my wedding dress

Last week on "Show us your life" at Kelly's Korner was wedding dresses. I know it's already almost Friday again, but honestly I have just been so buried in preparing for school that I haven't had time to write this post until now. O'well...better late than never right?

I actually picked out my dress a week to the day after J and I got engaged. It was so fast, but I found it, loved it, and I could afford it :) so I decided to jump on it! I have never regretted it. I loved the basic style and the vintage style beading down the front. If I could go back, I'd pick the same dress all over again! As I've mentioned before, my photographer was a bit disappointing so I don't have very good pictures of my dress from our actual wedding day. I included a couple from our wedding, but also a few from my bridal portraits. So, without further ado....

Me with my flower girls

Right after the ceremony!



The jewelry I wore in my bridals was not the same that I wore for our wedding. Unfortunately, it took me wearing it in my bridals for me to realize that I didn't love it. I loved what I wore in our wedding though!

I know I've kinda dropped off the face of the blog world, and trust me...I hate that. I am just so overwhelmed with school stuff - planning lessons and getting my room ready - that I just haven't let myself take any time off. I really hope to be able to balance things better as time goes on. My blog is really important to me because I love being able to document our life, and be a part of all of your lives!

Coming up in the next week I plan on posting several posts about our week in NY, as well as an anniversary post because J and I celebrated three years while we were on vacation!

Amazing Grass Giveaway

If you guys haven't visited Angela's blog yet, you must go asap!! She's doing an Amazing Grass giveaway...and if you don't know what that is you can check it out on her blog. I've been putting Amazing Grass in my green monsters for about a week now, and I've never felt better. And my nails are growing uncontrollably!!! I'll do a better review of the product soon, but for now I have to go...NYC here we come! Go check out Angela's blog - you won't regret it!

distracted....

i'm so happy it's Friday
feeling totally energized by my 2nd green monster
trying to focus on planning for my classes
really tempted to go back for a 2nd pilates class today
dreaming about next week: me+hubby+NY = the most romantic exciting fun week ever!
any suggestions on must see/eat/shop places?

Thailand Tuesday

How appropriate that today is Tuesday because in the midst of everything I should be doing right now...I just keep thinking about Thailand. At this time last year we had been back in the States for less than two days. It really is amazing the way this past year seems like a blur. The days and months run together, and it doesn't seem possible that so much time has passed.

I'm feeling especially nostalgic today because my dear Thai friend, P'Dew, is visiting the U.S. right now. This is her first time to come here, and she'll be attending the yearly conference that Campus Crusade holds in Colorado. It's just so hard for me to know that she is so close, yet far enough away that it's just not possible for me to see her.

I think that a part of me will always remain in Thailand. If not even for the beautiful mountains, the mai pen rai (anything goes) attitude, the colorful culture and the delicious pineapple...then most definitely for the wonderful people. I miss our friends so much, and I hope for the day that I get to return to Thailand and see them again.

I'll never forget the last time I saw P'Dew. We had a "good-bye Americans" party in our neighborhood that night. Not only were we leaving the next morning, but P'Dew and several other of our friends were heading out of town directly after the party. J and I walked down to her townhouse to say good-bye. I hate those moments that come periodically in life in which you know you have to leave someone, but you could stand around forever just putting it off in hopes that the moment would never come. But it did come. We had our last hugs, then there was confusion...people all around....and then I looked up and she was gone. It's really so hard to love someone and know there is a possibility you may never see them again. Such was this night. Not only with P'Dew, but with every friendship we shared throughout the year.

Here I sit one year later...feeling so thankful for America, but also missing the only other country that has ever been my home. One thing that I keep reminding myself of is that really no place is my home here. This is only temporary...and one day when I arrive in my forever home in Heaven, P'Dew will not only be there, but we'll dance and sing and praise the Lord side by side for all of eternity. I'm so thankful that I have that to look forward to and to give me hope every day.

Now for a visual walk down memory lane...

P'Ru, J, P'Waz, P'Dew and me - at our house for dinner!

P'Dew singing her heart out for Jesus

P'Nong, P'Dew and me ready to shoot fireworks to celebrate Loy Kratong festival

my sister, P'Dew, me and P'Nong

P'Dew and I after I participated in a tradition Thai dance...outfit and all!

My Korean friend, Khem and I - we'd meet to practice her English. I love this girl:)

July 4th weekend recap

Well, unfortunately I don't have any pictures to post of this weekend because I cannot find the camera anywhere! I'll add them later if I find it. Either way, here's a little recap of our fourth of July weekend.

I absolutely loved every single day of our long weekend. Friday we slept in, went to the gym, did some antique shopping, laid around the house, went out to eat for date night, and topped the day off by going to Hastings and looking through NYC trip guide books. We leave for vacation a week from today, and I am so stoked!

Saturday we slept in yet again. After we got up we ate some lunch, then went to Panera to plan some more for our trip! This will seriously be the most planned for trip we've ever taken. lol. We just have so much we want to do and see while we're there, and we want to make the most of our time. Saturday night we watched the movie Defiance (which is really sad but I still highly recommend it) and then headed down to the park/lake to watch the fireworks display that the city puts on every year. When we got in the car we realized that a storm was blowing in, so we ended up having to sit in the car through the storm and wait until it was over before they started the show. It was so fun to just sit out on a blanket at the lake with my favorite person and my favorite puppy and watch the fireworks. It really was a great show and so fun and romantic. Pictures to come later:)

Sunday we went to church, then decided to head to the city to do some shopping. It was so fun getting to shop together. We both found some really great deals on stuff we really loved. I love shopping with my hubby when we are both trying (and buying:). It's so much more fun than when I'm the only one and he's just waiting and watching. We got some great clothes for vacation, and I'm especially excited because I can wear most of mine to work when school starts also!

So, that about sums up our weekend. I can't really put into words how much I enjoyed getting to spend three full days with J...just relaxing and having fun together. I just love life with him. I can't even imagine how great it's going to be to spend a whole week in New York just the two of us. We finally decided that for our anniversary night celebration we're going to go see Wicked. I've never been to a broadway show so I am so excited. I've heard it's a great one to go to also. I'll have to do a review when we get back.

I hate that I have been posting so little the past few weeks. I have just been feeling like there is not enough time in the day to do everything I want to do. It seems that blogging is one of the first things that gets bumped. I still read all of my favorite blogs, but by the time I get done reading I don't have time to write. I know things are just going to get more crazy once school starts, but I'm going to do my best to bump it up on the priority list. I love posting, and I love being able to look back at posts in the past so I really dont want it to go by the wayside!

I'm going to try to write about a couple things from the past couple of weeks such as my best friend's birthday (at which I got to meet up with my blogging buddy Megan), and my new gym membership that I am absolutely loving! We'll see if I can get those out before we leave! I hope everyone had a great 4th of July and a great start to the week!