Life Lately (Happy Friday)

Life lately has been a blur of travel, spreadsheets, to-do lists, and weddings--lots and lots of weddings. 

Last weekend JT and I traveled to Savannah, Georgia, to see Kelsey Jo tie the knot, and tomorrow we go watch one of my sister's good friends do the same. OH, and I said 'yes' to the dress! It's an exciting time! Between planning my own wedding, going to my friend's, taking on extra responsibilities at work, and freelancing more, I'm excited to hopefully slow down a bit in the coming weeks. But, then again, maybe I won't, and that'll be wonderful, too.

MOH, Bride, MOB.

Captain and Mrs. John Hawkins!

our best "wait 'til you see the bride..!!" faces

pre-wedding kickball bridesmaids v. groomsmen

my very first item with my future monogram :)

#merica

Sweet Robby is growing like a weed! Those cheeks... #swoon

our fur baby, lilly, is pretty excited about JT's shift change

My latest "sweating for the dress" experiment .... eek...

And the reason I endure lemon juice with cayenne pepper... this stud of a wedding date.

So there you have it, life lately. Bonus: I think my Friday will be spent watching this and the Robster. #winning

#HitchTheHawkins

our first night in Nashville at The Tavern.

'Tis the season ladies and gents, both figuratively and literally. Spring and Summer are always prime time for weddings and events, but this is takes the cake for me. Perhaps it's my age/phase of life, or perhaps it's just summer again and that's when everyone wants "June weddings at the Plaza." Who knows. All I know is I'm on a marathon of happiness, cocktails, Bed Bath and Beyond coupons, and dress fittings, and it's sublime.

From the end of April to Mid-June, I have a grand total of 5 weddings (a bridesmaid in 2), one graduation, a handful of birthdays, a family beach trip, and I just got back from a bachelorette weekend in Nashvegas. Whew. Cheers to the freakin' weekend, oh wait, it's Monday.

Here are a few snapshots from Kelsey Jo's #AllPinkEverything (taken from Eva the Diva's "all red everything" tagline) Bach Bash:  

The Bride-to-be, Kelsey Jo

some of her maids, R to L: Ashley, Erin, August, bride, Mere, EZ, me.

my turn with the gorgeous bride-to-be

yes, I went all the way to Nashville to get a pic with Elvis.

#ForeverRoomie

readying the sash

The whole gang ready to hit the town after yummy Rosepepper Cantina supper.

Nashville, you didn't disappoint. 

Now, to schedule in some sleep...

June Bug

I'm horribly embarrassed at how delinquent I've been with my posts; at one point last fall I was posting every day and now I've resorted to monthly happenings. Not my finest cyberspace moment, BUT my only excuse is a saying I once heard and now believe to be 100% true: there's no time to write about life when you're actually living it.

That couldn't be more true than during the month of June 2013. Case and point:

Italian Fest/ Randy Houser concert with JT:

even in the ankle-deep mud and rain it was a blast.

JT's first trip to my old stomping grounds:

We drove down Friday after work and went out with the besties, then 

Saturday morning I took him to some of my favorite things in bham

 [including Samford, Baby Bites, and a Mugshot burger].

More exciting news was that on the way out of town that Friday, I got the official call that one of my very best friends, Kelsey Jo, is engaged to her Army hero. As the first TNB to get a rock, we couldn't be more thrilled or excited for what the future holds [still hoping for a cul de sac with all our families]

CONGRATS Kels!

 

Back in Bham, on Saturday afternoon we made the trek to Arab, AL to celebrate the nuptials of Luke and Barbara Jane. Such a beautiful wedding and had so much fun with Mere, EZ, and Bekah.

Next, my family beach trip in Orange Beach:

 so much fun with my favorite people.

Then, JT and I closed out the month of June 

with another wedding for some of his friends:

 clearly JT, Richard, Stephanie, Leslie, BRooney, Alan, Emily, Brooke, and Matt had fun with the photo booth.

All and all June was fabulous. 

Can't wait to see what July has in store!

Yankee Doodle Sweetheart

It's the final countdown. 

 You did it Kelsey Jo! You've counted down a grand total of 10 months, and I'm so stinking excited that you can now say there is approx. ONE week and some change until you welcome John home in Savannah!

 

My very own Yankee Doodle Sweetheart, born on the 3rd of July, has been anxiously awaiting October since late last December when she realized John John would be deployed.

 

Since then, she's handled herself extremely well during what I can only imagine to be a wild and crazy roller coaster ride of emotions and she's gotten by with the help and support of her TNB's, her family, his family, lots of prayers and a lil medication :)

Now, since I can't take off work and drive to Savannah to photograph this glorious homecoming (of which I've been talking to Kels about for months--which angles I'd take, exactly what clearance I'd need to be able to essentially be their shadow as they finally see each other again without being escorted out by men in uniform...on second thought.. might not hate that..., and even annoyingly trying to get her to take pictures in an American flag (i.e. Kris Jenner in an American flag with Bruce's gold medal) for her hunky hero), I'm doing my best to imagine how it's going to be. This is what I've got so far...

So, add all of these pictures together, sprinkle in some tears and running mascara, and then multiply that sum by roughly 4 billion and you might be close to the emotion I'm foreshadowing.

Wishing I could be the photographer of these precious moments always and forever, and busting at the seams of excitement for both of you, know that I'm always here for patriotic themed photo shoots in the future for my Yankee Doodle Sweetheart and her Army hero.