To continue my recap, we will begin in August! August really started the craziness that would come for the rest of the semester, but we wouldn’t have had it any other way.

August:
I started the teacher education program this month through my new school, Tarleton, and began the crazy semester of wedding planning, hard school work, 2 MORE showers, and so much more! I never seemed to post pictures (or have time to make posts) about my 3rd shower at my grandma’s house but eventually I’ll get around to it! I still have the pictures on my camera! I found the BEST makeup artist for the wedding, Angela, who I felt was like a long lost friend. She’s such a honey! Mathew and I celebrated his 24th birthday at the Hilton (where our reception would be) and had a food tasting for lunch. It was quite possibly the best food we’d ever had!

September:
We passed the 3 month mark and I started freaking out, just like Hilljo said I would. We started our hunt for a place to live, and looked at many apartments, homes, and duplexes- many out of our price range (boy were we naive!). Luckily, we found a place to live (on our third time looking around) and it was everything we wanted. We looked at the apartment and signed a pre-lease the same day! We picked a lovely 2 bedroom apartment with wood floors, vaulted ceilings, tons of closet space, and 2 1/2 bathrooms! We also had the privilege of meeting with Pastor Ron, who would be the man to marry us at this church:



Pastor Ron married Mathew’s parents, and baptized Mathew, so he was the perfect choice for us. We also sent out our invitations at the end of the month, and needless to say, I was nervous that no one would come or too many people would come. Boy was I wrong for both of those!

October:
Once our invitations were mailed out, I showed you all the proofs!



With two months until our nuptuals, I decided it would be best to begin my nesting phase. Buying furniture and little decorations for our apartment consumed our lives, and we had fun saving for things that would truly be mine and Mathew’s- together! I also kept worrying about our RSVPs because of the Baylor vs. UT game that was planned on the same day. I admit, we did lose several guests because of the game, but we definitely didn’t mind, because those that really wanted to be at our wedding, were there! I also started planning where I was going to have my bridal portraits, and settled on the beautiful Earle Harrison House.


My pictures turned out beautifully, and I would love to show them to you all during the new year when I do recaps! I also had my bachelorette party a little early because weekends were starting to get packed, and we had a fun time, thanks to MOH Sarah’s planning.

November:
Mathew and I shared our 3 year dating anniversary together but it didn’t QUITE go as planned. I also got the world’s largest pimple just 2 weeks before the wedding, and needless to say, you can still see it a little (I think it’s a cyst now- ew!). Mathew and I went crazy and went to Best Buy for 6 hours in the cold and waited for our big screen tv that we would put in our new apartment that we were moving into on Thanksgiving weekend. We packed blankets, lawn chairs, our DVD player, and hot chocolate, and happily waited to get that tv. We moved into our new apartment the Saturday after Thanksgiving (with help from Mathew’s family, Aunt Janet, and two friends from Sunday School). Our place is gorgeous, and I really need to take pictures of it and show you all. Maybe I’ll even do a vlog and give a live tour of our apartment!

December:
I must admit, as I wrote the word “December” my heart skipped a beat. This month has been the best month of my entire life, without a doubt. On December 3, I married my best friend, Mathew at our gorgeous (and huge) church. Our wedding day was amazing, and such a whirlwind! The ceremony went well (except for a hiccup from the ring bearer and SIL Kristin- which I’ll discuss in my wedding recaps once I get pictures) and I barely even saw what guests were in the pews, because I was so focused on staring in the eyes of my groom.

We danced the night away at our reception, and had a blast with our family and friends. We left the reception in our Mustang get away car, and hit the road to Austin, where we spent our wedding night at the famous Driskill Hotel and I surprised Mathew with his 2nd wedding gift- a new pair of customized Oakley sunglasses! We also went on our honeymoon to the El Dorado Royale resort in Playa Del Carmen and got to swim with dolphins and checked out one of the 7 world wonders- the Mayan ruins at Chichen-Itza! We got back from our honeymoon two days before Christmas, and on Christmas Eve we got on Skype with my family while they had our annual Christmas Eve advent “service” at my Aunt Gloria’s house. It was so great to see everyone! We also did Christmas just the two of us in the morning, and spent the afternoon with Mathew’s family and opened gifts. I also made our first Christmas dinner with stuffed pork chops, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, and whiskey glazed sweet potatoes.

In 4 days we’ll have been married an entire month, and I must say that 2011 was the best year I’ve ever had. We were so lucky to have such a positive year, and I’m so excited that we’re finally married after that 17 month engagement! I also am so happy that I started this blog last January. It has been such a great way to keep family and friends involved in what’s going on with our wedding, as well as making lots of new blogging friends! Thank you to everyone who has read this blog, and we’ll see you in the new year with lots of new recaps!

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