Make sure to read these new posts:
Merry Christmas Ya'll
My Christmas Card
A Little Help From Sissy Pants
My Fiance
I would link these but I have absolutely no clue how to do so. Enjoy!
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
My Fiance
Quite the swordsman my fiance is. These pics were taken while we were in Charleston earlier this year at Liza and Ryan's wedding. What an awesome time and these pictures say it all. Patrick kindly demonstrated how to fence with a sparkler. Fortunately, we got it on film!
A Little Help from Sissy Pants...
While in Oklahoma over Christmas, my Mom and I started stuffing wedding invitations - finally! We set up shop in the dining room with 2 cups of coffee and were off and running.
However, we really didn't get very far initially since my Mom's dog, Sissy Pants, was not having any part of being on the floor. She is more of a princess than my own Princess and must be held. At. All. Times. Apparently my Mom's lap wasn't comfortable enough, bc she soon hopped onto the table - which I thought was cute - so I had to snap a photo of Sissy in the midst of our invitation table. Thank heavens white works, right? :)
I'm so excited to send them out in just a short while! I've had them for so long and now it's almost time to get this party started! WEDDING 2009, here we come!
However, we really didn't get very far initially since my Mom's dog, Sissy Pants, was not having any part of being on the floor. She is more of a princess than my own Princess and must be held. At. All. Times. Apparently my Mom's lap wasn't comfortable enough, bc she soon hopped onto the table - which I thought was cute - so I had to snap a photo of Sissy in the midst of our invitation table. Thank heavens white works, right? :)
I'm so excited to send them out in just a short while! I've had them for so long and now it's almost time to get this party started! WEDDING 2009, here we come!
My Christmas Card
So this year, I had intended on sending out a Christmas card but was never able to make it happen with all that was going on. I'm already excited about next year's card, so don't be surprised if you receive two from us to make up for lost time.
While I was in Oklahoma, my Mom took a Christmas photo of me and the girls to send to Patrick. And what a feat it was to take with my pups! Princess may be the world's greatest dog bc she will be "placed" in any position and sit perfectly for as long as you like. Bear on the other hand is an absolute nightmare if she's not in the mood.
I now know what my friends with kiddos say about taking pics with kids if they're not into it. It took every ounce of my strength to control my horse of an animal until she finally sat long enough for Mom to get a good one! At one point, my mom's Chihuahuas - Sissy and Cookie - hopped in the pic. We were a sight to see as the Chihuahuas and I had to keep scooting closer and closer to Bear as she kept inching away from us in front of the fireplace! Witness our winning picture in front of a chair...next to the fireplace.
Too cute!
Merry Christmas, Ya'll!
Better late than never...
This year, Junior Mafia shared Girlfriend Christmas at Babe's! Whoohooo! We love everything about Babe's...the long wait, BYOB and of course the FRIED CHICKEN. We had the best time and although our wait wasn't as long as we're used to, we still managed to have fuuuun.
This was the first time my fiance ate at Babe's! I'm so glad that he finally got a taste of the Babe's goodness. And once again, I failed to get a group shot but I did get a before and after of our mountain of fried chicken which we demolished. And no Christmas outing would be festive without a holiday wish on a koosie...courtesy of Mama Julie. :)
This was the first time my fiance ate at Babe's! I'm so glad that he finally got a taste of the Babe's goodness. And once again, I failed to get a group shot but I did get a before and after of our mountain of fried chicken which we demolished. And no Christmas outing would be festive without a holiday wish on a koosie...courtesy of Mama Julie. :)
We missed Christy and Steven and Sheri and Justin but they were there in spirit. Patrick and I didn't get to go to hear Jason Boland after dinner with everyone, but heard it was just like our college days! "If I ever get back to Oklahoma, I'm gonna nail my feet to the ground..." Ah, the memories.
Here are a few pics of our 10th Annual Girlfriend Christmas. [JM: Is this our 10th? I can't remember.]
The feast before...
...and after!
Patrick and his chicken!
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Christmas Came Early
3 days earlier to be exact. We ended up celebrating Christmas Monday night. It started out just being "1 present" but quickly turned into our full-fledged Christmas celebration. Neither my fiance or I have any sort of willpower when it comes to gifts. In fact, we had planned to have a nice dinner and open gifts last night...but that plan was obviously foiled fast.
Bear was absolutely clueless as to what was going down while Princess was on point...and waiting for her stocking. She gets SO into Christmas and actually opens wrapped presents and pulls them out of her stocking! This of course after she "guards" it until Chirstmas morning. Case in point why we don't set out dog stockings until Christmas Eve. [As entertaining as one might think it is to watch the constant stocking vigil around the clock, we squelched that idea after the first Christmas Princess became a stocking stalker. What kind of parent slash dog owner would I be if I allowed such slow torture?? Let this be noted in the record of good parenting for future use.] Needless to say, she was less than thrilled when none of the gifts were hers the other night. After sulking on the corner pillow in the living room, she rejoined the fam for a little couch time even if it was at the other end, away from us. Such a grudge holder!
Although Christmas was early this year, it was for a reason. We said goodbye to "Daddy" this morning - at 6 am. He left to catch an early, early flight headed to NC. We already miss you terribly - hurry home! And as Patrick said about spending our last Christmas apart, "maybe this wasn't such a good idea afterall." My thoughts exactly.
Merry Christmas, Sweetheart.
Bear was absolutely clueless as to what was going down while Princess was on point...and waiting for her stocking. She gets SO into Christmas and actually opens wrapped presents and pulls them out of her stocking! This of course after she "guards" it until Chirstmas morning. Case in point why we don't set out dog stockings until Christmas Eve. [As entertaining as one might think it is to watch the constant stocking vigil around the clock, we squelched that idea after the first Christmas Princess became a stocking stalker. What kind of parent slash dog owner would I be if I allowed such slow torture?? Let this be noted in the record of good parenting for future use.] Needless to say, she was less than thrilled when none of the gifts were hers the other night. After sulking on the corner pillow in the living room, she rejoined the fam for a little couch time even if it was at the other end, away from us. Such a grudge holder!
Although Christmas was early this year, it was for a reason. We said goodbye to "Daddy" this morning - at 6 am. He left to catch an early, early flight headed to NC. We already miss you terribly - hurry home! And as Patrick said about spending our last Christmas apart, "maybe this wasn't such a good idea afterall." My thoughts exactly.
Merry Christmas, Sweetheart.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Sixty-Three.
That's how many days left until our big day!
I was so surprised last week when I checked our wedding website and saw the countdown clock was in DOUBLE DIGITS! The last time I checked we were still well in the hundreds. Whoohoo! Or more like...whoonoo! Now it's down to crunch time and that's not just concerning my standing gym appointments. I politely decline to discuss in detail that I may or may not have been attending as regularly, or at all, as an engaged-to-be-married-and-take-a-tropical-honeymoon bride should be.
Besides getting back in the swing of the 'ol gym routine, I have a laundry list of to-do's for our wedding extravaganza...and surprisingly it's growing by the minute. Sheesh.
63 and counting...
I was so surprised last week when I checked our wedding website and saw the countdown clock was in DOUBLE DIGITS! The last time I checked we were still well in the hundreds. Whoohoo! Or more like...whoonoo! Now it's down to crunch time and that's not just concerning my standing gym appointments. I politely decline to discuss in detail that I may or may not have been attending as regularly, or at all, as an engaged-to-be-married-and-take-a-tropical-honeymoon bride should be.
Besides getting back in the swing of the 'ol gym routine, I have a laundry list of to-do's for our wedding extravaganza...and surprisingly it's growing by the minute. Sheesh.
63 and counting...
Friday, December 12, 2008
What Did You Say?
Me: Honey...
Fiance: Yeeeees?
Fiance: Yeeeees?
Me: I can't write anymore thank you notes tonight bc my pen just ran out.
Fiance: Well, can you use another kind of pen?
Me: No. I only write with a certain kind.
Fiance: ~obviously confused~ Can I write them then?
Me: No.
FOLLOWERS
To my followers...
I know there are not many of you, BUT I would like to make you official. Please add your name at the bottom in my follower section.
Signed,
All You Need Is Love
I know there are not many of you, BUT I would like to make you official. Please add your name at the bottom in my follower section.
Signed,
All You Need Is Love
Monday, December 8, 2008
MARRIAGE CAMP
Life continues to hurtle us forward at breakneck speed (my new favorite phrase), and yet I'm still compelled to chronicle every single detail of our engaged life together. Hence today's post: our Pre Cana weekend, aka Marriage Camp.
It was a 2-day course on moving from an "I" to a "We." We spent the weekend with 39 other Catholic engaged couples. Neither Patrick nor I truly knew what to expect and despite a minor instance - or several - when we were forced to engage in friendly banter with a certain individual we'll call "Cal," it turned out to be pretty painless. More on Cal later.
The Pre Cana campus is in the center of South Dallas at the Catholic Reformation Center. As we pulled in I noticed a Chihuahua patrolling the middle of the street as if he were a Great Dane. Ironic, really. We soon parked and found our way to the dining hall mistakenly looking for registration when we found a priest who pointed us in the right direction: "head that way." After we got our weekend packets and nametags, we were back to the dining hall for a bite of breakfast.
As we sat at our breakfast table completing our first "exercise," we noticed every lovey-dovey couple in the place. Now don't get me wrong, Patrick and I are "lovey-dovey" as in, I love him and he loves me. We're good Catholics and believe that all lovey-doveyness - including hand-holding while eating - should be reserved for you and your lovey-dovey only. So I politely tried to ignore the obviously very in love couple at our table as Patrick wolfed down his cinnamon roll.
When we finally made it into our iceberg of a classroom, we chose a table for 2 on the side. Perfect. All seemed to be going well until the last couple showed up 30 minutes after class had started and was forced to sit at the only table left: front and center. It may not have been quite as bad had they not have sported Miller Lite coozies on their water bottles, but I digress. Soon enough, we were on with business.
We took a personality quiz and it confirmed what we knew all along: I'm an extrovert. Shocking, really. Patrick is a "take-charge leader." Lead away, Honey. We then moved on to the art of communicating, finances, leisure time and finally...lunch. Although lunch seemed to come with a rude surprise: the coke machine only accepted DOLLARS. No coins, please. REALLY? Between Patrick, me and the car, we could only come up with $.80 to offer someone in exchange for a dollar. Sadly, I realized that our fellow classmates were not as generous as I would have hoped. So we ventured off campus looking for Diet Coke.
Back on campus. Life chugged along just fine that afternoon and we enjoyed the afternoon but were tres excited when we were let out an hour early that night. Yea us. Unfortunately that was short lived when I realized we had to be up again before the sun was actually up. It's occurring to me now that on Friday I will have had 12 days straight of waking up before the sun. OMG.
Onward to Sunday.
We were back and ready for a full day of life lessons...with a twist. We were now being asked to interact with our classmates in BREAK OUT GROUPS. Luckily for us, Cal was in our group. Armed with our topic: Extended Family, and each other, we started our discussion. Patrick and I got the ball rolling and we were off. We had pretty much covered everything when Cal chimed in. I'm not sure exactly how aware he was that a) he needed to actively listen or b) our group was actually dis-cuss-ing, but I'm thinking not so much because when he decided to participate he was not at all dialed in. My jaw may have hit the table on more than one occasion bc EVERY NEW POINT HE BROUGHT UP was exactly what we had been talking about for 30 minutes. Fortunately though our break out session was over and it was on to lunch. Halleluiah. Lunch, by the way, could not have come any sooner since amazingly I felt like I had run to Canada and back when in actuality I had done nothing more than SIT for the better part of 2 days. Truly amazing.
Overall, the weekend was a good experience and we learned some key things. I like to say we perfected perfection, but that's just my take. No adventure is complete though without a bit of comedy and fortunately that's where Cal came into play. A speical thank you to him. And for you at home, here's a little excerpt from our weekend at Marriage Camp:
Small Talk with Cal about class during lunch.
Us: Is your fiance joining you for lunch? (WHERE THE HECK IS SHE BC THIS CONVERSATION IS KILLING US?)
Cal: Oh, she lives in Columbia.
Us: Really. How did you meet?
Cal: In a chat room. (I'M NOT KIDDING.)
Us: Well that's interesting. How long have you been dating?
Cal: We've actually seen each other 3 times. Twice she has come here and once I visited her apartment in Columbia. She is a lawyer with a child and doesn't have a dryer.
Us: ....
Cal: We actually got married during her last visit but for it to "count," her priest has asked that I do Pre Cana before he marries us in Columbia. Then, she'll move home with me.
Us: ....
Cal: Can you believe she doesn't have a dryer? Did I mention she's a lawyer?
Patrick: Honey, let me take your plate. (AS HE GETS UP AND LEAVES ME. ALONE. WITH CAL.)
Me: It was nice to meet you but we're off to find Diet Coke now. Bye.
It was a 2-day course on moving from an "I" to a "We." We spent the weekend with 39 other Catholic engaged couples. Neither Patrick nor I truly knew what to expect and despite a minor instance - or several - when we were forced to engage in friendly banter with a certain individual we'll call "Cal," it turned out to be pretty painless. More on Cal later.
The Pre Cana campus is in the center of South Dallas at the Catholic Reformation Center. As we pulled in I noticed a Chihuahua patrolling the middle of the street as if he were a Great Dane. Ironic, really. We soon parked and found our way to the dining hall mistakenly looking for registration when we found a priest who pointed us in the right direction: "head that way." After we got our weekend packets and nametags, we were back to the dining hall for a bite of breakfast.
As we sat at our breakfast table completing our first "exercise," we noticed every lovey-dovey couple in the place. Now don't get me wrong, Patrick and I are "lovey-dovey" as in, I love him and he loves me. We're good Catholics and believe that all lovey-doveyness - including hand-holding while eating - should be reserved for you and your lovey-dovey only. So I politely tried to ignore the obviously very in love couple at our table as Patrick wolfed down his cinnamon roll.
When we finally made it into our iceberg of a classroom, we chose a table for 2 on the side. Perfect. All seemed to be going well until the last couple showed up 30 minutes after class had started and was forced to sit at the only table left: front and center. It may not have been quite as bad had they not have sported Miller Lite coozies on their water bottles, but I digress. Soon enough, we were on with business.
We took a personality quiz and it confirmed what we knew all along: I'm an extrovert. Shocking, really. Patrick is a "take-charge leader." Lead away, Honey. We then moved on to the art of communicating, finances, leisure time and finally...lunch. Although lunch seemed to come with a rude surprise: the coke machine only accepted DOLLARS. No coins, please. REALLY? Between Patrick, me and the car, we could only come up with $.80 to offer someone in exchange for a dollar. Sadly, I realized that our fellow classmates were not as generous as I would have hoped. So we ventured off campus looking for Diet Coke.
Back on campus. Life chugged along just fine that afternoon and we enjoyed the afternoon but were tres excited when we were let out an hour early that night. Yea us. Unfortunately that was short lived when I realized we had to be up again before the sun was actually up. It's occurring to me now that on Friday I will have had 12 days straight of waking up before the sun. OMG.
Onward to Sunday.
We were back and ready for a full day of life lessons...with a twist. We were now being asked to interact with our classmates in BREAK OUT GROUPS. Luckily for us, Cal was in our group. Armed with our topic: Extended Family, and each other, we started our discussion. Patrick and I got the ball rolling and we were off. We had pretty much covered everything when Cal chimed in. I'm not sure exactly how aware he was that a) he needed to actively listen or b) our group was actually dis-cuss-ing, but I'm thinking not so much because when he decided to participate he was not at all dialed in. My jaw may have hit the table on more than one occasion bc EVERY NEW POINT HE BROUGHT UP was exactly what we had been talking about for 30 minutes. Fortunately though our break out session was over and it was on to lunch. Halleluiah. Lunch, by the way, could not have come any sooner since amazingly I felt like I had run to Canada and back when in actuality I had done nothing more than SIT for the better part of 2 days. Truly amazing.
Overall, the weekend was a good experience and we learned some key things. I like to say we perfected perfection, but that's just my take. No adventure is complete though without a bit of comedy and fortunately that's where Cal came into play. A speical thank you to him. And for you at home, here's a little excerpt from our weekend at Marriage Camp:
Small Talk with Cal about class during lunch.
Us: Is your fiance joining you for lunch? (WHERE THE HECK IS SHE BC THIS CONVERSATION IS KILLING US?)
Cal: Oh, she lives in Columbia.
Us: Really. How did you meet?
Cal: In a chat room. (I'M NOT KIDDING.)
Us: Well that's interesting. How long have you been dating?
Cal: We've actually seen each other 3 times. Twice she has come here and once I visited her apartment in Columbia. She is a lawyer with a child and doesn't have a dryer.
Us: ....
Cal: We actually got married during her last visit but for it to "count," her priest has asked that I do Pre Cana before he marries us in Columbia. Then, she'll move home with me.
Us: ....
Cal: Can you believe she doesn't have a dryer? Did I mention she's a lawyer?
Patrick: Honey, let me take your plate. (AS HE GETS UP AND LEAVES ME. ALONE. WITH CAL.)
Me: It was nice to meet you but we're off to find Diet Coke now. Bye.
Scroll Down
Thanks to my sweet friend Cara, I learned: "scroll down." So please...scroll down to "We've Been Blessed...Again." The 2-part series from our recent NC trip is backwards, so you'll have to scroll down to read the shower post.
Happy reading!
Happy reading!
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
North Carolina Bound
I figured it would be easier to recount our recent North Carolina trip in parts. Consider this part one and our shower (part two) is coming up!
My mom, Patrick and I went to Chris' for dinner and had a great time. We caught up with Aunt Pat, Uncle Tom and Evan and absolutely stuffed ourselves silly with a pre-Thanksgiving dinner which was yummo scrummo. After dinner, we posed for a few photos and I didn't even have a photo limit from Patrick! Later that night, we headed back over to Jeanne's and talked until we finally had to call it a night.
On Saturday, we got up and shopped for mother of the bride and groom dresses and actually found them! Talk about luck. They will be the two most beautiful MOB and MOG's...ever! Miss Sophia and I were the judges of outfits and I'd like to think that we did pretty well. :) After lunch, mom, Jeanne and Sophia dropped me off at Tanner and Kelli's where Patrick was watching UNC-NC State. For my own sake, I may skip over that afternoon simply bc the boys were tres unhappy considering NC State ended up winning...how I don't know!!! Kelli made scrumptious chilli and we played while the boys pouted.
From there, Patrick and I headed to the hotel to pick up Aunt Maria. I'm calling her my weekend present bc I absolutely adore her! She and Patrick's grandmother have been BFF's since right out of college. In fact, they were each other's MOH and have been fully involved in each other's family life ever since. Be still my heart.
That night, we had a big, family dinner at Jeanne and Peter's for SOPHIA. She turned 8 on Thursday and round 2 celebration was Saturday night! Another special treat was that Grandma and Grandpa E came as well as Aunt Helen and Mitzi. Although Marty had just gotten in that afternoon, he wasn't too tired to join Evan in teasing Patrick about his loss. We had a yummo scrummo dinner and birthday cake and later, she opened 9 million presents. And no get-together is complete without...PICTURES! My favorite shots are of me with the boys and Sophia. Too cute.
Mom and Me 
The McKittrick Men minus Marty: Chris, Patrick Evan and Uncle Tom
Me, Aunt Pat and Mom
Soon to be...The McKittricks!
Patrick's Best Man - Tanner - and Kelli
Mom and Me
Sophia's Favorite Present
Patrice and Sophia
About to cut the cake!
Present Time!
Make a Wish...
Grandma and Grandpa E, Mom and Evan
Finally...a pic of Peter
Grandma E and Aunt Maria - such cuties!
Too cute...
I actually have 3 different photos of this same shot - but with each brother holding Sophia, per her request!
Plus me!
I guess he was done taking photos!
Sister Sophia is EIGHT!
We've Been Blessed...Again!
Okay, I reaaaally sound like a broken record when I say just how blessed we are with our family and friends! We were in Raleigh last weekend for our third and final shower, NC-style, and it was a-mazing! The entire weekend was perfect right down to the last detail. Plus, my Mom came with us, so it was even more fun!
Our shower hosts, Terri and Kelli, really spoiled us - from the beautiful cake and flowers to my corsage to our crystal flutes with an etched "M" to the party favors and delicious food - it was all PERFECT. (Patrick and I got to drink our champagne from our flutes for the party - so fabulous!) They truly outdid themselves and we are so incredibly thankful. Kelli even had all of our guests sign the matte of a framed photo of us as a special treat. And when Patrick's Mom and Dad welcomed everyone to our brunch and there wasn't a dry eye in the house.
Special guests who attended the shower were:
My Mom
My Mom
Patrick's Grandmother
Aunt Pat and Uncle Tom
Patrick's college friends and their wives
Aunt Maria all the way from NY!
Aunt Helen
Patrick's brothers: Evan from DC and Marty from Philadelphia
We really had quite a full house and it was so much fun meeting new North Carolina faces at our shower. Patrick and I had the best time opening gifts despite the fact that we had to leave them behind. Although soon we'll have them in our hot little hands again. A special thank you to Jeanne, Peter and Sophia for opening up their home for our shower and to all who made it so perfect for Patrick and me. We are so lucky.
Here are a few of the 9million photos taken at the shower alone:
Our beautiful food tables...
Patrick and I with our hosts: Terri and Kelli
Mom, Me, Patrick's Grandmother and Jeanne
Our pretty cake...we almost dropped it though!
Mom and Me
Pre-shower with Sister Sophia in her dress
Toasting with our neeeew flutes from Kelli and Terri!
The Morris' (soon enough!) and Patrick and me with our other sussie: a framed photo for our guests to sign!
After Jeanne and Chris' welcome at the shower...
Patrick and the college boys
I had to post this one: Patrick was SO excited when he opened up his DRILL!
Present Time
Tanner and Kelli pre-shower
I may have been excited to get our wine glasses in this pic!
Aunt Pat and Uncle Tom
So cute are we!
Me and the brothers...
Aren't they cute? They were celebrating when the shower was over!
JOB WELL DONE LADIES! :) We are so thankful for all you did to make our shower such a success - thank you, thank you!
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