the weekend.

this weekend definitely contained every possible emotion at one point or another...
Saturday was an uber-productive day! We were finally able to focus completely on wedding plans for the whole day. We met with the florist and toured the church and reception site. We were pleasantly surprised at how much we LOVE Ali, her ideas, and her prices. Here is our inspiration for flowers and colors for the wedding...

We love all the shades of cream, green and brown. I think it should be beautiful in December! Check out http://www.stylemepretty.com/ for other really cool wedding ideas (if you are planning a wedding). We also finally ordered bridesmaid dresses (navy blue) and picked out a flower girl dress for Avery. Saturday night was spent with our sweet friend Kate... she is a VERY talented graphic designer, and is doing all of the design for save the dates, invitations, etc. I am really lucky to have such talented bridesmaids. We finished the Save the Dates - all we have left to do is write addresses and put them in the mail! It felt great to mark 3 big things off the really long wedding to-do list. Also on Saturday night, I finally painted our entry hall. I'll blog about that tomorrow.

Sunday was a heavy day. Our wonderful church community was faced with the biggest hardship we've seen in our measly 1.5 years that we've been together. It is something that breaks our hearts and leaves us feeling very confused. Justin and I spent the day just trying to express our thoughts and feelings, and ended up having Kate and BT over for some group therapy. Kate's mom is what we like to call a "wise old owl" and she was kind enough to act as a therapist to us all and helped us to sort through ideas and thoughts. The 5 of us had dinner together, and Wise Old Owl decided that herself, Kate and I would immediately make the journey to Nordstrom in Raleigh for some retail therapy. They had invitations to the Preview of Nordstrom's Anniversary Sale, and let me tell you - it's AWESOME. All of the new fall merchandise, we were 3 of probably 15 people in the store, and 30% off!! I saved $100! Here's what I got...

I know that most of you think they are ugg-ly. i do too. However, they are the only things that really keep my feet warm. And they were a great deal. I also got these...
... actually i can't show you a picture of it, because they aren't on the Nordstrom website yet. Sorry, kids. They are beautiful brown flat riding boots with buckles.

After this weekend, I am most thankful for my friends and family, and the close community that we all share.