One Year Shy of 30...

Happy Birthday to my wonderful, handsome, funny fiance... very soon-to-be husband! Not only is today his birthday, it is his Golden Birthday! I swear I didn't make that up, but some people look at me like I did. Your golden birthday is when you turn the same age as the day of your birthday... for him, it's 29 on the 29th. (Same for me, too!) I really like to make a big deal out of birthdays, but this year it's just not going to happen. I haven't even gotten him a card yet! Good thing for me, he could give a crap. I'm pretty sure the three of you that read my blog already know plenty about Matt and why I love him, but I'm going to refresh your memories anyway with 29 reasons I love my 29 year old man (this list certainly isn't all inclusive).

1. He's good looking.
2. He's smart.
3. He researches everything before he makes a purchase.
4. He's thoughtful.
5. He has a great laugh.
6. He makes me laugh.
7. He knows when to let things go and when to fight back.
8. He can cook pretty well.
9. He has beautiful eyes (sometimes they're light brown and sometimes they're sort of green).
10. He's a Gator.
11. He likes the house cold like I do.
12. He's super handy.
13. He can reach the things I can't and doesn't get annoyed when I ask him to get something for me.
14. He loves his family.
15. He's good at his job and takes pride in it.
16. He's a good kisser (I'll spare you the TMI).
17. He's a good and loyal friend.
18. He's honest.
19. He is a good saver, but he's not cheap.
20. He enjoys good food and wine as much as me and isn't afraid to try new things.
21. He likes to travel and is adventurous.
22. He works hard and plays hard... sometimes too hard, on both accounts ;).
23. He's great with kids, and I know he'll make a great dad.
24. He's strong.
25. He has a romantic moment every now and then. :)
26. He has an ecclectic taste in music.
27. He's a great snuggler.
28. He listens (when it's important). hehe
and, most importantly...
29. He loves me and wants to spend the rest of his life with me! (Amazing, huh?)

Happy Birthday, my love! I love you more than words can express, and I can't wait to spend many, many more birthdays with you!



And, just because I can't resist, this is my favorite story about Matt. It is such a simple thing, but I think it shows a lot about him. I was staying at his house one night and he was leaving the next morning before I got up to go out of town. I got up and got in the shower and realized that he would have packed his toothpaste, so I wouldn't have anything to brush my teeth with. I got out of the shower and looked at the bathroom counter. Lo and behold, there sits my toothbrush with toothpaste on it. I know it's such a silly thing, but who thinks of that at 5am? Matt.

UPDATE

1. I am still alive. Still stressed, but alive. Being alive is good.

2. I am almost ready to move tomorrow. Well, I have been more than ready, so I should say I am almost prepared. :)

3. It's amazing what a week can do for someone. Matt is now ready to go back to Vegas. Isn't it amazing how short term memory can be!?

4. I have the most amazing grandmas ever. I was lucky enough to spend the night with Gram last night. I cherish every moment with her... such an amazing woman. And, we share so many views on life, like voting Republican. :) She's really one of the two coolest grandmas ever. The other is Memere. I got to see her oh so briefly today. She is the best happy birthday singer ever and she always smells good. It is not my birthday, so she didn't sing to me, but that is just a point of information I thought you should know. She also votes Republican. :)

5. I got a convertible as a rental car. It ruled. I drove with the top down back from my meetings in Bradenton this morning. It was so beautiful down there, and I turned up the music and soaked up the sun cruising over the Sunshine Skyway (aptly named)!
Then, I randomly ran into my cousin Chris and his girlfriend, Hilary, at the airport. They were headed to NY for her sister's wedding. And, I had a first class seat on my return flight. All of these things were definitely destressers!

6. The best time of the year is upon us. That's right friends, college football starts tomorrow. And, my Gators (yes, they are mine) play Hawaii at 12:30 on Saturday. I am CHOMPING at the bit! I might even be more excited for the start of football than for my own wedding. Don't tell my mom. You can tell Matt. He'd appreciate that. Actually, my mom might too. I get my love of football from her.
(and, just so you know, our wedding is OF COURSE on a bye weekend... I consulted the football gods before picking a date)

Just keep breathing...

Ugh...

I hate being stressed!!! It generally takes a lot to stress me out, and I can safely say I have reached my limit. Work is crazy, I am in the midst of moving (supposed to move this morning but had to postpone due to torrential downpours and tornado warnings), I am traveling tonight and tomorrow for work (but I get to stay with my Gram... yayayayayay), trying to close a property and get that off my plate, moving Thursday afternoon now, oh... and I am getting married in 18 days. Lest I forget that. Seriously. When it rains, it pours. I am so ready to be married and on my honeymoon on the beach with a pina colada in my hand (okay, I don't really like pina coladas all that much... sue me... maybe a Pacifico or a margarita). Ohhhhh Mexico! Andale, Andale, Arriba, Arriba! (That loosely means "hurry up" in Spanish for those not as gifted as I with the language... haha, that's pretty funny). Speaking of Spanish, does anyone know how to say, "We're on our honeymoon. Can we please get a room upgrade?" :)

One Year Ago Today...

I was the Maid of Honor in my best friend's wedding! And, 25 days from now, she'll be repaying that wonderful favor. :) Happy Anniversary to Jenn and Matt... I hope your next 75 years are even better than the first. I love you both!



The shower this weekend was low-key and relaxing. It was nice to be home and do nothing except the shower festivities. The trip was very short and sweet, but I got to spend some QT with some of my bestest friends, family, my adorable nephew James, and watch the Olympics. And, just in case you're living under a rock, Michael Phelps won a record EIGHT gold medals. That's eight for eight folks. Insane.

Matt had a good time at his bachelor party, as evidenced by him telling me he doesn't want to ever go back to Vegas. Well, first it started out, "I love this place," then, "I don't want to come back for a very long time," to, "I never want to go back." That's what three days of non-stop will do to you. But, I am happy to report the mustache was still in full force when he returned last night. It only cemented the fact that if grows one again, it is grounds for divorce. (Just kidding... well, sort of.) I am glad to report that it is now gone.

I have no pictures, so I will update as soon as they get sent to me. I didn't take ONE picture this weekend. Unbelievable!!!

USA, USA, USA!

Can I get a resounding "U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A" cheer from the crowd!? I may be the world's sappiest person, so it should be no surprise that I cried when Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson took the Gold and Silver Medals respectively in the Women's All Around Gymnastics competition last night. Or that I cried again this morning watching them on the Today Show. I am so proud of them and proud to be an American! They made history as the first two Americans to finish 1 and 2 in the Olympics. Nastia Liukin is only the third American to get the All Around Gold Medal at the Olympics, following in the footsteps of Mary Lou Retton (Mawy Woo, as I affectionately called her at the age of 2 watching the 1984 games, which I have absolutely no recollection of) and Carly Patterson. Get it, girls!

My boy and fellow Gator, Ryan Lochte, scored a Gold Medal and a World Record in the 200 back, beating out fellow American, Aaron Piersol... no easy feat. And, isn't he just yummy to look at? I knew you'd agree. Oh, and Michael Phelps won only his 6th Gold Medal and set his 6th World Record of the games. They're saying he will be able to live the rest of his life off the millions he is going to make after these games. He deserves it. He's the perfect combination of genetics and talent and hard work (and 12,000 calories per day). Rebecca Soni, an almost unknown swimmer, also took a Gold Medal upsetting Australia's "Lethal" Leisel Jones in the 200 breast and shattered her World Record in the process.

So, enough of the Olympics... thinking about all that athleticism is making me tired! :)


Jack Johnson was amazing, as always. I heart him. He played a great mix of his songs, and the only song I was somewhat surprised not to hear was Mudfootball. But, most importantly, he played Better Together. In fact, it was his closing song. And, I made Matt dance with me. Poor guy. He's such a sport. Isn't he handsome? I think so.
Jack, too.

Matt's beard is now a mustache. For some reason unbeknownst to me, that is cool to do. Especially when half of 14 of your friends also grow a mustache and go to Vegas to celebrate (mourn?) your last hoorah as a single man. Someone better take a picture. And, even though Matt told me I have to blur his face out on any pictures I post here in order to protect the innocent (clearly, I don't listen), if I can find a picture, believe me, I will post it.

While Matt is off galavanting in Vegas, Jenn (see her blog) and I are heading down to Jacksonville for my third and final bridal shower. Because, who doesn't need three bridal showers? They have all been wonderful, but I am especially excited for this one, because most of my best friends will be there. And, a subject of a future post will be an intro to my bridesmaids and why they are so amazing. I am blessed to have so many wonderful friends, but I would say that my five beautiful bridesmaids are the girls I am closest to, especially my little sister, Brandi, and my best friend/twin from another mother, Jenn, who are my MOHs. More to come on them...

Until next time, have a beautiful weekend, and HAPPY FRIDAY!

Welcome to the wonderful world of blogging...

Well, I pulled the trigger and here I am! I've known for some time that I was going to start a blog (which is short for weblog, for those who didn't know), but I thought I would wait until I got married. Since I've now established a google account using my soon-to-be new name, I thought, "What they hey?" And, here I am. One month and counting until that whole marriage thing, by the way. So, basically, I am going to use this to post random musings about my life... anything and everything from the last month of wedding planning, adjusting to being married and living with a BOY (ew, gross), and I am sure my obsession with pageants (and, for the next week and a half, the Olympics) will sneak in there somewhere.

Speaking of the Olympics, Michael Phelps is a freaking machine. I mean, seriously. How is he so good? And, how is Ryan Lochte so dang cute? And, why do their bodies have to be so chiseled?

Yum. But, I digress. I was really happy that the US Men's Gymnastics Team got the bronze medal! I love a good underdog story. I was somewhat disappointed with the US Women, I'm not going to lie. I mean, don't get me wrong, I can't fathom the pressure or being able to do what they do, but I really thought they were going to pull it out. I felt so bad for Alicia Sacrimone... bless her heart, as they say in the South. But, that's life. She has to suck it up and go for the gold in her individual apparatus competition on the vault. And, look for Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin to kick some butt in the all around. Shawn Johnson is one of the most consistent gymnasts I have seen in a while. And, girl throws a standing full on the beam... in layman's terms, a back flip with a full twist on a 4" wide piece of wood covered in leather. Yeah. I am looking forward to more swimming and diving, more Michael Phelps gold medals, and I am ready for track and field! And, just in case you haven't been following, the USA is still in the lead in the medal count with 29 medals over China's 27, but China has more golds. Some of them may not be legit (ahem, women's gymnastics... some of those girls were definitely not 16 this year), but even though they may have cheated, they did rock.

So, in other news, it's fitting that I started this blog today and called it sepia-tone-lovin, because I'm going to see Jack Johnson tonight! Oh, how I love me some Jack. The blog was to be named Better Together (one of his songs, and one of my faves), but many variations of that were taken, so I went with a line from the song. I'm planning to sneak my camera in, so I will post pictures in a future blog (assuming I don't die from excitement of seeing him in concert for the first time in three years). xoxo!