I know I wasn't supposed to do anything for my shower and my friends didn't even want me to be in the house while they were setting up, but I don't think anyone is surprised that I had my hands in every single bit of it. It wasn't that I didn't trust them, it's just that I know they all work, have school, and well...they have known me a year or less, so I would feel guilty letting them take on all the responsibility. I was super thankful they wanted to, but helping allowed me to work with them on the best shower EVER {IMO} without having to feel guilt.
The food might have been my favorite part next to the color scheme, hand rolled silverware, hand painted muffin skewers, poof chandelier, chair covers, etc., etc., ...but seriously, it was all adorable and NO ONE can resist Bacon-Stuffed Cinnamon Rolls.
Yes, we Pinterest-ed the shizz out of this decor, and it makes me oh-so-thankful for that blessing of a site. I can't believe I worked as a party planner, had a wedding, and simply made it through life before there was Pinterest. But that's not even what this is all about. Sure, I'm a wee bit obsessed with how everything turned out, but sharing this special day of celebrating our precious babe with some of the most amazing friends I've EVER had took my breath away. The fact that I haven't known a single one of them for more than a year, and yet we have formed a bond to support each other in this way is pretty mind blowing.
In case I haven't mentioned it, all of this is happening so flippin' quick. We've known CQB is on her way for a little over two months and now she will be here in less than three...I know that no one ever feels like they have enough time to plan, but yeesh. I'm so thankful we have so many family and friends helping us in every way possible, and CQB is most definitely going to be spoiled. Spoiled with love, that is, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Boy oh boy, I look back on Saturday and I'm quite satisfied with the festivities. Will said it was 'life altering' and the best brunch he's ever had, so obviously he approved. The decor was easy, the food really was divine, and we had our amazing group of friends there. You really can't ask for more than that. Check out my solo cup lights:
Food really is the key to brunch and it happens to be my favorite part of any party, so making brunch was super fun. Labor intensive as always, but I prepped most of it the night before which helps. Everyone thought we had too much food when we put it all together, and yet it was ALL gone in a matter of hours. I wanted some leftovers, but nope...didn't happen. Menu: Vanilla Bourbon Bananas Foster French Toast Casserole, Eggs Benedict Casserole, Texas Shaped Pancakes with Strawberry Compote, Bacon Stuffed Cinnamon Rolls, Sausage Quiche, Scrambled Eggs, Bacon, Sausage, Breakfast Potatoes, Banana Bread English Muffins, Bloody Mary Bar, and Bellinis.
You are going to need to try to make the French Toast and Eggs Benedict, so you should probably pin those recipes. Make note, though, I used Hawaiian loaf and added 1/4 cup of Toasted Caramel Whiskey to the French Toast, and to make the bernaise you can use the packet, but ONLY if you use whole milk to make it rich and creamy. Make up for it by cutting out a third or fourth of the Canadian Bacon and switching to Whole Grain English Muffins. Just know, these are the two best breakfast dishes I think I've ever had.
The rest of the party wasn't as classy. Will's shirt says #1 Daddy/Husband, while my shirt says #1 Daughter/Wife, and in front of him you will notice a HUGE Bloody Mary with birthday candles. He's not a big sweets eater, so a Bloody seemed like the perfect vessel for his candles.
All in all, it was awesome to see him so happy all day, have everyone rave about the food {thanks ladies for all the help!}, and enjoy fun with friends that lasted up until 10PM that night. I mean, who lasts that long?! I was sober, and I barely made it...They are champs.
As the month comes to a close, I'm officially married to a thirty year old. I love you, old man, and it was fun celebrating it to the fullest with you. You are my favorite thing to celebrate. Always and forever.
Tomorrow my hunk of a husband will officially turn THIRTY!
He is far from old, but it kinda puts things in perspective. He may have beat me to thirty {I call him my old man}, and yet it already has my gears turning about the significance. It's just a number, but it does signify a new stage of this road we call life.
He makes me proud on the daily when I see his compassion, he washes the dishes, and I watch him transfer into this crazy pilot, so I didn't even have to think very hard to come up with the amazing things he has to be proud of thus far. Stealing my heart and creating a wonderful marriage is at the top of that list, but what else has he accomplished?
+ He played College Soccer.
+ Opened a restaurant as a GM at twenty-one.
+ Honorably joined the Army
+ Excelled in the Army (Soldier of the Brigade Status whoopwhoop)
+ Was selected for Flight School
And he's only just begun. He reaches higher and higher, and there is no limit in his mind.
He may be my old man, but thirty is the new twenty. I don't really know what that means, but I'm pretty sure we don't have to grow up for another five to ten, and I'm cool with that. Maybe it even gives me more time on this Earth with the most incredible man I've ever encountered. If that's the case, I don't ever wanna grow up. I love you with all my heart and Happy Birthday sweet husband of mine! I can't wait to celebrate this weekend and for the rest of your life.
On this day seven years ago, Will and I had our very first date and according to the old adage 'the seven year itch' we should begin declining interest in our monogamous relationship pretty soon. Psychologists call it a titular phrase {which is way more fun to make up the meaning than the real one}, and still I must say I think the seven year itch isn't going to be an issue.
The other day, I realize I've told you about the actual first 'date' we had, but I never told you one of my favorite parts. On Will's way over, he called a bit nervous, and said "Don't judge me for my truck." With no clue what that meant, I simply replied "Don't judge me for my house."
You see, I was living in the "Mother-In-Law Suite" at my grandmother's house, so as my automatic wrought iron gate cleared to reveal his 'GEEP' pickup with the top cutoff...all we could do was laugh, and not a single judgement was made on either side.
I'm thankful that we were two crazy kids that appreciated our differences as much as our similarities even though that was hard to see at first. No, I'm not talking monetarily because a) that would be repulsive and b) he wasn't poor and I wasn't rich in spite of first impressions. What I'm talking about comes from his use of logic and my habit of er...a more emotional approach, little things like my love for Jack Johnson which he didn't share, and especially his free spirit that had him moving every few years while I never wanted to leave Florida. Those things could have and almost did end things before they even got started, but I am truly grateful everyday that the very things that could have torn us apart actually brought us closer together. Well with a bit of compromise, of course.
"Who wears the pants in our relationship?' We prefer when neither of us wear pants." That, my dears, is the secret to it all.
So hi...I think I'm finally over my hangover. Damn Apple Pie Moonshine, and the usual "I'm to old for this ish." However, it was worth every bit of it! We started the shenanigans Friday night taking Dani to Frogz, and enjoyed a nice family dinner. Trying to keep it 'low key'.
Although I had been prepping and cooking for three days, after everyone went to bed, I was still sewing our skirts for the party and slaving away in the kitchen. I think that's pretty typical when it comes to Holiday feasts, but I still thought I was crazy to be standing in the kitchen in my stockings until midnight. The good news, is that it was aaaall worth it. Turkey stock from scratch, brining a turkey for two days, homemade gravy, cranberry salsa, meatballs, and cowboy caviar were my additions to the meal, and I am happy to pat myself on the back. The turkey was moist and no one got food poisoning, so I call it a win.
I know, I know, it doesn't look all bloggerific. I would have 'staged' it better, but we were at Joel's house. It was an act of Congress to get all the food and necessities there, so how it looked was the last thing on my mind. As a matter of fact, we were still sewing my skirt while I was cooking gravy in the middle of the party. Multi-tasking at it's finest.
The only thing better than the food were the party games. We played Gift Wrap With Mittens On, Stack The Nuts, and a Marshmallow Stocking Toss, which quickly led to a marshmallow fight. I think there was also a ping pong ball fight, but I have no clue what inspired that.
And since you should always share costumes with the world, we moved our soiree to the local bar. Here is the only picture I thought to take of our matching outfits.
Mine = 'First Things First, I'm The Realest', Will = 'Santa's Favorite Ho', and Dani = 'Don't Be A Cotton Headed Ninny Muggin'". The best part is that Will picked out his green striped pants and he can't wait to wear them golfing. I just like the way they accent his bootay ;)
Cheers to a successful Holiday party, a hangover that wasn't as bad as I anticipated, and the fact that it's all over. I made Will promise that he wouldn't let me take on anything like this for awhile, but I don't think he believes I meant it. I wonder why?
Two days away from my birthday I decided to do a "29 Facts Of Me" {coinciding with the 29th of Oct, of course}, but I just couldn't come up with 29 new things that you don't already know about me, I'm allowed to tell, and were actually interesting. I came up with six, but the jury's still out as to whether you'll think they are interesting.
...I can't scream. I think my voice is too low or something.
...I'm always covered in paint from projects and/or burns from cooking.
...I loathe scary movies, but love haunted houses.
...I'm super cheap, but you already know that.
...I've watched Frozen about twenty times {but who hasn't}.
...I've read hundreds of Nancy Drew books, and started in First Grade
In Other News...
+ I can't wait for the Nashville Christmas album to come out November 4th. I love the show, and I'm obsessed with Christmas, so it's an absolute necessity.
+ Now...not only am I the FRCSC Secretary, I was voluntold to take over the Publicity chair too. Our Publicity chair is moving to Korea or something, so we have to have someone step in to advertise our biggest event of the year. I'm actually happy about it and would rather be Publicity than Secretary, but it's still a tidge overwhelming.
+ The haunted house was AMAZING. I have so much to share about it, but putting that recap together is going to take awhile. Allow me to introduce you to Sid...
+ We have even more planned this weekend, but I'll have to tell ya after. I'm sure I'll post a few pictures on the ol' Insta of Gram, though.
+ The best part is I ditched my original {tight} costume for a more figure friendly one, so I can eat and drink whatever I want! I figured, hey...it's my birthday week and I deserve the cake Will made me, the whoopi pies my girl Karie made me, the cake Loni got the four of us that are celebrating birthdays this week, wing night tomorrow night, and the fact that everyone is making me drink on Friday. Well, the real reason was that the girls weren't fitting in my top right without a bra, but the gluttony thing is still a big bonus.
Two more days until Halloween! I hope you all have your costumes picked out. You tell me what you are going to be, and I'll tell you ;)
Linking up with Helene!
Oh hey! Missed y'all on Wednesday. We are in full planning mode for our group birthday party Saturday, and I've been working from morning until the wee hours of the night for a week. Nothing new I guess, but it doesn't feel like work at all because the haunted house is turning out sick!! 250 feet of pure awesomeness, and we haven't even started the decorating process.
One of my favorite projects was creating Weiser's costume, and I just can't wait to share it! It turned out awesome, and it only took to tries to get it on him:
Not the best iPhone video quality, but you get the picture.
I get to pick Buck {Colorado Springs BFF} up from the airport tomorrow, and he's staying until we head to Jacksonville next weekend where my BFF Dani is meeting us. I can't believe they are both flying across the country for me, but it makes me feel super special! To be honest, I usually milk the whole month because Will always misses my birthday, but with us being so busy I haven't gotten any special treatment. Hhhhrrrrmmmppphhhhh, haha. He's lucky that having him here is the best gift I could ever get.
I typically hate my birthday, and before you go there- it's not because I don't like getting older. Simply put...the extra attention makes me feel super-dee-duper awkward. I'm not saying I don't like the attention, I just feel so awkward that I don't know how to have fun. Well, that was until my amazing husband came in to my life. Ever since, birthdays have been soooo much more special, and that's saying something considering he's usually off playing soldier when it rolls around. Not this year, though! He is stuck with me ;)
There is one more element that will make this year extra special, and that's the fact that two of our best friends will be celebrating their birthdays in the same week. That means I get to happily share the limelight, and plan 'OUR' birthdays. I HATE planning my own, but I have no qualms about planning a party {or lets be real...part-IES} for all three of us.
As such, I am informing everyone {including Will} that I don't want presents for my birthday...just scary Halloween decor, booze, gift cards, and/or other forms of dinero, because I have a party to plan! I just have to keep reminding myself not to go too crazy...this needs to be F-U-N and not give me an aneurysm. Oh, who am I kidding? We all know I'll go crazy. Twenty-eight years on this Earth has at least taught me that.
Sidenote: Cookie cakes, Carrot cakes, Chocolate covered strawberries, and other delectables do not count as gifts, and will be accepted. Please and thank you.
Have I mentioned how amazing it is to be living close to home? Not only did my wonderful In-Laws come to stay with us recently {FIL made me a coffee table, more on that soon}, but while laying in bed Friday night, we decided to pop down to Pensacola for the weekend!
Momma made us Dumplins, we had a sleepover at grandma's, and we got to play with lots of sweet, precious, little babies. I'm tellin' ya, these kids were so cute that I almost, almost felt my uterus flutter. Normally, I would avoid a toddler birthday like the plague, but I happen to love my childhood friend Carmela enough to play Minnie Mouse for the day. It's funny that we grew up playing together and now we get to watch Savannah and her little friends form lasting friendships like ours. Oh nostalgia...
I died when she put her tool belt on and immediately started working on her jeep. Can you tell she's a daddy's girl? All I know is that I'm proud they are raising her right, because girls can play tools and cars too. But even cuter...please meet Miss Lennon.
She's my other BFF's little bundle of joy that I finally got to meet on Sunday, and she was the cutest wobble baby that I've ever held. She's gorgeous, sweet, alert, and smart, but she is all malleable and soft to the point where you never want to put her down. Unfortunately, I did have to put her down because we had to drive two and a half hours home before it got too late. Why the random picture of a dirt road, you ask?
Welp, we tried a new route that lead to a closed road, and then got rerouted to a dirt road. We giggled a bit, but there was nothing much else we could do during one of life's little adventures. Welcome to sweet home Alabama.
Sometimes life gives you dirt roads...charge your gps and enjoy the ride!
I am happy to say that I am back in Will's arms where I'm meant to be, and I came home to a {mostly} clean house, which is always a nice surprise. I wish I could say I was rested, but last weekend was go, go, go with all the graduation festivities. Whodathunk that after ten years, I would barely remember how stressful that process was? As a matter of fact, this whole thing was a trip down memory lane, and quite fitting that my baby brother's graduation coincides with my ten year reunion from the very same school. Go Wildcats!
As per usual, I turned to Pinterest to create the BEST grad gift, and even got video proof of it's awesomeness. You know how videos don't always get much love on Facebook? This one got a share, comments, and 50 likes! Just watch...
**Tear **Obviously, we gave him lots of advice to go along with the mucho dinero this weekend, but the fact that the following bit allowed me to share a picture of my uncle's cop car made it perfect. In the words of my Prius driving- Chief of police- Uncle...If you drink, you better not drive, Marc. We are all pretty proud of you {4.26 GPA}, so make sure you don't forget to use that brain. We hope that all the graduating seniors have a SAFE and happy summer! Safety first, my friends...safety first.
Uncle Robert says that it goes fast, but since he's the Chief of Police, I doubt he's been in 'hot pursuit' anytime recently. If you ever get a ticket by a cop in a Prius, I will totally laugh at you.
You have been forewarned.
Other than leaving my hanging bag with all my dressy clothes at home, the weekend went off without a hitch. I got creative with accessories and put my energy into supporting my brother instead of worrying about what I was wearing. Plus, now I am packed for our next trip to Pensacola. It looks like we will be going back sooner than I thought because we may or may not be buying a house. Have any of you bought a house as an investment to rent out and/or have any of you used a VA loan? I want all the pros and cons I can get!
I almost forgot that it was Military Spouse Appreciation Day, but I just have to send out a big hug to all my fellow Military Spouses! Each and every one of you has helped me or given me inspiration at some point whether you know it or not, and I'm forever grateful ;)
Now that I've been a Warrant Officer's wife for two weeks winkwink, it's time for the WOCS Graduation recap! This is going to be one of the biggest events of our history as 'The Bogerts' and our military career, and as if I haven't already been proud of my soldier, I'll just brag a little bit more share what continues to makes me so proud.
Perhaps I would have been nervous on the day of graduation, but eShakti was nice enough to save me the trouble of finding the PERFECT dress for the occasion, I was surrounded by family, and I knew that this was the only thing standing between me and my soldier coming home. Will was impatiently waiting for us at the museum too, and it was seriously adorable.
Sidenote:This might be my favorite picture of all time because these are the only three people in the entire world that love every fiber of me and have been there no matter what. They are also the three people I feel most blessed to know and to look up to.
With a few minutes to spare at the museum, we walked through the history of the new world we are entering into, and I felt my heart float in my chest with anticipation. The families were abuzz, the Army band was filling the whole place with good vibes, and the graduates were grinning from ear to ear. The day was here.
This ceremony was similar to other graduations and promotions we have attended, only this time, they brought in a General as the speaker, the prestige was evident, and Will was the superstar. Honestly, every time they said his name throughout the ceremony, it gave me chills. I don't even think he knew how important the Distinguished Leader Award was, but it was most certainly evident during the ceremony.
The general events of the ceremony were the speaker, awards, 'Pinning' the new rank on the soldier, and the installation of the new Warrant Officers. My MIL and I each got to pin on one side of his shoulder boards, and the good news is that I didn't trip! I pinned my sexy man in uniform, and then I was the one grinning from ear to ear.
I think the most significant thing for him, was receiving his first real salute from his Mother, the Senior Master Sergeant. My MIL has served twenty-two years in the armed services, and it might have been the epitome of her career, as well. I can only imagine the significance of saluting your own son. She created him having hope that he would grow up healthy and happy, and he's overcome every obstacle, thrived during any struggle, and surpassed all of her dreams. She might be the only person in the world that's more proud of him than me.
For those of you interested, I created a video with footage of all the graduation events to share with our family that couldn't be there. I get chills when I watch it, because I still can't believe that we went through all of this just a short time ago, and we have even more to look forward to. If you watch it, pay attention to my mad editing skills. I had to get pretty creative to squeeze hours worth of footage into fifteen minutes. You're welcome.
I would like to thankeShaktifor introducing me to their amazing dresses, my friend Serge from Nuyoka & Co for helping me fine tune the video, thankful our family that traveled to be with us, and most of all...I'm grateful for my amazing hubby and real life Prince Charming.
But seriously...isn't this dress so cute? The print was totally out of my comfort zone, but now I wouldn't change a thing about the dress. As with all of their clothes, it's feminine, classy, well-made, and beyond reasonable priced. Did you notice the pockets? I flippin' love pockets.
Can't wait to order more for dress season!
Super heroes don't wear capes, they wear combat boots.
**Merchandise was provided by eShakti, but opinions are my own. No other compensation was rendered.**
