Tuesday, December 22, 2009

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Sorry for the lack of Christmas cards this year. Kinda busy!!

I hope that everyone has a wonderful Christmas and New Year's with their friends and family!

Safe travels!!

More wedding

Here are more wedding specifics:

Photographer - sister of my friend Becky. I love the artsy photos! No studio, posey pictures for us!
Cake

Caterer

It's coming together!

Obsessed

I am obsessed with these candles. Such a clean, pure smell!! Perfect for the kitchen!


Good Air by Yankee Candle.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Wedding!!!

So, here are some updates on the wedding.

Website - www.vansantandshingler.weddings.com
Date - June 5
Location - Old Government House, Augusta, Georgia
Honeymoon - www.ladera.com and www.capmaison.com

This is all very exciting! I was overwhelmed at first but have gotten most of the big items nailed down and hope all the small things fall into place. Yay!

Mixon/Collins party

Steve (Collins) and Michelle (Mixon) had a Christmas party on Saturday. It was a great evening!
With Michele Rigsby.
Matt and Jay - the Georgia Southern boys.

Melanie and Eric.
Steve, Brad, Trey and Dozier.
With Brad. : )

November

I'll get right to it...
Megan, Brad and Adi with Shingler cousin Johnni. She is a pistol!! This is at Bill and Debbie's wedding in Charleston over Thanksgiving.
Table arrangements. Beautiful!

Brad with his Uncle Don, enjoying the cigars out by the fire pit.

Bill and Debbie cutting the cake.
The wedding and reception were at Magnolia Plantation. The ceremony was out by the Ashley River. Amazing!

Adi's parents at Thanksgiving at Debbie's sister's house in Aiken. There were about 30 people in for the wedding. Tons of fun!

With Brad and Megan at the Johnsons for Thanksgiving.

Trevor Bowen's 1st birthday. He made a mess and loved every second of it!!

Brad and I got to use Mom and Dad's tickets to a bluegrass show at the Imperial while I was dogsitting. This is the main act - the Steep Canyon Rangers. They were really good!!

Opening act - Shana somebody. She had a great voice but all of her songs were really slow...

Friday, November 20, 2009

Gone too soon...

Sad news out of Athens. UGA VII passed away yesterday from a heart attack. He was just 4 years old and had not even been on the sidelines for two full years. Prayers go out to the Seiler family and the Bulldog Nation. RIP UGA.


Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Gone to the Dogs

I have been dog-sitting for my parents since Friday. They have 5 dogs (one of which is Levi's)! And, I brought Banjo. So, I am trying to handle two German short hairs, one German wire hair, two labs and a puppy Dutch Shepherd. Man, I am brave!!!

Kalli likes to aggrevate Banjo and this is usually how is starts - her trying to go for a piggyback ride.
And then the playing begins. These are from my phone so not very clear. These dogs are fast!

Banjo usually wins. Or, gets tired of being harrassed. : )
I will try to take pictures of the others later this week...


Monday, November 16, 2009

I'm back!!!

So, I know I have been super-slack. But, I think I have finally settled in enough here to post. Yay! Although, there have been few exciting events, I will share what I got. : )


Before I left Charleston, actually the day I resigned, we were hosted on a harbor cruise by Adventures in Charleston. If you are ever planning anything there, look them up. They rock! Anyway, this was a wonderful evening on the water!


Candice, Katie, Elizabeth and Nicole - some of the Wah girls. Miss you!
Brad proposed Thursday, we moved Friday and had Jennifer Mills and Charles Dunstan's wedding on Saturday. We learned at 4:30 that the wedding was at 5 and not 5:30. Oops. But, we made it as the grandmother's walked in and had a blast! Here is what is left of the cake.
Beautiful flowers.
Eric and Melanie!
This was a rather large wedding. It was in a tent at her family farm in Dearing. Great food, a cigar bar, fireworks and tons of paper lanterns!

Last weekend, Brad and Megan hosted a party in Augusta for their Dad and his fiancee. They are getting married Thanksgiving weekend in Charleston. Brad and his Dad showed up in the same shirt. Love it!!

We all worked super-hard (Megan the most though) to get the house ready and food prepared for the 30 or so guests. It was so nice to finally meet a lot of his family friends.

Bill and Debbie! Congrats!!
Brad and two of his friends are building a house here in Augusta to sell. It is looking good!

A view of the golf course from my office. It's a nice one!!

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Cookies!

As some of you know, my friends Katie/Shelby and Matt/Anna Cate started a specialty cookie company in Birmingham, AL. Well, now their website and storefront are up and running!

Please check them out. They ship wherever and are yummo!!

www.icingonthecookie.net

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Proposal

I know it's been awhile but, as usual, things have been busy! I wanted to give you the details on Brad's proposal last Thursday and then I promise to upload photos and more news soon.

So, we went to dinner at Oak Steakhouse in Charleston. Yummy, of course. This was our last night in town as we packed up and moved everything on Friday. Brad was running a little late so we pushed the reservations back to 9 and met there. When we were done, he suggested we walk to his car and he would drive me back down to mine. Despite the fact that my car was within a block and it had started misting. I agreed and off we went. Once we got closer to his car, he started pointing out some pretty places nearby and we ended up at Waterfront Park overlooking the Cooper River and Harbor. Of course, the rain starts picking up so I suggest we head back. He says ok but first he has a box for me to move and starts reaching for his pocket. (He moved half of my house by himself the weekend before and, although I didn't pick up on it at the time, I believe that was what he was referencing.) I start freaking out of course, pull him off his knees in the rain and we run for the car.

Now, for the best part of the story. As most of you know, I have been expecting this for a while and wondered why it was taking so long. Well, it turns out he bought the diamond over a month ago. The jeweler here in Augusta sent the diamond off via FedEx to be set in the design they made and FedEx LOST THE DIAMOND!! FedEx has six weeks to recover any lost items but, of course, Brad couldn't wait that long. So, the jeweler ended up getting him a better diamond at the same price. And, the reason he was late to dinner was because he was waiting on the ring which was supposed to be ready the day before. So, poor Brad had a really rough time getting this ring for me. And, he couldn't tell me any of this!! He talked to my Mom a lot!!

He did say when he finally saw the ring, it was all worth it. I agree!!

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Take Me Home...

As most of you know already, I am moving back to Augusta! While it is no Charleston, I am really looking forward to being close to Brad and my family again.

I am going to be the Cottage Director for Champions Retreat, a private golf club in Columbia County. They have about 15 cottages (not an apt description, in my opinion) with 4-8 bedrooms each available to members - most of which are corporate - and it will be my job to fill them!

I am excited and nervous at the same time. I was really lucky to get several offers and this is the one I chose. Wish me luck!!!

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Spring Valley Farm

As mentioned before, my brother lives on a farm in Athens. This farm actually supplies food for Farm 225 in downtown Athens. Yum!

Piglets with their mama. Dad is in the background. Big 'uns!
Rabbits in their pens.
Spider in the garden.

My picking some okra!

Flower on the okra plant. Who knew they were so beautiful?

This okra was yummy fried!!

Levi walking us through the garden with the farm dog, Lucy. So sweet!

On the way back to Augusta, we stopped to see my parents and their new pup, Kallie. She is a Dutch Shepherd.

Guinea hen chicks on the farm.

Huge grasshopper on some of the crops.


The farmhouse - really cool!

Crops.

Chicks!



OMG! These pigs were so loud!!!

UGA/SC

Despite our loss to Okie State, we braved the UGA/SC game. I was very thankful for the win, as posted earlier. Here are some pictures from Athens. What a great place!!

Sanford Stadium before kick-off.
Our tailgating spot on North Campus. The Gamecock in the white hat is actually Stephen Garcia's brother (Stephen is the Gamecock's QB). This guy played football at Harvard with our friend Steve and hung out for a bit.

With Michelle and Blake.

With Brad's sister, Megan, and her boyfriend before we walked into the stadium.


Whew!! Who expected this shoot-out?
Brad, Megan and Adi before the game.

Blake and Mike on North Campus.

Adi, Megan, Brad and I after the win!