Only the beginning...

Wow, What a year! As the wedding date approaches I think of all the changes in my life since January. Kevin and I will be married in only eight days. In some ways I look at December 18th as an end...an end to a long and winding search for the person God intended for me, to all the planning and preparation for the big day, an end to being called Ms. Miller by my students, and so on. Really though, this is only the beginning. I'm excited about the wedding and know it will be beautiful, but more than anything I'm excited about marrying my one and only true love. I'm more excited about the marriage than about the wedding. Kevin and I, both, realize there will be difficult times ahead, but there will also be countless days of smiles, laughter, happiness, friendship, and comfort mixed in. Kevin is my very best friend. Just being near him elicits a contentedness I never experienced before. I am overjoyed at the mere thought of being a family with him. We pray daily that God will bless us with a beautiful family to raise in a Christian home. Kevin reminds me all the time that God has so many plans in store for us. Please pray for us as we begin the next chapter in our lives together. Pray that we will actively seek God's will for our lives and our family, that we will listen. Pray that we will be an example and blessing to those we encounter in our daily lives, even when we don't realize it.

This picture reminds me of a book I read in 5th grade called The Little Princess. 

Katelyn and I pose for the camera before the luncheon begins. 

What a little lady! 

Katelyn continues to spread the love at the luncheon. 

Joannie proudly showing off her five-week-old angel, Josie 

Is Katelyn excited about being so close to Carolyn or Baby Josie? We're not real sure. 

Katelyn giving Aunt Manda some love at the bridesmaids' luncheon 

Bridesmaid Luncheon

I hosted a luncheon for my bridesmaids and my precious little flower girl on Saturday at Old Alabama Gift Company. Marchelle's catered it. What a busy place! They also had their Christmas open house, so there was a lot of activity. Mom, Katelyn, Amanda, Carolyn, and Joannie (with baby Josie in tote) were there. Robin couldn't make it because her Orange and Blue were in the SEC Championship game in Atlanta. She went to cheer them on. We all had a good time eating and passing Josie around. She was such a good baby, no a whimper the whole two hours she was there. One thing's for sure...her momma knows how to keep her happy. I can't wait to have one of my own. Katelyn's favorite part was drinking her grape juice out of a champagne glass. Our favorite part was drinking the champagne! There are only 13 days left until the wedding. Kevin's family arrives in 11 days. I thought this month would never get here, and now it's going so quickly. The Egans are busy with special plans for the rehearsal dinner. It's gonna be a real treat. We have to pay for poinsettias and the other half of the reception. I'm doing that on Wednesday afternoon. Thursday afternoon I have to pick up Kevin's ring from being sized and the napkins we ordered for the reception. I think that leaves paying for the cakes, decorating the church, and getting married...of course, Kevin still has a few items on his "to do" list, but I'm sure he'll check them off as soon as he's back in town on Friday night. Today I've had a cold, but nothing that Alkaseltzer Cold and Sinus could improve. I cleaned house and laid on the couch admiring the Christmas lights on the mantle and tree and the fire in the fireplace. It was so nice to take a little time for the holiday season. So far, we've only had time to purchase 3 gifts, and they came off of the internet. We're gonna get the rest next weekend before we go see A Christmas Carol at the Shakespeare Festival. We'll also be putting our lights up next weekend too. We haven't been home long enough to get them out of the boxes yet. I'm off to write thank you notes.

Count down continues!

We are only about two weeks away from the big day! Kevin and I are so excited. We have a million and one things to do. My good friend Carolyn called this morning to check on me. She just got married in October. We have ordered the napkins, gotten our marriage license, established how much alcohol we need for the reception, and done several other things which slip my mind right now. I'll be glad to have some free time in New Orleans with my new hubby. We had dinner with our musicians last night. That was a lot of fun. Cedric and Sarah are so sweet. I'm getting ready for the bridesmaid luncheon on Saturday. I hope everyone has a good time. We are still getting RSVPs for the reception. I'm feeling extremely overwhelmed right now, but I'm determined to keep a positive attitude about it. I have developed a pain in my neck which I think is caused by stress. I have fallen behind on thank you notes, but I think one good quiet evening will catch me up. I just haven't had one yet. I will have one on Sunday though, and that is only three days away. So, if you haven't received a thank you from me yet, it's not because I'm rude. It's because I'm swamped. I love you dearly, and Kevin and I are so excited about all the sweet and thoughtful gifts we've received for our new life together. On a different note I enjoyed a very nice Thanksgiving in Tupelo, MS and Memphis, TN with my husband-to-be and his wonderful family. The dinner was fantastic! Chef Tim is quite a cook. I learned how to make Kevin's favorite, spinach casserole, from his mother. So, he's thrilled about that. I had dressing with pork in it for the first time in my life. It was yummy! My favorite was the desserts! Tim really went all out for everyone. Tim and Bonnie were so nice to set a place for Kevin's father, the late Jack Riley. We thought that was especially nice and plan to follow suit at the rehearsal dinner. In addition to planning the wedding and taking my class back over from a month-long intern, I've been trying to get the house decorated for mine and Kevin's first Christmas together. What a job! We both have so many Christmas decorations. Finding them and getting them organized has been quite a task. We have so many things to be thankful for. I can't wait to be married to Kevin. It'll just be nice to finally have a break after the wedding.

Contestant #2 at the Bridal Beauty Pageant, BJ Taylor.  

Contestant #1 at the Bridal Beauty Pageant, Katie Egan. 

The big day continues to get closer and closer...31 days. My friends, Carolyn Slocum and Robin Harp, and my sister hosted a shower for me last Saturday at Carolyn's new home. It was all very nice. Some local friends and relatives came. We had a lot of fun playing games and there were some emotional moments where they all had nice things to say about Kevin and me. There was a bridal beauty pageant (we're still not sure who won, there may have been a forfeiting technicality). It was all a lot of fun though. Kevin and I received some very nice gifts that we're really excited about. This week I have talked with the place where I am renting some things. They're gonna let me pick their stuff up a day earlier so we can get the church ready on Thursday. I have received the flower girl's basket in the mail. Mom and I picked up more decoration stuff this weekend in Wetumpka at Cafco. I'm still sending out thank you notes. I mailed out invitations to the rehearsal and dinner today. Tonight I'm working on invitations for the bridesmaids' luncheon. I'm really excited about them. I think they are so cute! We're getting response cards in daily. There will be more out of town guests than we originally expected. We're really excited about that. I have to order napkins. Kevin and I have to get plastic-ware for the reception still. We need a really good wassail recipe. We need to work on our list for the DJ at the reception. Add a response for any good songs you and your true love would like to hear at the reception. We want everyone to have a good time. We are both so excited!

Cha-ching!

I can just hear the money falling...right out of my pocket book that is. The wedding planning is pretty much over...yes I said it...OVER! Now all we have to do is pay for the thing. I'm proud to say that Kevin and I have been paying for it as we go, so there won't be any wedding bills on our first anniversary, thank the good Lord! I think it will be beautiful, but even if it isn't we'll still be husband and wife. We have tried very hard to make our wedding uniquely ours. With a mere thirty-seven days left we have finished planning the ceremony this week and paying for the flowers, all except the poinsettias that we pick up next month. We have reserved all the rental stuff, chosen the music and musicians and DJ, settled the reception menu and begun to receive response cards. I have to finish the programs, send out rehearsal invitations, make a list of what goes where for clean-up purposes after the wedding when we're gone, select music for the reception and pay for a few other things. Kevin has to arrange for the alcohol, get fitted for his tuxedo, get his ring sized, pick up plastic-ware for the reception, and pay for the same few other things that I have to pay for. We still have to get our marriage license. Can't wait to check those things off our list.

Bridal Portraits

I had my bridal portraits taken today. My mom and sister went with me. David Hagood took them at the Lodge of Robert Trent Jones's Capitol Hill in Prattville. I can't wait to see how they turn out. I am so looking forward to the wedding, but I was not in a picture taking mood today. I did smile though. I'll feel much better in my dress when Kevin is standing in front of me in his tuxedo. He was excited for me today. Mom and Amanda were too. I'll have to have the dress spot cleaned before the wedding. The photos were taken outside and there is some dirt on it in the back where the train is. I couldn't have had better weather if I had ordered it myself. The temperature was perfect, not too hot or cold, sunny. It was just perfect. My mother and Kevin's mother have both found their dresses for the wedding. Dad thinks Mom is beautiful in hers. I haven't seen it yet, but I can't wait. I have a bridal shower in Prattville next weekend, for local friends of mine outside of school. Then it will be Thanksgiving Holidays on the following weekend. Kevin and I are going to Tupelo and Memphis. We'll be with my family on Christmas this year.

42 Days

Fridays are always nice, but yesterday was especially nice. My daily life is just so much fuller than it once was. Kevin and I are so happy together. He is absolutely my very best friend. When I got in from school yesterday, he was sitting in the backyard playing with Biscuit and Birdie enjoying a beer, having just finished cutting the grass (Yes, grass still gets cut in November in Alabama). We just sat and talked about our day for almost an hour. These are the special times, the quiet moments. We had date plans to go see a movie, the new Ray Charles one; but changed them. We decided to just go to dinner and visit a friend instead. We visited Kevin's friend, Dan Self and his wife Mary Kay in their way cool garage. It was freezing, but fun. Kevin and I are both social bugs by nature. Dan is so funny and witty, one of Kevin's favorite people I think. Then we went to dinner at Bone Fish Grill, one our favorite places to frequent. I was surprised to run into a parent of a little girl I taught last year who had moved to Illinois. Her mom was visiting some friends. We had a wonderful dinner. Kevin had the filet mignon, and I had the mahi mahi. I can't tell you how excited Kevin was to learn that red cabbage was the seasonal vegetable, AFTER it was already on his plate of course. Our radient server was "Sunny." Anyway, it was all so nice. I think I would have enjoyed dinner as much at McDonalds, as long as KJ was there.

Today we are going to the Alabama-Mississippi State game. I'm an Alabama fan, and Kevin went to Mississippi State, you know. We're excited about going. I've been to college games before, but I'm most excited about going to this one, it's my first Alabama game. Kevin and I even have a friendly little wager. The Morrises are going too. Can't wait to get the day started! Gotta run!

45 Days

Another busy week in the wedding planning department...

First of all, Kevin and I helped the Egans and Morrises cater a Halloween party for one of their friend's office at Buena Vista. Proceeds go toward the Miller-Riley rehearsal dinner. Kevin served food, while I served alcohol. What kind of alcohol did I serve you might ask? Well, I'll tell ya...sodas, beer, wine, and yep, you guessed it...Sex on the Beach. I was so embarrassed to have old ladies ask me what I was serving and have to tell them that. Well, whether they drank or not they of course had to have some. I should have changed the name of it. When things slowed down, Kevin and I were able to enjoy the party a little ourselves. We ate and danced and had a pretty good time. I was tired by the end of the night. I actually got into the truck and waited for Kevin five minutes before he was able to leave.

Secondly, we went to Tupelo for our first wedding shower. I was so nervous about going. My parents also came to Tupelo so my mother could attend the shower with me. It was hosted by several of Kevin's mother's closest friends (Gail Boland, Rita Suchanick, Kay Riddell, Betty Harder, & Julie Bataille). Everyone was so nice! It's a little awkward to open so many gifts from people you've never even met before. There was a really good turn-out. Kevin and I received some really nice gifts. We're both so excited. We absolutely loved everything, but are most excited about getting some of our china. I mailed thank-you notes out today. I'm glad to be caught up on all of that.

I have been expecting a package of stuff I ordered for the wedding since I ordered it on October 12. When I called to check on it today, they said that it had been shipped on October 18 and delivered by Airborne Express on November 1. We didn't get it. After calling around and waiting on hold for a while, I finally found out that the driver didn't know where the house was so he just took the package back saying that there was no such address. The good news is that Kevin has volunteered to go get it on Friday. Another check off the list.

My mother helped me finish sealing and stamping the invitations last night. I was so excited to be taking them to the post office today (in the rain) only to find out that there was not enough postage. So, I bought 200 ten-cent stamps and 200 two-cent stamps and went home to add them to the envelopes. Good thing I did, because I discovered several invitations (almost 20) that didn't even have a 37-cent stamp on them. At long last, they're finished! I'm mailing them tomorrow.

The next bad thing that happened today (besides being rained on for seven hours at an outdoor field trip) is that I received a Fed Ex package from the shower I had on Sunday. It was a dinner plate I had been excited about, only it was the wrong pattern, very similar, but not mine. Kevin and I chose Noritake Silver Palace, and this was Lenox Opal innocence. So, I have to find out how to exchange it. The correct pattern was requested, but shipped wrong. Not a big deal, just another thing that happened to me today.

Also, I found out that the directions on the invitations for the November 13 bridal shower are incorrect. They say to turn right onto Northington Road, but it should be turn left.

The bridal portrait has been rescheduled for Sunday, because the ground will be so wet tomorrow from all the rain we got today. I did pick my dress up for it today, though.

Kevin and I added 3 1/2 ushers to the wedding party today. His three oldest nephews (Sean, Matt, and Ben) are going to wear tuxedos and seat people. Drew is going to greet people at the door and hand out programs. He was citizen of the year last year, ya know.

Guess that's about it for now.

State of the UNION

Kevin and I were excited to receive our cake topper from FedEx late Saturday afternoon, actually night around 7:30 pm. I didn't even realize that they delivered so late. It's very nice. I'm going to have my bridal portrait done next Thursday afternoon at Capitol Hill Robert Trent Jones Golf Course. My first bridal shower is in Tupelo, MS this weekend. I found a place where I can get burgundy poinsettias for $2 less a pot today. They have been ordered. I reserved the unity candles for rental yesterday. Kevin and I are still finalizing reception plans, like how to handle the alcohol, where to put the dj, etc... The wedding is only about seven weeks away. Boy, time sure is ticking!

55 Days

I went to the Denson's Bridal Shop today to be fitted for wedding dress alterations. I went alone because of several reasons...mom was working, my sister Amanda (who is newly engaged)was in the mountains, Carolyn (who is newly married) just returned from her own honeymoon to a new house full of boxes, Robin (who is a die-hard Auburn fan) was at the football game with her family, Joannie(who is 8 1/2 months pregnant)had to take her one-year-old to a birthday party, I just felt like being alone.

While there a few things occurred to me...

• I'm glad I'm getting married in December, because my dress is so hot.
• I'm glad my dress size hasn't changed since July when I ordered it.
• I really hate standing still.
• I wonder if my hem will be straight since I keep having to shuffle on my feet.
• I think it takes longer to have your wedding dress pinned for altering than it actually takes to wear it for the ceremony.
• The train on my wedding dress is longer than I realized (semi-cathedral).
• My dress is more beautiful than I remembered.
• I wonder if I could get away with wearing my dress on Halloween to go trick-or-treating (you know, break it in and all).
• Maybe I should wear it around the house for a week or so (or at least on every anniversary thereafter) to get my (& Kevin's) money's worth out of it.
• I once thought I'd sell it after the wedding, but now I don't think I can part with it.
• I'm happy that my wonderful Kevin wanted to have this wedding after all. I feel like a beautiful princess.

Odds and Ends

My wedding dress was delivered to the dress shop today. I'm going to be fitted tomorrow morning. Things are really starting to come together. It should be finished in time for my bridal portrait on Friday. If the weather is nice we'll do them outside, if not, inside. I feel like the Pointer Sisters...I'm so excited! I'm getting my hair done that day, too. Then Saturday, Kevin and I are going to Tupelo for a bridal shower on Sunday. Mrs. Riley's friends are always so nice to me. They treat me like they've always known me. I love going to mass there at St. James. Father Henry is so inspirational. Speaking of mass, RCIA classes are going well. I go every Thursday night. Kevin goes with me when he's in town. Last night was the most interesting for me so far. We discussed the Bible and saints. It's interesting, Protestants believe in saints, but I don't really remember "learning" about them, persay. It's important for me to point out that Catholics don't worship saints. They admire them, hold them dear, find comfort in knowing that these other holy humans have been through the same trials and tribulations that we experience. I'm sad to say that there is no Saint Cynthia...maybe one day. Oh well...