the graduate

I graduated from Texas Tech and have that pretty little diploma in a nice little frame! It's so nice to be d-o-n-e with homework and studying (unless I choose to go back!). I don't think it'll set in until August when it'll be the first time in 16 years that I'm not starting school in the fall! 

my parents and brother/sister-in-law came to Lubbock for a few days 

 ^^my friends Chelsea and Bailley! Couldn't have made it through nursing school without them! We all got engaged during nursing school, their weddings are both within the next 2 weeks. 

^^Cody surprised me with roses :)

we all went to Manna Bread and Wine for dinner after graduation

claires 22nd birthday!!

Claire's 22nd birthday was last week, and our finals were over so we were able to enjoy the day! We had a cookout my fiance's house the night before her birthday so alot of our friends could be there.

^^morgan, the birthday girl, and I

the next morning, claire's actual birthday, I woke up early to make birthday pancakes. Our other friend, Ashley came over too with orange juice. We woke Claire up and had breakfast with her

We layed out the rest of the day and then went to Manna Bread and Wine for dinner.

Wedding crafts are in full motion, and I made these fabric flowers the other day that I'll use for filler decorations. I bought a twin size sheet at a thrift store for 98 cents and I'm using it to make these flowers :)

and how pretty is this sunset against the texas tech stadium? I'll miss the beautiful sunset views from this apartment!

weddingplanning: being budget friendly....this far.

These are a few tips and tricks that I have implemented so far. I think big, elaborate weddings are great but it just didn't work with our budget, plus I love being thrifty and seeing such a money saving idea come to life!

a) research save the dates/invitation making

-I wanted to make the "tie the knot" save the dates so there was no way around ME making them. (as seen in the save-the-date post) I bought 4 packages of 50 brown folding cards/envelopes. They were 50% off so they came out to be roughly $4 a package. I researched where to print them in Lubbock and found a place that would do them all for $50. For all 200 cards, I didn't even use an entire roll of Jutte, but the roll was $3.99 then I used a 40% coupon. I found that this process was a lot cheaper, allowed me to do exactly what I wanted, and was a fun way to start visually seeing my efforts in wedding planning from the start.

b) Hand deliver as many cards as possible!

-one thing I hadn't thought about budgeting for was....stamps! Each stamp is .46 cents. So, for 200 invitations, thats $92 spent on stamps alone. Then, if you do 200 formal invitations as well, thats another $92 dollars. Then, if you do an included RSVP card, go on ahead and add an additional $92 dollars. I had delivered 50% of my save the dates to both Lubbock friends and hometown friends when I visited home. I also am opting out of having an RSVP card with my formal invitation, instead, when I print my formal invitations I'll include multiple ways to RSVP: using weddingwire.com and going to our RSVP section, calling me, emailing me.

c) use what you have for decorations

-Most of my decor is DIY anyways, so I knew getting the supplies would mostly come from thrifting. My neighbor had a garage sale the other weekend and I got TWENTY vases for a crazy good price! I also have two frames that I've painted for my bathroom that I'll be repainting with chalkboard paint to use at our reception, so they're free. There's SO many ideas with this, but I want to wait until my vision comes to life for some :)

d) don't buy/rent wedding party wardrobes

-This is pretty untypical, but with the new trend of mismatch dresses, it works. I asked my bridesmaids to pick a navy dress that THEY like. That way, it's theres. They can buy one for $10 or $200, but it's there doing, and they'll wear it again. I'm not completely sure how we're doing the groomsmen yet, but along the same lines I'm sure.

e) be willing to compromise.

-This was something I did not want to do, but once the reality of the cost sets in, it only makes sense. I was adamant to have the white, wood folding chairs as the seating for my outdoor ceremony. However, they would be $300 more than the plastic white. Once I realized how short of a time the ceremony was, I agreed to having the plastic white chairs instead.

much, much more to come!

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senioritis

 
is it even considered senioritis this late in the game? graduation is 14 days away so my motivation to study or focus on school in any manner is lost.



I would much much rather be spending my time planning my wedding, birthday parties, and graduation parties.

This months to do:
-Claire's birthday is this week! yay, 22!!
-graduation is the 21st... followed by a friends wedding and then my graduation party

wedding planning to-do:
-thrift/start DIYing decor
-bridesmaids gifts
-music choices
-shower dates

we had an 80's prom for a foundation fundraiser-one of my last college events!

we had a lunch for the new/old RSC officers

we had a community group/first baptist leadership cookout at the park last week. Cody and I had to stop for the ice cream truck too

in the midst of being busy...

the past few weeks have been super busy, between school, finishing clinicals, studying for HUGE tests, finishing projects, and trying to actually work a few hours, it's just been crazy. so, the only time I've even stopped to take a picture has been the two fun things i've been able to do... and those pictures were taken on my phone :(

first, RSC spring formal aka my last formal in college! it was held at this outdoor party house in this persons backyard and it was such a neat venue! It still hasn't sank in my time in college and RSC has come to an end but I'm sure it will soon!

next, cody and I went home last weekend for my friend Dani's wedding! it was perfect and adorable! I was also able to see alot of friends from home :)

the proposal

Cody had me convinced that he wouldn't be popping the question until at least early summer. Little did I know, he knew all along that it would be on March 16th. He had plan his plan, talked to my parents, and talked to my friends. Luckily, it was right after spring break, so I wasn't around anyone the week of... which allowed no secrets to get out!

On that Saturday Cody took me to breakfast then to run errands. When we were at the mall he randomly asked me to go on a "fancy date" with him that night. I of course said yes! None of our friends were back in town yet (or so I thought) so I knew we had no other plans. I spent the rest of the day laying out with a few of my girlfriends (they knew what was happening that night but were so good at being secretive! but, they did TRY to get me to paint my nails... I still didn't though). 

Cody came to get me at 6:45 that night. I had a tiny thought "what if I'm getting ready for my own proposal?" but made that thought disappear. After all, there was no way Cody had a ring, or had talked to my dad, and... I just facetimed my parents that morning and they were 5 hours away! 

When Cody came to get me he told me our reservation wasn't for awhile so he wanted to go out to "our spot" and watch the sunset. Our spot is an area outside of Lubbock where we spent many nights when we first started dating... we would watch the stars, talk, and thats where he asked me to be his girlfriend. When we drove up to our spot I saw a couch, table, flowers, and his friend playing guitar. None of this sparked a thought about a proposal to me because 1) cody had all day to plan something, I KNEW he would do something big 2) he's super romantic and we've eaten breakfast and watched a movie randomly in the park before, so, this wasn't completely abnormal. 

He sat me down on the couch and started talking to me. He gave me a journal but told me to read it later. Then he told me he wanted me to watch a video with him. He pulled out his computer and I realized the video was just of him and he had made a video of all sorts of comments, emotions, etc. he wanted to express to me. 

the video ended by saying "7 months and 2 days ago at this very spot I asked you to be my girlfriend, and I now I have something else to ask you..." and this is when I knew what was happening! I was SHOCKED! I heard cameras clicking behind me and recognized my best friend and her boyfriend taking these pictures (thank you again, Morgan and Garrett!!!) After the video, Cody told me he had a few other gifts for me. He got a bible with my new name engraved in on it, out of a bag and got down on one knee in front of me. At this point, everything becomes a blur but I do know that the point of Codys message was that our marriage is to be a reflection of how Christ loves us and the church.

After this, I sat the bible aside and Cody grabbed one more thing out of the bag. Down on one knee he continued to tell me why he wanted to marry me and popped the question!!!

After he proposed, I immediately thought "my parents!" but I turned around to see my parents and his family right behind us!! I so so surprised and thrilled!!

weddingplanning: DIY save the dates

 I've been obsessed with the "tie the knot" themed save the dates ever since I saw them on Pinterest over a year ago. I'd repinned them hoping one day I could make them for myself, and that day came sooner than I imagined it would!

These DIY save the dates cost about $70 total for 200 invites and envelopes. It did take times, but I think they're super cute so I (and my girlfriends too, hopefully) didn't mind.

I bought packs of combination 50 envelopes/blank cards from Hobby Lobby. I was very specific about the cardboard color card stock that other print places didn't have, so I bought my own. I bought 4 packs (totaling 200) for $4 each, so I spent $16 on all the paper! (they were originally $6.99 each, but I caught a 40% off sale!)

I also bought a bundle of Jute (small rope-ish?) to make the knot. This was $3.29 at hobby lobby.

I had a print shop in Lubbock print on the cards. It took about a day and turned out EXACTLY how I wanted. I actually made the design myself in microsoft word and emailed it to the store. This cost the most, about $50. I totally would've done this myself, but I think either the cost of ink or a handcramp from writing would've stopped from that.

For the knot, I figured out the best estimate of length of "yarn" to use. Poked holes on both sides of the card and tied a lose knot. I stuck the ends through the holes then hot glued. I did a few trial runs, making sure when the card opened all the way the yarn tied into a tight knot, and then I loosened it back up for the next time.  

And here you go! (and no, there isn't a light tan box on the actual save the dates, thats just for the security of the internet!)