All I want for Christmas is you.

Hello friends!  I hope everyone is having a good holiday season so far.  Work has been insane. Like no words for it, insane.  I went on vacation for a week to Orlando with my parents to visit The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (which is a separate post in itself that is coming soon) and to visit our cousins in Cumming, GA.  As vacations go, it was amazing and went too quickly.  

Now it's back to crazy hours at work and trying to get myself in the mindset for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  We're really trying to focus on family and each other this year and we're doing little to no gift giving.  Now that we're older we don't really need much and we're focusing on our wedding next year and getting bills paid off.  Plus, I would like to start getting into the habit of Christmas not being entirely about gifts.  So the only thing I splurged on was getting Christmas photos done and purchasing Mumford & Sons tickets for us to see the guys in April 2016.  

I hope everyone else had a spooky Halloween.  


Until next time...

Engaging.

The engagement photos are in and we love them.  I'm not going to lie, it was really awkward shooting these and we had trouble keeping a straight face through the entire process, but we are very happy with the end results.  I would say our favorite part was being able to include Chance (my lab/beagle mix) and Scotty (our westie) in our photos since they are like our children.  I'm glad we will have these to look back on.  

Until next time...

I do. You do. We do...

In less than a year, I will officially be Mrs. Andrew Graalman.  We did our engagement photos on Wednesday and each day it's starting to feel more real how quickly the big day is approaching.  Can't wait till we get the rest of our engagement photos next week to share with everyone. 

P.S. Thanks to Michelle Taulbee for capturing these moments for us.

Until next time... 

It's fall y'all.

1. Hello October.

2. "I would send you a bouquet of newly-sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address. On the other hand, this not knowing has its charms." 

3. Little Man.

4. Friends that walk together stay together

5. She found her dress (not pictured).

6. Girl time.
7. Brunch.
8. Celebrating Briana's birth. 

9. It's just a bunch of Hocus Pocus.

“I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”  - Anne of Green Gables.

Crisp air, pretty leaves, cozy sweaters, boots, football, pumpkins, flushed cheeks, walks in the woods, sitting in front of a fireplace, hoodies, nice smelling candles, scarves and mittens, bonfires, lots of cuddling, caramel apples, hayrides, corn mazes, hot chocolate, foggy mornings... I could go on forever.  It's only October 6th, but I'm pretty stoked we're actually having somewhat fall weather this month (so far).  Hopefully it continues.  Work is about to get a little insane next week until the 25th and then I leave for a happier place.... HOGWARTS!!!  My dad and mom are taking me to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at the end of the month before we go visit our cousins in Georgia.  Can't wait to document and share our adventures.

Until next time...

14 / 52

1. I love you.

2. No caption needed.

off season.

1. At the Shucker's Baseball game.

2. Father's Day Baseball game that got rained out.

3. Girl's Night in New Orleans: NKOTB, TLC, and Nelly Concert.

4. Celebrating Sarah's engagement!

5. Renew our rivers.

6. Ovenmaster Golf Tournament.

7. Me and my bud, Scotty.

8. Engagement Party photo booth.

9. My friends get my "FRIENDS" obsession.

10. The bridesmaids (minus Andrea).

11. Girls just wanna have fun.

12. I love these ladies.

13. Dad humoring me. 

14. Brunch with Em. 

Learning to slow down this week.  Slowing down has been hard since May through September is absolutely insane at work. That is my off season from blogging.  I tried numerous times to squeeze in time to write and failed (miserably) at every single attempt.  I've been constantly going, going, going and always doing something.  From botched attempts to surprise my dad for a father's day baseball game (that got rained out) to concerts with girlfriends to see bands from our childhood/high school years to best friend's getting engaged to engagement parties thrown by the most amazing girlfriends for me and Andrew.  I can't even remember the last time I read a book.  Even when I have free time, I feel like I have to keep the house clean, or fold the laundry and straighten things up.  I finished one of my classes last month and things don't seem to be going at 100 mph nowadays so YAY for that.  I'm still learning (aka struggling) to accept that messes can sometimes wait.  Savoring quiet time in the morning is important.  Going on dates with the fiance should happen more often and that I should just sit and breathe every now and then.  

So I hope everyone else has had an amazing summer.  I'm extremely anxious for my favorite month of the year (October) to get here.  Cause I am all about Fall and am ready to have more time to blog.  

Until next time....

Mother's Day.

1. Pit stop.
2. Daddio.
3. Mum. Mom. Mummy. Mum. Mommy. Mom. Momma. Hi.
4. My love.
5. Family portrait. 

Here's some fun things I am going to share about my life:

This ice cream place isn't that fancy, but we always like to stop here when we go to Gulf Shores.  So it carries fond memories for me.  (shout out to nostalgia)

I love to capture memories with my loved ones. (so shout out to me)

We took a pretty awesome family picture. (nailing it. shout out to the fiancé for taking this for us)


We spent the day driving around Gulf Shores for Mother's Day since the weather was so lovely.  My dad is in town for the week so it's nice having him around since we don't get to see him that often with his work schedule.  My parents are THE best.  They lead well, love well, and make me laugh hard at stories of when we were little.  I'm beginning to appreciate these kind of days the older I get and hope there are many more to come.

Until next time...