Merry Christmas!

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!! I know we sure did :)

I was so excited about Christmas this year because us kids decided to make Dad the focus! Jesse, my brother, and I all pulled our resources to get dad a gift he's always wanted. We made him wait until the very last present to open it. We ordered him a book about the strange things to see in Montana and he opened that first. He had a very special envelope too. Inside, there was a letter explaining that this year, our gift to him was a trip to MONTANA!! He has talked about visiting Montana since we were kids and now he's going to get to go :) Also, as an added bonus, us kids worked on it together and DIDN'T kill each other! He's been telling anyone and everyone who would listen. He got choked up and mom of course cried and it made for a perfect Christmas day!

Jesse got a Wii from my parents and I got him Wii accessories and a few other small things. Jesse got me some Christmas dishes I had been eyeballing from Target. I can't wait for Christmas next year when we can use them at our new home! And I got a Nook from my parents. We also purchased a larger tv for a gift to ourselves.

 

New Year's Eve is tomorrow and we are so looking forward to what 2013 will have in store for us! New home together, marriage, graduation, new job for Jesse... it should prove to be an exciting year for the new Hanrahans!

Cowboy Coolness!

My coworker's boyfriend welds things and he made us this cool football sculpture out of metal!

We love it and can't wait to put it on our new shelves!!

2 months to go!

Today is the two month mark!! We will be Mr. & Mrs. Hanrahan in 62 days :)

I can't believe how fast time seems to be flying by! In a few short days it'll be our wedding year! We've been waiting an awfully long time for it and it's finally close.

Lots of exciting wedding things going on! We've picked a place for our rehearsal dinner. We'll all be dining at our favorite little burger place!! We ordered some very cute dinner invites and can't wait for them to come so we can send them out! There's also talk of a wedding shower and bachelorette party! I'm so excited to get to spend time with female relatives and friends to celebrate our new life as husband and wife :) We are trying to tie up the planning loose ends as well. We still have some minor details to take care of before the big day!

It is also that time of year for Christmas parties! We went to an ornament exchange party last weekend and this weekend mom and I had our annual mother daughter Christmas party. We had a lot of fun catching up with everyone!

Christmas is just three days away and we are so excited! We have a major surprise in store for my dad and I can't wait to share it!!

We are also moving in 20 days! Jesse says every day how excited he is that we'll have our place :) We are currently working on making a headboard and painting furniture that we bought a few months ago. Hopefully we'll have it done by moving day.

December Excitement Continues!

We have FINALLY purchased our last big furniture piece for the new apartment! We went to ikea last weekend and bought a dining table. We bought six chairs so come visit for dinner :) Moving day is officially less than a month away!

December also came with some more good news for my dad :) He has been having his CEA levels monitored. A good score is 0. Last check he was at 43, this check he was at 20! His doctor also said if his next scan is a good as his last, they may tone down his dosage and spread his chemo treatments out from every two weeks to every three! Keep those prayers coming!

We received an early Christmas present from Mike (Jesse's Dad) and Debbie. It said to open right away and boy were we glad we did! It was just what every Christmas tree needs, a Damarcus Ware ornament! My Rams fan of a father was less than thrilled when we hung it on the tree ;)

 

We've also been crafting (thanks Pinterest)! We made some coasters for our new home using some of our favorite pictures of us. They'll look awesome in our new place!

 

More exciting December posts to come! We've still got horse races and parties to go to, not to mention Christmas festivities!!

P.S. As another early Christmas gift, that sneaky fiancé of mine came home from school two days early! I had no idea and thought he had finals until Wednesday. He is the master of surprises!

Holy Moly It's December!

Where has the year gone?! It feels like yesterday it was only January and the wedding was so far away!

Well it's already looking like Christmas at our house! We started shopping two weeks ago and are almost finished! I've even started wrapping gifts. My mom has enlisted our help this weekend to get out and put up all of the Christmas decor.

Also this week we got some fun deliveries! Our mattresses are here so we're going to pick them up today. Our big Christmas present to each other is here and we picked it up yesterday... a new 40" TV!! We also got some cute little things in the mail yesterday. Owl and circle pillow covers for our couch and a hippo toothbrush holder! I also got part of Jesse's wedding present :) Our future little home is almost furnished! We just need a dining room table (which we've already picked out at ikea).

Let the holiday fun begin! We're officially kicking it off with my company Christmas party tonight :)

We've also broken out the Michael Bublé Christmas music :)

Blog Makeover and Other News

Like the new look?!

I decided the blog needed a new look :) I'm really into owls right now (I'd own owl everything if I could) so I created the image with two owls and found this cute grass background! And of course it needed a cute new page title... "Owl Always Love You." I'm definitely loving this new blog design over the other :)

In other news, we received our first RSVPs!! (thank you for those of you who are being speedy about sending them in) We got two in the mail today. Jesse said I could open them so we FaceTimed and he got to see them too. What did we do before technology? Pretty exciting to be getting them back already! I hope everyone sends them back (*hint*hint*). We tried to make it as painless as possible by including a pre-addressed and pre-stamped envelope. So, if you got your invite, send those suckers back :)

Mailboxes Beware Take 2!

People be warned, invites are officially in the mail!

We took a little trip by the post office this morning :) Here's hoping they don't get lost in the Christmas card shuffle. Send in those RSVPs all of you invitees!

Of course we had to document the occasion.

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's that time of year again :) Holiday season is upon us!

We are celebrating Thanksgiving at our house this year with some of the Hanrahans. We've had a fun day eating, watching football, and playing games. This will be our last Thanksgiving as "single" people. Next year we'll be celebrating all of the holidays as Mr & Mrs!

We have a lot to be thankful for today! We got some especially good news yesterday about a CT scan my dad had done Monday. The tumors are shrinking and the chemo is working!! Besides for that awesome news, we are so thankful for family and friends. We are beyond blessed in that department!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Thanksgiving!

PS Today marks 3 months until the wedding :)

More Furniture!

Two posts in one day?!

We bought more furniture! Today we set out to find a new desk and a mattress set... We came home with both!

I love our new desk! It has lots of shelves and plenty of storage space :) I can't wait to move in and set it up so we can see how awesome my computer looks on it.

We also bought a new mattress set! Thanks Sears :) We bought a plush queen set and can't wait to snooze on it!

We are anxious for January to get here! My parents are being gracious enough to let us store it all at their house. The second living room now has two sets of furniture in it, furniture boxes in the garage, and in a week, there will be mattresses here too. We are super excited to get a truck and haul everything to the new apartment and make it into our first little home!

Here's a little peek at our new desk!

Blessed Despite Our Tragedy

There is never really a good time to share bad news but this morning it just feels appropriate. Thanksgiving is just around the corner and today we have a lot to be thankful for.

In September, my dad was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic colon cancer. It goes without saying that we are all devastated. It is the most heartbreaking news we've ever been dealt. We have been trying to keep it together and trying to keep him healthy. He started chemo right after his diagnosis and tomorrow he goes in for a follow up scan to see if it's working. Chemo has gone fairly well for him so far considering. His biggest complaint is being extremely tired some days. He has really just been a trooper. He's of course not without his "bad" days but he also does have "good" days. It has certainly been an emotional roller coaster and Sept 18-19 are not days we will soon forget.

We have been beyond blessed in so many ways since his diagnosis. He has an amazing oncology team that has been very informative and kind. We have also received such amazing support from the people in our lives. His job has been wonderful and so understanding, his coworkers have given us meals and gift cards to help keep us going and take away a few daily tasks to make life easier. My job has been very understanding as well. My soon-to-be family has also been so kind and caring.

The reason I am so thankful today is because the generosity just keeps coming. I was excited to get my new coat in the mail this morning so I went to check the mailbox. Inside was a card. No name, no return address. The card had $200+ in it from HEB for groceries. We have been so fortunate to be surrounded by such loving people throughout this rough time. This morning's Secret Santa just seems to be the icing on the cake! It just leaves me in awe.

So many times you hear about the awful things going on in the world. It's rare that you get to boast about so many wonderful acts of kindness. Even though we have been given such tragic news, we are still blessed in so many ways.

It's here!

It's was an exciting day in our household today! Our new furniture was delivered this morning :) It is absolutely gorgeous and we couldn't be more excited!

We sat on it all morning and tried out each piece; the chair, the sofa, the love seat. We even pulled out the sleeper to test it out.

And as if he wasn't cute enough, Jesse made my day! We had a lot to do today on the computer and on the way home he looked at me and said, "Wanna sit on the couch while we're on the computer?" We both just grinned and it was a super fun moment :)

99 days until wedded bliss!

Yesterday was the official start of our double digit countdown! I cannot believe that in (now) 98 days we will be married!!

And what better way to end day 99?! A surprise visit from Jesse!!! He even brought flowers :) I do not know how I got so lucky. He really is just such a sweetheart! I had no idea he was coming a day early this weekend but he said he'd been planning it for a week. When you are a long distance couple, it's the little things that really make a difference.

I CANNOT wait to marry my best friend :)

Invites, CHECK!

We checked off a big to-do tonight! My mom and I (and dad a little) stuffed, addressed, stamped, and sealed the wedding invitations!! It was a project I wasn't looking forward to but it actually went very smoothly and only took us an hour and a half.

With 100 days left, it's definitely crunch time! So many little details to iron out. I've been trying to knock out a few little things a week in hopes that by February everything will be done. Hard to believe we started with 924 days :)

Well, watch out people! Invites will be coming to a mailbox near you in a week or so :)

PS Don't make me hunt down your RSVP cards ;)

We won't be homeless!

This just in: We have been approved for an apartment!!

Our official move in date is January 11. I know, I know, seems like we've been bit by the crazy bug... Moving a month before the wedding?! We will slowly but surely be moving things into the apartment and decorating in our free time. I imagine once we get the keys, Jesse will be responsible for heavy lifting and building our furniture and I'll be spending free time during the week there decorating and organizing. Weekends will be divided between wedding and setting up our home :)

We're doing things a little different than most but I'm very excited about our plan! We are going to move our things and get the apartment all ready to live in but we won't actually be living there right away. We've decided that our first official night at the new place will be the night of the wedding. We'll be The Hanrahans when we sleep in our apartment for the first time :)

We are really looking forward to this new and exciting chapter in our lives! We've spent a lot of time together at my parents and at school but never on our own, in OUR place.

Trying to Shrink the To-Do List

With 109 days to go, I'm starting to feel the pressure!! Jesse, of course, is cool as a cucumber.

The list of big things is pretty much taken care of but there are a billion little things to do! The past week we've tried to take care of some of those little things and every time we mark something off, I feel like two things are added.

I wish we could take two weeks off of work and school and finish everything on the list.

How crazy is it that in almost less than 100 days all of the stress will be over and we'll be having the night of our lives?! I know it'll all be worth it when all of the little details come together to make our wedding awesome :)

Dream Honeymoon Here We Come!

WE'RE GOING TO ALASKA!!!

I am so super excited! Jesse is the most amazing man. It's always been my dream to go somewhere cold for our HM and he totally jumped on board!

We will be going on a 7 day Carnival Cruise in May! We're leaving from Seattle and will spend a day there too! Our cruise will take us to Tracy Arm Fjord, Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan, and Victoria Canada.

This will give us something to look forward to after the wedding! And serve as motivation to get Jesse through graduation ;)

I cannot wait to pick excursions and maybe do some pre-honeymoon shopping for cooler weather clothes!

It's getting closer!!

The big day is fast approaching and I can't believe the wait is almost over! We are about a week away from the 4 month mark. Where did the time go?! We've been wishing the time away but I'm sure we will be feeling the crunch shortly and wishing we had a little bit of it back. We've been checking some things off the to-do list little by little. Here's the run down on things we've tackled recently!

Back in September we held a craft night at the house! We decorated all of the jars for centerpieces, we made hairpieces, jewelry, I wrapped some letters with jute for decor, we decorated some other little pieces for the reception decor. It was a super fun girls night and I can't believe we are blessed enough to have so many people to help us! Me, mom, my mother in law to be, my bridesmaid Tiffany, my dear friend Kayleigh, and yes! even Jesse the groom pitched in :)

WE INTERRUPT THIS BLOG POST FOR A MOMENT TO GUSH ON THE GROOM: On a little side note, he has just been super wonderful with all of the planning! I couldn't imagine a better partner in crime for getting everything planned. He is one heck of an awesome groom!

In other wedding news, we bought some awesome bridal party gifts! In case any of them read the blog, I can't spill the details or post pics but I am super happy with them and can't wait to give them to everyone! Perhaps I can disclose the awesomeness once the wedding is over :)

On my 25th birthday (can you believe that?! A quarter of a century old and my LAST birthday as a Ms.), I took bridal portraits! They were rained out the week before but I couldn't have been happier because a cold front (how perfect for my weather taste, right?!) came through! I don't want to give too much away and again, I can't post pictures until after the wedding, but I'd just like for you to picture me in all of my bridal glory with a SWEATER! It was the most amazing experience ever!! I have never felt more beautiful in my life :) I got my hair done and my makeup done and I got to put on my absolutely perfect dress! I just cannot believe that in 4 short months I get to do it again and Jesse FINALLY gets to see me :) Not to mention our AMAZING photographer. BEST INVESTMENT EVER! Bethany, of Two Times Photography, is absolutely wonderful to work with. She made me feel so comfortable, not to mention opened her home to me. I made a special request (something that should have it's own post at a later time) and she without hesitation said yes and made it happen. I would hire her everyday of the week and twice on Sunday! I will be recommending her to everyone I know (and we haven't even shot the wedding yet! That's how good she is!). I am DYING to see the pictures and can't wait for them to be ready :)

The last major thing we've been up to lately is SUITS! We took Jesse today to Men's Warehouse and he found the perfect look for him and we also decided on a look for his GM and the ushers. Picture it, my handsome groom looking sharp in a black suit with a white tie, surrounded by his groomsmen in black suits and navy blue ties, while the ushers seat people looking dapper in their black suits with deep purple ties...  CAN YOU SEE IT?! Not to mention my daddy walking me down the aisle in his black suit and special tie :) I can't wait to come down the path and see my dashing groom looking more handsome than ever!!

Lots of exciting wedding things happening lately!! It's just about crunch time to get all of the little details taken care of!

Even More Furniture!

Ta-da! This is one piece of the rest of our living room furniture :) We went to ikea and left with tons of pieces! We got this entertainment unit which is actually a separate tv stand, bookshelves, and a shelf. We also got a coffee table and two end tables.

We've since bought lamps for the living room also, turquoise lamps!


We also picked out some natural wood nightstands that we are going to stain or paint grey for our bedroom.

Pretty much all we need now is a bed to sleep on, oh, and somewhere to put it all :) We've still been searching for the perfect living space for us. We've found a few possibilities but want to keep looking.

FURNITURE!

It's a two post kind of day!

We had quite the exciting afternoon! After we took mom dress shopping (where she found her dress for the wedding!), we stopped by Rooms To Go. I had seen an ad in a newspaper while on break at work the week before. I really wanted to go to the store and see this beautiful grey living room furniture in person.

When we got to the store, Jeff (our sales guy) asked if we were there for a specific reason. I pointed to the couch in the ad and he directed us right to it. It was love at first sit! It was comfortable and beautiful and exactly what we had been eying in other stores and online. I had my heart set on grey furniture and Jesse agreed.

After perusing the rest of the store, we made our way back to the grey set. We sat and looked over options and prices and asked Jeff a lot of questions. Then we said "WRAP IT UP!"

Jesse and I have officially made our first big furniture purchase!! We ended up buying a sleeper sofa (so we can have overnight guests!), a loveseat, a chair, and an ottoman :) We are so dad-gum excited! It will be delivered in November and will be put somewhere in mom and dad's house until we get an apartment in Jan/Feb.

We are dying to put it in our first home and couldn't have picked a more perfect set! Now to decide on accent tables, lamps, rugs, etc. I'm dreaming of a turquoise and grey living room :)

What I Love About You

We were browsing Barnes and Noble one night and stumbled upon these!

The book is called "What I Love About You" and we each purchased one. The plan is for each of us to fill out one of these books about the other. Then, near the wedding, we'll exchange books and be able to read all of the sweet, lovey dovey entries :)

The book has all kinds of prompts in it.....
- Name 10 of your favorite traits
- I adore this daily ritual we have...
- I missed you when...
- One of my favorite physical features is...

There are also empty pages to include little reminders of your relationship... glue in pictures, tickets, or other little trinkets that remind you of each other.

I have started filling out one for Jesse and he says he has started on mine, I can't wait to see what he has to say!!

First Dress Fitting!

I had my first dress fitting this past weekend! I was so excited to put my dress back on :) It fits and just needs a bustle.

Mom took lots of pictures and I wish I could show Jesse ALL of them! This will prove to be one of the biggest and hardest to keep surprises :)

Registering!

How much fun was today?! Today Jesse and I tackled the wedding registry!

We had so much fun picking out things for our future home. We spent most of the day at Macy's, Bed Bath and Beyond, and Walmart.

Our favorite pots and dishes were found at Macy's. We registered for PURPLE pots :) We are hoping to decorate using purple, grey, and little pops of green and blue to match the dishes. We registered for a lot of home basics at Bed Bath and Beyond. Kitchen gadgets, drinkware, silverware, towels, etc. Felt like we registered for the whole store! Walmart was super fun because we registered for some unconventional registry items. We want to do lots of fun things as a married couple and camping is one of them! That's right, we registered for a tent and some other camping gear. And of course no good husband goes without a good tool set so Jesse picked one out there too!

All of this registering has us dreaming of our future home! We are hoping to decorate with lots of shades of grey! If all goes according to plan (and we don't change our minds!) the house will look something like this:
- kitchen: purple/grey/blue/green
- bathroom: grey/green/black
- living room: grey and blues
- bedroom: greys and yellows (this will be my FAVORITE color combo!)

We just can't wait to be settled in our own place :)

Mailboxes Beware!!

Save the dates have officially been put in the mail!! It was an exciting night for us. We went to the post office and dropped our save the dates in the mail (and of course took time to document the occasion with photos). This is the first official wedding announcement to get people excited! We've been engaged for a while but it's finally time to start spreading the word.

 WE'RE GETTING MARRIED PEOPLE! CHECK YOUR MAIL :)

Wedding Wedding Wedding

Seems every free minute lately is used for some sort of wedding to-do! We've had tons of appointments lately as we are still on the hunt for a DJ. We've found a couple contenders but aren't ready to commit. We've just about got the florist taken care of too!

In other non-wedding related news: Jesse is now a working man!! He has snagged himself a summer job helping to make metal signs for a New Braunfels company.

Almost 8 months to go!

Birthday Boy!!

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY WONDERFUL HUSBAND TO BE!!

Jesse is celebrating his last birthday as a single man today :) My baby is 24. We'll be going to see Tom Petty Saturday to celebrate!!

Wedding News:
We have booked an officiant! We are also on the hunt for a wedding dj! We've been working on invites and a couple of other small things and are trying to get all of the VIP vendors booked for the big day! We'll be finalizing the guestlist and sending out Save The Dates in June :)

I said "YES!" to the dress

This weekend was amazing!!

I was surrounded by so many wonderful people this weekend as I embarked on my wedding dress hunt. Sunday, I rang the bell! At the dress shop, when a bride picks a wedding gown they are given a bell to ring and are told to make a wish! I said yes to a beautiful wedding dress that made me feel like a bride. It was not really much like what I thought I'd be walking down the aisle to but after trying it on, I couldn't stop thinking about it. I think it will be absolutely perfect for our wedding day and I hope Jesse loves it as much as I do :) Keeping it hush hush for 10 more months will prove to be the biggest secret I've ever had to keep!

We also checked bridesmaids dresses off of the list! The girls picked out the perfect dress on the first try. They are going to look beautiful standing at the alter with us in February.

I couldn't have had a more memorable experience if not for those who I shared it with; Mom, Dad, Momma Bear, Kayleigh, Allison, and Tiffany. Special thanks to all of you for being there with me this past weekend.

In other wedding news, we have decided on a cake baker! We will be having a delicious wedding and groom's cake brought to you by Sherri's Sweet Spot.

Today I'll be talking to a caterer who is high on the list of possibilities.

All of this wedding planning seems to be coming along! I hope that things continue to go smoothly for us as we have almost booked all of the big vendors! We still have a few to check off the list but the list is getting smaller :)

It's starting to feel real!

Last week we hit the one year mark!! In less than a year we will be husband and wife :)

We've started making little wedding purchases too!! This past weekend we ordered and bought some reception decor. We cannot wait to put it all together and have the time of our lives.

Little by little it is surely coming together. We have more and more appointments coming up and can't wait to get more things checked off the to-do list!!

360 days <3

Hello 2012!!

Happy New Year!


We have been uber busy going from one house to the next celebrating the holidays! We got a special visit from Jesse's dad and stepmom and his sister and her family! Christmas was awesome and we loved having everyone around!

Since we just celebrated the New Year we can FINALLY say, "WE'RE GETTING MARRIED NEXT YEAR!" It is time to get cracking on the wedding planning, only 417 days left. My dear friend Kayleigh has graciously accepted the role of wedding coordinator and we couldn't be happier :)

Here's to a new year full of wedding planning!!