309 Days...

The days are flying by right now. We are getting more and more done! We finalized the guest list, which was really hard, especially when you don't know who some of the people are. Yesterday I ordered our save-the-date magnets! I can't even describe how excited I am about them. I love them so much and I can't wait to get them and start addressing them to send out to our family and friends. I went with one of my bridesmaids, Katelyn, to pick out her dress since she won't get to be there when the rest of us go. She thought she knew exactly which one she wanted, but when we got there, they had just released their fall collection, and we found another one that we were equally in love with. We couldn't decide, so we went to Cracker Barrel instead of buying a dress :). She's planning on going with her mom sometime next week to decide. Mom is coming down week after next and I'm going to continue to do research until then.

313 Days

John Hoyt and I had an amazing weekend. I got to spend some time with my best friend/maid of honor, Bethany, and then John Hoyt and I just spent some time relaxing. We went to the pool with John Hoyt's brother-in-law and his neice and nephew and relaxed all of Sunday. Something was blooming in north Georgia, I think because I had several asthma attacks Saturday night and Sunday and was not able to go to church because my medicine makes me feel awful. Sunday afternoon, we drove to Jonesboro and met with a caterer for a tasting. Even though I didn't feel well, we had a great drive. We loved the caterer and the food! We're going to check into a few more caterers and then make our decision. I got our engagement pictures in the mail today and I'm going to post them on my Facebook really soon. We decided on a save-the-date this weekend as well, and once I get the pictures into the proof, we'll make sure we're good with it and then order them to send out sometime in the next month or two. We're getting closer and closer every day and I just can't wait to get there :). It is going by so fast, and I'm sure I'm going to want it to slow down a little in the spring when I'm trying to get everything done on time, but right now I'm so happy it's flying by.

318 Days

I'm getting more and more excited every day! I've been making a lot of appointments with vendors. I have an appointment with a florist at the end of the month when mom comes down and I have a really good feeling about her, but I want to talk to a few more to make sure I'm getting the best deal. John Hoyt and I just got the rights to our engagement pictures and so I should be getting them in the next few days. After we get those, we are planning on choosing a save-the-date this weekend to order and send out in the next couple of months. Also, on Sunday, we are going to meet with a caterer, one I've been talking to for about a month to do a tasting. So, in short, we are knocking a lot of big stuff out during the next month or so hopefully. I start school again on August 16, so I'm hoping to get a lot of stuff done before that, but I'm also sticking with not getting too overwhelmed. My wedding to-do list is about 5 pages long, but we are slowly checking things off, which feels so good. It's hard to believe that we're almost in the 200s!!! If you are reading this, your prayers for smooth riding would be greatly appreciated! John Hoyt and I are so excited about beginning our life together as husband and wife. We are hoping to start premarital counseling soon, which I'm so excited about. I want to be the best wife ever :). I just pray every day that God would guide all of our decisions, big and small, and that He would continue to be the center of our relationship and that we would continue to draw closer together and closer to Him. It's going to be an amazing 10 months :)

319 Days

All those years I was so excited about planning a wedding. I couldn't wait to meet the guy of my dreams. Then I met John Hoyt and I dared to hope that one day he would ask me to marry him. A little over 3 and a half years later, he gave me the honor of asking me to be his wife and all of my dreams came true. Now, after all those years of anxious anticipation about planning this wedding, I am realizing how much stress goes into one day. Last week was a really rough, emotional, hard week full of tears and anxiety. I felt so overwhelmed with not only the wedding but what all has to be done before the wedding that has nothing to do with it. In the next 10 and a half months, I have to complete my undergraduate degree, apply for graduate schools, buy a house or find a place to live, decorate a house, move out of my apartment, deal with all the legal stuff, and plan a wedding. It's a lot and last week I wasn't very happy about everything that was going on. I had so much on my mind and it was weighing me down and turning me into someone that I'm not. We finally reached the weekend and Thursday night I sat on ooVoo with John Hoyt, talking about the wedding and I broke down. He told me that I needed to stop stressing so much and to just enjoy this time. He told me that it wasn't necessary to try to get everything done at once and that I needed to just calm down and do one thing at a time. We had an amazing weekend in Washington D.C. with Jackie and my parents. Taylor was in the July 4th parade there with his marching band, so it was a lot of fun. It was so good to relax and talk about other stuff besides the wedding. My mom and I talked a little about a few small things and John Hoyt and I made some small decisions, but it was nice to just talk about other stuff. This weekend made me decide to stop stressing so much and to just do one thing at a time. I keep forgetting that I have more than 10 months to get this done and that even if I do want to do as much as possible this summer that I don't have to do everything this summer. I know there will be times when I will get stressed and I will have a very busy year, but all of the stuff that is keeping me busy is all really great changes that I'm ready for. The most important thing is that in 319 days, I will be Mrs. John Hoyt Richardson and we will finally live in the same town after 4 years and we even get to live in the same house :). I can't wait until that day, but until then, I have a lot of fun stuff to keep me busy and to make it all fly by.