DIY Invitations

For Candice's wedding shower, I am making invitations. We decided to do the shower in her wedding colors (pink & green) and so I chose pink and green cardstock for the invitations. Are they seriously not the cutest invitations ever? Yes, I am totally bragging haha - I LOVE these invitations!

So, cause Candice said I should do a blog post on them... here it is: A Step-by step guide to DIY invitations!

First, pick out some cardstock and paper. I like to do pattern paper too because it adds a little sumthin' sumthin'. I also added a ribbon because it spices it up a bit. Here are my materials:

I typed up the info on the invitation and made her name and the date stand out in a different font and color.

Then, cut the cardstock to the size you want. I used a paper cutter because it's quicker.

Then, I cut the patterned paper to half the size of the back cardstock so not to overwhelm the invitation.

Then, I used double-sided tape to put it together...

Then, after taping the green paper down, its time to add the ribbon! Punch the holes (I just eyeballed it, but you can measure it out if you want).

Then, add the ribbon! The way I did it doesn't have to be the way you do it - you can tie a bow or knot or whatever tickles your fancy! I poked the ribbon through from front to back like so...

Then cross over the end pieces and poke them back through the opposite holes. Taa-daa...

A couple tips:

I like to do each step all at once, ie. cut all the pink pieces, cut all the pattern pieces, cut all the green pieces, cut all the white pieces, put the pattern pieces on the pink, put the green on that, punch all the holes, then do all the ribbons, and put the white pieces on. Here are the invitations before I put on the white pieces.

Also, fit your cardstock to your envelope, not vice versa. You don't want to put together these cute invitations and then have to search for an envelope that it will fit in!

And for an added touch, address the envelopes in colors that match the invitations.

There you have it! The cutest invitation, ever!

A special thanks to Ms. Lydia and Candice herself for helping me do these this weekend (I know, it must be breaking all kinds of Emily Post laws for a bride to help make her shower invitations... but she really wanted to!)

*Note: I blurred Ms. Stalling's address and my phone number for privacy purposes, just in case you know?

Just popping in...

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, it's not that I don't have tons of things I could blog about, it's because I've been spending my [little bit of] free time reading... You know my list of things I want to do this summer? Well...

I've been reading Pride & Prejudice (I'm actually almost done!) and it is so good - everything I expected! It is definitely not a let down! I even heard AFR (American Family Radio) recommend it for summer reading today! So if you've always wanted to read it and never have - you definitely should!

Anyhoo... in other news today... Weston passed all 3 of his EOGs (woot woot!) despite missing a month of school! Praise God! We are very proud of him!

Also, can I just say that Kris won on American Idol? A Christian that is open about his faith. Hmm... God at work? Definitely!

And because I forgot to post about it on Monday, I have an "Abi-ism" (Cute thing that Abi said/did) from this past weekend. We were walking to the elevator before going to a cookout, and Abi says,

"Are we going to ride the alligator?"

Us: "Are we going to ride the what?"

Abi: "Are we going to ride the alligator?"

Us: "The elevator?"

Abi: "The elligator!"

We're going to the river for the weekend after work tomorrow, so I'll "see" you Sunday/Monday!

A Weekend Story

Once upon a weekend, a family of 10 (2 parents, 3 sons & their girls, and 2 grandkids), went to the beach. The weather was beautiful and they had a wonderful time! They soaked up the sun, they played in the water...
they surfed and boogey-boarded...

They played in the sand...

They had the most fantastic weekend hanging out together! Then, it was time to get ready for one of the sons, Parker's graduation. See, he had already finished college the previous December, but his college had graduation ceremonies in May. So the girls painted their toe nails (well, Laura painted Abi's) and dressed in pretty outfits and the boys dressed in shirts, slacks, and ties. Parker's girlfriend, Laura dressed in a pretty, new white skirt and pink shirt. She was so excited about her outfit! Parker and Laura woke up very early Sunday morning to drive from the beach to Wilson for Barton College's special worship service that morning. Then, the family met them for the graduation! Everyone was so excited!

Parker's family, Laura's family, aunts and uncles from all over came to see him walk across stage. AND since he was the Senior Class President, he had a special speech to give. But, something terrible happened. It rained. And then it POURED. And then it POURED cats and dogs (well, not really, but it might as well have).... And Laura's white skirt was soaking wet. (Sorry, no picture haha). After the pouring rain stopped, they were a few people still at the graduation. It continued to drizzle.

Then Parker walked across stage and got his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management (with a Minor in Biology)!!! Finally, the time came for his special speech! He did so wonderful! It had rained so hard that his cap was bent.

His name was even in the program, though it was dripping wet.

...and the pages were stuck together...

But all was well and the handsome boy graduated. He took a picture with Laura and Jacob.

And to top off the story, on the way to a yummy restaurant called Parker's BBQ (no relation to the hero of the story), the handsome boy and his love got in a wreck. They did not get hurt, but the truck sure did... (Side note: this was in the parking lot after the wreck... the other vehicle was not damaged so the police were not called... thank goodness for that!)

And that is the happy ending to this wonderful short story about a handsome boy and his graduation weekend!

*It actually was a happy weekend though it was full of a few unhappy events :) haha

Not Me... Monday A while back ago

Ok, so you know "Not me!" Monday from Mckmama... well I am definitely not posting on a Tuesday about something I did not do weeks ago. I did not do this and I certainly did not take a picture of it, intending to use it for a "Not me!" Monday post. And since I did none of this... I definitely am not just now posting about it.

On to what I did not do....

I did not decide to make tea in my awesome Mr. Coffee Teamaker (you should so get one!) the last week in my apartment. I did not measure the water and pour it into the white steamer and measure out the sugar to find that we did not have any tea bags (because someone... I'm not naming any names... KATHERINE!) packed them up and took them home already. So... to get the water out of the white steamer, I did not make hot water in our tea pitcher. And I did not take a picture of it after Amanda and I laughed our heads off.

Reunited and it feels so good!

Look who's home! Amber & I drove 3 hours to Hurdle Mills yesterday to see Erin & the girls at her Welcome Home party! We had a great time and I'm so glad she's home!


Also, welcome my friend Charlotte to the blogging world! Yay - one more convert! hahaha

And, last but not least - Happy Birthday Dad! :)

Surprise!

The surprise that I was so excited about was a 50th birthday party for my dad! We had a cookout (Parker cooked hamburgers & hotdogs) at the park and invited family, long-time friends, baseball buddies, and some of dad's long-time coworkers. He had a hunch of what was going on [he saw an email I had sent to his boss during a meeting - I didn't know until last night] but he didn't know when, where, what... It rained/thundered while we set up, but it cleared up by the time the party got started.

The kids and dads played wiffleball (see my dad playing 1st base)

We ate and had cake (its ugly because they did it in 15 minutes... It was SAMS CLUB! and I was supposed to pick it up at 3:30 and at 3:35 they started icing it...)

But at least it tasted good... as you can tell by Walker's face. HAHA He turned 2 yesterday (I can hardly believe it!) so he got to eat cake at his birthday party and my dad's! I bet he didn't sleep a wink last night!

The surprise party was a success and tons of fun! He had a good time and that's what I was hoping for! His birthday is actually tomorrow, and yes... he will be 50. Can you believe it? He does not look like a 50 year old to me!

Family Pictures

Weston has had a much better day yesterday and today... thanks for your prayers! Keep 'em coming! He got the game ball at his game last night because he played pretty darn good if you ask me. It was one of the best games defensively I've ever seen him play!

I have some pictures of him and Cody playing ball from a couple of weeks ago that I'll post later... but for now, I'm just going to post some pictures from my Grandparent's house/farm of my family on the day of Grandma's funeral.

Here's me and Weston... he's trying to look bigger by standing on his tippy toes and poking his chest out. HA!

Here's mom with her living siblings - Aunt Kay and Uncle Woody.

Me and my sweet mom! - She hates this picture b/c the wind is blowing her hair and she thinks she looks like a wild woman... I think she looks great and I love her pink, black, and white!


Me and the love of my life!


My family :)


My family close up - Weston's trying to look big again (HAHA!) and Mom thinks her hair looks crazy in this pic too -- it was the wind!

Don't ya just love my family? I do!

I'm so excited and I'm itching to tell you something. It's a surprise though. You'll just have to wait and see. And no, I'm not getting engaged tonight so don't get your hopes up, but something else is going to happen! I'm doing the surprising! I'm so excited! Can't wait to tell you all about it!

Have a good Saturday afternoon!

Personal Prayer Request

Hey friends!

I have a prayer request that I've debated back and forth on whether or not to discuss openly since it's kind of personal, but I've decided to do it because it's weighing on my heart. AND this blog is about being transparent to show how God is working in my life (and others' lives), even when things get personal.

You remember that week I had a couple of months ago? The one where I couldn't pull myself together and didn't want to get out of bed? The one where I had a glimpse of real depression? When I wrote this post and this post? Well, I think that Weston (my 10 year old brother) is having a similar time this week. He is emotionally and physically drained. He is sad about my Grandma's death, which also reminded him of my Granddaddy Mark's death (last April). He's sad about my Aunt Debbie's sickness. He is exhausted. He has EOGs (End of Grade Testing) next week. He's stressed, tired, and sad. Please pray for God to replenish his soul and give him much-needed rest. I love him so much and it is so hard to comfort him in the way he needs when I just don't know how. He is having some snuggle time with Mom right now to help him get to sleep (Gosh, he would die if he knew I said that.... ), so if you will, pray for him to find peace. Most people don't have to deal with all this in a life time, let alone in one year - at age 10.

And, can I just say that God has put the most wonderful people in my life? I seriously have the best friends. Whether coming to the visitation, sending sweet, sweet cards, bringing flowers, calling to check on me... they are seriously loving on me and I am so grateful! I love you guys!

Parker has also been by my side non-stop this week and I am so glad. He is so wonderful and I am so undeserving of his pure and devoted love.

Our family has been so surounded by love and support and we are so thankful. My dad's side of the family has been so thoughtful and we've had several family friends love on us (the Boyds, the Andersons (hey April!), mom's coworkers, the Morgans... oh gosh I know I'm leaving out like half the people but we are so thankful!

God is good! I know that He is in control, even when we feel like the world's on our shoulders... Sometimes we just have to be reminded!

Candice & Corolla Weekend

This past weekend we had the BEST time in Corolla for Candice's bridesmaids weekend! We stayed at Aunt Kitty's beach house (below, isn't it massive? It's actually a duplex that you can (and we did) open up as one house...only 10 bedrooms and 8 bathrooms...)

I was a bit worried because it rained all week, but the weather was beautiful all weekend! We got to soak up the sun (Candice did a little too much), eat some really good food, relax with our awesome "spa bags" (Thanks to Charlotte), and laugh a whole lot! Man, I don't think there was a conversation that we didn't laugh so hard we thought we were going to pee on ourselves (Charlotte almost did! hahahahaha) Here we are with our towel heads - me, Mrs. Eller (Candice's mom), Candice, Mrs. Lydia, Aunt Kitty, Amanda (I like her haha), and Charlotte Webb (yes, Charlotte Webb)

This was our lunch on Saturday! It was pretty & delicious!

Here we are at Sunset Grille - the restaurant we went to Saturday night. Oh my goodness, it was so good. We had a blast! I wish the other bridesmaids (Ashley, Grace, & Martha Lynn) could have come too!

Saturday was also Charlotte's birthday! She's the one in the birthday cake hat (4th from the left). [Funny story - Charlotte is the Morgans' neighbor at the river and five years ago when we first met, Parker introduced me to her as his "other girlfriend." So... from then on, I recognized her as Parker's other girlfriend. What a lucky man he is to have both of us! haha] Anyways...here we are at Sunset Grille in our sweet hats!

I could tell you so much more... but what happens at the beach, stays at the beach. :) And, can I just say that I'm ready for my bridesmaid weekend because this was so much fun!

OH YEAH! Welcome Candice to the blogging world! EEEE!! I'm so excited that one of my best friends and future-sister-in-law has a blog now!! Check her recap of the weekend out here.

*Candice is Jacob's fiance (Jacob is one of Parker's brothers)... His other brother, Preston, is married to Martha Lynn, and Cody (8 yrs old) & Abi (4 years old) are ML's kids. Ms. Lydia (Lele) and Mr. Jack (Daddy Rabbit.. hahaha) are Parker's parents.

*Since I'm spelling out the family tree... Mark is my dad and Peggy is my mom and Weston is my 10 year old brother.

Her children will rise up and call her blessed.

She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children arise and call her blessed. Her husband also, and he praises her: "Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all." Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

Proverbs 31:27-31

I think this a beautiful passage from the book of Proverbs and it reminds me of my Grandma Sue who passed away yesterday a little after 2 o'clock. We miss her, but we are so thankful that she no longer suffers. Thanks for your prayers!