drumroll please...

I got my dress!

well I picked it out, ordered it and my mom ever so graciously paid for it!

i am SO excited!

my mom and grandmother came with me to Joan Pillow in Houston two weekends ago where I fell in love with the most perfect dress. Im not giving ANYTHING away except that its a beautiful, white gown!

i seriously cannot wait to wear it! it is absolutely perfect-- for me, the theme of the wedding, for the look i was going for-- everything.ahh! :)

and since my mom had heart failure after paying for the dress, i told her i'd take care of the veil!! haha

boo cancer!

Instead of my annual breast cancer PSA, today im going to share some other info with you all. on october 17 CL's cousin jennifer was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.

jennifer is a fellow baylor bear, which before meeting gave us an instant connection. she and her awesome husband eric (is it weird or pure awesomeness that both of our cousin's married amazing men named eric?) live in north carolina.

(kirbi, jennifer and me in kansas city, mo for tuckers graduation 2010)

anyways, if your like me, your like, what in the world is acute myeloid leukemia? according to the US national library of medicine,

"Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is cancer that starts inside bone marrow, the soft tissue inside bones that helps form blood cells. The cancer grows from cells that would normally turn into white blood cells."  With treatment, younger patients with AML tend to do better than those who develop the disease at an older age. The 5-year survival rate is much lower in older adults than younger persons. Experts say this is partly due to the fact that the body of a younger person can better tolerate strong chemotherapy medicines. luckily for jennifer, she's 30ish (a woman never reveals her real age, but she's very young!) so with treatment, she should kick this cancer's ass and can then concentrate on starting a family!

(jennifer and her hubs, eric, on their wedding day!)

she started chemo on octber 18th and eric has been documenting her journey in blog form. let me know if you want to read it! i dont want to blast it all over the web! 

according to eric and CL (he briefly spoke to her on FB chat) she is jovial and in good spirits. form time to time the chemo is making her nauseous, but that is normal. she got a pixie cut this weekend and is more interested in hockey than anything. (she's a HUGE sabres fan!) her brother tucker shaved his head in honor of her, and after our engagement photos on nov 6, CL will be shaving his head too. jennifer has an amazing support group and the best doctors working with her in north carolina. we are all thinking and praying for her every day and know that she is going to beat this. we can't wait to see her in may at our wedding and celebrate her and the winning of her battle over this disease!

please keep her in your prayers!

pumpkin carving for city folk.

since Halloween is upon us i though I'd share my Halloween craft of the year! vampire pumpkins! i originally saw the idea on pinterest and thought 'ooh' that would be fun! and easy! well fun it is, and easy, well I'll let you be the judge! here are the step by step directions to make your own vampire pumpkins!

here's what you need:

 -small pumpkins

-fake vampire teeth

- a dremmel (make it SO much easier) or a really sharp knife

-a fork and spoon

-a black and red sharpie

-plastic bag for easy mess clean up

(beer isn't necessary unless you were doing this by trial and error like i was... haha)

 first cut out the bottom of the pumpkin. use the dremmel (or knife) to cut a 2" diameter circle out of the bottom. you want it large enough to fit the spoon in there to get the pumpkin guts out.

 use the fork to pull the bottom out.

 once you clean the pumpkin out with the spoon, wash out and dry your pumpkin.

 once you have a clean, dry pumpkin, you are ready to mark where you will cut the 'mouth' out.

 start in the lower part of the pumpkin and find a good starting point. use your finger to mark the vertical length. the size of the vampire teeth vary, so use yours to measure. mine was about the size of my middle part of my finger. make a mark.

 mark the horizontal spacing the same way. again, my vampire teeth were about the length of my finger from tip to knuckle, but yours may vary.

 once you have all your marks, dremmel away! be careful as it will definitely spit out hot pumpkin mush all over the place, hence the bag.

 once you have your mouth cut out, pull out the piece with the fork. you may have to go back and "sand" the edges back. it took a couple passes to get my opening clean.

 once you have your clean opening, its time for teeth! simply place the teeth in the opening like you would your mouth.

 bend them in half so when they open it will settle snugly!

  voila!

 now all you have left to do is draw in some eyes! i added some drips of blood too! this is the part where you can be super creative! we went for a spooky vampire look!

 (can you tell this was my first attempt? a little wonky 'round the edges! haha)

 you can even put a candle in them! i suggest poking a hole behind the stem for the air to feed the flame though.

 happy halloween!

 ps thanks to my amazing photographer CL for helping me take some pics! xoxo

friday funnies.

with my slight obsession with pinterest i have found more funny photos in one place than i ever could have imagined. this was kind of a hard week (check for monday's post) so im wishing you all a fabulous weekend. and i really hope you smile when you look at these pics! and yes, i know. my sense of humor is like a childs.

if you even knew how much i love the movie madagascar. hahaha

Our Engagement Party!

Last weekend, CL and I had the best time at our engagement party. My mom was so generous to host this event for us, and all our family and friends came and shared in our excitement for our upcoming marriage. We were surrounded by such love and support, and we really enjoyed every moment! The food was amazing (yummy pappasitos!), the cake, well you'll see the cake-- it speaks for itself!, and the company was beyond amazing. We are truly blessed!

 our amazing cake! i love la victoria bakery! delish!!

 mom, nic and I

 mom, me, and momadear

 toyah, jason, me and CL

 the gomez's

 craig and nic

 CL, kirbi and gwen

 during the toast. i cried. and so did CL. haha

 CL, lisa, kyle and me

 sofia & michele

 CL, john, kirbi and i

 me and sofia!

 robert, CL, ryan, chad and craig

 eric, michele, me and CL

 my one and only bridal party member that made it! michelle and I

 the moms! my mom and CLs mom

 CL, me, michelle and eddie

 thats a whole bottle of champagne in that glass.

 opening gifts!

 sofia!

CLs parents, scott & jane, CL and I

 me and aunt carole

 nicole, sofia and I

 nic and i

 me, momadear, and nic

 me and my amazing mom!

the goods! we got all 12 casual place settings, platters, serving bowls, our baccarat decanter and glasses, and SO much more! we are seriously blessed!