Guest Post: Kristin @Kristin's kNook

Hi Pretty Rambles readers!
I'm Kristin and my blog is Kristin's kNook.  I'm an Army wife and my husband, Scott, and I are stationed in Alaska.  I talk about food, exercise, my job as a teacher, movies/t.v./books, and our Army/Alaska life in general.

Since Kristina is taking a "blog-cation" to get married, I figured I'd talk about my own wedding...
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Sometimes I cannot wrap my mind around the fact that Scott and I have been married for THREE years already.  Dude, I feel like we just met!  Actually, we ended up as husband and wife less than nine months after we met.  Crazy, right?

We met in August 2008 and announced our engagement in February 2009.

We were planning a September 2009 wedding, but then, without much warning, we decided to get married early.

It's a very long "blah-blah-Army-blah-paperwork-blah" story.
 

(Kristina told me I could write a "post".  She did not give me permission to write a "novel".)

We got married on a rainy Tuesday morning in May.  My parents, the pastor, the pastor's wife, and my cousin/MOH were the only ones in attendance.  To say it was a hurried affair is quite the understatement.  Scott had to be at the airport (3 hours away) to catch a 1:30pm flight back to Officer Basic Course training in Missouri.  We rushed to the local courthouse to be there when they opened at 8am.  We got our license.  We got a waiver because we needed to get married THAT day (in Pennsylvania, there's a 3 day wait period).  We rushed to the church.  The pastor met us there and married us.  Just like that.  Like I said, crazyfast.

And then I drove Scott to the airport, in the rain, me pretty much in tears because I didn't want him to leave again.  It was only for a few weeks and then I was flying to Missouri to meet him, but that's not the point!  It was our "wedding day" for crying out loud.

Anyway, he ate at McDonald's at the airport, but I was too much of a bundle of nerves to eat.  I don't remember eating them but, according to the receipt, I ordered chicken selects and bottled water. 

Don't think for a second that I didn't save the receipt.  I keep it in one of our Bibles.

I stopped at the mall on my way home.  I bought a few summery things at American Eagle.  (You all did that on your wedding day too, right?)

The next day, I went back to my job long-term substituting in a kindergarten classroom.  Yes, I did, in fact, have to take an unpaid day off to get married.

My mom did take pictures at the ceremony and those pictures grace the frames at my parents' house.  However, there are no digital copies.  I'll leave you with a picture of our "real" wedding that followed on September 12th.  There was no pressure.  It was a great big party for all of our friends and family.

Rainy rehearsal dinner.  I had the cutest outfits picked out for this rehearsal dinner.  Then it got all cold and we had to layer up. 

I recommend that everyone get married early!  I stand by it as the best decision we ever made.

Oh, it rained that day too.  Go figure.
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Congratulations on your marriage, Kristina!  May you have many happy years together, and have fun on that honeymoon!

Leave Your Wedding Wishes

Hello again, Pretty Rambles readers!  

Alison from NYC Recessionista here to do something fun ... since Kristina will be getting ready for her wedding in just 24 hours, let's give her something to come back to:





(Source)

That's right -- leave your wedding wishes for Kristina & Brian here in the comments!

Guest Post- Monica of Life As I Know It

Hey guys, 
Just checking in! I've had the pleasure of relaxing the past couple of days while getting some last minute stuff done. Hope you are enjoying some of my guest bloggers this week.  How great were Ali and Monica?? Today we have another Monica! Monica posts over at  Life As I Know It  Over at Life As I Know It Monica blogs about her husband 2 beautiful children, Friends and Faith. Be sure to stop by and visit. Thanks Monica for posting while I'm getting ready for my rehearsal dinner today. 
-K






Hi guys I'm participating as a guest post for Kristina! I'm super excited to chat a little bit about Marriage. 


Where do I start? 


Well we've been married for 19 years this August and boy has it been a ride! I found out early into our marriage that my husband had a problem with anxieties which he was trying to self medicate with prescription drugs and alcohol which became a huge problem as you can imagine! Without going into details there were days I didn't think our marriage would survive! With the help of God and the love we share for one another we have come so far from those early years! There is no perfect marriage! Everyone will have their share of trials in their relationship but take it from me as long as you have love, faith, Honesty and communication there is nothing or no one that can come between two people who truly love each other! To this day when things feel like they are too hard to handle I always go back to those 5 words we said to each other on our wedding day! " For Better or For Worse" and here we are 19 years later still together and blessed with two beautiful kids and still growing old with one another! I love my husband so much and know that no matter what life may throw our way as long as we're together we can get through just about anything! 

Thanks so much, 
Be sure to stop by and say HI!

Guest Post- Monica Amazing Times are Coming

Hey everyone! I am Monica from over at Amazing Times are Coming! I was so excited when Kristina posted that she needed guest posters while she will be getting married and honeymooning it up! This is my first guest post so have mercy on me Please!!!

Yep, that's me! 

Oh I didn't mention I live in Chicago?! Well I do! Feel free to come visit and party with me! 

I think we can start with some things you should know about me and then since I am sooo very excited for Kristina I will share some of my wedding & honeymoon dreams via Pinterest...because who doesn't love some fun pics from the site that I spend hours of my life on?

Random tidbits:

-I dance! All the time and anywhere

-Music saves my soul-without I'd be lost

-You + warm chocolate chip cookies = besties for life!

-I quote Wedding Crashers & Snatch at completely random inappropriate appropriate times

-I laugh way more than is probably normal

Now that I've enlightened you we can check out my Wedding Dreams. If the boy is reading this(probably not) he should take some notes!

We'll start with a this...

Source: goo.gl via Monica on Pinterest

Then a little bit of this...

Source: ohdarlingwedding.blogspot.com via Monica on Pinterest

And that....

Source: stylemepretty.com via Monica on Pinterest

Source: greenweddingshoes.com via Jo on Pinterest

Source: fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net via Monica on Pinterest

Oops! How did that get in there?!?!

And to top it off....

Source: redbubble.com via Monica on Pinterest

Ooh yes folks I dream big!! Feel free to stop by or check my blog or me out on Twitter!  I hope you all enjoyed my dreams! Thanks again to Kristina for letting me guest post!

Guest Post - Alison of NYC Recessionista

Greetings, Pretty Rambles readers!  


Alison from NYC Recessionista here to kick off the next week or so of guest blog posts while Kristina goes off and gets hitched!  I am so incredibly happy for her that her big day is almost here -- I can't think of anyone more deserving of a happily ever after.


Over at my blog -- while I am usually talking about clothes, shoes, jewelry, and of course discounts and sales -- every once in a while I like to talk about other things related to women, pop culture, and life in general. Today I thought it might be interesting to take a look at something most women never talk about: scars, beauty marks and birthmarks.



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While most of us might look at them and cringe a little bit, or be self conscious about them, we ought to realize that these marks are something so totally unique and beautiful. No one else has anything quite like them. And isn't it the little things about someone that makes them unique the very things we love about them the most?


In my almost 30 years, I've collected some scars ... and they all have a story attached to them.

I honestly have no idea how I got this scar on my wrist, but it's a pretty nasty looking one ... I really can't remember it, so it must have been when I was a young child.  I am sure it had something to do with playing outside.

I got the chicken pox when I was about 4 or 5, and it left me with this scar right on my forehead.  Most of the time it's covered by my hair, but when I pull my hair back it's instantly noticeable. I was super self conscious about it growing up that I always had bangs. Practically everyone has a scar from the chicken pox though, so what's the big deal?

Not sure if you can even see this, but I have these diagonal lines permanently etched into my knee (dead center in the photo, just to the left of the shadow). It's from the kneepads I used to wear when I played high school volleyball ... repeatedly diving on the floor, the material would give me what felt like rug burn. It was crazy painful! I don't think it's ever going to go away ... and I still kind of miss volleyball.

This tiny scar on the side of my middle finger (the round mark next to my knuckle) has a really stupid and funny story. I was little (maybe 7 or 8 years old?) and I really wanted to go out and play, but for some reason whoever was watching us at the moment (I think it was my grandparents) wouldn't let me go outside, so I punched my hand through the glass pane of the storm door on our back porch. What on Earth was wrong with me?! 

 And then there are the beauty marks and birthmarks I've had since I was born. 

Yes, this is my belly button.  Yes, I've had this beauty mark next to it for as long as I can remember. Yes it makes me think of Madonna and Eva Mendes.

It's barely noticeable, but I also have had this dark birthmark on the side of my leg for as long as I can remember. I guess it kind of looks like a glorified patch of freckles, no?

What kind of scars do you have ... are you willing to share? Do you have any birthmarks or beauty marks that you really kind of love, or really kind of hate?

(All images courtesy of NYC Recessionista)

Last few things before the Wedding!

Hey guys, today is my last poet before I take a little blog-cation to GET MARRIED!!!! Holy crap! My nerves have set in and I'm starting to feel a lot of emotions. I can't wait to marry my best friend but I feel a little weird about the whole thing. I was freaking out the other day about changing my name. I have a lot of stuff still left to finish. Today will be my last day at my office too. I plan on getting everything done the next 2 days and then actually relaxing. I have a massage planned for tomorrow and I plan on pampering myself and getting a manicure. 

I will be leaving my blog in some good hands! I have some awesome guest bloggers for the next few days be sure to come back this week to say hi! Before I go I'll leave you with this. 

My good friend Elena played this song before her bridal party made their entrance. 

It was a HUGE hit with all the guests. 

Source: google.com via Kristina on Pinterest

Source: marthastewartweddings.com via Kristina on Pinterest

Source: google.com via Kristina on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Kristina on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Kristina on Pinterest

Source: thevintageapple.com via Kristina on Pinterest

Bridal Shower Part 2

A fews ago all of my staff, my boss, along with my mom surprised me with another bridal shower. After work my mom planned on grabbing  bite to eat with me at a Mexican Restaurant close to my job before heading out to look for wedding makeup. Once we were seated I was more than surprised to see all of my staff wearing sombreros  and yelling. I am NEVER surprised but they got me and got me good.

I had such an amazing time. The girls had been putting it together for months. I was honored! We chatted, laughed, enjoyed their salsa, guacamole, sangria (maybe a bit to much) and this amazing cake...

Does it look familiar???

Source: soontobeamrs42912.blogspot.com via Kristina on Pinterest

It tasted amazing. Coconut buttercream and cake. YUM! I was so grateful for all their thought and hard work that went into the day.

SOS- Date Night Red Skinnies

This Saturday Brian and I went out on a romantic dinner to kick off a wonderful week because by this time next week I will be a married woman!!! Holy crap! We had a super busy weekend and the past few months have been stressful and full of lots of stress induced fighting. We want to thoroughly enjoy this next week. I am less of a nag when things get accomplished so now that almost everything is done I feel less cranky and I'm sure Brian loves that. 

Saturday we started off early. I got my hair done, Brian donated blood to a local boy in need (I didn't because I'm still recuperating from last week and my veins are all screwed up from the bad dehydration) We finished all our groomsmen, ring bearer, parents and bridesmaids gifts. After all our busy work we headed out to a nice dinner. 

We had planned on one place and no joke we couldn't find the place! It was an adorable little place on a lake. So instead we hit a local brewery. Two dollar Killian's Irish Red, I was sold. I haven't eaten much all week and lost 7 pounds. I wouldn't suggest it but I felt skinny so I broke out the red skinnies! 

Details:

Red skinnies- Old Navy

Tank and shoes- Target

Blazer and hoops- NY and Co. 

Tomorrow starts a crazy wedding week. I have some scheduled posts for the next few days. I hope you will bear with me. Later on this week I will entrusting my blog to some super sweet chicks. I hope you enjoy! 

Linking up with Mandy

Wedding Music...FINALLY

Wedding music has been the thorn in my side for months now. The idea seems so easy when in reality it sucks the big one! It is really difficult to put music together to please not only yourself but everyone else that will be attending your wedding. Wedding guests will always remember the food and the music so it is a high pressure situation! Since its crunch time I really picked several of our favorite tunes and left the rest up to our djs.

Here is what we chose:
Remember this post when I talked about Vitamin String Quartet?

Groom's entrance- Everlong, originally by Foo Fighters


Parent's/ Grandparents and party- Chasing Cars, originally by Snow Patrol


Bride- Stolen, originally by Dashboard Confessional

Cocktail Hour and Possible dinner songs:


Lovely Day- Bill Withers

Only You- Josh Radin

L.O.V.E- Nat King Cole

The Luckiest- Ben Folds Five

Amazing- Josh Kelly

Please Forgive Me- David Gray

Moondance- Van Morrison

Don't Move- Butch Walker

Sunday Kinda Love- Etta James

Wake Up- Coheed and Cambria

You Make it Real- James Morrison

Home- Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

Banana Pancakes- Jack Johnson

Lover Lay Down- DMB

Cheek to Cheek-Fred Astaire

These arms of Mine-Otis Redding

All You Need Is Love- The Beatles

Over the Rainbow-Isreal Kamakawiwo ole

Use Somebody-Kings of Leon

Sparks- Coldplay 

Reception-

Introductions-

Kick off the reception- The Pretender- Foo Fighters (Brian is a Huge Foo Fighters fan)

Our wedding song-You Are The Best Thing- Ray LaMontagne

Father Daughter Dance- Fathers and Daughters, Paul Simon

Mother Son Dance- Stand By Me, The Beatles

Bouquet Toss- That Girl- Maxi Priest

Cake Cutting- Rainbow Connection- Kermit

Requests-

Hallelujah I love her so, Ray Charles

The Twist, Chubby Checker

Run Around Sue

Higher Ground, Stevie Wonder

Love Man, Otis Readding

Can't Get Next to You, James Brown

Johnny B Good, Chuck Berry

Turn Me On- Daivd Guetta and Nikki Minaj

Party Rock-LMFAO

Give Me Everything (Tonight)- Pitbull

Don't Stop the Music- Rihanna


Slow Requests-

Look After You, The Fray

You and Me, DMB

A Thousand Years- Christina Perri

Marry Me- Train

Crazy Love- Van Morrison

So what do you think?
You like how we go from Otis Redding to Nikki Minaj???



Songs we don't want to hear-

Line dances- any and all of them, Electric Slide, ChaCha slide,

No Conga lines, YMCA, Funky Chicken, We are Family

No Celine Dion, No Journey or Bon Jovi


So what do you guys think?
I still have time to add some more so what are some of your favorite wedding songs to dance to?

Its Ok...

My creative juices are not flowing this week! I think all the weight I lost over the weekend came from my brain. Not the best way to leave my bloggy friends before taking a blog-cation next week. I'll try to get you something creative and fun today and tomorrow.

Linking up with Neely...
Oh and make sure you check out her current giveaway



It's OK...

- To have eaten my first meal in 5 days. Yep I got some protein into my system.

- To have lost 7 pounds! Not the way I lost it but still 7 pounds when getting married in 10 days is ok.

- To finally finish (kinda) our wedding playlist. I picked my favorites and a  don't play list.

- To think New Year's Eve is never going to be the same with out Dick Clark and to think Ryan Seacrest is no where near as great as Dick Clark was. Rest peacefully Mr. Clark.

- To really want to go shopping for items not related to the wedding.

- To have mixed emotions about my wedding. I am so happy it is finally here. I can't wait to become Brian's wife BUT I've been planning for 18 months. I have a feeling I may be depressed after it all ends. Have any other brides ever feel this way?

- To have not had coffee in 6 days. I really want it!

Happy Thursday friends!
What are you OK with with week?

Oh How Pinteresting...

So, I feel like I'm back in the world of the living. Whatever type of virus or food poisoning was honestly the worst pain I have ever felt. Four days of non stop illness. I lost 7 pounds. Tuesday was the first day I was able to eat and keep anything down. I'm wishing myself better because I have so much to do for this wedding there is no time for illness!!! I had lots of couch time so of course to keep my mind off I being sick I hit Pinterest hard. I even got my fiancé into it. He was thrilled when he realized you could see boobs and recipes all on the same site...such a guy...
Linking up with Michelle.


Here are just a few to make you smile...

Source: quickmeme.com via Kristina on Pinterest

Source: someecards.com via Kristina on Pinterest

Source: dogs.icanhascheezburger.com via Kristina on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Kristina on Pinterest

Source: someecards.com via Kristina on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Kristina on Pinterest

Source: nytimes.com via Kristina on Pinterest

Source: piccsy.com via Kristina on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Kristina on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Kristina on Pinterest

Source: d24w6bsrhbeh9d.cloudfront.net via Kristina on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Kristina on Pinterest

Party Foul

I can't believe I'm actually typing this but I was a complete bachelorette party failure. No on the part of my b-maids and friends, they were wonderful. It was me and the horrific virus that took over my body on Saturday. I felt sick all day on Saturday but I tried to work through it. On the limo ride down to the supper club I started feeling worse. I pushed through it but I felt terrible. I tried sipping ginger ale and the owner made me some white rice. All my gals were having a blast and I was just terrible. I couldn't smell the food with out heaving. I asked my girls to leave way earlier so I could go home. When I got back I made sure they went back out and enjoyed the last 4 hours with the limo.

Brian was at his bachelor party so I was home alone, sick as a dog. My stomach hurt so badly I couldn't sleep. There were points of the night where I cried for my mom and Brian. I couldn't call Brian because I really didn't want to ruin his fun. They are the only 2 people who comfort me when I'm sick. I had never felt so bad in my life. I could tell I was getting dehydrated. I hadn't eaten anything more than bread and 2 bites of rice. At 5am I got the best surprise. Brian had come home to take care of me. He just knew something was up when I texted him much earlier in the night. Instantly his hug made me feel better.

By 8am I had been up about 15 times. I was so thirsty but couldn't hold a glass of water. My fingers had contracted from being dehydrated. Brian had to hold my head up and the glass. He told me if I didn't drink he was taking me to the ER. I forced myself to do it but it made things so much worse. By 10am as I was coming out of the bathroom I got very dizzy, he walked me back to bed and then I fainted. I woke up to him shaking me and the tone of his voice saying "Kris" (he never calls me Kris) scared the sh*t out of me. He insisted at that point we were going to the ER. Parts of my legs had turned blue. It was the most terrifying experience for both of us. We were both pretty scared. I swear my guy is a saint. On 3 hours of sleep he rushed around the house to get everything ready. He dressed me and all but carried me to the door. When in the hospital he called my mom and comforted me.

While in the ER they basically thought I had a virus or some type of poisoning. I haven't had a virus in over 10 years; go figure.They gave me IV fluids and medicine for the nausea. The dehydration was so bad they couldn't find veins for the IV.  My arms look terrible. These bruises better heal up in a few weeks. I took an extra day off to recover. I'm still sick, dizzy and can't eat a thing but I'm really hungry. The medicine causes headaches too so I'm just going to sleep this beautiful day away.

I feel so terrible I ruined the whole weekend. My friends worked so hard for me to have a great time. I feel so bad that poor Brian got 3 hours of sleep and had to basically be my nurse. That I fainted and scared him. The only thing I don't feel terrible about is the loss of 5 pounds.

Bachelorette!

So today is my bachelorette party.
I'm super excited and need to relax so it will be perfect. After my meltdown yesterday I shut off the world, got myself a manicure and got a good night sleep. Today should be a good one.

So far this is how my day looks...

Source: google.com via Jamie on Pinterest

Three miles with a good old friend and some good conversation.

Source: pinterestfreeguccibag.com via Prado on Pinterest

Sex and the City while relaxing on the couch

Source: google.com via Kristina on Pinterest

Putting on this dress, some knee high boots (Minus the awkward pose)...

Source: en.wikipedia.org via Eric on Pinterest

Drinking a bunch of these

Source: maps.google.com via Kristina on Pinterest

While partying here!


and having a blast with some great girls!