2011...bring it on!

Starting a new year is always exciting! It's a fun time to reflect on the last 12 months...to think about the things you did, wish you did, or want to do in the upcoming year. For me, I always think about how much things have changed. In 2010, I:

-went back to college (and am now set to graduate in about 2 years! Yay!)
-went to Las Vegas to celebrate Tyler and I's 25th and 22nd birthdays
-traveled to Cancun, Mexico and had the time of my life with Tyler and my 2nd family
-got engaged and planned what is sure to be an amazing wedding
- found out I am going to be an aunt in 2011!
-experienced the birth of a dear friend's first child and watched her become an incredible mother
-got a new job
-shed 25 pounds
-lost my dear Grandma Cochran, and celebrated her long, happy life

Those are the 'major' events of 2010, although there are several not so major events that changed my life as well. Life is such a crazy mix of twists and turns, it's hard to imagine what 2011 will hold. The possibilities are endless! In 2011 I WANT to:

-Marry Tyler, move into our house, and settle into our new life together
-Be there for the birth of my sweet little niece/nephew, hold him/her in my arms, love him/her more than any baby I've ever loved before, and spoil him/her rotten
-Find out the sex of my niece/nephew so I can quit referring to 'it' as 'him/her' ;)
-Make all A's each semester, or at least know that I gave it my absolute best effort
-Run a 5k/avoid the dreaded 'Newlywed Nine'
-Find the right church for us, and get plugged in
-Learn to cook for my poor husband!
-Learn to bake goodies for my husband...okay, for me too!

Suffice to say, I've got quite the year coming up! I'm sure I'll accomplish some of those goals, and some I won't. I'm sure there will be new ones added as I go, and as priorities and life changes, so will my goals. Either way, the only thing I'm 100% positive on is this: there is no better way to start a new year than marrying the love of my life.

Happy New Year everyone! :)

Sixty days 'til I do...

TWO MONTHS...
NINE WEEKS...
SIXTY STINKIN' DAYS!

Obviously, I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that my wedding is only 60 short days away. What in the world has happened since August? How it is ALREADY December?! For the last four months, everyone has been telling me, "Enjoy this time, it goes by so fast." To which I always smile and nod politely, but secretly think to myself, "Yeah, RIGHT. Not fast enough!"

But, in all seriousness, I really have enjoyed these last four months of precious moments - after all, that's why I created this blog, so I can look back and remember this time in my life. Which I think I will appreciate, because right now everything is just a giant bridal blur.

In other wedding news, I dropped a 1,000 pound elephant off at the post office on Monday AKA wedding invitations! Aside from gathering the addresses of a handful of my friends and Tyler's family, I give 100% of the credit to my dear mother. God bless her address-writing, envelope-stuffing soul. :)

Operation Love Nest Overhaul has reached a hairy point, to say the least. All of the fluff and cosmetic loveliness has been completed to the outside of the house, and now we are getting down to both the extensive AND expensive renovations on the inside. Walls are coming down, plumbing is being ripped apart, and thus, more *ahem* 'complications' are arising. Have I mentioned how much I love my parents for doing this for us? On a more positive note, Tyler and I have met almost all of our soon-to-be neighbors! The verdict? Super friendly, seemingly normal people...hooray!

Oh, and Christmas is next week?! Craziness. Absolute craziness.

My most recent Google search: 'likeliness of dying from stress'.

SNEAK PEEK - Operation Love Nest Overhaul

Consider this an official retraction regarding my first post about our poor, dilapidated little house. Things are moving along faster than I thought; it is already so easy to see the house's potential even with the few changes that have been made.

Earlier this week, Tyler and I had the pleasure of getting up at 5:30 AM, packing on layers of old work clothes, and setting out to the house to remove the piles and piles (and PILES) of junk that has accumulated in the backyard over the last, oh...10 years or so. Let me tell you one thing: you haven't started off a day right until you've risen before the sun in 28 degree weather and hauled old, moldy mattresses into a dumpster! :P

It was an instantly gratifying experience because not only were we able to see the improvement right away, but WE were the ones that did the work - along with the help of our friend, Coty. Several giddy hugs and kisses were shared, pictures were taken, and we discussed how badly we can't wait to move in for about the millionth time.

Because I'm extremely anxious to share pictures, I'll leave you with a few 'sneak peek' photos of our endeavors that extremely cold, early morning:


The boys sharing a victory dance in the dumpster - yes, we filled that entire thing...twice.


My sweet husband-to-be showing off our hard work!

Thanksgiving thankfuls

Happy Thanksgiving! This is truly one of my favorite holidays, aside from the 4th of July. Christmas is wonderful, but I like the 'idea' of Thanksgiving better, at least as far as the commercialized stuff goes - no gifts, no insane shopping and rushing around...just giving thanks surrounded by good food and good people.

Here's a brief list of what I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving:

• My heath - I'm so thankful that I have the blessing of being able to get up and move whenever I please, as well as work out in a way that will hopefully keep me around for years to come!
• Tyler - Our first Thanksgiving together we were just "talking" and he took me on a date to the Lights On at Utica Square - where he didn't even hold my hand, by the way. :) Our second Thanksgiving we were dating seriously, and now our third Thanksgiving we are engaged to be married in almost 2 months. He truly makes me a better person on a daily basis, and it warms my heart that I have many, many more Thanksgivings to share with him and our wonderful families.
  
• My parents - I could go on for years why I'm thankful for them both. They've not only made me who I am, but accepted me for what I'm not. I've fallen short of the person they've raised me to be so many times, and they just keep on supporting and loving me no matter what. They've made so many sacrifices for me...so much so that a simple 'thank you' doesn't come close to the gratitude I'd like to express. They fill my life with so much love - I can't wait to see them share that love with my little niece or nephew, their grandchild. :)
• My employment
• Being able to finish college
• My future niece or nephew - I love him/her madly already. June, hurry up!
  
• My freedom - Without it I wouldn't be able to go where I want, do what I want, or even blog what I want! I'm so thankful for the men and women who sacrifice their time with their families and even their lives to make life the best it can be for me.
• Our future house - It's kind of a complete wreck right now...but it's OUR complete wreck and I'm thankful for it all the same.

That is just a drop in the bucket of all of the things I thank God for on a daily basis, not just on this one day a year. Now it's time to convince myself that fat grams and calories don't count on Thanksgiving, and go enjoy the wonderful meal my family has worked hard to prepare.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Smoke, roaches, and mold - oh my!

Yesterday was an exciting day for the fiancé and I...we finally got to go inside and look at our future home! My parents own a house in Owasso and have been renting it to the same tenants for almost 5 years. When we started searching for places to live, God allowed a lot of things to fall perfectly into place and we were able to secure my parent's little rent house as our future home after we're married.

The tenants moved out yesterday so me, Tyler, my parents, sister, and brother-in-law all rushed down to the property to see the house's condition. Unfortunately, the tenants took horrible care of the place the entire time they lived there, so we knew going into it that it would need work. Little did we know, "needs work" is a complete understatement! Aside from all the trash and junk they left, the house wreaks of stale cigarette smoke. The walls are cracked and yellowed, the cabinets are falling off, the stove was so caked with grease and remnants of food you could barely tell it was supposed to be white. I'll spare you the details about the roaches and the rotting bathtub and bathroom floor. Needless to say, the house will be receiving an almost complete remodel.

Honestly, it was super difficult for me to remain positive and try to see past the house's current state. Tyler is such a glass-half-full kind of guy, so every time I pointed out a negative, he was right behind me with a positive comment. It was uplifting to see his excitement about our little house, not for what it looks like now, but for what it will become. I think I'll need to see a little progress on the renovations before I can share in that excitable feeling. :)

Regardless of how it looks, Operation Love Nest Overhaul is officially in motion and we are that much closer to starting our lives together. Woo!

P.S.-I was going to post pictures of the house, but I decided it'll be fun to do a before and after post when the house is completed. Believe me, you won't want to miss that one!

48 hour cleanse: UPDATE

Lately, several people have inquired about how my full body cleanse went. After I got over the shock that someone (other than Tyler) actually reads this, I agreed that I should do an update - even though the results were less than I had hoped for.

Quite simply, the cleanse was rough. The way it works is you drink two tablespoons of the mixture with 8 ounces of water, 8 times a day for 48 hours. You are allowed as much water as you want, but only handful sized portions of fruit or vegetables. No alcohol, no caffeine, ect. Just as I suspected, the no caffeine part is what did me in. Big headache, sluggish/foggy mind feeling, tired as heck...all the classic symptoms of a caffeine withdrawal - definitely not convenient when you're trying to take a History test! Unfortunately, I didn't feel like the cleanse was accomplishing a whole lot aside from making me go to the bathroom a record setting amount - undoubtedly because I was drinking so much water! And despite my handfuls of fruit and veggies, there were several moments where I was certain I was dying of starvation.

In the end, my 48 hour cleanse ended up being more like a 27 hour cleanse. I finally broke down the following morning and ate breakfast and drank some coffee. It was sweet relief for not only my starving belly, but for those around me who were tired of listening to my whining. Sorry, Ty! You're such a trooper!

I'm glad I tried the cleanse, but it's definitely not for me. Our bodies need constant nourishment, not 2 gallons of water and a handful of baby carrots. :)

Let me start this off by admitting that my older sister Kendall and I weren't always the best of friends. However, I like to think our relationship when we were younger was relatively normal. It was filled with huge, dramatic fights about stealing one anothers clothes and/or jewelry, constant bickering, ect. The only reason I look back on those times with a smile is because our relationship could not be any more different today.

I was on my way home from work a few days ago, when I suddenly had an urge to see my sister. What started out as a quick visit turned into us sitting there talking about anything and everything. She showed me her most recent ultrasound pictures, I talked about the wedding plans, and we just chatted and laughed and enjoyed each others company for almost three hours. Soon after, my brother in law came home from work and joined in. Needless to say, I left their house with a heart full of love and a huge smile on my face. I am so happy that she and I made it through our silly teenage phase of hating each other for ridiculous reasons, and now we get to share the joys and trials of being adults (and wives!) together. She is an incredible person, amazing wife, and will soon be a terrific mother. This blog has no particular point, I just felt compelled to write about how much I love my dear sister. :)

In other news...as of today, we are down to the double digits! The wedding is 99 days away. Eeks! The invitations came in yesterday, which was more exciting than I thought it'd be. It's a little shocking to see our names on nice paper with fancy lettering! Also, we are about a month away from starting major renovations on our future house. It currently has tenants living in it until December 1st, but after they move out there will be installation of new cabinets, new carpet, new paint, an alarm system, new windows/doors, and ton of other things. We are so blessed that my parents (who own the house) are willing to go to such great lengths to make sure that our house is not just livable, but really nice!

I don't think I'll ever be able to fully express how grateful I am for all that everyone in my life does for not just me, but me AND the person I've chosen to spend the rest of my life with.

Emptying the bucket

Being engaged, planning a weddding, and prepping for marriage has many aspects to it. Most are really enjoyable and fun, but unfortunately, there are some not-so-fun things. Pre-marital counseling was something Tyler and I both had our hesitations about. The word "counseling" tends to have a negative connotation to it; we envisioned torturous sessions where we'd be forced to talk about our feelings, our relationship would be dissected, and all of our flaws would be pointed out to us so we'd know how difficult our married life would be.

Boy, were we wrong! First of all, our minister is incredible. He is a straight-forward, no frills, tell-it-like-it-is guy that is realistic about life, marriage, and young couples. We've only met with him a few times, and he's already taught us some great tools to aid in our communication. One exercise is called "Emptying the Bucket". To 'empty the bucket' you ask your partner 4 questions: What are you mad about? What are you sad about? What are you scared about? What are you glad about? That person answers each question one by one, the person asking the questions repeats their partners answers without commentary, and then you switch roles.

As silly as it may seem, it truly works! Simple questions like that open up so many topics for discussion. Even if you don't have anything you're particularly mad/sad/scared about, it's still nice to hear what your partner is feeling glad about! One thing that our minister told us that stood out to me was, "feelings buried alive never die." That is the absolute truth, and I hope that I always remember that.

Now we are to the point where we actually look forward to our counseling sessions, and plan to keep 'emptying the bucket' well into our marriage. :)

For the love of furniture...

It's official. Tyler and I have made our first "major" purchase together!

Monday was my dear father's 52nd birthday, so on Sunday me and the family went out for lunch after church to celebrate. Since it was his birthday lunch, Dad chose to eat at Texas Roadhouse - yum! Tyler was feeling sick that day and didn't come with us, so I was a little bummed out. However, I wanted him to rest and feel better so I still had a blast hanging out with my family. After we finished lunch, my sister and Michael mentioned they wanted to go to Mathis Brothers to look at some new furniture. Once we got there I decided to venture out and browse what they had. Long story short: I found a GREAT deal on a couch, loveseat, and chair set that I couldn't pass up. I sent Tyler a picture and as soon as he said he loved it, I said 'I'll take it!' I felt sad that Tyler wasn't there to share in the excitement of the moment but like my mom said, there will be plenty of other exciting purchases.

As I was standing there waiting on the paperwork to be finished, everything just hit me all at once. I thought, "Wow. This is happening. We're really getting married." It brought the biggest smile to my face! I absolutely love these little hits of reality. Although I love planning our wedding and I'm positive it's going to be a beautiful day we will cherish for the rest of our lives, sometimes it is nice to remember the bigger picture.

I can't wait to put together the rest of the future Wick home!

Cleanse or crazy?

A little known fact about me: I recently lost a little over 20 lbs over the summer. I was unhappy with a few areas of my body, so I started really watching what I ate and worked out about 6 days a week - the weight just fell right off! Then Tyler and I went on our fantastic vacation to Cancun, Mexico (where we got engaged!) and the rest is history. As soon as we returned I started school full time in addition to working full time. Life got hectic, my free time became scarce, and admittedly, I got lazy.

Luckily, I haven't gained any of the weight back despite my less than perfect eating habits the last couple of months. I do, however, feel really tired and sluggish all the time no matter how much sleep I get. I'm taking this as a sign from my body; time to get off my booty, get back into a regular work out routine, and eat healthier again. To jump-start my diet and workout program, I decided to try a 'total body cleanse.' This will be my first cleanse, so I did quite a bit of research. The one I chose promotes good digestive health, gets rid of toxins that break out skin and slow kidney and liver function, and allows the intestines to absorb nutrients more effectively.

The cleanse I purchased can be done in 48 hours or spread out over 4 days. I'm a little hesitant, due to the fact that you can't eat anything besides handful sized portions of fruits or veggies during the cleanse, in addition to lots and lots of water. And, most notably, NO caffeine. Yikes!

Despite my reluctance, I know I have the strength to complete this process. Most of all, I'm excited to blog about my first 'total body cleanse' experience - hopefully it's a good one!

My story begins...

First of all, I am entirely new to this blogging business, so please forgive my lack of knowledge as far as this site itself. It's going to be a learning process for me, just like all of my new endeavors, so I'll just add 'blogging extraordinaire' to my learning list!

Secondly, I have to give credit where credit is due. This blog is 100% inspired by my newly married and dear friend from my middle/high school days - Salem. Salem began her blog for the purpose of being able to document the incredible moments that come with being a newly wed and the changes that follow - along with just plain celebrating life! I think this is great idea - I am currently 4 months from my own wedding, and feel life's changes beginning already. A favorite song of mine is titled, "A Twist in My Story". I've always loved that phrase, as I've always viewed my life as a story, one that is being written day to day without knowing what the next page will hold - a story that will eventually come together as a beautifully written novel that will be cherished -hopefully- for years after I'm gone.

Just a little backstory on me: I'm engaged to the love of my life, Tyler. He is not the person I envisioned myself spending the rest of my life with - he's MORE! We are getting married February 12th, 2011. We plan to move in together after the wedding to a small house in our hometown of Owasso. Also, I am currently in college for my Business Administration degree, and working part-time at a local home decor/gift boutique called Surceé. The newest, most exciting news in my life...my sister and brother-in-law are pregnant with their first child! I'm going to be an aunt!

Needless to say, 2011 will be quite a year! :)