I love him so much! <3

I just wanted to say how much I absolutely adore being married to my husband!

...and it's not because he bought me flowers! It's because I am truly, deeply in love with this amazing man God blessed me with!

Over the last few days, our house has been filled with belly laughs and giggles, smiles, & so much love! I am looking so forward to the rest of our lives being just.like.this.

Christopher, sweetheart, I love you!

I need some "oink"ment!

I have swine flu.

Saturday morning, I woke up feeling a little bit achy but it was just bad enough that it felt like I must have just slept in an awkward position, and after a few hours of being awake, the pain went away. During the day, I kept coughing -- just a dry cough. I still did not feel sick or that I was getting sick at all! That night I went to bed and woke up around 5:00 a.m. and was hurting EVERYWHERE! My muscles hurt, my joints hurt, even my toes and fingers hurt! Chris got me some Tylenol and I tried to go back to sleep.

I woke up Sunday morning and made the official decision that we would not be going to church because I was still in so much pain. During the day the pain kept on -- even being on Tylenol every 4 hours, the pain was excrutiating! Poor Christopher massaged me I bet a million and one times! The coughing kept up, but I still was coughing up anything -- it was just dry still and tasted metallic.. yuck! I tried my best not to cough! Around lunch, I got to FREEZING! I had on a t-shirt & pj pants, but had to add socks, 2 blankets and a sweatshirt, and poor Christopher had our air on 77 - I was sweating him out of the house, however, I was still so cold! I kept an eye on my temperature and about 2:30 p.m. it peaked at 102 degrees before it finally broke! Good grief! I was sweating then! After that everything pretty much felt better... The muscle and joint pain was better -- not gone -- just better, coughing had seemed to cease, etc.

So I spent the night on the day bed in my school room.

I woke up at 2:00 a.m. feeling so nauseous! I immediately called Chris to bring me a trashcan and barely made it! From then on, I threw up every hour on the hour. I would wake up, throw up 4 or 5 times, and go back to sleep until the exact same time - just an hour later - and do it all over again!

So this morning I had Christopher drive me to the doctor...where we found out they no longer take my insurance so we ended up having to pay it out of pocket. The doctor brought me back, checked me over, swabbed my nose, and came back with the results that I did in fact have the flu -- and that since it is not "flu season" they are 100% guaranteeing that it is swine flu. Lucky me!

So now, I'm on three different kinds of "oink"ment to try to get rid of this swine flu!

Wish me luck!

It just may be true...

It just may be true that a cat has 9 lives!

On Friday, July 24, 2009, Chris & I headed to Newnan for the weekend, and to hear my Preacher Pa preach his last sermon at Newnan FUMC. (Which, by the way, was amazing! I cried tears the whole way through!) We left Milledgeville around 6:30 Friday evening. Saturday morning, Christopher's mom came to feed Delilah around 11:30, didn't see her, but that wasn't a big deal - Delilah's always off wandering! However, when we came home around 7:00 Sunday evening, Delilah's food had not been touched! The food was still in it's perfect little pyramid form from when you pour it into the bowl. I thought this was strange, but Delilah is known for figuring out that since Chris & I are gone to vacation, she deserves a vacation too - and usually disappears until we come home. Monday night: still no sign of her. Tuesday night: she was still a no-show. By Wednesday night, I had counted her out and given up on her. I just cried like a baby! Chris and I had been all around the perimeter of our woods calling and looking for her. We were devastated! Delilah is our baby -- and I could not wrap my mind around the idea that something had killed her, because she is too tough!

It rained on Thursday. And on this day, Chris came home from work -- and like always, he honked his horn, and I went out on the porch to welcome him home from his hard day. Something caught my eye! I looked over, and there was Delilah sitting in her favorite chair on our porch! I really did not believe it, because all week long my ears had been playing tricks on me and I kept thinking I was hearing her meow or scratch at the door. This time, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, too! Chris & I went over there immediately to love on her. She was very lethargic and really muddy. We quickly started searching for wounds, scratches, etc. and found dried blood on her side. We knew she was not acting herself, and since finding dried blood, we wasted no time getting her to the vet! It was 5:50 p.m. and they closed at 6:00! So, we scooped her up and took her to the vet just down the road.

They saw her right away! She had a 104 degree temperature (101 is normal for a cat) and was pretty dehydrated. They decided that since she was so long haired and matted from the dried blood, they needed to see what they were dealing with, wound wise --- so they shaved her beautiful, long fur! About 5 minutes later, they called us back in there. They had shaved her, if you can imagine on yourself -- from your under arm to your hip, and from your belly-button to your spine. I was in shock! They then showed us the MASSIVE bruise she had that covered about 80% of the area they had shaved. On that bruise were 5 bite marks -- that appeared to have come from a tom-cat. They kept her overnight, gave her morphine, and injected antibiotics. The next morning, they took x-rays to check for bleeding around her heart, and found none -- thank goodness! However, they did discover fractured ribs and nerve damage to her back right leg. Poor thing!

She probably thinks she has died and gone to heaven as she is now a full-time indoor kitty, has canned food for every meal and has a memory foam therapeutic catbed to sleep in.

Ah, to be a cat... :)

Welcome to our humble home!

(* WARNING: THIS IS A VERY LONG BLOG AND MAY NEED TO BE BROKEN UP INTO SEVERAL PARTS BEFORE THE WHOLE THING IS READ. IF YOU FEEL THE NEED TO READ THROUGH IT ALL IN ONE SITTING, MAY WE SUGGEST A PILLOW UNDER YOUR TUSH, A CUP OF COFFEE, AND ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO FOR A GOOD WHILE.)

Welcome, Friends to our humble home! :)

Alrighty, so although Christopher & I have been living together for quite some time now, since we've been married we've spruced our place up a bit -- given it a "face lift," if you will. For many of you, a trip to Milledgeville is too far of a drive, or have had other obligations come up on your free weekends. Nonetheless, here it is: the good. the bad. the ugly. (and the beautiful!).

(Note: If you sent us something home decor-wise, keep your eyes peeled, you just may spot it in a picture!)

The first thing we decided to change in our humble abode is our bedroom. Now, when Chris first moved into this house, they decided to paint the entire thing one neutral color...."Bleh" by Bleh-bleh-bleh-bleh-bleh -- it's really beautiful, you should paint yours this color sometime! ... not so much! You will, however, notice the color when you see the rest of the house. But now (thank goodness!), our bedroom is "Mistletoe" green by Benjamin Moore. It really is beautiful. Our bedroom is HUGE and really needed this boost of confidence to bring out its true beauty. :) We also gave it new blinds (the thick vinyl ones that look like wood), and.... rearranged! Ah!

(* I wish I had some before pictures to show you, but let's just say this... what you pictured in your mind before with the "bleh" description.. it was probably worse!)

These were our blinds before: (all chuckles are completely excusable)

Aren't they just precious? (Sike!) Here are our blinds now: (ahhhhh!)

Much better....right?

We also moved our bed over to the wall across from the window, whereas before, it was against the wall adjacent to the wall with the window. Yes, I know this is the smallest wall, but it really does fit so cozy against it, and just looks like it feels at home. Therefore, I'm leaving it.

(* Please disregard our bedding...it is hot in Milledgeville, and we just sweat the comforter right off the bed every night, therefore, what you see is what you get. Sorry!)

Now for the living room (or "den" as Chris likes to call it... I prefer not to sound like a family of bears, but to each his own...)

If you were to walk in our front door, get to the kitchen and turn around so that you're facing the door again... this is what you'd see:

The furniture is arranged in such a way that it creates a nice entrance way into our home. The beautiful cross picture frame was a wedding gift to us from Mr. & Mrs. Joe Nixon (thank y'all so much!) I really cherish this frame and cannot wait to put pictures of our family in it one day!

(* Please note the thick vinyl imitated-wood blinds we also put up in our family/living room/den... special thank you to his parents & grandparents!)

If then, you were to turn your head slightly to the left of your previous gaze, you would see that on the other side of that window (in between our two windows in the family/living room/den) is another great picture frame that I love!:

I bought this frame at Target right before I transferred schools to North Georgia College & State University. I wanted to hang it above my bed in my "apartment." You can tell this was also shortly after Christopher & I started dating, as every picture in the frame is from our first 2 weeks of dating... :)

(* The picture frame leaning against the right window was given to us as a wedding gift by my sister, Christy. We are hoping to one day soon, take down the picture frame you see, and put up a collage of black-and-white wedding photos with her framed quote in the middle. It says "It's that can't eat, can't sleep, reach for the stars, over the fence, world series kind of love." Perfect for Christopher & I. Thank you, Christy!)

Now, let's imagine you walk directly in front of the two windows in our family/living room/den... (to look at that cute picture frame of course!), and you turned to your left....

This beautiful canvas picture and stand was given to us as a wedding gift from Christopher's aunt & uncle, Rae & Todd Danielson. We love the quote on it, "the roots of a familiy tree begin with two hearts," because our families are both so important to us, and we like to remember that often! :) Next to this lovely print, you will find....

Well, golly-gee-whiz, it's ANOTHER picture frame - :)

(*Note: If you are ever in the position of "hey, I don't know what to get Becca for her birthday/christmas/anniversary..." GET ME A UNIQUE PICTURE FRAME -- I LOVE THEM!)

This one was sweetly given to us as a wedding gift from my dear Aunt Mary and her family. It means so much to us (more importantly, me), as I designed/printed our wedding invitations all on my own and didn't have any left over to keep... when I opened this up - it was the sweetest and most thoughtful gift of all, because not only do I have one now as a keepsake, it is preserved in the most precious way possible -- thank you, Wentlents! :)

Now, imagine you were done looking at our wedding invitation (what?? you don't want to look at it anymore?!??.... eh, just kidding!) and you looked directly to your right. You would see this:

(* Please minus me out of this picture...)

Christopher & I bought this table at Target with some of our wedding giftcards. We needed a table right there close to the door to catch keys, mail, etc. The mirror was already there, and purchased for us by my mom - thanks, mom! We love it! The scroll decoration above the mirror was a wedding gift to us from his great-aunt, Carol. Each one of his family members has one of these in their house - they look great! Another decorating tradition in the Giles family is fake fruit. You can see my plate of it at the bottom.. :) It is a compilation of apples, grapes, and miniature apples gathered from here, there, and yonder all collected on a china platter we received as a wedding gift! :) On top of the table, you will find 5 crystal candle stick holders -- love them! -- and a grouping of treasured items that you can get a better look of here:

The crystal angel on the far left, was a gift Christopher gave to his grandmother, Big Mama. He received it back after she passed away last December. The candle with the scriptive "G" on it, was my first shot at making our own unity candle for our wedding. The Willow Tree couple, "The Promise," was our wedding cake topper. And, the crystal cross was the one thing of his grandmothers that we both really wanted after she passed away. Our faith means a lot to us, and love to have crosses displayed throughout our house to remind us of our constant faith. She was also one of the most christian women I knew, making this a perfect reminder of her spirit and faith as a person. :) I love this part of my home the most, because it holds so many special things to us in one spot!

After you finished taking in the moment I just portrayed for you as you looked at my catch-all table, you could turn to right and step into our kitchen... Now, we're cookin' with gas! (actually, not really, we still have one of those really old stoves that just require you to turn a knob...nothing special. That, and, I would probably catch myself on fire if we had a gas stove... just saying.)

Our kitchen is a compilation of our dining room & kitchen area, and since we haven't upgraded our kitchen lately, you'll just be seeing our "dining room" which looks like this:

Our dining room table & chairs are all about to be upgraded to a bigger set (as of this week), but this is the basic layout. Our placemats were wedding gifts from our dear friends Summer & Daniel Leggat -- thanks y'all! -- and the napkins and napkin rings were bought with giftcards we got for wedding gifts to Target! Our dining room table always looks just like this....because it never gets eaten on! :)

Just beside our table is our....

China cabinet! This was given to me by my Memaw, and I could not love it anymore! Especially now that we have actual fine china to display in it! (In highschool, I used this china cabinet to put my folded laundry in...not so cute!)
If you venture into our guest bathroom (no, really, go ahead, we keep it clean!), you will see we have chosen a "beach" theme for the decor. We both love the beach (Chris a little more than the rest of.... see here). Each year, we try to bring back a souveneir to commemorate our treasured times spent at the beach! :) We hope that by looking at this next picture, you can hear ocean waves in the background and that your blood pressure lowers as you feel a little more relaxed... ;)

This was the pelican we picked up last year at a store called, Shipwreck, in Panama City Beach, Florida, where Chris likes to gamble his quarters at the quarter machines, while I shop to spend the quarters he makes! ;) On the way home, however, its neck snapped in two (awful, I know..) but I was able to save it's life and glue him back together! The little froggy was a tuck-and-run I picked up from my parent's house... don't know where he came from or what purpose he served, but he's made out of seashells, we love frogs, and so, hey -- he fits! :)

Well folks, that was basically our home in a nutshell, because well, let's face it... we're nutty! :) We hope you enjoyed the trip through our home as we documented how our first home once looked, and hopefully you'll be able to see it in person some time! There's lots more to see...but trust us when we say, you'll have to see it to believe it! :)

Love y'all!

Mr. &

Beach Bums... :)

Every year, Chris's family takes a week-long trip to a beach in Florida. For years they went to Destin, but ever since I've been going (for the last 3 years), it's been to Panama City Beach. They have some friends they rent a 3 bedroom, 2 bath condo from that is right on the beach and is immaculate! It has tile floors throughout and granite countertops, and the decorating is absolutely superb! It's all the way up on the 12th of 17 floors and so our view is amazing! (The hotel actually doesn't have a 13th floor for superstitious reasons... funny, huh?)

This was Macie's first year to go to the beach, and she did pretty well! It's actually funny, because it was this same trip the year before where they decided she was, in fact, going to be named Macie (up until then, they had been calling her "Emily.")

I was especially excited about going this year, because it gave me a break from school work, and we had our own room! Yes, this may sound silly and unimportant, but for the last 2 years, we've always invited one of his grandmothers to go with us, and we gave the extra room to them, leaving Chris, Jonathan, & I to sleep on the single couch, pushed together chairs & ottoman, or the tile floor.... not fun!

Every morning, we would all get up, have a nice breakfast that our brother-in-law, Wesley would usually fix, and go down to the beach until lunch. Chris & I were especially excited about laying out at the beach this year, because we got these great beach chairs with some of our wedding giftcards to Target (sorry, i can't find a picture of them!). They have footrests, cupholders, gadget pockets, headrests, etc. We were set!

Macie would do great, but since we were in the middle of a heat wave, she didn't cope with the heat as well as everyone else, so in order to keep her happy just a little while longer (so no one had to go up to the condo just minutes after coming down), I decided to share my bag of Blow-Pops I had gotten for the trip down there, and boy did she love them! She is just now starting to want to taste "real food" and as she was watching me lick mine, her little lips and tongue were just a goin' mimicking my motions. She also only has 2 bottom teeth, and was currently getting 2 more in, so knowing she couldn't bite it, I gave her a classic Cherry one for her very first taste at yummy goodness! Boy, oh boy! She was loving it!

I ended up enjoying a lot of my trip down at the pool. It was great! I found a great lounge chair that was in a great location and waiting just for me everyday! It was near the part of the pool that had this great cove where you could sit in the deep in on a step that put that water just at chest high -- so it was away from all the little children learning to swim, and right near my chair! I even made new friends down there -- they loved my little cove too!

All in all, it was a really great trip... I am always ready to come home and get back to reality, Chris however will be sulking for weeks that we're not still there... Bless his heart! We're already looking forward to our next trip, though, to Lake Junaluska, N.C. for the 4th of July with our family! :)

Enjoy these next few pictures of our trip down there...

Our Wedding Day

It has come & gone. Thank you so much to everyone who blessed us with your presence, gifts, showers, prayers, toasts, thoughts, etc. The day was perfect -- absolutely flawless! We were so blessed to have been surrounded by so many of our closest friends and family members on our very special day! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

We are absolutely loving being married & have already started decorating and settling further into our "home." Everytime I have gotten to call him my husband, I get butterflies all over again! I love signing the credit card receipts with my new last name, since I haven't gotten to change my name over anywhere else, like the bank, as we just received our Marriage Certificate on Friday. My favorite part is seeing him with a ring on his finger! :)

If you missed our big day, don't worry! Our videographer, Roy Spillers with Moonrize Studios, did a fantastic job of capturing the day on film! We love to watch the video over and over to relive the best day of our lives so far! You can check the video out here: www.moonrizestudios.com/giles. There you will find our "Love Story" that we filmed at his parent's lake house in Milledgeville, Georgia. This was where we, well... told our love story! It is absolutely precious! You can also see our Rehearsal, Rehearsal Dinner, The Ceremony (which includes the pre-wedding festivities!), The Reception, Family & Friends (their advice and sweet comments to us!), and the Cast of the big production (Bridesmaids, Groomsmen, etc., and of course starring: The Bride & Groom!)

Here are a few professional pictures we have so far. Enjoy!

To my husband... :)

Today is the "big day." The day that I become Mrs. Christopher M. Giles. I am a little nervous, very excited, and sort of... numb feeling. It is all so surreal that I am getting to marry the man of my dreams today! To Christopher, I just want to say this:

I love you with my whole heart. You are my whole heart, and with every beat of it, I love you more. I find something new to love about you every day. You never cease to amaze me. You are so smart! I will always feel safe with you around me, and never feel as if I have to be someone I am not. I love who I have become since I met you. I've become myself -- the real me. You are creative and fun and never fail to make me smile. I laugh continuously when I am with you. Not at you. With you. :) You are my world, my heart... and you know you're my favorite everything! I love you, Christopher... husband of mine! :)
(officially!)

Counting Down the Days... :)

Okay. We have about 4 days left until our wedding day! We get asked all the time "How are you feeling?," "Are you getting nervous?," "Are you excited yet?" Well, it depends on who you ask....

My Story:

I have waited, and waited, and waited for May to get here. It got here, and I still wasn't nervous. I started Maymester in school where I had to keep an intense calendar of what is due everyday -- looking at the calendar everyday, and marking off days as they got closer... still wasn't nervous. The week before the week of my wedding, people would say "Are you getting nervous?" And I would say "Eh, not really..." Then, Enter.Newnan. I went to Newnan this weekend for my Bachelorette & last Wedding Shower -- and it HIT me like a ton of bricks, y'all! Literally pounded me! When I started seeing all of the details, and buying the last minute things, and finding my lipstick I was going to wear, and finalizing on a hairstyle, etc., etc., etc., ... it just hit me! I wasn't able to sleep at night -- I would just lie in bed. Awake. Until the wee hours of the morning when my body just finally would give out. And then I was up again bright and early to do it all over again! I have never been in such a hurry to get back to Milledgeville so that I could SLEEEEEEEEEP!!!

Oh, but it hasn't stopped here! Oh no, I think it followed me... Atleast, I was able to sleep! In fact, I got home to Milledgeville about 6:30, slept from 7-8:30, went back to sleep around 11 and slept in until 9.. I have also taken another 2 hour nap since then! Boy! Oh, boy! All day, I have thought about this wedding, made appointments to meet with vendors so they could set up, checked on the delivery of the tux's, bought the attendants gifts, etc. Atleast I am able to sleep now, though!

I absolutely cannot wait until the Big Day! I know it is going to just be absolutely beautiful and I am eternally grateful to the many hands and opinions, and bank accounts that have gone into making this wedding possible! Thank you, thank you, thank you -- from the bottom of our hearts! :)

His Story:

I ask him "Are you getting nervous?" He says "I'm nervous that I'm not nervous." Typical.

Wish us luck! Hope to see you there! & if you are unable to make it, for whatever reason, toast us, pray for us, think of us, and share a little smile at 5:00 Saturday - for that's when the magic begins! :)

I am going to marry a college graduate! :)

The month of May held two very big days for us. The first one was Christopher's graduation from Georgia College & State University (Bachelors in Business Marketing) and the second being the day we become Mr. & Mrs. Giles! :)

Today, was that first "big day" for us. Christopher jokes that people would come up to him and say "Are you ready for the big day?" and he would reply "Yeah, May 9th!" when really they were referring to our wedding day!

Since graduation started at 9 a.m. the graduates had to get there at 7:45 this morning! That put us setting our alarms for 6:30 this morning! Yikes! That's early for a Saturday! So, I put on my p.j.'s and hopped in the bed! Christopher stayed up a little while longer, but just as I was asleep good he wakes me up... "Becca! I can't find my cap, stole (sp?), or tassle! You've gotta help me!" We looked everywhere! His gown was hanging up in the closet...and we eventually found the rest of his ensemble crammed in a dresser drawer! Phew!

6:30 a.m. came bright and early -- we got there, and I found seats to save for me, his mama & daddy, and his sister, Kacie. We didn't sit long before us girls needed to find the little lady's room... As we were walking back, we noticed how wonderful the shade with light breeze felt under the trees in the back, rather than in the hot sun where we were sitting! We stayed back there as long as we could, and eventually moved back to our seats. After a while, Kacie & I decided we would go see if we could get a closer view. We walked all the way around and found the perfect spot! We could get great pictures from where we were! So we called his mama & daddy and they came and found us too! It was wonderful, because Chris knew exactly where we were and where we would be when it was all over with! Chris graduated among 1,050 other students... you can imagine how hectic it was trying to find your families!

After it was over, we took the pictures and said our congrats and decided it was best that we didn't go to lunch somewhere, because everywhere was probably crowded! And so here we are... he's waiting on some friends to come over and I'm on my way to McDonough to see my best friend Katie Sprinkle get married! I absolutely cannot wait! :)

Much Love,

What a wonderful weekend! :)

I spent the most wonderful weekend this past weekend with my two sisters, mother, and grandmother, and little Nutter-Butter! But, this time, they were on my turf! :) That's right -- Christopher I hosted them all here for quick sandwiches and a tour before my very first wedding shower (since Sara has not seen the house since Chris moved in -- and Nutter-Butter hasn't seen it at all!) After lunch, my mom and grandmother decided they needed a nap, and so all of us young folk stayed out & played in the living room. Christopher & I learned real quick that our house is not baby-proof! Nathan was trying to climb on the rock hearth, eat the cat food, play in the cat water, and chew on Uncle Chris's schmorgezboard of power cords! And we didn't have very many toys for him to play with. Uncle Chris tried to put in a Baby Einstein, as his neice, Macie, just enjoys them so much & is so close in age with him -- but he wasn't having it -- he wanted to explore!



We went to the shower -- which, by the way, was so nice! The women who hosted it were friends of Chris's mom's and had such a beautiful home! It was such a blessed feeling to be surrounded by all of these women who care and believe enough in your marriage to shower you with gifts and take time out of their afternoons to do so! :) So far, Christopher & I haven't received anything we would want to exchange/take back. We love it/need it all -- and are very appreciative! :) Tooting my own horn, I have also been on top of all of my thank-you cards! (Toot! Toot!)



After the shower, Mom, Sara, Meme, & Nathan all traveled back to Newnan -- however, Christy stayed behind to spend the night in Milledgeville! :) I love it when Christy comes to stay because we always have the BEST time hanging out together and we always leave with just a few more inside jokes (I will swirl you.... right. here. ;) She knows what it means!) She wasn't there just for fun -- I had commissioned her to do my hair and make-up for the Love Story video Christopher & I were having done the next day, as part of her maid of honor duties! :) At one point during the day she said, "Becca, I am not your maid!" and to that I said, "Yes you are! You're my maid of honor!" :) We, of course, had to go shopping for the perfect outfit to wear -- and seeing that I had been given a gift certificate to Maurice's (a favorite shop of mine here in Milledgeville) for my birthday, we went there first! We found my black top, shoes, and two pairs of earrings (buy one get one half off!), then went to Rue21! and found my white shorts, and then went to Rack Room Shoes to find me a new pair of just everyday tennis shoes. I learned here, that I wear a size 5 in Youth shoes (yay for me getting an extra $10 off!) :) What a happy day!



We went home, made sandwiches on my new toasted sandwich maker that someone had given me at the shower (which, by the way, were the bomb!) and waited, sadly, for my internet to come on -- which never did! Then, the next day was.....



LOVE STORY VIDEO DAY! :) :) :)

When Christopher & I first got engaged he said to me "the only thing I care about absolutely having this entire wedding is a videographer." I thought, "a videographer & a photographer? Seriously?" So I got to work right away searching for one that I liked. I finally found one! His name is Roy Spillers and you can check him out here at his website http://www.moonrizestudios.com/ -- he's pretty gifted at what he does... I really can not say enough good things about this guy! When I was watching one of the love stories the first time I visited his site, made me cry! If I cry at somebody else's video, I know I'm going to love mine! We booked him right away!

So, on Sunday, he came down to Milledgeville and shot our love story! It went so well -- Christy was there to make sure my hair and makeup stayed looking good! Christopher & I both answered questions about each other and our relationship seperately so, neither of us know what the other said -- that should be interesting to hear! We shot so many interesting scenes like us feeding the catfish, walking the seawall, doing wrestling moves (you know we had to!), and a few extra surprises! :) I will let you know when it is finalized and posted on his website so that you can go see it!

Well, I must continue to write thank you notes...

Love,

Birthday Weekend #2

It has come & gone...

Friday was great -- Christopher had me thinking I was going to have to cook dinner that night when he got home, but he surprised me with a pizza! yum! & yay that I didn't have to cook! He then spent the evening with me playing my new Playstation 3 game that he had gotten me for my birthday -- Ratchet & Clank! I finally wrapped it up around 10:00 and let him play with his brother-in-law online while I curled up on the couch to some E! News and fell asleep....

Saturday was just wonderful... pretty much more of the same as Friday, except this was to be the night of my birthday party! So, I started getting ready around 3:30, about the same time that Wesley came over to play with Christopher, and boy, did I look cute! I got over to his parent's house where they had Wesley, Kacie, & Macie, MaMa & Pop, David, Laura, Grant, & Megan, and of course Cindy & Smiley! :) Cindy had made the most delicious meal of pot roast and tenderloin, butter beans, cream corn, potatoes, carrots, rice, croissant rolls, etc. & MaMa had made me a "poke-hole" cake -- just normal cake with holes poked in it so that the icing can seep through! YUMMY! Macie was so sweet, and I got several sweet pictures with her. Kacie got me a gift card to a store I love to shop at around here, Maurices, & Cindy & Smiley and MaMa & Pop went in together to get me a one hour massage at a day spa here in Milledgeville. I am so excited!

To start today off, Mama called to tell me that our engagement announcement was in the Newnan Times Herald! Yay! Then to top it off....

Christopher & I set out to find my wedding ring. My engagement ring is difficult to fit, because it has to have a curve, due to how it curves out itself. Also, since it has the illusion of 3 bands, I felt like it needed to be one of those rings that had one on each side ;) (only because it made it look the best!) So, we went to Kay Jewelers, where I was deciding between two different enhancers. One was curved on both sides, like I originally liked, and one was open but still had diamond bands going down both sides, so that my ring could fit right down in the middle. I, of course, picked the latter one.... and it is beautiful!

So, now it is over, and another school week begins... only 4 more weeks! ... and then Maymester! Yippee!

P.S. Only 48 more days until the wedding! :)

This is just a test.... Repeat: Just a test!

So I decided I wanted to try and create my own blogging signature, and I have to try it out! Let's see if it works!

Happy Birthday to Me! :)

Well, it's here. The big "deuce-deuce." It started out just as I expected a birthday that lands on a Tuesday would go...

The first happy birthday came from Christopher at exactly 12:00 midnight last night and a text message from Summer just a few minutes later. Then this morning, I woke up to a kiss on the cheek and a "Happy Birthday" from Christopher as he walked out the door to go to work and let me sleep in....only to have Christy call me several minutes later to wish me a happy birthday! That was great though - I love the fact that people remember my birthday and care enough to call or text me -- it makes me feel loved!

I got up, checked my facebook and found even more happy birthday messages! Then, I went to pick out a pretty cute outfit for the day, not only because it was my birthday but because it was also... (drum roll please) .... LICENSE RENEWAL DAY!!! whoop-de-doo!

So, I got to spend 1 1/2 hours of my birthday sitting at the DMV waiting to get a new license. The lady says "Would you like the 5 year or the 10 year period for when you have to renew it again?" I replied "10 year, please. I would like to look this young for as long as I can. :)" Good news is, I got a pretty cute picture out of it, considering it is for my license -- those things ususally never turn out good!

I then drove an hour to school, only to do school work that I find out later isn't even due today -- my teacher pushed it back a week! But, I had to go to class anyways, which is eventful... not!

Although everything I did all day on my birthday was not what I would have done by choice, it turned out great because I got phone calls and text messages all day long of all these people that I love in my life, telling me happy birthday! :)

I got home, and Christopher was in the shower, but there were two cards on the table -- one from his parents and one from his sister and brother-in-law. They were both so sweet! Especially the card from his sister because she had picked out a card that said "To my sister..." and that almost made me cry!

Christopher then gave me my first gift: Ratchet & Clank (a video game for Playstation3 that we can play together -- :) ) and then, he took me out to eat. I chose to go to Ruby Tuesdays because they have this amazing penne pasta and shrimp dish.... mMmMmMmMm! It is soo good! & then I came home to my 2nd (or really 3rd, if you count dinner) gift which was......

(another drum roll please....)

Tickets to WWE Monday Night Raw for April 13, 2009!!!!!!

Now, you may think that this is silly, and for those of you who know me might be thinking "Becca doesn't like that sort of thing..." But! You're wrong! I love going to Live wrestling shows! & the best part is, this is the night of their draft meaning that ALL of the wrestlers are going to be there, even the ones that I have never gotten to see in person and have always wanted to see (John Cena, Triple HHH, etc.)

Ah, I love him! He is the greatest!

Well, we are going to go play our game ---

Love you all,

Birthday Weekend #1... yes, I said #1 :)

This year, my birthday falls on a Tuesday... bummer! Who wants to go to school and work and spend all day away from the pleasure of doing just whatever you want that day? I mean, it's YOUR day afterall! But, the plus side to it being in the middle of the week, is that you get to have not one, but TWO birthday weekends! ... yay for me! :)

So this weekend, was birthday weekend #1 -- with the Perkins family! We had been talking for about a week, and Sara was going to make me a cake, and we were going to cook out or something... The night before we were supposed to leave, we had all decided on ordering Partners II Pizza - the most awesome pizza place around! It has all kinds of crazy pizzas. Friday morning, I woke up to what was the yuckiest day, and I had to drive in it all the way to Macon for seminar.... ick! However, halfway through our 2nd session, Macon sends off their tornado signals (which, they may have been sending them off a little early just to be on the safe side, since they just had a natural disaster here about a year ago). Well, I wasn't going to get caught in it, if I was going to have to drive an hour back to Milledgeville and I still had 2 hours to sit in this seminar... So, I scooted on back to Milledgeville... pronto! Meanwhile, Christopher & I decide that since it is going to be such bad weather, we didn't want to drive in it that night or be stuck in Newnan with hail storms and tornados, so we decided just to stay put in Milledgeville.

And although, considering the weather forecast, that was probably the safest thing to do, it just ate me alive that I wasn't going to be spending my first birthday weekend with my family, and they had gone to all of this trouble making sure it was going to be so much fun! So, I packed our things, and off we went! It didn't rain a single drop the whole way down there!

So here came Saturday, the day of hail and tornados (supposedly). Um, it may have thundered... six times and pretty much just had a light rain all day... Although, we had planned on being stuck inside, and I had brought just comfy clothes and Christopher had brought lots of movies, that was alright with me, because it was still light enough for me to go to Target! :)

Saturday evening, everybody showed up: Joyce & Joe, Alison, Jim & Brady, Connie, Greg, Robyn, Will, & Bryan, Meme & Preacher Pa, and my cousins Boone & Mollie-Emma were already there since they were visiting for the weekend, oh and of course my family: Dad, Mom, Sara, Jason, Nutter-Butter, Christy, & my wonderful husband-to-be, Christopher! Everyone brought their own pizzas. We had, of course, Partners II Pizza -- cheeseburger pizza & baked potato pizza -- yummmmy! & Sara spent her afternoon baking me the most wonderful cake in the world, completely homemade -- yellow cake with chocolate icing! MmMmMmMmMmMm :)

Everyone went home, and the evening eventually ended... but then the next morning....

Christopher & I went to The Mart in Atlanta to look for wedding rings! :) <3

We, unfortunately, didn't find one for me, since mine has to have a curve in it, and I did not feel comfortable leaving it with one of those companies up there, however, we did find Christopher's ring! It is just beautiful -- and he picked it out all by himself! It is not your average plain ring, it has lots of detail, and as soon as I find a picture of it, I will post it! I have to go back in 2 weeks to pick it up -- I am so excited! :) Now, we're just on a mission for my ring... Dun! Dun! Dun!!

Well, I have to get ready to drive to Macon for class... joy!

Love you all,

There after me lucky charms!

Yesterday was St. Patrick's Day and one of my favorite holidays of the year! Why? For tons of reasons... First of all, it's in my birthday month and the official "2 weeks until my birthday" day! (it's the March 31st if you didn't already know!) My favorite color is green -- it literally makes me feel happy to see it... and you see it everywhere all.month.long! And everyone is forced to wear it -- or get pinched!

So I got really excited thinking about something green I was going to wear, and decided to wear my white polo shirt, khaki pants, and the CUTEST green jacket from target (all purchased by mom now that I think about it... thanks mom!) So, I had to go student teach that morning in my first grade classroom (with my very own little leprachauns!) I walked in to a school that looked like a leprachaun had blown up in it -- the kids were walking around with green hair (the school would dye it for $1 donation to PTO), of course green outfits, green necklaces that lit up, crazy shamrock bobble-headband things, glittery-green shamrock shaped glasses, and the list goes on... but like I said -- it all made me happy! I finally get to my classroom, after making my way through what looked like a large group of leprachauns, and what do my students do? THEY PINCH ME! I was like "Ow! Why are you pinching me?" and their reply was "because you dont have on green!" I was thinking... these kids MUST be color blind - this is my favorite day and my favorite color, and I am wearing the CUTEST green jacket! And I said "yes, I am! My jacket's green!" and they said "Nope, it's not buttoned or zipped, so it's not really on...." and then proceeded to pinch me. Darn kids will use any excuse to pinch their teacher :)

So, not only did the school already look lucky charm crazy... but they took it even further! They made green apple cotton candy for all the kids to have after lunch! Of course I had to grab me a bag and it was good! I just couldn't get enough of the day, green cookies, green cupcakes, pot-o-gold from the students, it was just the perfect st. patricks day!

On a different note...

I am so excited for Chris & I to get married that it just can NOT get here fast enough! I have known from very early on, that we were going to spend the rest of our forevers together (even if he didn't!) and I have just been waiting for this day my whole life.

Getting married & becoming a wife, being a mother, and having a career as a teacher have always been my 3 main goals in life. I'm working on 2 of them now (not the other one for a couple of years!) and am just so overwhelmed that it is all happening! I never thought they would actually get here, and here they are! I am graduating in about a year to be a teacher, and I am about to be married and become a wife... but not just that, I am marrying the most wonderful man in the world! He is the greatest! I just love everything about him (well, nearly.. just kidding!) He is so smart and so sweet and caring and romantic I just can't get enough of him! I just wanted everyone to know how much I cannot wait to marry the love of my life and finally get started on knocking out these goals of mine! :)

I hope everyone else's St. Patty's days were as cherished as mine!

"I'll have what they're having, please!"

Happy 50th Birthday, Daddy! :)

Well, I anticipated this week to be h.e.c.t.i.c. seeing as how Spring Break is next week for me, but holy cow: Snow day on Monday, half a day on Tuesday... really?! Let me start from the beginning... :)

Christopher & I, as you know, went home this past weekend for my dad's 50th birthday (he would just love that I keep reminding you of how old he is! hehe) and usually stay until Sunday afternoons, however, Saturday morning we woke up and found out that Newnan was expecting some 4 inches of snow starting early Sunday morning. So, we stayed through the evening on Saturday and went on home that night. Good thing we did! Newnan got plowed with snow! ... & Milledgeville got... the sugar dust coating. :) Now, don't get me wrong, it snowed like crazy here, but never ever stuck, bummer! So we sat our cozy little selfs inside all day (because our snow was yucky since it came with rain), and caught up on our television shows, played video games, just simply hung out. We got so jealous though, as both of our siblings kept sending us pictures of the thick snow they had and the fun they were having in it... Why couldn't we have that? Having a yucky day like that does not bother me one bit.... as long as we get a snow day for it! And that's exactly what happened... :)

So Monday was an unexpected day off for me (and a blessing in disguise as I had bagoodles of homework to do if I wanted to enjoy any sort of Spring Break next week). Christopher, of course, had to go into work still (he works for his dad), and so I spent my day doing homework (the good girl I am). I didn't get out of my pj's ALL day... and my sweet hubby-to-be even went grocery shopping for me (I really snagged me a good one, ladies)! He got home so late, we didn't even really eat a decent dinner -- I hadn't thought about it, and it was too late to cook anything, so....

Today, I knew I had a half a day off from school. We're supposed to be working on this project -- but since it's not due for a while, I dedicated this time to catch up on my sleep ;) I made sure, however, to cook that sweet hubby-to-be of mine a good dinner -- Swiss Steaks & Gravy (in the crockpot, of course!) This meal is incredible! Here's the recipe from "Slow Cooker Magic -- A Seasonal Selection of Family Favorite Recipes" if you'd like it:

Ingredients:

3 (.87 ounce) envelopes gravy mix *I love McCormick's Brown Gravy mix*
2 1/2 cups water
2 to 2 1/2 pounds beef cube steaks
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 tablesppons butter or margarine
3 tablespoons oil
1 onion, peeled, cut in half then sliced
1 cup celery, sliced 1/2 inch thick

Directions:

1. Sprinkle the gravy mix in the bottom of the slow cooker pot. Whisk the water until no lumps remain.

2. Cut cube steaks into 8 serving-size pieces.

3. In a shallow pan or dish, combine the flour, salt, and pepper. Dredge the steaks in the flour mix, shaking off any excess.

4. In a large skillet (preferably cast iron), melt 1 tablespoon each of the butter and oil together over medium heat. Brown 2 or 3 cube steaks for about 2 minutes per side. Remove and set aside. Repeat 2 mroe times, adding 1 tablespoon each butter and oil to the skillet first.

5. Place browned steaks in slow cooker, top with sliced onion and celery. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. If you're home, after 4 hours, gently push the onion and celery to the sides of the pot and down into the gravy. If not home during the day, do it a half hour before serving.

6. Gently remove teh steaks to a serving platter with a slotted spoon or large spatula and pour the remaining juice into a gravy boat and serve!


There you go, Suzy Homemakers! Now, I am off to enjoy my delicious meal, fume over the Bachelor, cover my ears during American Idol and enjoy the rest of my day off! :)

Home Sweet Home

I am blogging to you from the comfort of my parent's home....Ah, how nice it is!

I remember when I was little dreaming of growing up, meeting Prince Charming and then living in a house that we would have built in my parent's front yard. Ha! Little did I know that not only would I not be living in my parent's front yard -- but not even in the same city! It's funny how things work out...

I, of course, miss my family and really wish I could see them on a daily basis, but Milledgeville is more my "style." It reminds me of Old Newnan -- not many big business or a whole lot of restaurants, just quiet and simple. I would not trade living in my house with Christopher in Milledgeville for anything (okay, maybe for an add-on to my house so my entire family could come live with me!) But, it's always nice to be able to come home, away from my reality of school life, wake up early for coffee with my mom, shop with Christy, joke with my dad, and see Sara & Nutter-Butter in person! :)

Thanks to Skype though, seeing them everyday has been easy! For those of you who don't know, it's pretty much awesome! I can video call my family any time any day and actually see them as I talk to them! And the best part is that it's FREE! This has been especially great since I get to see my Nutter-Butter almost daily now!

This year is a big year around the Perkins' abode... I am getting married, Nathan is turning one, Dad & Mom both turn 50(!) and it's also their 30th year anniversary! (Wow, I hope Christopher & I make it that long!)

Speaking of Dad turning 50, Mom threw him a surprise party and invited the entire family over for steaks, baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, baked beans, salad, pineapple casserole and strawberry cheesecake for dessert! It was sooooo yummy & so much fun to see everyone!

I'm playing daycare this morning, and Nutter-Butter's waking up...duty calls!

Ta-Ta for now! :)

Ready or not... Here we come!

So, let me start off by saying I am VERY excited to become a blogger! My sister, Sara, has been a blogger for some time now, and I have been a very avid reader of her blog, mostly because she updates on my nephew, Nathan (whom I will from now on refer to as Nutter-Butter :) )

Speaking of my Nutter-Butter... he has gotten so BIG! I hear he is a whopping 18 pounds and is only 6 months old, people! I cannot wait to see him this weekend when Christopher & I go home!

"Who's Christopher," you say? Oh, well he's this fella I fell completely in love with and am engaged to be married to May 23, 2009 (Wow, that's soon... might want to start on that planning... just kidding!) And since my blog is so properly titled "thisisourfairytale," let me tell you about our fairy tale... (Note: If you know this story and want to skip ahead, please feel free. If you are not familiar with our story, please stay tuned... its a pretty cute story!)

My maternal grandfather is a Methodist minister and traveled every so often to minister at different churches. Back in the 70's, he was assigned to First United Methodist Church in Milledgeville, Georgia. My mom was in middle school and just so happened to go to school with Christopher's mother, Cindy. My grandfather then I got re-assigned and eventually ended up in Newnan, Georgia where my mother met my father, fell in love, and got married. They soon after decided to move to Milledgeville to go to school at Georgia College & State University. It was here that they became close friends with Christopher's parents who had also just recently gotten married. They double dated all the time -- went out to eat, went out dancing, played cards, etc. My parents moved back to Newnan, and lost touch with his parents with no communication for over 25 years except for the occasional Christmas card and photo.

In the Summer of 2006, my grandfather got invited back to the FUMC in Milledgeville to preach for their 200th anniversary. Since their family had such wonderful memories of Milledgeville, he wanted the entire family to go and re-live their fun times, visit their old house, the old church, etc. So, my mom says to me "Becca, I would love to see Cindy & Smiley again, but have no idea how to get in touch with them. I know they have a son around your age because of the Christmas card photos... could you try to find him on facebook?" So that's exactly what I did. And boy, did I find him!

I took one look at the boy and my heart fluttered. My good friend, Katie Sprinkle was with me, and I told her just how good looking I thought he was. I, reluctantly, ended up shooting him a message asking him if he was Cindy & Smiley's son, and asked if they were going to be in town that weekend... unfortunately they weren't because they were on vacation, but we didn't stop the conversation -- we just couldn't stop messaging each other with innocent email flirting. I then, courageously, invited him to Newnan to spend a weekend with me, he turned me down, but invited me to Milledgeville to spend a weekend with him instead. For some reason, my heart said to go ... and so I went. This could have been the best decision of my life.

I knew from that first weekend that I was completely in love with this boy and that we were in fact going to have something pretty darn special. We spent every weekend with each other alternating between Newnan and Milledgeville. Within the next couple of weekends, I knew we were going to be together the rest of our lives.

Christopher completely wooed me. I'm talking DOZENS of roses every weekend, teddy bears, secret planned dates, candles, just anything romantic you can name, he did.... it was perfect!

Other than just being completely head over heels for this man, fate had me dealt in. Y'all, no kidding... he is partially named after MY dad, shares a birthday with my little sister, our grandparents were friends, our parents were friends, our aunts were BEST friends, my uncle took his aunt to prom, his great-great grandfather tried to "pin" my great-aunt (fortunately, she turned him down!), and our sisters both had babies within 10 days of eachother... Coincidence? I think not!

So now, here we are. I moved to Milledgeville to be closer to him (that long distance thing was just too much!) and to go to school in Macon, Georgia and we live together in a quaint little house with a sweet little cat, Delilah and our lives could not be happier.

We look forward to telling you all about our fairy tale as we approach our wedding date in May and all about married life for the Giles :) So, ready or not... here we come!