Five Question Friday

1. Do you regift...and if so, do you have a regifting horror story? I have a few times in the past. Most often the items I regift are some type of bath item such as scented lotions, bath crystals, or bubble bath. I just really do not use those type items too often (especially if they have a strong scent). I also tend to reuse gift bags that I am given. Great way to save money :) No regifting horror story here, thank goodness!

2. Do you know what you are getting for Christmas this year? Yes, I think I know most of the presents I am getting. As we have gotten older, Santa (mom) has my sister & I pick out our own gifts since we tend to be picky about things like clothing.

3. Who brings the most gifts in your family, you or Santa? Santa definitely brings the most gifts in my family. My parents still write "From: Santa" on every present we get. They always say "If you don't believe, you don't receive" They are so funny! I guess it helps them feel like we are still little kids.

4. What store do you love to by jeans from? I buy my skinny jeans from Forever 21.. They are a great fit & an even better price! I mean who can walk away from jeans that only cost like $15. For bootcut jeans, I have just recently discovered that I LOVE GAP jeans. The length of them are just right for little ole me!!

5. Christmas meal: Big, All Out Meal or Snacks and Apps? Well we have brunch mid-morning on Christmas day & then that night we have an all out meal at my grandparent's house. In between, we snack on yummy appetizers and desserts.

Tomorrow I will be taking the GRE (the test to get into graduate school) I could not be any more nervous about it =\ Pray for me, I'm going to need it! I have been studying all week for this thing, but I do not feel anymore prepared for it than I was at the beginning of the week. Hmm.. but then again maybe I should have started studying wayyy before this week. Guess that's what I get for procrastinating, right?

Tonight my parents and I went shopping after eating Mexican for supper. I completely finished buying all of Matt's Christmas presents. I know, I know... You are probably thinking "she is still Christmas shopping?!?" As you can see, procrastination tends to be a reoccurring theme in my life. I'm sooo excited about Matt's presents this year. I am pretty confident that he will love all of his gifts. I can't wait to see him open all of them.

My family @ last year's Christmas get together

My dad's side of the family is having their annual christmas get together this sunday & I could not be more excited!! We all live pretty far apart & do not get to see eachother all that often. So it is a lot of fun to see everyone and catch up. Plus we have two cute babies on this side & one on the way =) I will post pictures on Monday for y'all! Hope everyone has an amazing weekend!!

Wedding Planning

Wedding planning has turned out to be quite the stressful task already. So many decisions to be made & so many factors to think about. It probably does not help that I am the MOST indecisive person EVER! One minute I want a destination wedding... the next minute I want a wedding near my hometown. I guess I have been living under a rock, but I never realized how expensive it is to have even a simple wedding. It has been so hard for me to justify spending what amounts to a down payment for a house on just ONE day. Has anyone else felt this way?? When looking for venues I have been amazed to find places costing thousands of dollars and that cost not even including a single chair!! The cost is just so overwhelming to me. Almost makes me want to elope BUT I'm sure I would regret that later on. (& my mother would die!)

I'm extremely blessed to have wonderful parents who plan to foot the bill =) My dad has given me a set amount he is willing to spend & he said whatever I do not spend he will give me to go towards a down payment on a home. Sooo this is yet another reason I am struggling with the money factor in planning the wedding!

Well enough of my rambling.. here are some wedding looks that I LOVE :)

I love a romantic and elegant feel & I tend to gravitate towards shades of pink!

We have not set a date yet, but it's looking like Spring 2012 is a possibility!! As you can see I am still in the very early stages of planning. I welcome all advice and tips y'all have, so bring them on =) Also, any  fantastic wedding ceremony & reception sites in SC, GA, or AL that y'all know of please pass the word on.

Our Engagement Story

Matt proposed December 11, 2010!

(Sadly enough, I just had all of my hair cut off.. Hopefully it will grow back fast!)

First off let me just say Matt did a great job of hiding the ring and keeping the proposal a secret. I was completely shocked and had no idea that he was planning on proposing anytime soon. I loved that it was such a surprise! For a while, I had been constantly nagging Matt talking about getting engaged sometime soon, but Matt kept telling me that it would be a good while before it happened. Little did I know that he was tricking me the entire time. He actually bought the ring and asked for my parent's permission over a month ago! My little sister even helped him pick out the ring. I am so glad the proposal was a surprise, and I am very proud of my parents & sister for keeping it a secret for such a long time. If you knew my little sister, you would know how hard it is for her to keep a secret ;)

Here's the details of the proposal day: Saturday morning we braved the crazy crowds at the mall and attempted to get some Christmas shopping done. We had planned on going to the local zoo that night to look at all of the Christmas lights, but after a long morning of shopping, I was exhausted and almost decided we should skip the zoo. I sure am glad I decided to suck it up and go! So that night we went to the zoo, which turned out to be a great time. The lights were beautiful, and it even "snowed"! (They created fake snow)

 The Beautiful Tree at the Zoo

Tough Guy

Snow!!

The day before one of Matt's co-workers had told him about a nearby park that you can drive through & look at all of the lights, so after the zoo Matt suggested we go take a look. Never in my life have I seen sooo many Christmas lights. There were all kinds of lights as you will see below. It was absolutely beautiful! Towards the end of the driving tour, we pulled over to take pictures in front of the huge "Merry Christmas" lights. And that's where Matt proposed!

The Park We Drove Through

The Lights Were Gorgeous!

The proposal is actually quite the funny story. After we both had our picture made in front of the "Merry Christmas" lights. Matt said, "Come here, I have something for you." He had his hand in his jacket pocket and a silly grin on his face. Because he likes to tease me about getting engaged (all in good fun), I thought he was playing a joke on me. I said, "Yeah, whatever..." and started walking back towards the car. Then Matt said, "No, really Katelyn, I have something for you." That's when I turned around & realized that he had a ring box in his hand. At that point, my memory gets a little hazy from all the excitement. I do remember him getting down on one knee and me saying "yes"!

 

Where We Pulled Over to Take Pictures

Right Before He Proposed

He did a fantastic job at picking out the ring. It is absolutely perfect! I'm in love with it; however I have to part with it for a few days. It's just a bit too big, so I had to take it to the jewelry store this morning to have it resized.

I also thought I would link up with Jamie for What I'm Loving Wednesday!

1. I'm loving this adorable ornament that my little sister Claire gave me last night! She is soo thoughtful!!

2. I'm loving that my dad was off work today & my mom and little sister got to leave school early due to the weather, so we have gotten to spend extra time together! (I came back to Alabama for the holidays... Matt will come into town next week)

3. I'm loving that it is only taking the jewelry store ONE day to resize my ring! Even though I have only had the ring for a few days, I have become quite attached to it! I was surprised that they could finish it so quickly, especially right here at Christmas time.  

I hope you enjoyed our engagement story! It's time for me to get back to studying. I am taking the GRE this weekend for graduate school, so I have been cramming for it all week. Has anyone else taken the GRE? The math portion is going to be the death of me. Well I hope everyone is staying warm & I am excited to see that I already have followers =) Thanks for all of the nice comments!!

Our Story

I thought I would give a little background information on how Matt and I met. Matt & I attended the same high school, but he was three years ahead of me in school. We were never really close in high school but were around each other often because of mutual friends. After I graduated high school, we lost touch but reconnected in September 2009. A few months after we reconnected, it seemed as though we were inseparable. In April, Matt moved to South Carolina for a great job offer. At first, I was worried about us being so far apart, but it turned out to be better than I expected. We were able to see each other every other weekend, if not every weekend. The distance really helped our relationship to grow and become strong.

Now I only have one semester left of college before I graduate! I plan to attend graduate school in South Carolina, so I decided to go ahead and move up here. Thankfully, I am able to complete my last semester of my undergrad by taking online classes. Living in a new town where I do not know anyone is exciting and scary all at the same time. I look forward to exploring it with Matt and starting our lives together here! Below are a few pictures that recap some of the past year or so.

Braves Game

Going to Look for Matt an Apartment in South Carolina

Spending Time at My Lake House

Easter Morning

Flowers from Our First Valentine's Day

Thanksgiving Day

Auburn Football Game

Tomorrow I will post about our engagement! Hopefully I will start to get the hang of this blog thing. I still have lots to learn!!

My First Post

Hey everyone! I'm Katelyn. I'm a 20-something college student and wife to be! I was born & raised in Alabama, but have followed my fiance to South Carolina. Matthew and I have recently become engaged, and I could not be more excited about starting our life together. I have been reading blogs for a while and thought this would be a great time to start one of my own. I hope to document our life and all of its upcoming changes.