The Hitchin' Post - Invitations

During this wedding process, I have become more aware of how giving people are.  We are constantly coming in contact with people who love love & who have a giving heart.  With fabric, burlap, lace, ribbon, card stock, to printing the invitations.. sweet folks have been giving us discounts just because they feel like it.  It could be my mom's real personality and her ability to make a joke out of nothing that makes them connect to our story, maybe its our willingness to bend, make-do, & compromise so easily...  regardless, people are crazy good. 

Background story:  last week I freaked out a little bit when I realized we were like 8 weeks away from the wedding.  I freaked out because we hadn't ordered wedding invitations... or really, the card stock for the invitations, which would take a little time to process then ship, then we had to go get the invitations printed on the card stock and then packaged, then addressed, then stamped and finally, sent out.  And with my ridiculous academic calendar for the month of April... I got a little stressed out.  So Mom & I decided that we were just going to go to a fine papers company in Winston Salem, buy the card stock they had and then go get it printed the next day.  A normally a week to a week and half project done in 24 hours -- seems perfect right?

Well, perfect-ish.  We went and bought the card stock.  They did not have full sets of what I wanted, so in our second natural we bent & compromised & left the store content.  Next, we were trying to figure out who could print the invitations for cheapest... to come & find out that MOST stores don't print on pre-cut card stock.  They usually do large sheets, print multiple copies & then cut them in the size we wanted.  Well, we then realized that the card stock we just bought was final sale.  Crap. 

While Mama was walking through the jungle maze, also known as the grocery store, I was calling every printing store I could think of.  I called Sam's sister to ask where she got her invitations printed, my dad filled me on places that he has used to print blue prints, I called the "go-to's" such as Staples and FedEx.. nobody.  Feeling a little overwhelmed, I plopped down in the "for decoration only" outdoors table set while Mom stood in line texting all her friends for suggestions.  She mentioned to me Office Max, so I called and put on my "stranger voice" -- ya know, the really high pitched, perky, pleasant voice that you use with strangers -- Mr. Rocky from the printing department of Office Max told me that I could indeed get my invitations printed on pre-cut card stock!

"Oh my word, are you serious?  YAY (clapping of my hands)!  Are you sure?  I need [this size & this size].  Seriously?  YAY!  Okay, see you tomorrow morning!  Thanks so so much"

So Ashley & I got up early Saturday morning & headed to Office Max.  After a almost 2.5 hour adventure in Office Max (we were the only ones there in the first 2 hours), we have adorable printed invitations on cute, little card stock and the rest of my Saturday looked liked this:

Until around 7 at least.  Then I went over to the Scott's residents to celebrate the 21 candles of Miss Sidney Lee with a cookout, cake & a drive-in movie (in their own driveway!)

iPhone picture.

The one with HAIRSPRAY.

 My roommate, Liza, is seriously one of the best YoungLife leaders ever!  She pours every single ounce of her emotion, time, money, and love into her sweet girls.  I am encouraged by the hours she puts into contact work in order to spread the gospel whenever she can, wherever she can, to whoever she can.  

One of her girls got the lead role in her high school's musical rendition of HAIRSPRAY!  I adore musicals.  Liza got everyone in our house a ticket plus one for a close friend of ours... and we decided to make a night of it.  We all decided to get all ditty-ed up and go grab some sushi in downtown Raleigh before we head to the show.

 

HAIRSPRAY was awesome.  Megan (aka Mego) killed it.  She was so spunky & fantastic

from start to finish.  I could not stop smiling the whole time I was there.

The schedule usually never works out with all 4 of my roommates: Jenn is a student teacher & YL leader,  Im planning a wedding, Sarah is knocking out interviews & job offers like nobody's business & Liza is consumed by a new major & her awesome gals.  So, nights like this, where all of us get together & devote time to one another is seriously the sweetest break we could all take from our crazy schedules.

The ones Im thankful for.

 I think the Holidays can be stressful.. but in the end - I am humbled and thankful for the stressful schedule.  I am thankful for family.  I am thankful to have both sets of my grandparents.  I am thankful for travel.  I am thankful love.  I did not get to spend much time with Sam this holiday as his family was headed to the beach to celebrate the big turkey.  But I am thankful for his understanding for me to be home.  I am thankful for him, completely - for his love, his heart for Jesus, for his blonde hair & baby blues.  I am thankful for family - for who they are, how they challenge me, and for loving me so well.

 

The day after Thanksgiving is usually one of my favorite days of the year.  During the Holidays I get to see a lot of family, which is great - I adore that time.  But the day after Thanksgiving is a day where us five get to spend pretty much the entire day together.  This day I adore also because it is always chock full of laughter, fun and pure joy.

As scheduled, we went to Reed Island Farm to get our Christmas tree.

 Ashley walked around with this dead gnat on her lip unknowingly for like 30 minutes.  I was dying.  

She has such a good sense of humor and can laugh at herself.. so I know she didn't care if I posted this.

 

 My parent's this year got each other a television for Christmas.  I know this because I was a part of the Thursday night hustle and bustle of "killer deals" (words of my mother).   We stood in line.  We got that Golden Ticket.  We went thru the drive-thru pick up.  & we did it on zero-gas.

Today, when we got back from getting our Christmas tree, we rearranged our living room furniture to set up for our new TV.  & then started to mount the TV -- which was definitely  bigger than a one-man job. 

 

We are excited but more than that, we are thankful.  Not exactly for the television.. but more for the day spent together.  What a joy we found in each other - in jokes, frustrations, happies, meals, fields of evergreens, or sweetly sitting next to each other in front of our new tube.  

I am thankful for those four souls.  & I can't help but think of some lyrics from the Avett Brothers:

...there was nothing worth sharing like the love that let us share our name

I am thankful to share my name with these four souls.

I am thankful.

The one who isn't slow.

 My family has this game that we play in the car.  We call it the "Artist Game".  When we ride in the car, the radio is guaranteed to be on and the first person to get the artist singing the song gets the point.  I think we started out with the titles of the songs but it wasn't a big enough challenge for the music junkies we are.  There is no reward other than the self gratification of knowing more artists than the rest of your family for a day.  Not to brag, but me and my dad own that game.  Mom, Ashley and Ryan really don't stand a chance when Dad and I are in the car.  Again... not to brag. :)  However, when a certain season comes around, Dad and I are quickly dethroned by Mom.  She owns the Artist Game - Christmas edition.  Which I believe is a true testament to her love for music.  Because a lot of times, you hear a song that is familiar and you just remember who sings it... where as with Christmas music, ALL musicians sing the same song, so you have to have a talent for figuring out who is singing that version O Holy Night or that version of The Little Drummer Boy

My mom loves the holidays.  Every single aspect of it.  And I have happily inherited her passion for home, cozy things, and all things red and green.  But this year, I have seriously caught a disease.. and it all started with this sucker. 

 

My roommate brought some pine cones from home to decorate for the Thanksgiving season.  I started playing around with them but wasn't satisfied with a bowl of pine cones. So I found some green burlap and really liked the touch.  Then I found a red candle.  Loved the colors together.  Found some twine.  Loved the rustic touch.  I happily slid this little beaut to the center of the table and before I knew it Michael Buble's "It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas" was playing on my Pandora station.  That was October 29th.  Halloween was still on deck.  But I still cannot seem to change stations. 

 

I told mom about my holiday felony and that following weekend she bought me a Christmas candle.  (P.S. Chestnut and Clove from Bath & Body Works smells exactly like Christmas.  Smells so dang good)  She gave me the go ahead to start celebrating Christmas.. I just have to start out slow.  

Last night, I went to Target and somehow Christmas lights ended up in my bag.

  

And when I got home, somehow my Christmas mantle piece came out of the closet.

 And then somehow Christmas colored peanut M&M's filled a glass jar.

 And then somehow stocking holders found their way out of the closet.

 

And now.. I am about to go paint my nails a "Berry Naughty" color that somehow came home with me from Target.

 _______________________________

Whoops.  Slow is obviously out of the question.

The one with Davy Crockett.

Here at Joby's, we only had one trick-or-treater.  But one was just enough for me.  My sweet blonde came as Davy Crockett and was in character the whole time he was in our house.  He naturally kneeled down and threw up that gun when a camera came into the room.  The kid rocked it.

 

Once Davy Crockett went on to invade other homes, my roomies and I ordered two large pizzas and spent our Halloween night piggin' out and watching Hocus Pocus.  Some say that's lame.  We say relaxing.  It was also just a great time to spend with one another.  Our schedules are CRAZY off this semester.  It is a rare occassion for all four of us to be the in the house, it's even more rare for all four of us to be in the house with no distractions (school, young life talks, projects, etc.) in front of us.  So we made a point to spend this spooky night in the comfort of each other in our home.

Hope everyone had an incredible Halloween!

The one tonight.

Tonight, is the first Friday night I've spent the night in my Raleigh house in 5 weeks!!  Whether it be my fall break, Victory Junction, weddings, Windy Gap or like last weekend... the beach.  The beach in October is my favorite time to go.  My family didn't get to take a family vacation this summer and used my little brother's fall break to take advantage of a small getaway.  I left Thursday morning, skipping a couple classes to spend a long weekend with my parents and brother.  My sister had a charity walk for work and Sam had his own family plans.  We stayed in a friend's condo, where I slept happily on the pull out couch.  Early Friday morning.. let's say around 6:20-30.. my parents woke up to their usual circadian rhythm to enjoy coffee and the sunrise.  How thankful I am for early bird parents because every morning I got to watch the sunrise.  What a blessing?!

 Also, my family are food people.  We like to try the favorite local spots and we hit jack pot (or shall I say steam pot) with Duffy Street Seafood Shack.  There my family & I engorged ourselves with calamari, oysters, clams, scallops, crab legs, and low country boils.  More specifically, my family are seafood people.  We are thankful for aquaculture.

When we weren't shoving our faces with local seafood goodness or drinking multiple cups of coffee to cheerfully bring in the sunrise we were soaking up them rays, fishing, and sleeping in our Vitamin D.

 

Yes, you are allowed to be jealous of my sweatshirt.  My sweet grandma got this youth large sweatshirt for my 6'4'' brother a couple years ago.  Thankful he was never able to fit in this comfy, shark-surfing sweatshirt.

 

Im missing the beach this Friday night.  I miss the idea of knowing a coffee cup and sunrise will be there to greet me in a couple hours.  I miss hilarious scattergories at night.  I miss the weather.  I miss being with the most laid-back people in the whole world. 

However, I am thankful for this Friday night back in Raleigh.  Thankful for sushi suppers with my roommates.  Thankful for a warm house and a TV that constantly plays FRIENDS.

Good night, Raleigh.