Chaudron Silver

John and I decided to indulge in a wedding present to ourselves... Our very first piece of Chaudron Silver! I'm so excited! It is a serving spoon, imprinted with the Chaudron mark S.C. & Co.

I'm thrilled to finally have a small piece of my family history, my great great great grandfather Simon Chaudron has become the focus of my research and I've never had more fun than digging through the past! 

Wedding countdown...

We are now down to the wire with just a little over two weeks to go. I'm trying to get all of the finishing touches in place. I spent most of last night making boutonnières. (I personally think they turned out adorable.) This past weekend, John's aunts and uncles gave us a wonderful wedding shower! Now if I can just find enough time to get all of the wedding crafting done, we will be good!

One month and counting...

It's getting closer and closer. I'm not sure where the time has gone and there is still so very much to be done. This weekend were having a barbque to celebrate our wedding party. John and I have been busy bees trying to get everything together and ready to go. Tuesday we went and sign the papers and tomorrow we're meeting with the officiant! 

It's hard to believe our wedding is only one month away!  

Ringing in another new year

We've officially been submersed in 2015 for a little over two weeks now. As I look back over the past few years and forward to what this new year holds, I feel overwhelmed! Overwhelmed with joy, fear, elation, sadness, giddiness, and all that can possibility lie in between. I've left a lot of heartache and I look forward to a year full a reached goals. This new year, I survive one year as a manager, I'm walking down the aisle, and across the graduation stage, if all goes as planned, and I have faith it will. So keep my little crew in your prayers that no one subcombs to the wrath of stress and everyone comes out alive and well and happier than ever!

*since I forgot to do a holiday post.

Introvert

Many people fail to understand the painful shyness of the introvert, unless they are, of course,
then they understand it perfectly.
An introverted person can be easily embarrassed and sometimes painfully so.

As an introvert myself, I know just how painful it can be when others fail to understand how to interact with and around you.
Here are a few ground rules for dealing with an introvert that will make everyones life easier...

Rules:

1. Never, ever, ever embarrass an introvert. A few ways this can be done that you may not even realize... calling them out in public, drawing attention to them, ignoring them, joking about personal things, picking on them. It maybe all fun and games but to an introvert, it really hurts.
2. Understand that they are introspective. Yes, introverts get lost in their own thoughts often, let them. Just leave them be, when they're ready they'll let you in, maybe.
3. For the love of all that is holy... give them space. Introverts actually like alone time. I realize that's a hard concept to grasp but you must adhere to it.
4. We like our bubble of personal space and expect you to respect that.
5. People drain us. Yes, we may get snappy or tense after spending time surrounded by a large group. We can't help it, please be patient with us.
6. We are not rude or stuck up, we are just shy and prefer to remain on the sidelines observing.
7. Give us plenty of advanced notice before subjecting us to group outings of any sort.
8. Understand that we have trouble voicing our thoughts, again patiences.
9. We are extremely emotional. It's because we are often overwhelmed. Help us, don't get frustrated with us.
10. We are okay with our introvertedness, we don't need you to fix us.

Here is a few images I came across of Pinterest that says it all...

Take heed, you never know just how harmful your words can be! An introverted person is never going to stop and tell you how much something you said or did hurt. They'll just cry later when no one else is around to see it!

Engagement Excitement

My fiancé and I have been engaged now for five months but we've only recently set the date and place and started the planning process. It has been a lot of fun and extremely exciting and alittle bit scary.

So the countdown is on and it made me realize it's not really that far away... and that is scary!

Here are a few of the engagement pictures my cousin Tonya did for us!

Realization

I've been volunteering at Beauvoir for over a month now and that is also where we've planned to have our wedding. As I was last week, I looked out the window at the beautiful grounds, it really began to sink in that this is happening. Then just a few days later our engagement pictures came back. As I looked through them the only thing I could think was just how wonderfully perfect they are or would be if I weren't in them to mess them up. All I can see in every picture is how horrible I look. The dress I ordered to hide some of that didn't come in on time so I made do with one I had and the results were awful. I mared those beautiful pictures. I did.

I have had feelings like this towards myself for as long as I can remember. The only difference is now I actually have a reason. When I was maybe fourteen I overdosed on dexatrim because I thought I was so horribly fat. When I look back at pictures of myself from then I think I'd do anything to be that size again. Now a good forty pounds heavier, I might as well be three hundred with my little 5'1" frame. It shows everything. I've literally tried everything imaginable to loose it without success. What I do know for sure is that I don't want to mare my wedding pictures the same way. 

So I ordered the dress... a size too small. I know that sounds stupid and I know I shouldn't hate myself this way but the truth of the matter is I do and nothing said can change that. So I've got to make this work somehow. ... Eight months to go!