table that we are going to have. I have made a custom coloring book and now i just need to go make copies. Get coloring crayons, little fun games, and some balloons for decorations for the kid's table.

My worries of this week: We are STILL mailing out invites!!! We keep thinking of people and having to give them invitations... but we don't have many RSVPs. That makes me a little nervous. I am soo worried that we are going to go over our headcount. We want to stay at 130 or less.
Also i have been looking at our registry and NO ONE has bought anything yet. Isn't that strange? I guess everyone is going to wait until the last minute? Or we just won't have any gifts. lol.

My shower is in two weeks and i am very excited about that. oh no! Another thing to add onto my long list of to-dos is to give my sister (my matron of honor) my guest list for the shower.

Speaking of showers i need to start getting ready because i am throwing my friend  Shawna, a bridal shower because she is getting married 3 short weeks after me. (: VERY excited for her!!! So her shower will be a week after mine! hooray!!! (:

Lord, give me strength... and joy!



To do lists, busy days, and love. - M

♥ . ♥ . ♥