M.I.A.

It's been almost 6 months since I posted on my blog. Six crazy/fun/busy And exciting months and SO much has happened. Now that I feel like things are settling down I really want to get back on track with blogging. 

Mainly because I have so many fun things to share! 

We have a home! 

We have a new member in our family (he's furry and I'm completely smitten!) 

We are coming up on our 1 yr anniversary and I couldn't be happier as a MRS. 

I am so blessed by our marriage and all the doors God has opened for us.

I can't wait to be back soon with pictures, projects and stories to share!!

xoxo,

Candace

.Big News.

Lots has been going on in our world lately...

Most importantly....we found out this week that Michael is coming home!!!!

It's been a whirl wind of an experience and everything is happening so fast but we are so extremely excited! God has surely answered prayers and we cannot wait to finally live in the same city as a married couple!

With that said, I am currently typing away from our apartment in AL for what could be the last weekend we have to spend here! This coming week we will be sharing the holidays together in TN then Michael will return to AL for what should be his last week of work here! 

You can guess that when we got the news the only thing we have been able to think about is buying a home...our very first one! And let me just tell ya....we have been dreaming, anxious, and ready to start this process for a very long time.  So next week we will be officially starting our house search! Words can't describe how incredibly excited I am to find a place to call our own, to fill with all our pretty wedding gifts, and to decorate!! 

We definitely know what we are thankful for this Thanksgiving! In the midst of all the excitement going on, I will do my best to check back in with updates on our home search and the holidays!

xoxo,

Candace

.Bachelorette.

Tomorrow is Friday and I could not be more excited....

I'm only working half day at work, getting on the road to be reunited with my husband, and heading to Tuscaloosa to spend the weekend watching the Rebels take on the Tide.

Another highlight of the weekend, I get to spend it seeing my long lost best friend Meghann!

This leads me into the real reasoning for this post....

Meghann was one of my MOH along with my BFF Ashley.

The two of them did a fabulous job planning our fun girls getaway to Nashville for my bachelorette weekend!

While Michael and his groomsmen spent Memorial Day weekend on the gulf coast, the girls and I heading a little ways North for a fun weekend in the Music City.

 Here's the 5 of us before we left to head on the road. 

(my cousin Kaylee was the only bridesmaid that couldn't make it that weekend)

We arrived on Friday afternoon at the Gaylord Opryland Resort Hotel...

it was so fun to stay at such a beautiful hotel all weekend! We loved it!

 These two kept me laughing all weekend....

 You can maybe see why.... haha found a random sleeping woman to pose next to.

 Ashley and Meghann had the cutest set up on our balcony when we arrived to the rooms!

 

After settling in we changed to get ready to head out for dinner! 

 We found a delicious spot for dinner and then headed out on the town!

Side note: Nashville bars aren't too keen on Beyonce song requests...needless to say all we got to hear was country music haha (we can't help we are Memphis girls and enjoy a good rap song every once and a while :) hehe)

After a long night of fun we arrived back at the hotel looking a little more rough than when we left!

We woke up Saturday, got ready, and headed to downtown Franklin for lunch and shopping! 

We found the cutest lunch shop, then strolled the streets and visited all of the cute shops! 

So much fun! We made it to Opry Mills mall to hit up a few places like the J Crew outlet....

then back to the hotel to freshen up for dinner and another night out on the town!

Sweet friends! I sure love my bridesmaids!

Again, we found an awesome little place for dinner! Meghann was excellent at finding us some fun and unique places to eat while on our trip!

 

We had so much fun on Broadway! Excellent people watching, fun dancing, and great company!

What an awesome weekend!! I was so happy to spend some of my last days out as a bachelorette with these girls!

 

I'm so thankful for these sweet girls who I've been able to call friends for so long! I love each one of them and am so glad they stood beside me when I said 'I do'!

Happy Weekend to you all!

xoxo,

Candace

.Back Tracking.

Looks like I need to do a little back tracking and catch my blog friends up on some of the fun details leading up to our wedding day!

 Here were my invites! I had the invite design created on Etsy and had them printed on pearlized paper by my neighbor that owns a printing business.  He also printed the pale pink chevron on cardstock that backed the invite.  Finally, layered on the back of it all was kraft paper cardstock to cover the white from the chevron.  All in all, 3 layers thick of cardstock that I hand assembled which made for a very sturdy invitation. 

Tied around the invitation was our RSVP info on a scalloped kraft paper circle tied with seafoam twine...I was so lucky to find such a perfect color!
As you can see, we went with a more modern RSVP approach and opted to save some money and have people respond via email...
I must say it was a huge success! We had the vast majority of people respond and only a few older people weren't computer savvy and let us know by phone call instead.
This small detail saved lots of money on the extra paper, design, and postage for traditional RSVP cards and I wasn't ashamed at all....guess sometimes it's worth it to change with the times!

 The invitations were tucked away in a matching pearlized envelope with our return address printed on the back flap and sealed with a custom label printed with our names.

 This is the design I used for the envelope labels.  You will see later how else I used it at the wedding!

 Above is our monogram label that was used throughout the wedding as well! I got both designs created on Etsy for me and I love them so much! Again, be watching for where else I used this monogram label in the wedding!

 I made a Honeymoon Fund jar to sit around the house and at showers to save a little extra money! It was a fun craft one night while I babysat my flower girl! Plus I got to use our Candace & Michael label design again!

 I couldn't have been more happy with my flower girl's dress! It turned out precious and perfect in every way! I'm still debating on ordering one for myself in a cute color....I love me some bows!

I bought wooden hangers and attached handmade burlap bows to them to give to my flower girl and bridesmaids! I was so happy with how they turned out! :)

 I had another beautiful shower in May and was so grateful to get so many wonderful gifts!

 My bff and MOH joined me for the day.

 Of course my sweet mom was there.

And Michael's grandmother's joined in on the fun.

 My sweet mother-in-law.

And me and Mrs. Susie with the lovely hostess for the afternoon!

Here is my preliminary setup of the exit table above and entry table below.

I'll show the final outcome in the wedding picture post coming soon!

 And I'll end this post with a picture of my "new daughter," Macy.  She's very big as you can see her head is bigger than mine....she can be a pain, and she sheds a lot...but we love her.

I just love that this picture is the background on Michael's phone and work computer....he loves his two girls and that makes me happy!

Be back soon with more! :)

xoxo,
Candace

.Life Lately.

Lately, every day seems to be a challenge.  Some days are better than others.  

My weeks are spent going through the motions....work, walk, eat, relax then bed and do it all over again.  While 200 miles away my sweet husband is doing the same alone.

My weeks are spent feeling half-full....I long everyday for Friday when I get to see my husband.  We are literally living for the weekends. 

This has proven to be such a trying time in our journey together.  We want more than anything to officially start our lives together in the same city but we are stuck between a rock and a hard place with our current job situation.  We are praying constantly and trusting that soon things will work out.

Leading up to the wedding and in the months since I have told myself repeatedly that it will all be worth it in the end...that this time will go by fast...and that we can handle it for a short time.  Trying to remind myself that we are both blessed with great jobs and opportunities that others don't have.  I've genuinely had a positive attitude and have stayed as optimistic as possible until lately.

Some days the distance takes it's toll on me.  I find myself becoming bitter lately and I HATE that.

I find myself so frustrated seeing other couples living happily together, getting to enjoy everyday life together when quite honestly we don't even feel married some days.

 

I'm not asking for any kind of sympathy....I guess I just needed a place to vent a little tonight. 

I thought about sitting down and sharing some new paintings and my upcoming endeavors to bring them to others but instead I just needed to talk.

So...be looking for more posts to come about what I do during the weeks to occupy my nights.

I pray for this bitterness to go away because it's not how I want to be.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for happier, craftier posts!

xoxo

Candace

.Bliss.

I always knew I would love being married.  It's a time that I have always looked forward to.

And these past <almost> 2 months have been blissful.

Marriage is truly one of the greatest gifts that God could ever give us.  

Nothing is sweeter to me than knowing that I have someone to go through life with....share our days, dreams, and our love and I am so glad God picked such a wonderful man for me.

We are still in a rough situation where we don't get to see each other but on the weekends which can be really hard, but I must say we are learning a lot about patience and I have no doubt that this time apart will only strengthen the bond that we have. 

We dream daily of what our first home will be and when we will get to share that fun time but no matter what our ideas may be we know that God's plan for us is so much greater.  We may not know the next steps on this journey or what tomorrow holds but we rest in the reassurance that God has it all planned and knows what's in store.  

xoxo,

6.9.12

I don't think a post by me could do any justice to describe our wedding day.

It was so incredibly wonderful...it was beautiful in every way and was all I could have ever hoped for.

It was (almost) perfect.  I only say that because my sweet husband woke up on our wedding day with a stomach bug.  He was the best groom ever though because he pushed through the day and night, smiled, and made it the best wedding I could have ever dreamed of.  I simply hate that he wasn't feeling his best and wasn't able to enjoy the reception and dancing as much as he would have. 

At the end of the day we were married! And that is absolutely all we could have ever asked for!

I am officially a MRS. and I have loved every second of it!

Every wedding has that one mishap or story to be told.  Other than M being sick, I would say our mishap occurred after the ceremony.  M and I along with the photographer and her assistant went walking behind the church to find an open, green area to take some pretty pictures.  We found just that behind a gated fence that was open.  With me, M, and the photog inside the gate, a big gust of wind blew the gate shut and you guessed it....we were locked in. 

We proceeded to get some good shots before we decided to address how we were going to escape.

Being the calm, determined bride that I somehow was that day, I suggested we climb over the fence.

Of course I got crazy looks and firm "no's" considering I was in my wedding dress. 

It didn't stop me though, I took off my sandals and proceeded to climb the chainlink fence in my dress.  My groom stood behind and held my dressed and helped me carefully ease over without damaging it one little bit.  I think we all kind of stood there in shock when I made it to the ground on the other side.  M climbed up and hopped over real quick.  Then our photographer was able to gather the determination and climb over as well.  Definitely something crazy we will always remember from our wedding day!

The photographers were even able to get some photos of us in action climbing the fence so make sure to look for them on the link below!

Without further adeu....you can check out our photos by our awesome photographer by clicking the link below!

C&M Wedding Photos

You can also check out our highlight video by our wonderful videographer by clicking the link below!

C&M Highlight Video

Hope you enjoy the little glimpses into our special day!!

xoxo, Candace