God Gave Me You

Our Wedding Music Video

by Brad Smith

It was the perfect fairytale ending :)

Thank you to everyone who has followed my little blog all this time!  It has been a fun nine month journey from the proposal, through the planning, to the perfect and fun wedding day. 

Thank you to everyone who took that journey with me!

If you would like to see our new beginning, please join us at Snow Days!
Our new married blog that I will begin posting to as soon

as I return from the most AMAZING honeymoon ever :)

The Name's Bond. Liam Bond.

Okay, it's the night before my wedding and I'm about to go to bed so that I'll be all rested up for tomorrow night (; but before I do I have to show you my  a d o r a b l e  little ring bearer in his tux!

Look at that face! So so so cute! I've loved having little Liam around this week! And of course Lauren and Eric, too! They had to bride him with candy because Sunday he wanted nothing to do with this tux. Keep your fingers crossed that he'll put it on tomorrow!

Baby, Tomorrow

Yes, this post is named after a Drew Holcomb & the Neighbors song.

Can you believe it? I hardly can! I'm feeling not at all like I expected to. I keep saying yes every time someone asks if I'm scared or nervous or excited because, truth be told, I am all of that, but only for fleeting moments. What's taken me by the most surprise is that for the past few days, it seems like I've been having an out-of-body experience. Like, I've been waiting for this day for months on end, but now that it's finally here, I feel like it's snuck up on me. It's all so surreal!

Don't get me wrong, I want to be Mrs. David Thomas Snow tomorrow (OMG! TOMORROW!) more than anything in the world, I just can't wrap my head around the idea that it's actually happening! Can I be this lucky? Can I really be this blessed?

Then I remember what Tommy told my mom a few years ago. He said that the summer we met he had been praying that God would send him the girl he would marry early so that I wouldn't have to go through all the complication and heartbreak of dating. Now, we had our share of heartbreak and complicated situations, but we've gone through them together and I think it's made us stronger as a couple.

Sometimes I have an oh-my-gracious-I'm-eighteen-and-still-a-baby freak out, but then I think about all the good times we'll have growing up and learning about the real world together. And when I can't think of anything to calm me down, I read a few posts from my favorite young-married-couple blog, Playing Grown-Up and it chills me.

I think what scares me more than anything is going straight from the shelter of my parents home, to being completely independent--with Tommy, of course. I don't know anything about anything! But I guess all the learning is just part of growing up! And I know Tom will be a wonderful husband and he will always take care of me, so really I shouldn't worry before there's a reason to. I'll strive to remember that no matter how scary things look to me, God is always in control and he loves me more than birds.

"Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?"

Matthew 6:26

Most importantly, tomorrow I will marry by best friend and the man of my dreams. I love him!

So that's what has been running through my head today. Lucky you got a glimpse! I'm going to get ready for rehearsal now! Tomorrow is the big day! Pray for us! Eeeeeeeeeeek

beautiful bride pic from here.

The Nanny Diaries: Sprinkler Fun!

Emmie has discovered the sprinkler! It's a great way to cool her off when I'm too lazy to get in the Otter Ool. Not to mention a fun way to water the garden! She's just about the cutest thing I've ever seen and adding a heathy dose of spraying water just multiplies her cuteness by a zillion! And she wore that Tangled costume all day! I took a video today, but she's not much of a diva, so I wasn't able to do justice to her adorable self! She actually looks kind of angry in the beginning..

 

As long as the camera was out, I couldn't get her to walk through it-- which is such a shame because you haven't seen cute until you see that! Hopefully I'll catch it soon!

I LOVE EMORY JAMES!

The Nanny Diaries: Rhyme Tyme!

We've been watching a lot of Cat in the Hat recently (or "CAH-HA" in Emorese). As a result, Rylee has picked up a bit of a Dr. Seuss-y speech pattern:

Oh she cracks me up!

Her rhymes are usually much funnier and involve unicorns, but she said that she couldn't concentrate with a camera in her face.

License to Wed

Today, Tom and I applied for our marriage license!

 

Yay! We're now one step closer to our life together! Eeeeeeekk!

I Love Rainy Days...

with this song:

this quote:

"Rain is grace; rain is the sky condesending to the earth; without rain, there would be no life."

-John Updike

and a cup of hot tea, sitting on the porch watching it fall. 

What's your idea of the perfect rainy day?

Or are you one of those people who hate them?

pic from here

Bachlorette Beach Bums

The Bridesmaids and I have spent the past week in Gulf Shores for our week-long bachlorette party! It was marvolous! I love my friends and had a BLAST hanging out with everyone.

WE ARE SOOO PRETTY!

We laid out, ate yummy yummy seafood and grilled cheese, devoured a jumbo jar of Nutella, watched dolphins play, drank pina coladas and daquires every night (virgin, of course), got pooped on, hit on, and raped by violent waves.

While we were down there, Mamma Marsha gave me an awesome bridal luncheon at Cobalt! Let's just say, I have a new favorite resturant now! The crab claw appitizers, the lobster rigatoni.. MMMM! So. Good! Marsha picked out the prettiest flowers and the cutest cake! It had charms inside! Everyone pulled a ribbon and got a special charm just for them! It was so cool!

 I was finally able to give all my wonderful bridesmaids their gifts! I'm a terrible secret-keeper so I've been dying to give them early for months!

We had a wonderful time! Thanks Mamma Marsha!

And a huge thank you to Mr. and Mrs. Faucett for letting us stay in their condo all week!

click here for more beach pics!

Laced with Lacie

I now have lots of naughty and nice to move into my new house!

June 18th my wonderful MOHs, Sydney and Leslie, threw me the most fabulous lingerie party!

The food was delish and pretty (see my cutesy cake and naughty cookies!) and the decorations we absolutely adorable! We started the evening with snacking and dancing to a...well...appropriately inappropriate CD that Lu and Syd put together. Sooo perfecttt! Then it was on to our first game!

Game one was called Pole in a Hole, which involves two teams of two. One team member stands with a broomstick between their legs and the other team member standing across the room with a paper towel roll between theirs. The poles must cross the room and slide the stick into the paper towel roll without using their hands. It's hilarious and really hard to do if you're laughing! I would post a picture, but wearing a dress and holding a stick between your legs makes for an awkward looking girl!  

After Pole in a Hole, we moved on to gifts. I won't elaborate, but let me just say that I luh-uuved everything! Pretty and sweet, not-so-sweet and fun, it was all great! I got some pretty funny gifts too! Being a pretty young group of girls, there was quite a bit a giggling! Followed, of course, by the sound, new-wife advise of Emily.

Next it was time for game two, named Gettin' Ready in the Dark. Once again, pretty self-explainitory. I was blind folded and spun round and round, then had to find my suitcase, put on panties, a bra, a teddy, feather boa, and lipstick, then find my way to a stick figure Tommy and give him a big ol' smooch! I'm going to brag on myself a little and say that I was pretty beast (once I found the suitcase!). Tommy and I will have no problem if the power goes out!

The lingerie shower was so. much. FUN! Thanks again Syd and Lu for making it so great! I love you guys! And I'm sure Tom will be thanking you all soon (;

Bama Bound!

I am offically enrolled at the University of Alabama! Woot woot! My orientation was June 13th and 14th (Freshman 5) and it was much more fun than I had expected! Mostly because Sydney and Mary Ann were there, too! We met lots of new people and learned a lot, but I still think it'll be pretty obvious that we're freshmen.

Most of the parents came, but I thought I was big and bad and didn't need my mommy with me. My tune changed after my first advising session. She came on the second day and made us take pictures.

**Mary Ann, I'm sorry you left before the picture fest began :(

 Nifty nametags

 Super drawstring bags! We were the lucky few that had a planner inside!

and THE tshirts

Most important lesson learned? Starting a sentence with "Well, at Auburn they..." will get your request more consideration than anything else.

If you notice a puddle of blood on the sidewalk by the Ferg...well, there's a story there.

EmPot Turns Two!

Sweet Emory James turned two last Thursday! Ed and Ashlee were in Vegas for work, so mom and I got to throw her a little birthday party! We started the day at CHOM and finished at CiCi's. Even Jaden came to CHOM with us! I hope you're comfortable because this will be a very long, very picturey post!

Feel free to check out my Facebook album for more birthday fun!

Showered in Love

Like I said in my last post (five minutes ago), I am so blessed to have to many great friends! June 5th my sweet friends Keli, Meghan, and Savannah threw me a super fun shower at the church!



My awesome hostesses planned lots of fun little games for us! One, which I absolutely loved, involved designing wedding dresses out of toilet paper! It sounds redneck, but there was some seriously intricate detail to these tp gowns! I was so impressed!

Team Savannah gussied up their gown with a braided sash around the waist and a braided headpiece

Team Pamela went for modern class with the mermaid silhouette, black tape sash, and handmade hair flowers

Team Stacy took us back to the 80s with three inch shoulder pads

 

Team Brenda designed a beautiful gown with a plunging neckline; however, there was quite a bit of bum showing. They claim the dress was inspired by J.Lo

Since it was my job to judge the dresses, I wasn't able to partcipate in the designing. Instead I played with little Miss Maggie! I think it was a pretty fair trade off :)

 We had sooo much fun! I was given so many wonderful gifts and really enjoyed spending time with all the ladies who were able to attend!

Peachy Not-So-Keen

As you well know, we have painted the rooms in our house multiple times already. I keep telling Tommy "this is the last time I'm painting, I promise there will be no more paint fumes in your house..." but so far my word hasn't proven very true! It's alright though because it keeps looking better and better! A few weeks ago (yeah, I'm really far behind on my blogs this month) my tall, pretty friend, Kara, helped me paint our bright peach livingroom! I tried and tried to work with this horrid color but it just wasn't happening! So ugly! It didn't seem that bad though until we covered it with a beautiful green!

These pictures were taken with my phone so there pretty stinky, but the color really is so pretty! I love to just sit in there and look at the walls :) it's coming together so nicely! I've been so blessed with all the help I've gotten from my buddies! I love my frands!

More pictures to come!

Vow Vexation

Oh my gracious! Today marks ONE MONTH before the wedding! It's creeped up on me out of no where. Not that I'm not excited, it just all seems so surreal! I mean, I'll be a wife in thirty days! Can you believe it?!

At this point I'm way past worrying about the weather, or having enough food or space for everyone; I'm now more concerned about flubbing up the vows. I get so nervous talking in front of living, breathing people! And we'll be mic-ed (courtesy of our videographer, Brad Smith) so when I screw up everyone will know! I really, really hope I don't start crying because 1. I'm an ugly cryer and 2. I sound like I have a mouthful of marbles.

Last night I was venting my concerns to mom when she showed me a video that Bec-Bec had sent her.

I get all cracked up every time I watch this! His face. That laugh. It's just too much!

So I guess if the vows get a little funky, it'll be a fond memory to look back on. At the end of the day we'll be just as married :)

Jack Goes to Camp

Our baby boy Jackie is away at summer camp! Or at least that's what I'm thinking of it as.

He's the second puppy from the left.

He's actually at Tuscaloosa K-9 training camp learning to be a well behaved doggie. When Flex was killed in the storm, the nice people at TK-9 offered to train our next puppy for free. It is very generous of them, but at first I didn't like the idea of him spending a large portion of his puppyhood away from home. But when Tommy showed me this picture on Friday, I had a whole new prospective!

Now I can think of it less like a long, gruling process in the hot sun and more like a fun summer camp! The trainer said he is having a great time and making lots of new friends! I'm so happy he isn't the weird kid that no one will talk to or the jerk no one likes. He's already making gains with his training partner, Loxley (the puppy on the left of him). Since he's starting out younger than Flex did, he should progress at a faster rate and come home soon after the honeymoon. I'm glad he's having a good time, but I miss him so much and can't wait to visit my little bear! However, Margo is enjoying being an only child again!

Love is Beautiful

Tommy and I had our engagement pictures taken Easter Sunday and we've finally gotten them back! They're wonderful! But I knew they would be. Scottie, who also took my senior portraits, does such amazing work! I always feel pretty when I leave, which is a big deal for me. I hate to have my picture taken, but it's so much fun with Scottie! Tommy thought it was going to be a drag, but he was pleasantly surprised!

I love my Tommy so much! We had so much fun taking these pictures because we got to do a lot of kissing :) I cannot wait to see what Scottie is going to do at the wedding! 36 days! Oh Em Gee!!!

Last night we put the finishing touches on our wedding guestbook by Mixbook. Feel free to take a peek and tell us what you think!

The Nanny Diaries: Long Live Summer

We've been having loads of fun since summer started!

Thursday, we went to the NES playground to play and have a little picnic.

Friday, we had a pool day with all three babies.

Juicy Lucy loved the water!

Emory didn't like the pool, but she had fun playing with the hose and being splashed!

Rylee loves to swim! Sadly my camera died before she got brave enough to jump off the diving board

Ry thought it was so cool that Margo loved to swim too!

The Nanny Diaries: A Very Potter Weekend

This past weekend I kept the Potter babies while Ed and Ashlee went to Hangout! We had loads of fun! And I shared the responsibilites with GeeGee so it wasn't all that hard either. Here's what went down.

Friday:
Me and the babies picked Rylee up from the bus stop and we went to my house for a little while. We jumped on the tampoline, colored, ate pizza, and watched movies on VHS! Ry could believe how big they were! My Mawmaw held Juicy Lucy all afternoon so she was a very happy baby. When we got back to their house that night, the girls were so exhausted they barely made it through their buble baths. Emory begged to go "night night" the whole time.

Saturday:

Ry had been waiting for Saturday all week! I promised to take her swimming if the weather was pretty and thank God it was! We got up, made pancakes, dropped the little girls off at GeeGee's, and headed to OT's. 

We stayed at the pool until 2, then it was time to go to gymnastics. Ry hates gymnastics, but luckily this was her last one! Not that that made her any happier to go, especially since she had to leave her fun. It didn't help that I had forgotten to bring sunscreen and she had gotten a bit of a sunburn. We finally got to the recital, Ry did great and got her award, then we got ice cream and she was happy again when I dropped her off at GeeGee's for the night. Ry is the one in pink! We weren't in the greatest spot for video, so please excuse the woman's head and blurriness.

 

Sunday:

The girls stayed at GeeGee's to play with their cousins while I went to ACA's graduation to see Sydney, Melissa, Mary Ann, and Kendall! Also it was Emily & Matt's wedding day! They had a very small family wedding and were not able to invite friends (I know how that feels. So stressful!) so I was honored when her mom asked me to decorate their cars before they got home! Don't worry, it was very tasteful! Not at all what I expect Tommy 4Runner to look like. The pictures from their photobooth are adorable! After my free day, I picked up McDonald's for dinner (yeah, I know, Future Mrs. Homemaker, right?), and brought the girls back to their house. Dinner, baths, bed. Pretty standard school night stuff.

Monday morning:

Made America Muffins, which me and Ry decided was what you call it when there are both strawberry and blueberry muffins in one pan, and got ready for school. Ry did not want to go to school after such a big weekend so when her alarm went off the was deathly ill and couldnt get dressed because her sunburn had made her too cripsy. Those are her words and I don't even want to picture a crispy sunburn. But after a few muffins she was ready to go!

Wow! If you read all this you're either quite a reader, or really like babies. Both ways, I'm glad you stopped by! Have a Happy Hump Day! Please, no dirty thoughts there.

They gave the cutest girl in the world a T.V. show!

Yes, that's right- Zooey DesChanel is starring in a new show! I got so excited after reading Brooke's blog about it!  

I just think Zooey is the cutest thing since puppies! She has great hair and I luh-ove the way she dresses! So sweet. So feminine.

I cannot wait for New Girl! It'll fit right in with all my other shows (The Office, Parks and Recreation, Scrubs, 30 Rock...) Especially love all the Dirty Dancing stuff because it's my favorite 80s movie! New Girl may be my Office replacement because I don't think I can bear watch it after Michael Scott is gone.

What are your favorite shows?

Is there anything new coming on that you're looking forward to seeing?

College Gal!

This blogger is offically Bama Bound!

I've told pretty much everyone already, but I wasn't actually supposed to. Oops!

If you remember, I mentioned a big, exciting blessing that I couldn't announce yet back in my Extra Good Good Friday post. That morning I got an email from my guidence counselor, Julia Fox, tell me that I had been picked to recieve the Eugenia Patton "Pat" Faucett Scholarship, which will pay for my tuition for four years as long as I can keep a B average!

I have hoped and prayed for this one all year and all I could do when she called is praise God! Then I ran around my house singing the fight song!

So it's offical, I will be attending UA in the fall (I'm in the Freshman 5 Bama Bound, June 13-14 with my pretty friend, Sydney) and it's all thanks to some very generous people on the scholarship board and my God who never fails to take care of me. When I can't see a way to pay for college, He shows me how simple He can make it.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

pic from here

Bad News, Good News, and an Update

I'll start with the bad news:

Our families were very blessed during the storms a few weeks ago. We had a few trees down, lost power for a few days, and still don't have cable or internet. Yeah, it's a bit of a nuisance, but our loved ones are safe and we have a place to lay our heads at night. Oh, how my heart breaks for those who weren't so lucky.

However, we did have one casuality. Tommy's one-year-old German Shepard, Flex. He was still at Tuscaloosa K-9 training camp when the storm came and everything there was destroyed. I know it's "just a dog" and, once again, we are extremly blessed, but we still miss our baby boy. He was just so great..

Now for the good news:

We got a new puppy! I know it's seems fast, but Tom doesn't like being home alone all the time so he needed a new friend.

This is Jack (or Jackie, Jackpot, Jack Attack, ect.)! He's an eight-week-old Austrailan Shepard and he's already stolen our hearts!

We still miss Flex very much, but we're definitely enjoying Jack :)

An Update

If you're wondering about Margo, you probably aren't but I can't leave my sweet girl out! She's growing up and you can tell she's mellowed out. But don't worry, she's as mischievous as ever!

She spent the night with her daddy and new brother while I was in Ft. Payne for my shower. We had to get her bathed and cliped beforehand so she coud be pretty, but she jerked like a total spaz when mom went to clip one of her nails and it cut too far! Poor Margo's paw was bleeding like crazy! It got all over the place, but mom and dad rigged up a cast-like bandage on it and she seems to be feeling better now.

...we're currently having a problem with Jack trying to "show his dominance" over Margo. She does not like it.



Snow Shower

Sunday afternoon I was honored at a second shower for Tommy's side of the family hosted at Candy's house.

Hostesses: Teda, Holli, Candy (holding Katie), Brandy, Brooklyn, and Kylie

 To this shower I brought my maids of honor, Sydney and Leslie. We were super early because mom and I had never driven there before and we were betting on getting lost. We didn't, but it worked out because mom, Syd, and I hadn't eaten anything that day and were about to starve to death. Needless to say, Candy had scrumptous snacks so we practically demolished them, except for mom, of course, because she is super super polite; she just nibbled. Let me just tell you, Candy's lemonade is to die for!

During the shower we playing fun little games. We each had a clothespin that we wore and if you said the Groom's name, you lost yours to whoever called you on it and the girl with the most at the end of the shower won. I had three, which I lost to Tommy's aunt Becky, who lost her's to Kylie, who won the game!

I was delighted to be around the Snow clan, who have always been so sweet and treated me like family, and I was thrilled to see Dylan's and Jacob's moms, Mrs. Coleen and Mrs. Teresa, and Brittany Pierce and her mommy!

I was given tons of loot! Towels, sheets, the comforter and rug I've been dying for, a pretty picture frame, a beautiful quilt that MawMaw Mona made, and TONS of kitchen stuff! I now have everything I could possibly need to cook anything I can think up. I'm giving Martha a run for her money! Tommy thinks we still need a doughnut maker, but our over-flowing cabinets beg to differ. The gifts from the kids always make me laugh! I love them! Kylie, Katie, Brooklyn, and Reese gave us Bride & Groom hats to wear on our cruise! 

This weekend was super busy in the very best way! I really love being the bride and showers are so much fun! I cannot wait for my friends to start getting married so I can throw them pretty showers, too! 

Thank you so much to everyone who came to the Snow Shower and made it so wonderful!