New Job!

So in actuality, I'm writing this in May... but since it happened way back in February I changed the date to fake like I'm good at keeping up with this blog. :)

After months of searching, I finally got a new job! It wasn't exactly what I had in mind but I really love it so far! I quit lifeguarding at the gym, and I'm now a Human Resource Assistant at the HR office on Ft. Meade. Basically, I'm an office drone and sit at a desk from 9-5 but I love it so much more than working at Gaffney. I'm definitely still learning what the heck I'm doing, and I really miss seeing Aaron all day, but it's worth the trade-off of more money and actually enjoying being at work! So, if you are looking for a job give me a holler! :)

Trash the Dress

Way back before the wedding happened, our photographer had a contest on Facebook for one lovely couple to win a free Trash the Dress photo session. So of course we entered, and bugged our friends and family mercilessly until they voted for us, and we won!

So about 3 weeks ago we got to make the hike out to Columbia for our session! It was a ton of fun, Aaron HATES pictures but he was a really good sport about it because he know how excited I was. Here's some of my favorites that she took!

The most lopsided snowman ever!

His poor butt was freezing

Snow angels!

Sledding like penguins

He was being a jerk and trying to make the vine fall down so I would splat on my butt haha.

Thanks again to everyone who helped us win the session! We had tons of fun and love the pictures!

Puppy Love

Aaron and I are both really big dog people, so we knew from the start that there was a puppy in our future. We started looking around at shelters and rescues and found a cute little guy that we loved at the pound in Millersville. He's a 6 month old terrier mix that they found running around in Glen Burnie with his brother. We saw him on a Tuesday (2 weeks ago) and instantly fell in love. We filled out all of the paperwork and got ready to bring him home on Thursday! Wednesday before work we went to Petsmart and got ALL of the stuff for him (and it's a lot of stuff!) During the Petsmart extravaganza we got to thinking about his brother that was at the pound with him. He was definitely not as cute as our little guy we picked out, and seemed a little more hyper, but we decided to go back and get him too. Everyone thought we were crazy (and maybe we kind of are) but comeon, two puppies can't be THAT much harder than one... right? Either way, Thursday while Aaron was at work, I went and picked up our two crazy little guys!

Mac is on the left and Zak is on the right. They're super snuggly and love to cuddle with us in the LoveSac. Whenever we take naps they're right there with us snuggling up and keeping us warm!

This is Zak, the one that we got after the trip to Petsmart. Like I said, he's not as cute, honestly I think he's half raccoon or coyote or something. But he's so ugly he's adorable, and he's so sweet you can't help but love him.

Aaron totally plays favorites, he likes Zak more than Mac. But that just gives me and Mac lots of snuggle time, so I'm ok with it!

Our house it a little crazier now, there's always little feet running around the living room, and house training has definitely had its ups and downs. But overall we're really happy that we got two, they're definitely best buds, they're very attached to each other. When we take them out on walks if one gets ahead of the other he'll stop and wait for the other guy to catch up, and they're always snuggling with each other and giving each other kisses. We love our little puppies, they're a great addition to our little family!

The Real Deal Pictures

This past summer I was blessed enough to meet the most wonderful woman. I gave her adorable son swim lessons, and soon found out that she is a wedding photographer! Since then we've become great friends and she even trusts me enough to babysit both of her boys sometimes! We used her as our photographer for the wedding, and I am SO glad that we did. Aaron and I both hate getting our pictures taken, so the fact that a friendly face was behind the camera made it much more relaxed and fun. She did an amazing job, I can't believe how great the pictures turned out. Here are just a few of the over 500 amazing photos she took for us:

The bridal suite was pretty hectic before the ceremony started!

And of course the boys were hanging out bored in the hallway

I love that my friend Ally wore her curlers while she did my hair and makeup

:)

This is definitely one of my favorites

Check out that HOTTIE! You can check out the rest of the pictures of us prepping for the wedding on this link! http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=48423&id=1806521672&l=9babd9810a

Our niece and nephew were PERFECT walking up the aisle!

And my brother was so handsome walking me down!

Ohhhh yeah ;) Here's the link to the rest of the pictures from the ceremony http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=48426&id=1806521672&l=76e1262aac

So fun!

Picking up Aaron is not so easy

How cute is this!?

:*

We pretty much got permission to smooch all day. Here's the rest of the formal pics! http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=48427&id=1806521672&l=51668efa88

Hee hee cake on his face

I love that she got all of the adorable random moments

:-p

Dancin ladies

Here's the rest! http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=48429&id=1806521672&l=7ea4a54efd

Jenni did a great job, I'm beyond pleased with how good they look. Check out her website if you ever need pictures for an event! She's a great friend and amazing photographer all rolled into one! :)

Wedding of the Century!

This past Saturday, January 8th, Aaron and I were married at the Savage Mill Manor in Savage, Maryland. It was such a fun special day, with all of our family and closest friends there to celebrate. It went off without any major mishaps, even the flower girl cooperated! (We were expecting at least a small tantrum)

We don't have the pictures from the photographer in yet (I'll put those up later), but here are some of the pictures our family and friends took:

After almost 2 hours of hair and makeup (done by my amazingly talented friend Melissa that I've known for almost 15 years) we were ready for the ceremony to start.

My little brother Joe was sweet enough to walk me down the aisle (though we both had no clue which side he was supposed to walk on and what the heck he was supposed to do once we got up there!) The ceremony was short and sweet, and then we moved on to the important part... FOOD!

We had our families and closest friends from work, school, and everywhere else to celebrate with us. They seemed to really like the food, it was almost all gone when we came in after taking pictures! We ate and mingled for a little bit, and then our niece and nephew decided that it was time to dance!

Natalie is in a "princess dress" phase, I think that's the only reason she cooperated as our flower girl. She made me dance with her for a long while, so we could twirl our "princess dresses" together.

Eventually Aaron came over and danced with me too :)

The bouquet was thrown...

The garter was... retrieved...

And the cake was cut. It was such a beautiful, special day and we were so glad to have all of our family and friends there to celebrate with us.

After all of the festivities we headed off in our decorated car to Ellicott City for our overnight honeymoon. We stayed in a super fun B&B after going out to a fancy dinner in Baltimore. I'm currently sitting at our dining room table, with my best friend in the whole wide world sitting across from me. We are loving married life, and so happy that our paths crossed and came together! We are looking forward to many years together and all of the excitement that life has to bring us!

The professional pictures from our photographer and friend Jenni will be up as soon as they come in! :) Thanks to everyone who was able to come out for our day, and we missed all of our friends who live too far to have made it!

Our Top 9

Our wedding is a little over 2 weeks away! Wedding planning is in final crunch mode and crazy as ever since Christmas is also in the air!

Here is the 9 highlights of our last 18 months together to get you up to date:

1. We met in June of 2009 working as lifeguards at the pool on the Fort Meade army base in Maryland.

How could I possibly resist that!? :)

2. In August we went on a way fun long-weekend trip to Ocean City and he got the chance to meet my family!

3. We got in an AWFUL car accident on the Pennsylvania Turnpike way to visit his sister, Amy, and her family in Ohio for the weekend. It was September 19th, only 2 days before my 20th birthday! We were very lucky to have only minor cuts and bruises, but still spent the next few days on the couch feeling pretty sore.

4. Right after Christmas, Aaron abandoned me to spend two semesters at BYU Idaho. Though the long distance thing was NOT fun, we powered through it and I got to visit him in March for my Spring Break. Right after I got to his school he proposed at the Rexburg Temple!

5. I got to visit again in May right after school let out, thanks to my amazing friend Maria giving me free plane tickets. They're so awesome! Though it was still absolutely freezing in Rexburg, we had a ton of fun and were so happy that I was able to visit!

6. Aaron came home from Idaho in the summer, and we got our engagement pictures taken soon after. Our amazing friend (and one of my bridesmaids!) Maureen took them for us (for free!) and did a fantastic job! It was such a fun time!

7. Aaron's brother Michael got married this past October in Oklahoma, and we were so lucky to be able to fly out there for the wedding with his whole family. It was a short trip, but such a memorable one!

8. On November 17th I moved into the apartment that Aaron and I will live in for the next year! It's been a lot of fun decorating it to make it feel like home, and organizing everything just how I like it! Since Aaron isn't living here yet, it's a little creepy at night :) but I really love it a lot.

9. For Thanksgiving we drove all the way to Aaron's sister's house in Illinois (and didn't crash this time). It was such a fun time playing games and eating amazing food with everyone. Mark and Amy are the best hosts!

Amy and I with our wreaths that we made ourselves!

The past 18 months have been crazy and full of fun, and we can't wait to see what the next 1,000 or so have in store for us! :)