One.Month.

Bridal confession: When I was little 17, I loved the short-lived Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen TV show "So Little Time." Naturally, my love for the show has since waned...but I still have a special place in my heart for it's theme song, So Little Time by Arkana.

With one.month. left to go before our Big Day...the phrase "so little time, so much to do" fits life to a :::T::: around here. I spent lots of time today frantically making a list of all the things I had told myself didn't need to be addressed until a month before the wedding...and even more time mulling over the lengthy list trying to figure out how + where to begin.

The stress & anxiousness that I have tried so hard to keep at bay have reached an all time high...but at the same time, so has all of my excitement & joy. It really is a very odd place to be. On one hand, I am itching for the day to come and go already so we can all return to life without the constant talk of showers & flowers...and on the other...I am begging time to slow down so I can make the most of this special time in my life.

I am praying tonight that my conflicting feelings would call a truce inside my heart, and that I would feel the peace that only Christ can bring during this time. I know there are lots of you readers who know the crazy combination of stress + excitement + anxiousness + joy + fear that can only come about when planning a wedding. How did  you cope? Any advice?

Heading to bed with a heavy but happy heart tonight. Hoping for renewed energy in the morning to get things done! Planning to blog again this week about exciting things including::: bridal portraits, a bit of decorating progress, & a special lesson God is beginning to teach me.

Oh yeah...and a special thanks to all the loyal readers + followers who offer sweet support & encouragement. Starting this blog has been a great experience for me, and it means a lot that you take the time to read it. Thank you x a million!

The.Truth.About.Zumba.

"It's so easy!"

"You just dance around!"

"Nobody watches you!"

"It doesn't matter what you look like!"

"Anybody can do it!"

All of the above are statements about Zumba. Statements that, until Wednesday night, I had believed to be true. But I am here to tell you, excuse me, to warn you, that these are all myths. Legends. Tall tales. Spoken from the mouths of ridiculously in shape & gorgeous soccer moms. Kind of depressing, right? But don't worry! I am here to tell you the truth about Zumba. The good. The bad. And the profusely sweaty.

TRUTH #1: The instructors are not real people. I mean, unless Rapunzel Barbie in life size form counts as a real person? Because that's pretty much what you're dealing with when you look at my Zumba instructor. She weighs about 100 lbs. soaking wet. And she has long blonde hair that I bet was styled by Ken Paves. She doesn't put it up either, her gorgeous hair. She just lets it all whip back & forth. For an hour. And somehow it gets no tangles in it. [Are you beginning to see how she can not be real...?] In addition to her tangle free hair, one can't help but notice her sweat free brow. Not a drop y'all! I on the other hand, sweat enough to fill up a kiddie pool. Yikes. I don't know what they are. Or where they come from. But I am almost completely certain that Zumba instructors are not real life humans.

I keep capitalizing Zumba...is that right? It's a proper noun, right? I'll keep doing it.

Moving on.

TRUTH #2: The songs are not real songs. This one is hard to believe. Because when the track starts...the song is going to sound normal. You're going to hear the first few measures of Cee Lo Green's Forget You, and you're going to feel a very warm and fuzzy feeling of familiarness. Then you're going to be slapped in the sweat-drenched face by a r-r-r-remix. But not just any remix. A Zumba [or zumba. Whatever.] remix. A few characteristics to look for in a Zumba remix::: 1) Hyper-speed beats that are impossible to keep up with. 2) The word "Zumba" hollered randomly throughout the whole thing. 3) Zumba remix songs last approximately 12 minutes longer than the average tune. So if you've heard the same chorus more than 4 times in a row, it's probably a ZR.

TRUTH #3: Grown men take Zumba classes. And you have no idea how ridiculous they look. I'm just going to be honest right now, and maybe the fact that I'm doing this over the web & not to some one's face has made me more fearless. But if you are a grown man, and you are in our Zumba class, there is a very, very good chance that my friend Alyssa and I will talk about you afterwards. Not all bad things! Because some of y'all got moves! And if you are with your wife, its a little bit sweet. But still. You look kind of silly. Men just aren't natural Zumbers. Neither are folks over the age of 65. Which brings me to my next point.

TRUTH #4: Grandmas take Zumba classes. Now. Half of me wants to give these women a huge high five. Because I can only hope that when I'm their age, I am that passionate about staying healthy. But another part of me wants to sit them down in the nearest rocking chair before they fracture a hip. The aforementioned hyper-speed of a Zumba remix waits for no one. And a gal's limbs can get seriously tangled up in all those step-together-touches! But I will say that the grannys provide lots of entertainment since they usually show up in sweet white-haired flocks. I should warn you though. They don't really know what sports bras are.

TRUTH #5: Zumba is fun. What? Who is typing this? It's me. Same girl. But I mean it! Zumba really is fun! After you sort through your inner jealousy issues with Rapunzel Barbie [I secretly pray that she'll one day get a tangle. Or a zit. Anything mildly unfortunate, but temporary.], and learn not to care what people [including men & grandmothers] around you are thinking...Zumba.is.fun. It's a great workout, and it goes by a billion times faster than time on a treadmill or elliptical machine!

So there you have it. The cold hard Zumba truth. As you can see, its early in the game for me and I have a love/hate relationship with all of this. But who knows! Maybe I'll keep it up, and one day I'll be a Gramba! A Zumba-ing grandma, that is. :)

Current.Events.

I've been one busy bride-to-be since my last post! Here is a bit of what I've been up to:::

• I worked my last day as J + W's nanny! For those who don't know, I've worked as a nanny for the sweetest family in Winterville for the last 2.5 years. It's been basically the perfect job for a college student, and I am going to miss seeing my lil fella's faces everyday! So far it has felt very odd having my afternoons wide open. And around 3pm I completely freak out inside my head thinking I should be in the carpool line. Thanks to Scott & Sally + their boys for taking such good care of me! Love you guys! [Although I haven't seen the last of them...lil Wil is going to be our ring bearer in June!]
• I'm all moved out of my apartment in Greenville & back home for the next 6 weeks! Special thanks to the sweet ladies who came up for the day on Monday to help me clean & pack. Lord knows it was no easy task! :) Excited to be home with unlimited access to Pippa's closet & lots of free time to work on all things wedding + lay by the pool.
• Speaking of all things wedding:::Invitations are officially in the mail! But we are left with 24 extra invitations.32 extra RSVP cards.and 34 extra guest information cards. Which just doesn't add up!  I've been losing sleep this week, wondering who is without a component. Oh well, I guess there is nothing that can be done now! Also on the wedding front, this week I have an appointment to get my dress hemmed, and next week I take my bridal portraits! The Big Day is fast approaching, and I have seriously considered changing my blog name to [Anxiously]Waiting on a Wedding. I just might do it too.
• On the subject of blog's & their names, I have finally settled on the title for my new blog that I will begin after Walker & I are married! I'm excited about it...and can't wait to make the big reveal once we get back from honeymooning & things settle down! If you read this one, I hope you will follow my new one as well!
• Oh yeah...and I almost forgot [not!]:::WE HAVE A NEST! A home! A place to be Mr. & Mrs. Brown! Obviously I have to practice cyber safety, so I can't reveal too many details about our new pad, but I will say...it is perfect for us! In a great location just outside of Asheville, 2 bedrooms + 2 full baths, and lots & lots of land! We are beyond thrilled and can't wait to move in! We have both learned so much about patience & God's provision during these months of searching and waiting for a place to call our home. Thank you to all of our friends & family who have been so overwhelmingly supportive in our search! I speak for both Walker and myself when I say we are truly humbled & so, so grateful. PS: Did I mention we have a spare bedroom?! Perfect for a mountain weekend getaway! Come one come all! :) Now that we have a home...I have been bitten ALL OVER by the decorating bug! Lots of ideas! My 1st project will be making curtains with my sweet grandma! Can't wait to get sewing!

I believe that brings me up to date! This week I will spend the majority of my time unpacking + organizing [although I did take a break last night when Walker came up for the night! Dinner + fro yo with my guy! So thankful for him.] and of course getting some vitamin D by our neighborhood pool. Nobody likes a pasty pale bride! Also this weekend we have a wedding shower/reception at Walker's home church in Winston-Salem. It will be a great time of fellowship, as both of our families will be there! So glad that my Summer is officially in full swing!

Peaks.&.Pits.

I am seriously missing my family tonight y'all. And as I sat down in front of my TV, hanging on Ina Garten's every word as she prepared a rosemary Cornish game hen [Walks I am going to make this for you!], and enjoyed my Japanese takeout [as is my Tuesday night ritual--bless the Hibachi Grill & Buffet on Memorial Dr.], I couldn't help but think--that although I love the soothing sound of Ina's voice, and I love.love.love Japanese green beans, its just not as fun eating alone in my little apartment, as it is with my family.

We had supper together as a family almost every night, and I can't wait to do the same with our family! The benefits gained & the memories made during those seemingly "routine" evenings, I will always cherish. One thing we did a lot during our fam din was talk about the best moments of our day [the peaks] and the worst [the pits].

So, even though its way past supper time and none of my family is around to listen...here are today's peaks & pits:::

Extra sleep.--Pit. Since it came in the form of sleeping through my alarm.

Went to the gym. --Pit. Of despair. And doom.

Found out our hopeful nest was a no go. --Pit. Again of the despair and doom variety. We were so optimistic that this particular apartment would pan out, but a slew of different hang-ups caused us to feel confident that this wasn't the place for us. We have some other options though & will press on with our searching!

Self indulgence. --Peak. To try and ease my discouraged heart, I treated myself to 1.5 hours of magazine reading & Starbucks sipping at Barnes & Noble. Picked up the new issue of [The Nest]--which I suppose was counterproductive to my trying to temporarily forget that we're still without one--and gained lots of advice for married life. *Also swooned over plethora of newborn babies out at B&N with their mommies.--Peak. Obviously. My baby will wear one of those stretchy headbands with the bow attached. Even if its not a girl.

Found adorable wedding programs online! --Peak. Unless of course I am later informed that we can't afford them. [Please, Mom?]

Hired a wedding singer! [Finally]--Peak. And by "hired" I mean asked. And by "wedding singer" I mean Walker's best friend & roommate, Scott Hale! And by "finally," I mean, um, finally. We cannot wait to have you take such a special part in our big day, S! Love ya!

All in all, a decent day! Made progress in several wedding related areas, and saw sweet babies. As for the pits...well, this blog is about both triumphs & trials. So I suppose if I was victorious all the time, I would have nothing to write about! And that would be, well, the pits.

A.Royal.Recap.

Well. No more waiting on the :::Royal::: wedding! It has come and gone, and I saw it all happen! I know some people think all the hype surrounding Will & Kate's nuptials is a bit absurd, and some days I guess I would kind of agree with those people. But as a young woman who is engaged, keeping up with all the news, and now finally seeing the Prince and his new Princess tie their [gorgeous] royal knot, has been a really fun experience for me! Even though all the action happened across the pond, hats & crazy fascinators [ahem, Princess Beatrice] off to all the networks here in the United States for doing an awesome job covering all the footage!

 Now. Not that anyone cares, but for memories sake I decided to recap some of my favorite moments from the historic day! One day I'll look back on this ole blog & it'll be lots of fun to remember!

TOP 10 FAVORITES OF THE ROYAL WEDDING:::
1. The Canary Queen: I smiled so big when I saw her & her adorable Angela Kelly ensemble step out of the car! If she isn't the most adorable matriarch I've ever seen! So proud of her for making a bold[er] fashion choice at age 85. You go girl! PS: I'm trying to convince the queen of our fam [Nana] to wear yellow on 6.25. She would look so cute! Hey, anything but that hot pink jogging suit.
2. Brotherly Love: I felt such a strong, comfortable sense of brotherhood from the two princes all day long! You could instantly spot their special & powerful bond. So sweet. Now I want a red-headed little brother.
3. Harry's Humor: You can tell this guy was keeping the mood light & fun for his big bro. He wasn't going to let um, the most iconic wedding of the century, stifle anyones spirits! Love that. Again, with the wanting a red-headed little brother.
4. Maid of Honor: Holy Pippa! Kate's sister looked just as lovely & timeless as the bride, [FYI: I now affectionately refer to my sister as Pippa at all times] and she did a great job keeping hold of those adorable lil bridesmaids!
5. [Speaking of] The Precious Attendants:

I'll take one of each, please!

6. Kate's Confidence: Of course her dress was gorgeous. Spot on! But let's face it...the woman could have been clad in a Glad trash bag and still oozed regality! She was so poised, and so appropriate in her body language and expression. Her subtle, yet effective confidence definitely put the queen in that Alexander McQueen gem of a gown!

7. Harry's Humor Part2: This was one of my favorite moments. As Kate walked down the aisle, both princes had their backs turned to her. Prince Harry looked over his shoulder to sneak a peek of his sis-in-law, then whispered to William "wait til you see her!" How sweet is that? Again. Gimme a RHLB.

8. Kate's Normality: From the moment she left the Goring Hotel, until she & her new hubby exited the Buckingham balcony...you could see Kate naturally and candidly soaking it all up. Which, I imagine is just like any other bride! I hope on my Big Day I am granted the calmness & poise to truly take those special moments in.

9. A Sweet Prayer: A special one said during the ceremony that William & Kate wrote themselves:::"God our Father, we thank you for our families; for the love that we share and for the joy of our marriage, in the busyness of each day keep our eyes fixed on what is real and important in life and help us to be generous with our time and love and energy. Strengthened by our union help us to serve and comfort those who suffer." Such sweet & true words! Great thoughts to reflect on as a couple. 

10. That Sweet Scared Bridesmaid: Did anyone else spot one of Kate’s tiny attendants covering her ears on the balcony? I hated loud noises as a child so I can definitely identify with her sensitive little ears! All that cheering & screaming! But it provided a precious opportunity to see Kate’s maternal side emerge.

Speaking of…it’s rumored that now that W+K are married…they’ve got 18 months to get pregnant. These royals are real serious about reproduction. Let the countdown to a Royal Heir begin! Just kidding. Kind of. :)