Engagement Announcement

Several weeks before the wedding our engagement announcement was in the robertson county times and the ashland city times. I stumbled upon it online earlier! Just click the link and there we are! Note that we found it interesting yet amusing that we paid less for the Ashland City times and got a full color 1/4 of a page and all we got for the robco. times is a tiny black and white corner. http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080616/MTCN0303/80616004

I'm Really Married!

It's fun how each day John and I realize a bit more and more that we really, finally married! It is such an amazing time in our lives. We have loved every minute of it together! John had to work this weekend so I have been running nonstop putting things away, making exchanges, using gift cards, and just trying to get our house looking like a pretty home. I feel like it has been a success. Tomorrow John and I are spending the whole day together to fix a few things around here and there. I will take a few pictures to share of the inside of our home. It is completely transformed!
Photo note: My aunt Kim took this picture. I can't wait to see our professional pictures! I talked to the photographer today and she said we have a lot to look forward to!

Honeymoon

John and I left the wedding on the back of a 67 red Thunderbird and headed to Gatlinburg. This is the place that John proposed and we thought that it would be so fun to return to the spot that it all got started. Our cabin and the view was simply breathtaking. We really enjoyed our time together while there. We enjoyed a lot of stuff that neither of us had never done in Gatlinburg before. We saw shows, enjoyed the mountains and big rock creeks, enjoyed the shops, and most importantly enjoyed each other.
On our way home it started to really hit us that we were really married and that real life was about to hit us. We started to get really overwhelmed and then got really excited! Once we arrived home our family was dieing to see us. So we invited them over to help us open presents from the wedding. Let's just say that we could barely even see our living room floor. We enjoyed our time with them. They brought pizza and drinks which was perfect. Our first night in our new home was simply perfect.
John went back to work today so yesterday we had to put things into high gear and get a lot of stuff accomplished. We had a successful day. There are still many many things that have to be done this weekend and I'm beginning them today. I hope to have the house spotless and clutterfree from gifts and stuff today. Clothes...oh my are everywhere. I'm still not sure why I packed for a month for a 5 night honeymoon.

Our Big Day

Day: Saturday June 21. Wedding Day! My day began at 7:15 when April, my sister/matron of honour, arrived at my house to pick me up to head to the salon. We and the bridesmaids all arrived at The Salon right on time to get our hair fixed. I provided banana nut bread and sock it to me bread and waters for all the girls to enjoy that morning. It was before we knew it that all of our hair was transformed and we were all ready to head to the church. Once we arrived to the church the we simply enjoyed one anothers company, got ready, and began my perfect wedding day! I never felt so calm throughout a whole day before in my life. It was as if nothing could go wrong. And nothing did. It was simply perfect. We can't wait to see the video and pictures and we will certainly share those with you as soon as we get them! It is hard to sum up our wedding day in one word. It simply was perfect and so glamorous for us. It was a day that we got to share with all of our family and all of our friends. We were so humbled to see such an amazing turn out that day. We even had several friends and family come in from out of town. We want to thank everyone who worked so hard to make our day so perfect for us. We are so blessed. It was truly extraordinary and it was a day we will remember for the rest of our lives together.

Rehearsal-The Day Before The Big Day

Day: Friday June 20. I arrived for my day at the Spa early early that morning. It was 4 hours of total bliss. I had my first massage and it was absolutly amazing! After I got all relaxed and stress free I was on my way to the church to decorate. On my way I began to get a bit nervous. It was the first time I was alone for a while and it allowed me to think for a while about how exciting this time of my life is. Once I arrived to the church my family, dear friends, and future in laws all worked together to transform our church all set for wedding. The outcome was total perfection. Rehearsal went so smooth and it was a lot of fun. It was very exciting to hear and see how everything was going to all pull together. Tears were shed and smiles were beaming all over everyones faces. Dinner was incredible! John's family did a wonderful job getting everything together to complete a perfect night.

P.S.

I failed to mention a few exciting events that have occured in the past few days. I promise it is from the lack of sleep! On Sunday I oddly arrived to church way early to teach Sunday school. I arrived to find that my sweet 6th grade girls had planned me a wedding shower! Since Centri-Kid is the same weekend as the wedding a lot of them are going to camp and they wanted to do a little something for me. To sweet, I know! We had a blast. They are quite the little planners too! We had amazing breakfast and one yummy cake!
Last Saturday was Bryce's birthday party! Can you believe he's FIVE! I can't believe how fast he has grown! He is one handsome nephew!
Today I met John at where he works for one last wedding shower. I met all of the people he works with, they are very nice. They made us yummy food and gave us great gifts to put in our home!
On Tuesday John and I realized that we had to get a lot accomplished due to him working the next three days. So we decided to kick into high gear and get our house looking like a home so we'll have something nice to welcome us home from the honeymoon! So we ventured to our neighborhood greenhouse and bought some flowers. I planted and John helped then he mowed the yard. So now, our home is in ship shape! We also opened aaaaaallllll of our wedding gifts and set everything up. It was such a fun day together! That day, we truly made our little rental house a home!!!

Too Fast

With only a few days left life is smooth sailing in the Claytor household. Today was the first extreme stressful day that I have had and it WILL BE the last. I had an extrememly long list of odds and ends and too many phone calls to make not to mention too many to take, but I got it all done! The tuxes arrived today so there is a sigh of relief! They look wonderful! And let's just say I will have the cutest little nephew ever on Saturday. Now it is time to sit back, relax, kick up my heals and soak up every single moment from here on out! Last August when we got engaged people told me "Enjoy it, it will go by fast!" They weren't lieing! It has been a blast, but I just can't wait to be John's wife- Mrs. John Braxton Maholland!

One Last Whirl With The Girls

Last night my best girlsfriends and I enjoyed a night out with just us girls! We ate at an amazing pizza place called Old Chicago. Yum-o! (As Rachael Ray says. Not a fan of her hyperactive-ness, but I think yum-o is appropriate for this moment). We had a very enjoyable time. That afternoon mom and I ran around finishing up last minute wedding things. We even got to pick up my dress! It's safe and sound at my Aunt Beth's house.
Today was bitter sweet. Let's first go back 21 years ago! You see, I, being the baby of the family, have never lived anywhere else besides my home. After a long long time of cleaning out clothes, toys, and well, just plain junk, we finally came the the reality that it was time for me to move my things to another home. To what is soon to be my and Johns home. It was hard boxing up my things and moving out my furniture to a new place it had never ever been before. We got it all in one load! So cleaning out really paid off! So, when I say one load I mean my dad's truck inside and out, my car and trunk and my mom's car and trunk. As the long train was carrying my things to a new place I was following right behind all alone in my car just watching my things get further and further away from my home. Where I had lived for 21 years of my life. It hit my that my things would no longer be in that house anymore. I would no longer have "my room" I wouldn't be able to just yell "mom! I need help!" or "dad! a spider" Yes, they were good for more than that, they are my parents, they taught me everything that I know. So right there it hit me and I lost it. I then realized that this week will not only be a week of anxious energy and excitement but it will also be a week of tears and reflection on moving from one amazing world to beginning another.

Single Digits!

EIGHT DAYS AND FOURTEEN HOURS LEFT!!!!! And everything is complete! We purchased the marriage license yesterday and our excitement quadrupled at that point! All we lack is packing and moving all of my stuff into our house. Mom took off for tomorrow so we could accomplish that LAAARGE task so that next week I can be care free and enjoy myself! This engagement has been so fun. It's hard to believe that it's been almost a year! It has been so much fun spending all of this time with John doing fun things to make our day so special. Now we are on major countdown, worry free and excitement yanking out of every peice of us!!! I'm going swimming today with my fav aunt, cousin, and april and the boys. Then, i'm off to cool springs with a bridesmaid of mine to pick out a dress for my friday night dinner! I will be on a high end search for a hot pink dress! My bridesmaids are taking me out to dinner for one last night with the girls! So more to come with pictures on that!
Bryce turned 5 yesterday! Can you beleive it? I can't! Here is a precious picture we took when we ate with them at Pizza Hutt yesterday for his big day!

Fun In The Sun With A New Camera!

John got my wedding gift last night! It's a brand new lavender Kodak camera. It's beautiful and takes amazing pictures! I got him a grill for his wedding gift. We wanted to enjoy our gifts early during all the events leading up to our big day! Check out the amazing view we have at our new home! Isn't it awesome!
Today I ventured to April's house to enjoy time with her and my sweet nephew's! Bryce and I set up the slip and slide and we ALL enjoyed ourselves with that! ..minus Adam...maybe next summer! We really enjoyed the beautiful day!
John started his first full 12 hour day of work today! I am so proud of him!

Wedding Shower

Sunday afternoon was my and John's last shower. It was hosted at his parents church. They did an amazing job with decorating it all! To me, it looked pretty enough to be a wedding reception! There were delicate touches of pink everywhere and a little hint of polka dots! It was just my style! Being the person I am, once I walked in, I just stopped and scrame my excited squil. We got amazing things and we had a great turnout! It was so nice meeting people from John's home church and seeing people from my own church stop by! It was a lot of fun, but it sure wears you out! After the shower, John came to help pack up the gifts. We unloaded them at our house and April and I enjoyed organizing and putting them on display in the mast bedroom. It is now packed full of amazing things that we can't wait to use when we are married! This week will be filled with many wedding planning events. I have my final dress fitting! I am finishing up a few creative things for the wedding, and working on a very exciting surprise for my man!

Lingerie Shower

This weekend was great! My sister, matron of honor, April hosted a Lingerie Shower in her home! Being the entertainer she is, she prepared games that were just too fun, amazing food, and a beautifully decorated home for us all. My cousin shelley, mommy of baby twins, got to escape for a bit and help april with everything. It was great seeing her and having her there! The games were halarious and it really tested my knowledge of my girlfriends there. A game where they wrote down their favorite love song and I had to guess whos was whos, and they wrote down marriage advice and I had to guess whos was whos. I did pretty well on guessing! I was proud! But the girls got tested at how well they know me too, and they all did a pretty good job! April of course had favors and prizes for the game winners that were spa related products! I got many great things from my friends, and we had a lot of fun! The company was perfect, the food was yummy, the presents were abundant, and the games were simply too much fun! As we began getting ready to head out we all came up with a creative idea. Mom made me take this extrememly long veil to wear that day. So what we did was drap it over the back end of my car and attach it in my sunroof so it wouldn't go anywhere. So on our way home my car had a very very long veil blowing in the wind. It was too funny. Usually when my friend Leslie comes in from Chatnoonga, where she lives, she has to do something with her family so we can't ever get a good long visit in. But all of her whole family was out of town this weekend. So after the shower Jenny and I went to dinner with Leslie at Cheesecake Factory, and I rememberd how much it is to eat out, and we had one last slumber party at Leslie's parents house and watched movies all night. It was simply a blast being with them! The two of them are just amazing!
Yesterday John and I worked really hard cleaning his/soon to be our house for our first party! We had Holly and Sam over for one amazing meal! John grilled pork chops and I made mac and cheese, garlic cheese potatoes, cream corn, and a home made sock it to me cake! It was a true success for food last night! We were VERY excited about that! We all had a blast! We ate dinner with great conversation, and watched a funny movie-I can't remember the title, and we played games outside. This weekend helped me rememeber that friends are certainly special blessings in my and John's life. It's so important that we have close friends that we can fellowship with and enjoy doing things with.

DeAnna

Saturday was DeAnna's big wedding day! Here is a picture of us two (out of six- they came a bit later) bridesmaids and her. We hung out at the salon while she was getting ready. It was a perfect day for a wedding. The weather was gorgeous, thes sky was clear and the bride of course was perfect! DeAnna is a dear friend of mind and a soon to be cousin in law..practically sister. John and her have been so close growing up together through the years. I am so glad that she now means just as much to me. All the best and congratulations DeAnna and Zack!
What does this week intale?! The FINAL dress fitting, maling invitations, fixing favor boxes, finishing thank you notes, and enjoying a shower at the end of the week! More to come soon!

Engagement Pictures

A whole new site! I decided to do a switch-a-roo to the blog once we got the engagement pictures. Now it is all about "our" world and not just "my" world anymore. Let me know what you think! Here are just a few from our engagement session! Enjoy! Compliments of Jodi Richfield Photography.

A Wedding Event Filled Weekend

Friday: DeAnna's bridemaid dinner. Saturday: My first wedding tea with my family and close friends.
Last night was Deanna's night out with the ladies. We went to Olive Garden then back to her house for gifts. We all had a graet time together! I got my engagement pictures back yesterday! They are amazing! Sorry I don't have any to show just yet! Jodi did an incredible job on them. It was so hard for me and mom to sleep last night because of the excitement of today! My first bridal tea was today at my aunt Beth's house. John and I got all kinds of great things! We are very excited about everything! After the tea, we headed back to our house and packed all of the gifts into the master bedroom on display. I got a better look at them then. I can't wait to use all of the awesome stuff I got once we're married!

A Summer Kickoff

Yesterday was the start of the first week of summer for me and John! It was also his first morning to wake up in our house. So I woke up really early and got some breakfast stuff together and headed his way to stir up a yummy breakfast. After we ate we headed to a perfect afternoon on the lake! It was nice being out on the water again! And of course, it was fabulous to start getting a tan. I got a bit TOO much sun yesterday. And for the record, I am pretty miserable today from it. BUT! it was a blast and I caught my first big mouth bass which was exciting! I REFUSED to touch it and was flipping out in the above picture here when it was being taken...but you can't tell right?!! So the wedding is nearing us, and we are getting very excited! We are STILL in the process of getting John's things moved into our house. And he doesn't even have a lot of stuff! I can't even imagine how it's going to be once we start moving MY stuff in later on..oh my word! It will be a job for sure!

Graduation

I was a proud fiance this weekend. John graduated from Austin Peay Nursing program on Friday. It feels so so good for him to be finished! He begins his job in the ER at Centential very soon. And great news with this new job...he doesn't work nights! Isn't God great! Since the last post, God has provided all of our needs except the fridge! Again, isn't God great! We are in the process of deeeeeep cleaning the house because John is beginning to move his stuff in the our house. Now that school is over we are now shifting into HIGH gear for the wedding! I'm so so excited, I just can't wait anymore! Coming soon: Parties and Teas!
Picture Note: We are a really proud new aunt and uncle! And look at how many awesome honors John graduated with! Yes...I'm proud! Next year, I'll be happy to have the robe ;-)

Birthday Dinner, Couch, and 2 Days

Friday night John took me out to Cool Springs so we could find our wedding bands. We found mine at Shane Co. which I recommend to everyone! They are the nicest people and have wonderful warranty's on jewelry. The young man who sold us my ring turned 21 the day after me; he was very nice. He gave us a $25.00 gift card to Red Lobster because he said he didn't like sea food. He then told us how to get there and that it wa sonly about a mile up the road. Once we left we were on a highend search for Red Lobster in the pouring down rain. After three stops for asking direction, and 45 minutes we finally found red lobster. We felt like complete idiots the whole time we were searching! We ate, and we enjoyed every minute we got to spend together.
On Saturday we had our engagement picures taken downtown Nashville and at our photographers house outside. They should be here in the next few weeks so I can't wait to share those with everyone!They are sure to be beautiful!
Today I got a phone call from our friend amanda about a couch she was wanting to get rid of. We so graciously accepted the offer and just got back from picking it up! It looks so great in our living room. It's so exciting how our sweet little house is coming together! We have already begun to get a few wedding gifts. We are locking them away in the master bedroom until after we get back from our honeymoon. We are going to be so anxious to get back and get situated!
There are only 2 days left of school which means...finals! It will get a bit stressful for me, but I'm ready to hit them full force and conquer them all so I can begin enjoying wedding stuff! Two months from today!!

Twenty One

The often most dreaded day of the year, April 15, brought upon another wonderful birthday for me! It began by a wonderful breakfast made my my precious mom and birthday presents from my parents! They got me a CHI straightener (dazzling hot pink color- too cute!) CHI hair products and an extremely powerful and amazing salon brand hair dryer! I was very excited about my hair products and I must say that my hair is enjoying them VERY much! I had a wonderful day at school and a great afternoon! I had to go back to school for a choir rehearsal that night. Afterwards my best girlfriends took me out to eat at chili's. We had a wonderful time. Boober got me baloons, beads I had to wear, and roses that we had all in the restaurant. What can I say, everyone knew it was my birthday! Looking forward to Friday night, my man is taking me out somewhere fancy pants and I'm getting my gift from him then! Then Saturday is a day I have been looking forward to for forever now! Our engagement pictures are being taken! We are so so excited! Updates coming soon from this weekend!

Baby Adam

Mom, Dad, and I visited April and baby Adam today in the hospital. Adam got his hostpital pictures taken today. He looks so different today then he did the other day. He is just so precious I will have to say. Hospital pictures have really come a long day since I was born (21 years ago in 3 days!) when they used to just sit you up with your arms all crossed and a sock hat on. Adam's turned out very nice and he was precious the whole time. April and Adam get to come home tomorrow.
This week is my last full week of school! I am oh so happy about this! I am pretty much finished with every large final assignment except for a few tweeks here and there. I just can't wait until May so John and I can actually go out to eat or hang out with our friends on the weekends instead of study or write papers all the time. It has been a very busy semester for us both. Especially him since he will be graduating May 3! I'm so proud of him! He has done an amazing job balancing everything this semester.
Next time: Birthday Week for Lindsey!!