Birthday!

Needed to stop by to wish the best friend a "Happy Birthday!"

As you can tell by the photo I kinda like her.

I'm so excited that I'm actually home for her 23rd birthday and we can celebrate together before I move.

I'm gonna miss the &#$! outta her.

Happy Birthday Corinne Elizabeth! I love you!

A letter...

Dear blog readers/followers/family/friends,

I really am "thirsty" for relaxation.  That honeymoon idea is sounding pretty amazing right about now.

I think the time has come where I need to take a break from blogging until after the wedding.  We're 29 days out y'all and I'm freaking out.  There's just a handful of things left to get done and my family and I are about to go on vacation and I don't want to feel like writing here is just another thing on my long list of to-dos.  Just because I say I need to take a break doesn't mean I won't pop in occasionally and write something, it just won't be on my mind every day.

I hope everyone of you has an amazing last few weeks of summer.  I can't wait to come back and be able to share pictures and stories from our wedding with you.

Love,

amanda

LDR

Photo by Jennifer Ciani

*Rant*

Tonight will hopefully be the last time (for awhile) that I'm sitting on my bed crying about the distance between me and the man I love.  That photograph above made my heart wrench a little bit tonight.  Far too many times in the past five years I've done that very same thing.  Walked away crying and repeated to myself, "Don't turn around. Just keep walking. Don't turn around. Just keep walking," over and over again.  Way too many couples take for granted the time that they get to spend together.  It is precious and it is something that you should be thankful for
every. single. day.

It is commonly said that the groom doesn't have a say or won't want to have a say in the planning of his wedding.  This, my friends, is complete bullshit. At least where I'm concerned.  I need his input and I really would like his help right about now.  Planning a wedding while you are still in a long distance relationship is hard.  In fact, I think I'm finding it harder to deal with then I did a deployment.  Not a day has gone by over this planning time that I haven't had something I need to ask him or want his opinion on.  This will be OUR day and what our guests see is going to be the product of a lot of text messages and phone calls back and forth in regards to what our wedding should be like.

All of that being said, I cannot wait for my long distance relationship to be over.  We have a TON of catching up to do and the rest of our lives to spend doing just that.  I have a feeling we're going to be "dating" each other for many, many years to come and I'm completely happy with that.

*This concludes the rant portion of tonight*

There's something about a song

New favorite song at the moment.  Can't stop listening to it.

"So I labor for hours cuz' I know the power
Of a song when a song hits you right"

Those are some true words right there.

Happy Tuesday lovelies! 

In a week

A week from today I will be here:

Pinecrest Lake is one of my family's very favorite vacation spots next to NC.

It's going to be our last full family vacation for a little while and I'm excited to escape up to the mountains and leave all the last minute wedding craziness at home for a week.

I can't wait to lay out in the sun, read some good books, go to a movie under the stars, play corn hole, have camp fires, and all sorts of other craziness that may happen. For example:

So, so excited!

Literally the happiest 5k on the planet

Warning: Photos Ahead

Today was our Color Run in San Francisco.

It was such a fun day and I don't think I stopped smiling as I ran (almost) all of the race without stopping.

Pictures are worth a thousand words so I'll just let them do the talking for me cause I'm beat.

Happiness x7

From the time I was little I've been a babysitter.

It started out as being the big sister of three and then moved onto other people's kids who I've always come to love and adore.  I feel more than ready to be a mother because of all the babysitting experiences I have under my belt, ex: losing a child, being thrown up on, and countless disgusting diapers.

Yesterday, I got the chance to take one of my favorites out of the house.

We went, just the two of us, and got lunch and played.

He really made for one adorable lunch date...

Then today I got even more snuggles and silly faces!

They make me happy and it's going to break my heart to be so far away from them (and their brother and sister) while they're growing up.

What made you happy this week? Link up with Mrs. Stephanie!

early morning

I think my body and my mind decided together that they were going to start preparing to be a military wife.

My eyes popped open around 5 this morning and I was out of bed by 7 after having a nice long staring contest with my ceiling.  It was real fun, let me tell yah.

On the bright side I ate breakfast, caught up on some blogs, and drank a cup of tea before I needed to leave the house today.

Have a good Thursdays lovelies. I'll be back later with my little bits of happiness this week.

tunes

Can't get over how much I've been liking Chris Young lately.

Love him and I hope you enjoy this Tuesday tune.

untitled maybes

Maybe...that is all.

Maybe I had my dress fitting today and I fell in love with it all over again.

Maybe my house has been REALLY quite with my two sisters being gone this week.

Maybe I'm super stoked for the color run SF this weekend.

Maybe it will be hard to keep exercising once it's done.

Maybe I found a house that I really hope we can rent.

Maybe it scares me how grownup we're having to be.

Maybe I'm about to fall asleep at almost 8:30 p.m.

Let's

Oh hey July! How does it feel to have one week over and done with?

I was a little mind blown when I woke up today and realized how fast this week has gone by...

and how fast the rest of the month is going to go!  

Next weekend is our color run in San Francisco. My jet-setting sisters will be in Arizona, Mexico, and Nashville over the course of two weeks, while yours truly will be here finishing up wedding details.  Then our family and our friends are going to be camping at our favorite lake for a week and when we come home we have TWO weeks until the wedding.

I'm slightly panicking about the amount of things we still have left to do.  I know that I need to start delegating and getting more people on board, but my control freak self just wants to make sure everything is done myself.

Suffice it to say, this summer is shaping up to be a whirlwind one, but I think it's probably going to be one of the most memorable yet.

(Doesn't feel like) Friday Letters

Dear July, one week down already? I feel like you're going to fly by and the next time I blink you'll be over and it will be August. Dear Pincrest, I'm so excited to be taking a break from the craziness at home and camping near you shores for a few days before the wedding.  Dear sister and Silver, I hope you have an amazing time in AZ together. I'm jealous y'all get to hang out.  Dear 4th of July, you were a lot of fun and very relaxing.  Dear neighbor, thank you so much for letting us come pick your fruit from your trees! At this point our wedding favors have cost us absolutely nothing!  Dear Amanda Cox (soon-to-be-Jacobson), I hope that your wedding tomorrow fulfills all your expectations and that it's THE perfect day. I love you and I'm so happy for you and Jon!  Dear Husband-in-43-days, I'm so proud of you and I think you are amazing.

Link up with Ashley and share your Friday letters!

and now for a couple Instagram shots from the 4th!

"Red, white and blue" pancakes!

 Red, white and blue punch my sister made.

(Cranberry juice, blue gatorade, and Sprite all layered over ice)

We went a little overboard on the fireworks this year.

 

 Small, but pretty and fun!

Happy Independence Day!

Happy 4th of July!

Last year I was braving the crowds at Huntington Beach with some lovely ladies and watched an awesome fireworks show from the pier.  This year I'm going to be hanging out with family and friends.  We'll probably be a little loud and crazy, but hey, we should be celebrating!

Have an amazing day lovelies!

maybe there's something you should know about honey bees

 

Maybe male honey bees die when they mate...death by explosion.

Maybe this little fact made for a 10 minute conversation which included the statement, "At least he went out with a bang."

Maybe I've been up past midnight for three days in a row, having sleep overs with my sisters and best friends.

Maybe we're going to be making jam (our wedding favors) all day.

Maybe I procrastinated packing my stuff up this weekend.

Maybe I'm really excited for sparklers on the 4th of July.

Maybe I served lunch to almost 600 people yesterday at church.

Maybe I sat around on a picnic blanket talking with good friends about fun high school memories.

Maybe if the weather doesn't get better I'm going to have to drive somewhere sunny and warm.

Maybe I'm really ready for these next 48 days to go by.

Insane.

Sometimes my house is insane.

There's always people here and we're always loud and doing crazy things.

Tonight it made my chest feel tight and brought tears to my eyes.

In 48 days I'm leaving and while I'm going to love my house with my husband and our dog, I'm going to miss the craziness of home.