Heartbreaking

Parts of my beloved college town, Tuscaloosa, AL, were leveled yesterday by twisters. What seemed like almost a mile in diameter tornado ripped through the gorgeous college town. While it spared Bryant-Denny Stadium and the main campus itself, it tore up and demolished other parts of the town including the new construction that was just built a year or two ago.

The Taco Casa I used to frequent, gone. McAlisters suffered damage, the Wendys...demolished. The mall, gas stations, Krispy Kreme and Milos, totally unrecognizable. I can't imagine what it really looks like in person but it's gut wrenching to see the images, coverage on TV and facebook posts. The death tolls are rising in both Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and beyond. I pray peace on all that have to deal with this royal mess!

The images are so saddening, especially if you have a tie to the town. My heart breaks for those students and residents, business owners and lovers of Tuscaloosa in general. I know the surrounding towns and all over the southeast have been pounded with these storms over the last 48 hours and my heart breaks for each and everyone of you affected by these nasty storms.

Here are some shots and a link to a video of the madness that hit Tuscaloosa yesterday.

holy funnel cloud

McFarland and 15th ... what used to be Milo's

Tuscaloosa's Bryant-Denny Stadium Survives Alabama Tornado Outbreak - SB Nation Atlanta

Bad Dress Rehearsal ... Perfect Performance

Dead fridge, Mom has surgery, fiancé has laptop stolen and I have to travel MORE for work. All of this is NOT how I saw our wedding week going!

So lets drill down here to all of the issues at hand.

My Mom's surgery went well and she is home recovering...Praise God for that! She does have to have a stint taken out tomorrow early morning and it should be 100% clear sailing from there. I'm thankful that all of this happened late last week/early this week rather than starting this weekend with all the wedding craziness!

Apparently our fridge was dying and we didn't know it. However, when we got home on Monday, it was clear as day. All the food was spoiled (thank goodness I didn't full grocery shop on Sunday as it was Easter) and the ice had all melted into a puddle. We didn't get a chance Monday to pick one out so we went last night. I'm happy to report that we bought a new and better model...hooray...and it's already installed and working!

pretty snazzy huh?

Mike's office got broken into on Easter Sunday and his laptop and others were stolen...nice huh? So they all got new laptops today and are back in business.

As far as traveling...here's my schedule...no joke I am gone 98% of May.Very much looking forward to June and my life somewhat settling down.

April 30 Wedding
May 2-13 Hawaii
May16-19 Raleigh, NC
May 23 - New Intern Starts! (yay)
May 25-26 Raleigh, NC

On top of all of this travel and what not, I've got to work on getting my name changed in what feels like a million places. Most important, SS, Passport (bc of the cruise) and my  license. Goodness gracious great balls of fire I feel like I'm in a tailspin of craziness. I think I just need to keep on swimming in the words of Dori the fish from Finding Nemo!

Thanks for all the thoughts and positive energy, I swear it (along with my workouts and impending massage) is helping!

IT'S WEDDING WEEK!!

It's FINALLY here! It's officially WEDDING WEEK!!!! Commence freak out ... NOW! Thank goodness I'm 99.9% done. All that's lacking is a few little minor things that I'll get wrapped up by Thursday! As we're heading into this week, we've had 2 small hiccups, okay 3 but one of them is me being silly.

1) My mom has developed a kidney stone as of late last week. She's in a lot of pain but seems to think that it's making its way out of her system. Currently, she's on her way to another doctor to see what's going on. Please keep her in your thoughts so that she can pass this quickly and not be in too much pain this week and that she'll get to enjoy the weekend!

2) One of my MOH's, Kerri, has bronchitis, again. She's been under the weather and is trying to get better. Thankfully, she is already on medicine so hopefully it's taking its course and she'll be good to go this weekend

3) The selfish not really an issue problem. I no longer like or feel cute in my Rehearsal dinner dress. I'm probably being a nut job and looking at myself with critical eyes, but I'm not happy with it at this point so off to the mall I go this week. I hope I find something not astronomically expensive and that will make me feel happy!

The bright side, I tried on my wedding dress this past Saturday and couldn't have been happier! It looked phenomenal and probably the best it has to date. Can't wait to see it all pressed and pretty waiting for me to wear!

photo credit

If this is the worst of what is to come, I think we're gonna be okay! I just have to keep telling myself the following and to relax and enjoy this week and time. I'll be surrounded by 140ish people that Mike and I love dearly and that all traveled near and far to share in our joy with us. None of the small stuff that I keep fretting about will matter and at the end of the day, Mike and I will be married and on our way to HAWAII for 2 weeks!!

As far as the weather forecast, it's totally improving! A few weeks ago it was looking rough, but now that we're in the week of, I have a bit more confidence in their forecasting!

Accuweather.com
Friday: 76/55 and Sunny!
Saturday: 82/58 and Sunny!
Weather.com
Friday: 73/52 Sunny
Saturday: 80/56 Partly Cloudy with Sun

All in all, I'm keeping it together. Just trying to keep chugging through today and looking forward to all my appointments this week and getting some time to myself. We have our final call with our director sometime early this week. Hopefully this will be painless like everything else has been with our venue!

So Happy Wedding Week to Me and Happy Wedding Week to my date twin also!

Happy Easter Weekend!

For the first time in 5 years I've had to work on Good Friday ... but it wasn't such a bad deal since we had the shower today. However, now I'm packing up for the weekend to head home. I shall leave you with this adorable little image I found on my computer today ... probably from last Easter!

photo credit

So with that, I shall wish all of you a wonderful Easter holiday weekend. Hope you get to enjoy it with some of the people you love and most of all, remember the reason for why we have this holiday ... and no, it's not for the 'peep' show in the image above!

Surprise ... Sort Of!

A big thank you to my sweet friends and coworkers, Maria and Vanessa, for organizing the shower at my office today. While it was supposed to be a surprise, I knew about it ... yes I realize I ruin all surprises! They did surprise me a little with Mike and my Mom being there though! My work is more than just a job, it's part of my 'family'. I've been working here since 2006 (well I was gone for 1 year) and most of the time, I love my job and work environment! We scored some awesome Pottery Barn gifts : all of our glasses and they pretty much finished out our everyday dishes on the registry! All of these items are VERY much appreciated as is the effort put forth by my work family! 

gift time! 

presents and cake

"Look, a cup!"

YUMMY cake!

tag team gift opening!

checking out our cereal bowls!

Thanks everyone for participating and joining for lunch and cake and most of all, for making Mike and I feel special and loved. You guys are awesome!!

Happy Thursday!

It's now single digits until wedded bliss. I have been keeping track at the office on my white board and every so often I come in and there are "additions" to my countdown! Thanks to my coworkers for always keeping me laughing and in check. They are an amazing group and a bunch of cut-ups!

My shopping extravaganza last night was a success and I'm looking forward to doing it again later in the summer/fall time frame! Got a few new things but didn't have time to snap any photos last night, but it's on my list to do today! I have one more shopping trip in mind before we head to Hawaii and it could be a doozie on the bank account.

Nearing Single Digits!

The days are dwindling and we'll be in the single digits tomorrow! I keep telling myself that if I make it through this work week, I'll be all good! With this weekend being Easter, I've got some down time to hang around the house after church and lunch with our families. I'll be working on my packing lists for the wedding weekend as well as Hawaii and my work trip to Raleigh (could that have come at a worse time?!) I'll also be making sure I 100% have everything together, which I'm about 98% of the way there. Wedding week should be pretty easy and relaxing, just the way I'm wanting it to be. Here's what's on tap!

Monday: A good workout in the morning and my final day in the office to get my stuff together for work trip and my new intern. After this, I'll be out of the office for 19 days straight. EEK!!

Tuesday: Work seminar from 8am-11:30 by the American Heart Association and then doing final counts and dropping off all items at our venue, venue for Rehearsal Dinner and taking our welcome bags to the hotel. After that, I'll be getting my hair colored and a final small trim so that my locks look perfect when they go up for the big day on Saturday!

Wednesday: A good workout in the morning and then heading to take my two Matrons of Honor to the spa for massages. I am AMPED about a massage and am 100% in need of one. I'm sure they are too! We're heading to the Spa at Chateau Elan and I can't wait to hang out with them, relax, enjoy some wine and get a massage!!

Thursday: Taking the morning to myself to get my nails done, run any final errands for the honeymoon (ie: more shopping!) and hope to get myself all packed by this day.

Friday: My Bridal Luncheon will begin around 11 and then the day/weekend will be non-stop from then on out. At that point, I'll be in shock, excitement and anxious to get to Saturday!


Just trying to chug along though this week though it seems like it's never ending! Looking forward to my shopping extravaganza at Fab'rik Buckhead tonight with some of my girlfriends and a birthday party for Mike's buddy, Scott, Friday night. Also, I know about a little "secret" shower for me this coming Friday at my office ... so much for the surprise but I'm very much looking forward to it!