Two Weddings, Moving Day, and A Bachelorette Party!

It has been over a month since my last blog but let me tell you, It has been eventful!


My maid of honor, Tiffany, got married the first weekend of this month.

Mr. & Mrs. McCalip

 I had to steal this pic from facebook. I didn't have my phone or camera during the reception and Sam's phone takes terrible pictures. I will have to be better about bringing my camera.
Anyways... It was a beautiful wedding and I'm so glad I got to be a part of it! I was so happy to see one of my best friends marry the love of her life!



A few weekends later we all gathered in Dallas for my bachelorette party while the guys went to Shreveport for Sam's bachelor party.

Me with my presents!

We layed out during the day, had a lingerie shower, ate dinner at Mi Cocina, and went to Pete's Piano Bar! It was a BLAST! If you have never been to Pete's before you absolutely MUST go! They play awesome music and you get to sing at the top of your lungs, no matter how awful you may sing! They also LOVE to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, and of course bachelorette parties. It is a very interactive show, you are asked to sing certain parts of the song, come on stage, or anything else crazy that they can come up with. I was one of those lucky few that got pulled on stage (since I was a bachelorette of course). They had us do dance moves that everyone had to follow along, the piano player made up funny lyrics that went with each of our names, and at one point I was wearing an afro-mullet wig... It was non-stop laughs. While we were busy living it up, DIRK showed up! I guess he didn't want to crash my party because he stayed backstage and we never even knew he was there until after we left. But it was kinda neat that we were in the same place as him! The next morning I was feeling unusually well considering the night we had. We ate at a delicious place near the galleria called Paradise Bakery.


Sometime between Tiffany's wedding and the bachelorette party, we found time to move into our new apartment. We upgraded from a one bedroom to a two bedroom! We are really enjoying the extra space. The apartment community has everything we could ever imagine. There are bike trails behind the complex that run along the Trinity River, Yoga classes, a putting green, indoor basketball court, and two amazing pools. We are going to have to find some more time for all of these activities. So far we are loving it. The only thing that is missing is our dog, Bevo. He has been staying with Sam's mom while we moved until after our Honeymoon. And speaking of our honeymoon....



WE GOT MARRIED SATURDAY!!!!


GETTING MARRIED!

 

Dancing with my hubby

Me and my MoH, Tiffany



End of the night

These are a few of the pics that people at the wedding took. I am going to do a WHOLE post about the wedding when I get some more pics back to fill the blog world in on all the details. Let me just tell you I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day. Everything for the most part went great. All of my vendors were AMAZING. I will definitely give them their credit in my wedding post. Hopefully that will be soon. In the mean time, I have a honeymoon to think about!! I am very excited... we are leaving Thursday to go on a cruise. It is going to be a much needed break. I have spent the past two days shopping for the cruise, now all that's left is packing!

As you can see it's not going too well.... I have some serious work to do!

Look forward to a full report in about a week on our honeymoon cruise!!!!!



TWO weeks TOO long!!

Well it's been two whole weeks since my last post and there has been A LOT of action in those weeks. We have been going non-stop, which has left some important things (blogging, laundry, etc.) on the back burner. I finally have a minute to sit down (while watching The Bachelorette, of course) and fill everyone in on the roller coaster ride that was the past two weeks.

Three weekends ago my grandma and aunt threw us a shower at my grandparent's house for our family. I didn't take any pictures! What a shame! BUT... my wonderful aunt took a LOT! So as soon as I get them from her I will get them on here. We got our first taste of opening wedding presents and got lots of great goodies!

Two weekends ago our friends Joe Mike and Amanda threw us a couples shower. There are pictures of this one thanks to Amanda and my Maid of Honor, Tiffany (she's a blogger now too, check it out).


Practicing cutting the cake!




Table of yummy snacks!





Table of yummy drinks!

Close up of our cake!




Us with our beautiful Goddaughter, Collins!



Me & Tiffany



Good times with GREAT friends!


I'm bummed that I didn't get a picture of us with our awesome hosts. They threw us a wonderful shower and we had a great time! We are very blessed to have such great friends and family.




Last weekend was Tiffany's bachelorette party! Her sister planned a "Breakfast at Tiffany's" themed party! and Yes, it was as cute as it sounds!! We all wore little black dresses and pearls.

The girls!

It was so much fun catching up with everyone and meeting some of Tiffany's college friends. It is hard to believe that we are all grown up; getting married, starting our careers. In 2 short weeks, the girl I have always known as Tiffany Alsup will become Tiffany McCalip!


Sometime in between all of this excitement:

I picked up my wedding dress....

Sneak peak! Can't see this until after July 23!

I got a speeding ticket on my way to work :(  Bummer... there was no getting out of this one... 76 in a 60! Needless to say, I leave a little earlier and drive a lot slower now... but that lead foot will get you every time!


This week is going to be another busy, but fun one! Thursday some of the ladies at work are throwing me a shower! Can't wait :) and it is also the 1 month till our wedding mark! The reality of everything started to set in yesterday when I did my bridal portraits! All that's left is a few small details and it will be here before we know it.

TGIF!

Well I have been a busy girl/ bad blogger the past week!  Here's a rundown of whats been going on in my world (since I haven't blogged) this week.

LAST Friday:

Sam & I met our friends Joe Mike & Amanda, and Coleton & Sara at Pappadeaux in Arlington for a delicious dinner. Then we all headed to the Rangers game!



Foul ball territory!



Go Rangers!! (and Hook Em Horns?? I guess)

Not a very good pic of us two.. Amanda took most of the pictures so I will have to steal some from her to put up! On that note... I'm not sure why but when I use the front camera on my iPhone the pictures are always terrible (see above)!! Apple needs to work on that...

Of course the game had to go into extra innings with the Rangers losing in the 14th inning. BUMMER.
Sometime during the 7th inning we found our way over to Boomerjack's to enjoy the rest of the game.
It was a fun night with friends we don't see nearly enough!


Saturday:
I woke up bright and early to finish getting ready to head to the lake. Sam wasn't able to go this time because he had to work all weekend. I was walking out the door but couldn't find my keys(shocker).... I looked everywhere (for about an hour!) then I called Sam (he was already at work) to see if I had left them in his truck... sure enough I DID! So I spent the day semi-stranded at my house. That evening my work friend/neighbor, Candace, and I went to eat at Potbelly, another one of my favorite places to eat!

Sunday & Monday: (happy late Memorial Day)
Finally made it out of town and spent the rest of the 3-day-weekend soaking up the sun on Lake Palestine.

There was good company, and good food! (My kinda party!)
The weather was nice and warm but too windy for any boating.

We did get quite a bit of use out of the SeaDoo including getting pulled over for a random check (first time for everything right?!?). Then later that day got THROWN from the SeaDoo going about 40. Since it had traveled so far from us, we had to swim our little hearts out and the SeaDoo kept floating away. FINALY, after what felt like the swimming portion of a triathlon, we caught up with the SeaDoo and returned safely to our dock. After that I was all relaxing for me!

Here's a look at some of the action...

Tuesday-FRIDAY!
4 day work week!!! But for a short week it sure did seem LONG!! The first of the month is always SOO busy for me at work.. and of course there is always wedding planning to be done. But it's finally FRIDAY, and that means another busy weekend! Tomorrow we are headed to east Texas for a shower that some of my family is throwing me. Maybe I can also talk Sam into letting me hit up the casinos in Shreveport.

Have a good weekend everyone!!!

TGIF!

A few of my favorite things...

The weather here in Ft. Worth today was B-E-A-UTIFUL!! So... when I got home from work I spent some time outside with this lovely face.

We took a nice long walk and ended up sitting by the pool. It was very relaxing... for me. Bevo was pretty up-tight the whole time because he heard something in the bushes and was determined to get to it!

That was pretty much the highlight of my day... hopefully the weekend will be much more exciting!

Due to my boring day, I am going to take this opportunity to share a few of my favorite things!

First and foremost....

My absolute favorite non-alcoholic beverage is sweet tea.. but not just any sweet tea...

Sweet Leaf Teas

All of these flavors are wonderful but of course my favorite is the plain sweet tea.

Not only are they delicious, but they have fun sayings on the lid (like Snapple.. I know).

Here is one I had recently.  



I know you are probably thinking... "This sounds just like Snapple". And I like Snapple, don't get me wrong!

But Sweet Leaf is made in Austin, Texas and I love supporting my state. This also leads me into my next favorite thing...

My favorite city (in Texas)... AUSTIN!

I LOOOVE the energy of Austin.
It has such a diverse and young population.
Plus it's the home of some more of my favorite things....

Hopefully someday we can make the move to Austin...

(in case you are wondering, NYC is my favorite city in the US, and my favorite city in the world is still undecided)



Favorite serious show:




Favorite funny show:

                                                                                                      

Favorite guilty pleasure show:

                                                

Favorite nail polish color:

Lily

Favorite hair product:

Rockaholic dry shampoo
Perfect match for my laziness. Keeps your hair looking fresh for another day.



I could go on forever.. and I'm sure this topic will come up again in the near future, but for now I'm off to do one of my favorite things....

SLEEP!

Sweet dreams!!!

                    

            

The beginning of an extremely busy summer!

This past Saturday was my LAST free Saturday until after my honeymoon. So needless to say, this is going to be one busy summer!

I spent my Saturday relaxing until I got a very exciting call. MY WEDDING DRESS FINALLY CAME IN!! So I rushed to Arlington to try it on. I got my dress at Lang's Bridal (I don't usually rave about a place unless they really made a great impression) and let me just say they have made this experience AMAZING for me. Anyways the dress fit perfectly, I just cant lose any more weight (bummer haha)! They just have to add my bustle and it will be in my possession in a few days.


Sunday I drove to Iowa Park for my Maid of Honor's bridal shower.

This is me and the lovely bride-to-be, Tiffany. 

There were quite a few of our friends from high school there. It was a blast, like a mini-reunion.

A few of us took full advantage of this photo op. Blaine (far right) took tons of pics for us! Here's a group shot.

We got to meet our friend Jenny's baby , Alyvia, for the first time.

She is such a doll and looks just like her Mama!!

There is me and Jenny Beth!!

Flashback photos: (me, Jenny, and Tiffany have been friends since 6th grade)

This is us in Cabo for our senior trip 2006.

And this one is us in college (2008ish) at the Tarleton vs. Midwestern State game. They both went to MSU and I (obviously) went to TSU. 

This week has been filled with work and wedding plans, they are both never ending!
Monday was the 2-months-till-our-wedding mark so if you have ever planned or are planning a wedding, you can understand my stress. My mom and Sam have been pretty good about keeping me calm even during a wedding crisis. I am happy to report I have only had one mini meltdown so far but before I could fully lose it, it had worked itself out.

Tuesday Sam and I treated ourselves to something I consider a delicacy, Freebirds. We are both big fans but don't eat it very much because we always forget that there is one right around the corner!

It was delish, and I enjoyed every calorie!

Last night I was glued to the TV all night due to the crazy weather we had here in DFW. I don't mind the rain, thunder, or lightning (as long as I'm not driving) but tornadoes scare the life out of me! Bevo doesn't handle any of those elements (or loud noises) very well either, so we found ourselves in the closet, taking shelter at one point. It's not too bad of a set up, we can see the TV from there and it's pretty big!

This weekend will be another busy, but relaxing one. Going to a Rangers game then spending Memorial Day at the lake!!!

Its about time!!

Well hello blog world!!!

My name is Christina and I am a procrastinator. I have been reading my friend Amanda's blog ( "My Life as a Wife" check her out!!) since I met the girl!! (about 2 years ago). Ever since then I have thought "this is something I need to do!". Well then I just got busy, then lazy, and now... HERE I AM!!

A lot has happened in the past few years and I am at a very exciting (and hopefully interesting) time in my life and felt this would be a great way to share with the world!

The first thing that you should know about me is that I will be marrying my best friend July 23 of this year.

That handsome guy would be Sam. This picture is about a year and a half old but it explains his personality so well!
This was from our ski trip to Breckenridge last Christmas. And I'm not exactly sure why he is wearing short sleeves... It looks a little chilly to me. Any who... you will be seeing and reading about him quite a bit.


Sam and I are the proud parents of this bundle of joy.

Bevo is our only child at the moment, although I hope to get him a sibling (not human, just another dog) as soon as I can talk Sam into it.
Bevo is a 5 year old, yellow (as you can see), Labrador Retriever. He is probably the silliest dog I have ever had the pleasure of owning. You will be hearing a lot about him also. And once again, the picture fits his personality so well!


Now, a little background on yours truly.

This is me at Strawberry Fields in NYC. This explains a few of my favorite things; New York, The Beatles, John Lennon, world peace, etc..

I grew up in Colorado, and moved to Iowa Park, TX when I was about 10 and lived there until I moved off to college at Tarleton State University.
*Interesting fact: Sam is from Wichita Falls (about 15 mins from Iowa Park) and we never knew each other until we were in a class together at Tarleton.

If you are interested in how we met, the proposal, etc... you can go to our wedding website that one of my wonderful bridesmaids created for us. mywedding.com/christinasam


May 2010, Sam and I both graduated with business degrees from Tarleton.

There we are on graduation day!! Sadly this is the only picture of us together on that special day.
*Another interesting fact: We sat one seat apart from each other at graduation due to him being an "S" and me being an "R".

We now live in Fort Worth and we absolutely love it here. We are almost exactly halfway between our families.

I am very excited to start my life as a blogger!!

Stay tuned...