Did That Just Happen? REALLY?!

SoOooOooo, guess what peoples!

I PASSED MY DRIVING TEST ON TUESDAY!!!!!!!! IT'S FINALLY OVER!!!!!!!!!!

It's surreal. I don't feel different at all. All I have is a piece of paper and a little card to prove it..... I think I'm in shock. I'm keeping my cool about the whole thing, which is very odd for me. It's like I'm being an adult about the whole thing. Yick :P Usually I'd be ecstatic about it, jumping up and down, screaming, telling everyone, etc. SO WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? I'm turning into a boring adult!*squeeks with fear*

I think the test went well. My driver instructor was nice enough, but very serious. She didn't crack a smile at all, but I guess if I had her job I wouldn't either :D That job would suck.
We got started right away, which I liked because then I didn't have time to freak. I hate waiting for things like that :P The first things she had me do was get in the car, buckle up, start the engine, test out my turn signals, brake, and sound the horn. This may sound dumb, but I had never used the horn before in Robert's car and for some reason we passed over that part when he was teaching me all the controls the day before :P So, I hesitated and frantically looked around for the horn. I've used one before (when I was little), but that was in a different car. It didn't take me long to find it and she didn't mark me for any hesitation on the report *phew*

After that we took off for the driving part. We basically just drove around the block :P I didn't have to change lanes, go on a one way, or anything really complicated. Just basic turns and stops. I think it lasted maybe 10 minutes? I didn't time it, but it didn't seem very long.

Then we headed to the maneuverability test area, and she instructed me to go the right of the point cone and guess what?  I DIDN'T HIT ANY FREAKIN CONES!!!!! Robert and I practiced and practiced and practiced some more until I finally was able to do it 4 times in a row both ways the night before the test!!!!! Btw, I'm sorry I left you guys hanging with my last driving-related post! The past few days I was just trying to stay focused and not think about the test too much.

After maneuverability, she had me park the car. (I did a really crappy parking job, guys. I thought I was done for.) Then she immediately started in on all the things I did wrong. My mind was going "ohcrapohcrapohcrap" I figured I had failed. Then I heard her saying that I had passed and it was rather unbelievable. I totally expected to have to take it twice.

I actually passed.

My end results were 85 points on driving and 95 on maneuverability :) UNBELIEVABLE.

So I did a little photo shoot when I got home from work.

I DID IT!

I wore one of my favorite outfits :)

I'M FREE!!!!!!!! Sorry this is blurry :P

*big sigh of relief* It really is over. Now I can enjoy my life :D

To celebrate, I bought myself a thredUP dress that I had been eying for a few weeks now. I'll show it to you when it arrives :) 
Mom also surprised me with earrings and a Sacred Heart of Jesus driving pin to put in the car (It actually belonged to my Maw-maw that passed away in 2012, so it's all the more special now.)

GAH I'm so happy :)

Thanks for all the prayers, support, and encouragement you guys have given me! I know all of it helped me get through it.

And to my hubby: Thanks for being there, giving me your shoulder during my not so fine moments (there were a lot of them :P), and for making me get back in the car and drive. I know I couldn't have done any of it without you :)


Have a goodnight, guys!

Cheerio :)

Alice in Wonderland Blog Party via The Notebook Sisters - Day 2

Day 2!

In their second post for their Alice in Wonderland blog party, Cait and Mime shared an interview with A.G. Howard, the author of the Splintered trilogy! I am SO excited to read these books! I need to request them at my library A.S.A.P.

A.G. Howard also is graciously offering a giveaway of an audio book of Unhinged and a swag pack! To sign up for the giveaway check out Cait and Mime's post. There are LOTS of ways to enter, so get over there right now!

I don't claim to own this image.

Isn't the cover beautiful?! *squeal*

Alice in Wonderland Blog Party via The Notebook Sisters - Day 1

Hey people :)

Cait and Mime @theNotebookSisters are throwing a week long Alice in Wonderland blog party to celebrate their blog's 3rd birthday (which I think is pretty awesome) and there are prizes to be won, fun to be had, and a good dose of madness all around! I'm doing this. I'm a little behind, but oh well! Better late than never. If you want to join, check out their post through the link above, link to their post, grab their blog button, and have fun!

I don't claim to own this image.

So for the first day they started with a Tea Party Blog tag:


1. Just Alice: What book cover(s) has made you super curious?

Poison by Bridget Zinn. I haven't read it yet, but I want to! The cover is pretty awesome and it's what drew my attention to the book. I'm hoping the book is as beautiful as its cover.

 2. Mad Hatter: List the craziest character(s) you've ever read.

My mind has gone blank :P Okay,okay, I guess I can think of a couple.

Adeline and Emmeline in "The Thirteenth Tale" by Diane Setterfield. Crazy I tell you.

King Leck in "The Graceling series" by Kristin Cashore. He was creepily crazy, I didn't like him at all.

3. Red Queen, Off With Your Head! What book have you felt like beheading?

Julie and Julia by Julie Powell. I didn't even finish it I was THAT fed up. I wasn't expecting this book to have trashy stuff in it, because the movie was so cute and lovely, but I guess that proves how different books are from their movies. Yick. It was very behead-able.

 4. White Rabbit: What books or series have been insanely popular but you've been "late" to pick them up?

Um....everything? :D I haven't been in the loop lately. I've been trying to read all the books I have in my bookcase that I haven't read yet, so trips to the library have been almost nil. But I did recently read the hunger games after they had been out for quite awhile.

 5. Caterpillar: What's the most confusing book you've read?

Well, I might have to say Alice's Adventures in Wonderland because absolutely nothing made sense! And I just read it for the first time this year, so yeah. It's fresh in my mind and all.

 6. Dormouse: What was the last book that sent you to sleep?

I seem to like falling asleep while reading any of the Lord of the Rings books. Maybe I was just too comfy, Idk.

 7. Cheshire Cat: Book that made you laugh and smile?

The Penderwicks! I was smiling and laughing hysterically throughout :D

 8. Knave of Hearts: Most recent character who stole your heart?

Percy Jackson? Idk. I was rooting for him and Annabeth, but I don't think he stole my heart...

 9. Jabberwocky: Best villain you've read this year?

Count Olaf. Always has an evil scheme cooked up.

 10. Down the Rabbit Hole: What's the latest book/series/author that's completely swallowed your interest?

Splintered and Unhinged have captured my attention and are on the top of my books to read next list!


Happy 3rd birthday Cait and Mime!!!!

Cheers :)

Our Wedding (Part 3) - The Ceremony Music

 

 

 

 

 

Hi!

I thought I would share the songs we chose for our wedding music with you guys :) I'll list the videos in the order the songs were played.

Here ya go...

The Prelude:

Romeo and Juliet Love Theme (A Time for Us)  from the 1968 version of Romeo and Juliet. I LOVE this movie. My mom went to see this in theaters with her sister when they were teens :)
Robert's sister played this on piano for our wedding.

The Islander (Instrumental version) by Nightwish. Robert's and my fave of their songs.

May It Be. Robert's sister also played this.

The Music of the Night from POTO. Unfortunately we couldn't get Gerard Butler to sing it for us.
Also played by Robert's sis.

Josh Groban's "You Raise Me Up." He wasn't able to make an appearance either :P
Robert's sister played a lot of our songs...she's so awesome :)


Processional:

For the Seating of the Mothers we chose Gabriel's Oboe from The Mission.

For the procession of my attendants we chose For the Beauty of the Earth. I've always loved how they sang it at Meg's wedding in Little Women :)
Guess who played it? :D

I chose Pachelbel's Canon in D for my entrance.
She also played this one!



Our responsorial psalm was "Loving and Forgiving". I couldn't find a video I liked for that one.


Lighting of the Unity Candle:

Be Thou My Vision by Michel Card.
Robert's sister played pretty much everything except the recessional songs and some of the prelude music.


For the Offertory song we chose "Morning Has Broken". I couldn't find a good video for this one either, our version was NOT upbeat.


Communion:

What Wondrous Love is This.

In Christ Alone by Keith and Kristyn Getty.


Presentation of Rose to our Blessed Mother:

Ave Maria by Celtic Women.

Robert's step sister played violin for this with Robert's sis on piano.


Recessional:

The "Finale and End Title" from the Quiet Man.

"The Call" by Regina Spektor. I lovelovelovelovelovelovelove this song!

"To the Sky" by Owl City.

"Real Life Fairytale" by Plumb.




Guys, picking out songs for this day was extremely challenging. Robert and I like way too many songs and we're horrible decision makers. Thankfully we made our decisions in time for the wedding :D

Hope you enjoyed!

The Dreadful Driving Test

Some of you know that I still have yet to get my drivers license. *wince*

I have avoided driving like the plague and now I'm 19 and I feel like I just need to get this license thing out of the way :P Cross another fun thing off of my list of "Things I have to do to pass as an adult." Ugh. Double UGH.

Well, my permit expires on the 31st, so this past week I've made myself get in the car and drive. I've had two permits so far, because I wanted to skip the drivers education class (once you're 18 you don't have to take it) and I don't really want to have to pay for a third permit, so here I am. Kicking myself for not practicing more and getting it done earlier.

I think I'm a good driver. Certainly not perfect, put possibly passable for the test. I've been driving a lot lately and I think I've worn off that rustiness from not driving during the long winter we had. So I'm not too nervous about the driver's exam.

That isn't what worries me.

To complete the driving exam in my area, you have to pass the driving test (which doesn't last too long, I hear.) and do all the simple things like braking, starting, driving without hitting anybody, etc. Then, you have to complete a maneuverability test so they can see how well you can back up through orange cones.

This is what worries me:



I don't claim to own this image.

Looks pretty simple, right? I thought so too, until I started practicing yesterday. It's hard. It kicked my butt. I despise whoever thought up this lovely little torture course. I lost count of how many times I tried and failed to do it. I got through maybe once on one side without hitting anything, but that was sheer dumb luck. I wasn't able to repeat it, that's for sure.

I'm thankful I can practice at the actual site, I just have to bring my own markers. A nice man who comes in at work lent me his orange cones for as long as I need them, which was really awesome of him, so that helps.

Robert and I are going to practice it again tonight and I'm just dreading it. I was a puddle of tears yesterday :P I was planning on trying to schedule my test for Friday, but I don't know if I'll be able to pass it now. My confidence level is at it's lowest. I don't want to have to re-take the maneuverability test.

How am I going to get through this? 

Prayers are greatly appreciated. I'm going to need a miracle.

What was your driving test like? Does your state have you do maneuverability or something similar?

Love you guys :) Thanks for listening to my rant. Or reading ;)

Tag Thingy With More Random Questions

Hello there!

My bloggy friend ,Treskie, did this tag thingy and it looked like fun, so here it is :) Enjoy!

11 Random Facts About Me:

1.) I'm a big Phantom of the Opera fan, in case you didn't notice ;) I would love to see a Broadway production in New York City.
 I fell into deep, deep, love with Gerard Butler after the 2004 POTO movie. He's Scottish, okay? A girl has to fall for a movie star at least once in her life, right? Or twice? (William Moseley 'Peter Pevensie' was my next love after I got over Gerry) It was kind of ridiculous how much I liked G. B. Like embarrassingly ridiculous. *slides down in chair*

Oh gosh, I hope Robert doesn't see this post. *waves* I love you honey!

2.) I like Disney. A lot.

3.) I hate centipedes. We had one on our bed last night and I almost couldn't find it after it skittered away. *shudders* God is good. He made it's presence known so I could smash it :) I was able to get to sleep after that!

We live in an old house so we have more than frequent visits from unpleasant little creatures :P I think Robert hates them more than I do though. He sometimes goes on centipede hunts in our basement at night so as to decrease their population :D

4.) I'm rubbish at video games. I try but it just doesn't get better :P Mario party is fun though, even if you suck at it :) Nancy Drew computer games and Lord of the Rings online are my thing.

5.) Scooby Doo was my favorite cartoon when I was little and I still love it :)

6.) This is the only way I would eat an apple when I was little: It had to be whole and I would pretend to be Snow White and faint after I bit into it.

7.) So one afternoon when I was still pretty young, I was innocently watching Mr. Rogers. He proceeded to pull out a blank book and asked all of his little listeners what they saw in the book.

Note: We had to imagine what we saw.

Well, being the smart little child that I was, I said "I see nothing."

He continued to ask what we saw.

Appalled at how ignorant this man was, I indignantly started yelling "I see NOTHING!!!!"

Which led to Mom running in to see what was wrong :D

Sorry, Mr. Roger's!

8.) My favorite holiday is St. Patrick's Day. I like all of them though.

9.) I like colorful socks :) They are sooooo fun!

10.) I plan to make a replica of Thranduil's crown someday.

11.) I love bookmarks. "nuff said.

Treskie's Questions:


1.) When was the last time you felt like: MIND BLOWN?

When I found out that the snake that Harry Potter frees at the Zoo is also Nagini later on in the books O_O (If that is even true...I'm not sure if J.K. Rowling actually said that)

2.) What is your view on the general public.

You mean the woman at Wal-mart wearing obnoxiously colored jammie pants while yelling as loudly as she can at her 2 year old?

Or the lady that was extremely rude and walked out on me at work because I couldn't remember exactly how to do a gift certificate (I had never done one at that place before) and my boss wasn't answering her phone so she couldn't walk me through it?

It depends on the day. Mostly not too good. I have to deal with them everyday at work and I've discovered just how many unpleasant people live in this world. On good days, a lot of nice people come in the store and the world is good again. Work would be great all the time if we didn't need customers! Hehe :D

I don't know. I like hiding away at home and escaping from the world so I don't have to deal with people. But I also know that there are some great people out there, and some are just having a really bad day, so I guess I have to forgive them on days like that.

3.) Have you watched Olan Rogers?

No....never heard of him actually.

4.) Do you collect sporks?

I don't, but that sounds like something Wall-e should be doing :D

5.) Do you collect something?

When I was little I collected mini porcelain dolls and Barbie dolls.

These days I like to collect Russian nesting dolls, books, daggers, fairy things, mermaid things, phantom of the opera things, Irish things, nerdy things etc.

6.) Are you getting tired of Frozen's hype?

A little bit, maybe. I like the songs better than the movie itself and I'm still happy when one of them plays on Pandora, so I guess I'm not tired yet.

7.) Les Mis or Phantom of the Opera

PHANTOM. I'm not a big fan of Les Mis *winces as tomatoes are thrown in my direction* Sorry! I liked it better when it wasn't a musical (The movie starring Liam Neeson), not that I don't like the songs. Idk. I was really turned off by all the crude parts in the new movie and I felt like they were singing everything.

POTO is just better in my opinion.

8.) Does Walmart give you a headache?

Sometimes, yes. I try not to go there too often.

9.) Can you find a gif that expresses the word "booyah"?

I can't seem to get it to show up so here is the link:

http://gph.is/1kBCtzL


10.) Favorite candle smell?

Unscented is the best because scented candles usually give me a head ache. Although my friend gave me one called 'Sweet Pea' and that smelled really good and not overpowering like some are.

11.) Can you complete this quote? "These are not the _________."

All I can think of is "These are not the droids you are looking for." :D But if it's just one word your asking for then I fail pitifully.


My Questions:

1.) Which Pevensie is your favorite?
2.) Which Penderwick is your favorite?
3.) If you could choose a theme for your bedroom, what would you choose?
4.) What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
5.) Favorite dwarf? (From the Hobbit)
6.) What board game do you like the most?
7.) Mermaids or Unicorns?
8.) What book are you currently reading?
9.) If you could buy a Disney t-shirt what would it be?
10.) Would you rather be a Hobbit or an Elf?
11.) Would you go fairy hunting with me?

So there you have it! I'm not going to tag anybody, just feel free to do it if you want to! And I don't care if you just answer the questions I made up and skip doing the 11 randoms. It took me awhile to even think up that many :P

Goodnight Peoples!

 

Our Wedding (Part 2) - The Pictures!

Here they are!

These are most of the pictures that just have me and Robert in them, since the majority of my family don't want their pictures on here. *sobs*

There is still quite a lot, though! At least you'll get a good idea of what our wedding was like :)

We had the perfect kind of weather, not too hot and not too cold! I was so glad. I've been to some weddings where it just poured the entire day :/

 

MY DRESS!!!!!!!!!!

Me, while my train was being tied up :) Ugh, that blasted thing took forever to figure out. I just wanted to be able to move around! If trains weren't so pretty I definitely would have gone with something more practical for movement.

This is why I wanted to move around so bad. There was decorating to do! For my flowers, I just told the florist my favorites and let him design the arrangements. I was blown away by what he came up with! I loved everything about them :)

I bought the candles for our unity candle at Meijers, the stand on Amazon, and the ivy at Hobby Lobby :) 

The Memorial Table. My mom's parents (Paw-paw and Maw-maw), my dad's father (Papa), and Robert's dad. I only met Robert's dad once. He died of cancer the year we  met. We wanted to remember all of them in a special way and this is what I came up with. The flowers in the silver pot are from Lowes, I forget what the curly grass was called but the blue flowers are blue moons, I believe. At least that is what we've always called them!

The pew decorations! I found the music sheet cones on Etsy and the flowers and ribbon at Wal-mart. I LOVE how they turned out!

Another cone. I did lilacs and hydrangeas with a variety of different ribbon for these.

Our programs, designed by a dear friend! She did an awesome job! She also took our engagement pictures, which we used on our invitations, programs, and wedding website :) (The random flowers were put on this picture for privacy) The basket was found at goodwill :)

When the flowers arrived! I had my florist glue hydrangea blooms onto clips so I could put them in my hair. They were perfect :) Pssst! Notice the evenstar?! GAH! Geeky-ness was must on my wedding day, obviously :)

My dress again! And my bouquet, which was my favorite out of all the flowers :) I found my dress on Ebay for $152 with free shipping. And they custom made it at that price! My mother-in-law and I added the lace sleeves, lace at the neckline, (it was a sweetheart neckline originally) shortened it (cuz I'm short!), and added the bustle hooks. It was just perfect! It reminds me of Rose's "Heaven Dress" on Titanic.

 

The back with the bustle up. I don't think I have a picture of the lace up back now that I think of it! Darn. If you look closely you can see that I am wearing a chapel length veil. I also bought that on Ebay. It didn't spread out as much as I would have liked, but oh well, it was pretty :)

My sister did a braided crown with my hair and then I curled some of it. It takes forever to curl my hair, so I did just a few strands here and there.

My groom :) We found his suit at Men's Warehouse. He already had the dress shirt, shoes, and tie so that helped :) I still find it funny that his suit cost more than my dress, but at least he can wear his more than once! I made the blue handkerchief sticking out of his pocket from some sari material I had in my stash. For Robert's boutonniere I had the florist do a white rose tinted with blue, with some purple flowers. 

*swoons*

This is the flower girl basket! I found the basket at Jo-ann Fabrics, the ribbon from Wal-mart, and the grape hyacinths in my parent's yard :)

My nerves were starting to sky rocket at this point! I had to hide away in the bride's room at our Church while guest arrived. Yipes, I'm glad I don't have to walk down that isle again :D

Just look at it!

My sister's bouquet. You can kinda see her dress in this picture.

Peek-a-boo! The pic before venturing out to the front of church.

Going in.

Almost there. Thankfully you can't tell how nervous I was! Of course then Dad made me cry before going down the isle, which kind of helped because then I was more worried about trying not to cry instead of thinking about that long isle :D

His face while I was walking down. So serious. I think he was just as scared as I was! We don't like being up in front of a lot of people :D We also memorized our vows instead of having Father say them and then have us repeat them. So both of us were just trying to remember everything we had to do beyond this point.

Lighting our unity candle.

I really like this picture :) The rose behind us is for our Blessed Mother.

Presentation of a rose to Mother Mary. I chose "Ave Maria" to be played during this time.

The Kiss! People thought it was funny that I had to stand on my tiptoes :P I'm short, okay?

It's over! YAY!

There are only a few kissing pictures, I promise.

See my pretty train? I love the lace on this dress.

We made it through! I'm so glad I wore those blue shoes :D

Our church had some leftover pink flowers from Easter which I gladly put to use :) That's always the nice thing about getting married after Easter!

The train was worth it after all :)

Cutesie :)

It was bright outside!

We had to do a peek-a-boo picture for Robert too.

I love this picture!

Besties.

This is my favorite picture of us :)



I love how well my blue hydrangeas and his rose went together!

Our getaway car :D

Pictures on the reception grounds.

They have a lovely gazebo there that has been used for weddings before. I had my train hoisted on my arm because there was unfortunately a lot of duck poop on the ground :P

For some reason this reminds me of Tangled.

Our photographer was thrilled when Robert spontaneously kissed my forehead. It was so funny how happy she was about that :D

Blue shoes, hehe :D

I had to have a picture of Robert holding my bouquet, of course. :)

Just before going into the reception.

The people at our reception venue were SO sweet!

Our Cake Topper. I still cannot believe I found this!

I loved my cake lady. She has the same name as my mom and she also homeschools here kids! She is an awesome lady :) Her cakes are unbelievably tasty and she even did a gluten-free cake for us! I had a picture of what I wanted my cake to look like and she matched it perfectly. I bought the flowers at Hobby Lobby for the cake, the paper butterflies I made using a Martha Stewart butterfly punch, and I made the Eat Me sign out of poster board and sharpie :)

Our Entrance :)

Pretty presents!

Mingle, mingle. :) It's so difficult getting to everybody! People were already started to leave when we started going around to each table :P

The Blue Rose.

Our head table décor.

This was either my brother's (the best man) or my dad's boutonniere, I can't remember. 

The guest book table.

The beginnings of eternal servitude! Hehe, just kidding :D The food was wonderful.

Cutting the cake with my Medieval dagger to the "Blunt the Knives" song from The Hobbit :D Perfect song, right?

Ready, set....

.....stuff! We were nice, I promise :) I was eyeing him suspiciously in this one though!

"U'm mot fimished wif mwa cake!"

Our first dance to "Lottie Lies Among the Flowers" by The Willis Clan.

I think one of us might have stepped on the the other's foot in this picture :D

Throwing the bouquet! The girl in green right behind me caught it :)

And they all lived happily ever after :) The end! Hehe :)

I hope you enjoyed the pictures! It was a wonderful, happy, and amazing day :) It went so fast though! :(

 I have a couple more wedding related posts in the works so stay tuned!

Tootles :)