Samantha and Peter (married)

This was the first wedding that I had to get on an airplane to go and shoot! :) I was so excited to travel all the way to Michigan for this wedding. Peter has been a good friend since college and I was so thankful that he and Samantha asked me to come and do their wedding. What a privilege. It was also incredibly lovely to go from hot and humid to cool fall weather! Oh my word! They literally could not have asked for a more perfect day! It was beautiful and cool and perfectly fall! :) It was such a relaxed day and I was so happy to be apart!

Such a beautiful bride!

The reception was a party!!

Congratulations Peter and Samantha!! Thank you again for allowing us to come all the way to Michigan! WE had so much fun!!

The Weekend

The past weeks have been both busy and relaxing. Currently I am in Puerto Rico with my husband and his family so I will not be posting until I get back.

I did however want to give a huge congratulations to two dear friends who tied the knot this weekend! Sadly, the camera was packed away for vacation but I was blessed to be a small part of this special day! Unfortunately, all I have are a few phone photos.....

Bridesmaids with the bride....

Brett and I at the rehearsal dinner...

Then came the wedding day...

Love you!!

Quite possibly one of the prettiest setting for a wedding! I think it rained everywhere except Dorgan's Inn on this day!! :) 

I mean really....is she not so beautiful?? 

First dance

Brett caught this shot.....end of the night! :) Ready for the honeymoon! :)

Sunset after the wedding.....beautiful

I love you sweet friend and am so thankful I had the privilege to stand by you on your special day! It was perfect and you and Dustin are such a sweet example!! LOVE YOU!!

Now....I must get back to my vacation for the week...... :) 

Couldn't Be Happier

Yesterday I woke up giddy with excitement. Yes, it was Friday and that was awesome but I was more excited because it was finally the day for my sweet friend Julie to get engaged!! :) I had known about it for a bit and have been counting down the days! After school I headed over to help set things up....

Finally, the happy couple arrived!!! Hugs and congrats everywhere!!!

Jules and her sweet dad

a hug for mom!

Showing off the bling.

Couldn't be happier for you sweet friend.

Yay for pretty rings!!

And....isn't it BEAUTIFUL?

Jess was so pumped for Jules!!!

YAY! SHE'S ENGAGED!!!

CONGRATS SWEET FRIENDS!! (sorry the pic is a bit blurry) THE BEST IS YET TO BE!! 

LOVE YOU BOTH!!

It's Beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Well, we are trying to settle into a routine and our new life as Mr. and Mrs. Our house is coming together and I am realizing how much stuff I have. On Friday we went and got our first Christmas tree together!

On Saturday, we decorated it as well as the rest of our house.

I am pretty pleased with how it turned out and we had a lot of fun doing this together! It has been a whirlwind of a few weeks but we are enjoying every minute of being married! 

In other news, my first graders are crazy right now. I am enjoying teaching but I have definitely got some Christmas craziness going on in my classroom! But, we are almost to Christmas break and next week we have lots of fun things we are doing! 

I also need to give a BIG congratulations to my sweet friend, Katherine. She and Blake are expecting their first child in June!! That is almost as good as a niece when your best friend is having a baby!! Congrats Kat and Blake!! We are so excited for you!!

The Lord has been teaching me so much with all of these changes in my life. I am seeing more and more sin in my life which is never fun but always ends up being good. I have been a bit emotional these last weeks, I have felt sorry for myself, I have been selfish. Bless Brett's heart. It's always good to recognize that sin in my life and I am thankful for His forgiveness. I am learning a lot about striving to choose joy and choose gratitude in each and every situation. 

Last but not least.....I could not be more excited to see this angel TOMORROW!! She is coming to visit us and I am pumped to spend the weekend with her! Also, I don't know if I have mentioned it on the blog or not but, I am going to be an aunt AGAIN!! Linds and Eric are expecting another little girl in April!! Ahhh....I could not be more thrilled!!!

I am off to bed and thankful that tomorrow is Thursday! :) 

A Big Thank You!

As I sit here, having just arrived back from an amazing week in St. Thomas with my husband, I am overwhelmed. I am full of so much gratitude for all of the people that made our wedding day so special and so perfect! I promise to have a more detailed post of each part of the day and the honeymoon very soon! Bear with me as this week will be one of gifts, returns, exchanges, traveling, Thanksgiving, thank you notes, settling in, etc. However, I'd like to thank a few very special people who made the details of the day perfect!

Our families: Wow! We have so much that we should thank you for. You have been such a huge support and encouragement to us. We don't deserve all that you have given us. You have taught us so much through the lives that you have lived. Thank you for your patience during the last months of planning. We love y'all!

Our wedding party: My gracious. What amazing friends you all are. We didn't deserve all of the sweet things you said at the rehearsal dinner! You were part of our wedding because you have been such an encouragement to us and such precious friends! Thank you for sharing our day!

Alisa and Jess: Ok. The photographer was a huge decision for me. I looked at several but in all honesty, once I saw you there was no competition. Now, I've only seen bridal portraits and a couple of sneak peeks but I have NO DOUBT that I will be forever grateful that you two photographed my wedding. Thank you for capturing our day and being so amazing and SO MUCH FUN to work with! Thank you for loving "the perfect light!" :)

(This is all I have seen so far but how fabulous?? Right!)

Mrs. Maryanne and Fancy Affairs Catering: The food was unbelievable! Thank you for caring about every detail and for using your gifts! It not only tasted fabulous but was also beautifully displayed! So grateful for you and your friendship!

Elisabeth Epperson: Sweet girl, I haven't met you but I feel like I know you. This talented senior is the girl responsible for the adorable monogrammed cookies. I am thankful I found your blog! You are so talented and I hope I get to meet you very soon!!

Jeff and Chris: Thank you for being my own personal paparazzi on my wedding day! You started early and stayed late. Our video is going to be ballin. No doubt! Y'all were so great!!

Belle Bouquet and DJ's By The Bay: These vendors were so easy to work with and did a phenomenal job! Although I doubt you read my blog I wanted to give some credit where it belonged!

Anthony and Eric: Thank you for using your gifts. You did such a great job with the music at our ceremony. I know being outside presented some challenges but it sounded so great! Loved hearing the worship before the ceremony and loved walking back down the aisle to, "To God Be the Glory!"

Uncle Lance, Aunt Amy, Palm, and Liv: Thank you for each having a part in our day! We LOVE you all so much! Thank you for driving to Tampa and making that sacrifice! So grateful for your family!

Guests: Thank you for taking time out of your Saturday to watch us say I Do. We are so appreciative and thankful for each of you! We have amazing friends and family!

Chris: Thank you for putting so much thought into our ceremony. It was absolutely our favorite part of the day. Thank you or glorifying the Lord with the words you said! Thank you (and JULIE!) for pouring into our lives over the last few years and even more in the last few months!

Lou's Crew: Oh my! Thank you for your creativity and your willingness to serve. I am so thankful for all of you. Thanks for everything from burlap curtains and chalkboards to your love and excitement for me! LOVE Y'ALL!! I am so undeserving of all that you did for me! (Julie, Catherine, Mangs, Linds, Mom)

Brett: Thank you for being the one waiting at the end of the aisle. Thank you for the huge smile when you first saw me an the tears as I made it to the end of the aisle! Thank you for loving me well and making me the happiest girl in the world. I love you husband!

I am sure there are others I have left out and I apologize. Our day was so incredible and everything I had ever pictured!! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

I promise to be back with more detailed posts very soon! :)

Oh Where, Oh Where Has She Been?

She has been so so so so so incredibly busy!! October has been a whirlwind and oh my gracious it is almost over! Let's have a little update shall we? First of all, on the wedding front they have had several showers since the last time we spoke.

Here we are at Brett's church shower which was one full of so many sweet people. We felt so loved!

My sweet hostesses for my next shower. THANK YOU Mrs. Kitty, Annie, and Essie! :) What a fun day!

So many sweet sweet friends and women who have been such role models and mentors in my life!

My mother-in-law and mother :)

Grandmother and I

We have also had the bridesmaids brunch. We decided that the day before the wedding would be full of craziness and didn't want it to be rushed! We wanted it to be a special day!

This angel came to town last weekend!

The whole group!

My sweet bridesmaids minus Kat! (We missed you so so much!!!)

The sweetest flower girl there ever was! :)

I have also taken bridal portraits and done a whole lot of planning the last few weeks! OH MY GOODNESS! ARE WE REALLY 15 DAYS AWAY????? :) I AM SO EXCITED!

Now, moving on to another update. 2 weeks ago today I got a job! Talk about a crazy time to get a job! Seriously, things are crazy! I am teaching first grade and really enjoying it! It is a lot of work but I cannot explain what a blessing and answer to prayer this job. God has been providing for us in so many ways! We are so grateful and so ready to start our life together!

Sorry for the lack of posting. I cannot promise that in the next couple of weeks I will be posting frequently but promise that after the wedding I will have more updates and posts about honeymoon, our house, wedding, teaching, etc.! Perhaps there will be a few more posts before I become Mrs. Kittrell! As for now, I am enjoying my time with my family and the last days before get married! 

I hope that you all have a fabulous weekend!

Brynn and Richard are MARRIED!!

This weekend was fabulous! I headed to New York for Brynn and Richard's wedding weekend! Here is the weekend in pictures....Yes, there are a lot!!

Laura Jo, Rachel, and I on the way to the rehearsal dinner!

Bride and groom!

The other side....

Bride and bridesmaids....luhhhh them!

Oh hey! We're both engaged! Oh wait...now you're married....

men...

ok...presh.

Going out after the rehearsal dinner....

Now...wedding day!!!

Getting her hurr did!

Tim Horton's.....necessary.   :)

YAY!!

Cheers!!

Looking at her flowers...

Our dresses and hers...

Ahh!! BEAUTIFUL BRIDE!!

LOVE YOU!!

Brynnnnn and La Jo!

Oh there they are....

Leaving for the wedding....

Reception time....

Luh you Barrett!!

first dance....love it.

"Isn't she lovely....Isn't she wonderful?"

We straight tore it up on the dance floor......

Before Rich ditched me and wouldn't take a pic with me....whatever. Don't know why he was so ready to leave....gosh! :) 

Such a fun weekend!!! Congrats Brynn and Richard!! LOVE YOU BOTH!!

hello september!

hello september!

I am so excited to see you! Just popping in to say hello and goodbye! I'm headed to New York today to see these two get hitched!

Ah..precious! I could not be more excited for these two to become one! It seems like we have waited forever but they are awesome and have been so patient! Cannot wait to see what the Lord has planned for your life!

 Love you Richard and Brynn!

Have a restful weekend!!

Two Words: Jag Bikes

When South started school last week I kept seeing facebook statuses about Jag Bikes and I got curious. After finding out more, I was totally bummed that I had graduated and not gotten to participate the fabulousness that is a jag bike. haha. Well, Julie and I hadn't hung out in a while and we made plans to last week. She said, "Well, have you heard about Jag Bikes?" To which I responded, "YES! Let's do it!"  haha. I knew I could count on her. I had to document this because we just went and found them and road around. So much fun.

Jag Bikes are Jag Smart! Totally.

They are pretty much awesome.

love....

Love you friend! Thanks for a fun afternoon! We will do it again soon! Oh, and Sarah, we missed you!!

Wedding Planning...So Far, So Good

Wedding planning so far has been slow but good. I guess things don't really speed up until closer to time. We have gotten some of the big things done which is wonderful! Our photographer is booked and we met with her last week! She seems wonderful and her work is AMAZING! I cannot wait to work with her! Check out Alisa Lynn! 

I also have my dress!! Well, I won't have it until September but it is ordered!! I love it! Like, it needs to get here now! :) We are also pretty sure that we have a venue but this isn't 100% yet! If it is then....ahh...so excited about it! 

I also wanted to share how I asked my girls to be in my wedding since they have all been asked now! Well, my sweet friend Sarah from Kazakhstan hasn't been officially asked...but since she is so far away we had to settle for a facebook invite! I got the idea from Elise Joy. Same basic idea with a few changes. I got these Paper Source envelopes. I thought about getting smaller ones but because I knew I would be able to deliver each one to my girls, I opted for the ones that would hold a regular 8.5x11 sheet of paper. I slipped one envelope into another so that it opened up like this...I used a tape runner to tape down the other flap on the back.

I had five different sheets of paper. One talked about each girl, one was about when and where, one was about the dresses (etc.), and the last one was a letter to the girls. 

I slipped them into the envelopes like this...

This is what was on the front..

 And the back...

Because we are having a fall wedding I decided to tie up the outside with raffia. 

They are maybe not quite as cute as the original idea that I saw but I loved them and was excited to give each girl their invite!! 

So as you can see....a good bit of the "big" decisions have been made which is great!

Only 203 days to go! haha. :)