Thankful: Megan

I am thankful for my beautiful niece, Megan. She has been the light of my life since the day she was born. We have a bond that is unbelievably strong and I can’t imagine life without her. She is my little mini-me…sometimes that’s good, sometimes not so much! She’s strong willed and feisty but always so happy. She has the most sincere and loving heart. She is absolutely precious to me and I hope that are relationship continues to hold strong!

I am also thankful for how much she loves Brandon. I've always been worried about her being okay with me getting married...with good reason since she wouldn't allow anyone to bring it up. She's always had me to herself and doesn't appreciate having to 'share' me with anyone...so getting married was NOT an option for 'us'. But oh how things have changed. Pretty sure most days, I have been replaced! She loves Uncle Brandon and that makes me so happy!

Thankful: In-Laws

I am thankful for my in-laws. The newest members to my heart, yet some of the most important people that I’ll ever add to my life. I feel blessed to have met a man that grew up with such loving parents that taught him how to succeed in life, respect others and lead as a God-fearing man. I am thankful for the new sister that I never had growing up! I had my moments of selfish, bratty, bossy big sister (no need to confirm with brad!)…so it’s probably a good thing that I now have a sister later in life where I can love and respect…and not be ‘too’ bossy with her! ;) I am thankful for a brother-n-law that has such a good relationship with my husband! Brandon loves his family so much and now I know why! I am thankful for all of them!

Thankful: Mom

I am thankful for my Mother. I’ve written many blogs about my momma and our amazing relationship. She is the woman I strive to be like. Her giving, patient, loving, forgiving manner are all qualities that I aspire to have. I pray that one day, I’ll have a daughter and my hope is to achieve the incredible role model status that my mother has always been to me. She is beautiful inside and out and everyone that meets her, immediately notices her extraordinary soul. I am thankful for the best friend and biggest ally  I can imagine…I am thankful for my momma!

Thankful: Dad

I am thankful for my Daddy. Even though we are so much alike…and tend to butt heads occasionally…he has been an amazing role model for so many things. Some of my favorites are:

-We work hard. He taught me what hard work is all about. We don’t call in sick to school or work. We earn our keep!


-We keep our word. If we say we are going to do something, we do it. No questions asked.

-We save money. I learned early on that credit card debt is not okay and not to spend more than you can pay immediately. Always max out your savings/401k.

-We are tough. I grew up with the boys and I learned how to hold my own against those boys.

-We are on time. I am rarely late. I annoyingly expect everyone else to be on time as well. It’s a habit that was drilled into me my entire life. “if you aren’t at least 5 minutes early , then you are late.”

My daddy is one of my biggest fans. He always has been. He loves his little girl. He set amazingly high standards for me as a person and I strived to always meet them. He unknowingly set those high standards for the man I wanted to marry as well. I knew that I’d never be happy in life without a man that could work hard, be tough, put me in my place when I needed it, could be counted on and yes…is on time. God brought me the perfect match in all of those qualities…and more than I could have imagined. I am thankful that my Father taught me what to look for…and most importantly wait for.

Thankful: Savior

I am thankful for my Savior. I am thankful for my Christian upbringing, for my obedience to Him throughout my life and my faith. My life is blessed beyond imagination. I have more to be thankful for than I can possibly blog about. I am overwhelmed most days with all that I have been given and not sure how I deserve it. Every night I pray that I can sift through the craziness of life and always see that no matter what happens, what curve balls life throws my way…that I look to Him first and know that He has always and will always take care of me. I will be given nothing more than I can handle. And I pray that I never take anything I'm given for granted. I am thankful that I accepted Christ as my Savior…for without that, I would have nothing.

Thankful: Husband

I am thankful for my Husband. He is a gift from above. I am so excited to spend my first holiday season with him...as a wife. It still blows my mind to think how amazing this past year has been, to see how much our relationship has blossomed and how much I love him. When I hear people address me as, "Mrs. Woods", it almost makes me laugh...I still can't believe it! I can't believe I've met the man that is way better than any 'dream' I've ever had. He's been a blessing in my life from day one. He knows how to 'handle' me...when things get a little 'stressful' he knows how to calm me. We laugh together EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. I wake up happy, I go to bed happy and I dream happy. We've only known each other a little over a year but I feel like we've been together much longer. I fall in love with him more and more every day. I've become 'that girl' that wants to spend as much time with him as possible...I can't wait to get home to see him, I can't wait to hear about his day, I can't wait to plan our next date night or what we want to do in life together. He's handsome, respectful, loving and he goes out of his way to make me happy. The last 5 months have blown my mind and it feels so surreal to be where we are now. I am thankful for Brandon, my husband.

Thankfulness

As November started and so many people began the daily countdown of what they are thankful for on Facebook, I started making my list. I realize that I was supposed to be posting these daily...that hasn't happened. But, better late than never...and let's be honest, I have way more to be thankful for than 22 days worth of blogs. It's an overwhelming task to come up with just a few things to write about...so with that said, this list is definitely not all-inclusive or in any particular order...just a way to get back into blogging and give a little shout out to a few specific things!

Kinda funny...

Thirty: Guarantee

My guarantee to Brandon....

Twenty Nine: Work

Whew! What a weekend...Brandon and I have worked hard this weekend and we've accomplished a lot! Both of us went through our closets (me again!) with a fine tooth comb and now have several bags each to donate to charity. We had our first cake tasting appointment on Saturday morning and 'somewhat' decided on the designs we like for our wedding cakes. Saturday afternoon Brandon worked on cleaning his house so that it can be put on the market next week...and I continued to clean out closets/dressers/drawers/etc. Such a great feeling to do a little spring cleaning in the summer! Today (Sunday afternoon) we started our wedding registry...holy stressful! We didn't make it very far but we did realize that we need to do a little 'pre-work' and decide what kind of colors we want to go with for dishes/bedding/bathrooms/etc. We both have so much stuff and most of it is brand new so we have to figure out what we'll want in our 'future' house as well...whew...a lot to think about! But we had a lot of good laughs walking the aisles of Bed, Bath and Beyond...and then we came home to nap (well B did...I blogged!) This pic resembles how we spent the rest of the evening...both of us exhausted and chilling on the couch!

Twenty Eight: 80's

My sweet fiance is a child of the eighties...and he was an adorable little boy (although he does have that look of 'trouble waiting to happen'!!)

Twenty Seven: Song

Oh the pressure of a song! Brandon and I have started working on our 'playlist' and first dance songs with each other and our mom/dad. Who knew it could be such a big decision!! We have our DJ picked out for the wedding but the information packet that came with this booking is HUGE. They want to know all kinds of stuff, including a song for EVERYTHING and the timing on each of those events (ceremony songs (who knew our 15 minute ceremony needed so many different songs!), reception songs for being announced, cake cutting, dinner, 'special songs at special times). We have some time to figure it out so no real 'pressure' yet, but all the decisions are making my brain tired!! :) It's fun and I know everything will be perfect...and if it's not, that's okay, we will roll with it and soak up every minute of the special day. (and no mom, I don't need any Xanax to keep this attitude! ha!)

As Bama frequently said in Cabo when the 'wedding craziness' began...."all I need is my groom, I've got that so nothing else matters." All that I need on my wedding day to make it perfect...my perfect groom. 

Twenty Six: Hair

Hair...I need some good ideas for hair for the wedding. I am currently undecided on up, down, partial up/down. Right now I'm leaning towards not completely down, I feel like that would be too much like my every day look. I always pictured up...but after taking a few pics in my dress, with my hair partially down, I kinda like that too. My fear is that my hair is so thin, it wouldn't look good like that....and I've also considered putting in extensions for the wedding. Obviously, I'm all over the board and don't really know what I want. So my pic...is non-existent...need you to help me 'picture' what my hair should look like and help me find some picture examples! :) 

Twenty Five: Sweet

The word 'sweet' brings one thing to mind...this sweet, sweet face of Harper. She is precious and spoiling us all being the amazing baby she is. Harper took her first plane right for Amber's wedding in Cabo. She amazed everyone with how good she was...ALL THE TIME. She is so happy, so chill and so stink'n cute...I could eat her up! She'll let you know when she's hungry but other than that, you'd never know she's there....besides the fact that nobody can stop looking at her, keep their hands off of her or talk about how beautiful of a baby she is!! She's about as 'sweet' as it gets!!

Almost ALWAYS this happy!!

Like mother, like daughter...beautiful girls.

Laying at the pool, listening to the ocean waves, snuggling with a sleeping baby...life doesn't get much better than that!

Waiting to get on the dinner cruise...notice the 'I'm here for the cake' button...and don't miss the corona anklet! It was mandatory for 'everyone'...makes total sense, especially for a 7 month old.

She was out cold right before her big entrance down the sandy aisle and slept through most of the ceremony...so funny.

Absolutely beautiful...love this SWEET face!!

Twenty Four: Play

The boys hard at work play! A couple of months ago, we celebrated Jeff's birthday by entering the boys in a grilling competition for a big green egg....which is supposed to be the newest, cool grill that costs about $1k. The guys were split into two different teams so they had two chances at the win. Although, their tasty chicken entries didn't with the egg, we had a blast and can't wait to do it again next year!

Notice Brandon schmoozing one of the judges in the background...true salesman!

Twenty Two & Three: Almost & Reflection

Okay, I'm going to cheat...let's be honest, it's already July so I'm really behind (with the June photo challenge) and just trying to not be put into the 'quitter' category Mica! :) Therefore, I'm going to combine a couple of these because this one picture below comes to mind for both. 

It has 'almost' been one year that Brandon and I have been dating...and as I 'reflect' on the past year, I am amazed at how quickly things change. In the past year, so much has happened for so many of my friends. Lis had her 4th baby, Nathan (holy hands full!), Mica became the workout queen and lost over 50lbs, Bama got engaged AND married, Kathy became a first-time mom to baby Harper and Angie bought a lakehouse! We've been a busy bunch of gals! One year ago, I was single and still looking for the man I could/would spend the rest of my life with. Today, I'm happier than I've ever been...I'm engaged to the man of my dreams...and our wedding is just a few short months away. What a blessed life we all lead!!