First 6 months

6 months ago was our wedding day. Where has the time gone? The first half of our first year as husband and wife has flown by. Warren will be starting his second year of law school in August. Graduation day will be here before we know it :)

Laughing in my sleep

Who else can say that they have a husband who makes them laugh even in their sleep? Every now and then I wake up in the morning and vaguely remember laughing when Warren comes to bed. With his late night law school reading I normally get tucked in between 10 pm to 11 pm, and Warren comes to bed sometime after midnight. Whatever happens when he comes to bed makes me laugh. He tries to talk to me, and I mumble back and then start laughing. And I'm not just talking about a little giggle either. I'm talking about a full on laughing myself back to sleep. I'm smiling just thinking about it.

Date Night!

Tonight is date night! I can't wait to see what the night has in store for us. I'm hoping for lots of smiles, laughter, good conversation and fun with my love. It will be a nice change of pace from my case of the Mondays.

How's Law School?

Warren gets asked the same question any time we hang out with friends or family "How's law school". He then turns to me and I answer for the both of us "I hate it; it's awful" somewhat jokingly, but also very true. 99% of the time the response to my joke is always the same "it will all be worth it one day". My mom's answer is "this is what you wanted". Yes, this is what I decided back in September or October of 2007 when I told Warren that if he went away to law school I was going with him. That's when our law school journey together really began, and I can't believe that in a few weeks the 1L year will be over. It's had ups (the wedding after first semester) and downs (my weekly sob story to Warren about how I don't get to spend much time with him), but it's worth it knowing that I have someone who will love me and comfort me each time I break down. Someone who will cry with me and miss me too. And someone who will burn me a CD of love songs and put it in my purse as a present for when I get to work (Awwwww). I think Warren secretly loves law school. He loves the challenge and the mind stimulation. I don't hide the fact that I'm not a huge fan of law school, but I am a huge fan of Warren and that's why this is all worth it.

Our New Kitten

Meet our new kitten, Heidi (this is the name we are calling her right now). We adopted her this past weekend at the Petsmart in Buckhead. She's super cute and playful. My favorite is when she gets really tired from playing and passes out on the couch with me. She also has this really funny squeaky meow. Warren and I are spoiling her as much as we can right now to get her used to her new surroundings. I'm so excited to have a new furry friend in the house.

Pictures!!!

Check out the wedding slideshow here...
http://www.reneebrock.com/slideshows/thomasslideshow/

A whole new name

After worrying about the hassle of changing my name and hounding many new brides about the process, my name change is now complete. It went much better than I thought. I took a full day off from work and started at the DMV. I was amazed at the number of non-english speaking folks waiting in line with me to get their driver's licenses. Most of them brought their son or daughter with them to help translate. I picked a good day to do it because I was in and out with my new license and new name in less than an hour. My next stop was the social security office. I rode up the elevator with what I assume was a prisoner because he had a police escort with him. He was a very nice fella and we talked about how we hoped the wait wouldn't be too bad. I walked in to a room full of people just sitting around waiting with three open windows of unfriendly workers. I scanned the room for a seat and found one in the back next to a girl who looked like she was as out of place as I was waiting to change her name as well. I sat waiting trying to listen for my number to be called. A lady sat down next to me with her cell phone in hand talking to her "baby's daddy" on the phone--she actually referred to him as that. He asked where she was and she said "I'm at the social security office checkin on my money". Seriously??? Can I just get my name changed? So, my number was shouted out by the lady behind one of the windows, and I raced up to the front with all the paperwork already filled out that I downloaded from their website. I asked if I would get my new card that day, and she ignored my question, left her desk and went to the printer to print out a piece of paper to sign with my new info. Thank God I scanned it and noticed the address with apartment #3312....I shouted "NO! This is wrong!" crossed through it and had her change it to the correct address. I had reached my breaking point. She gave me a letter that said I would get my new card in two weeks and away I went. Next was changing my name at the bank. I went to the Wachovia near my work because I knew they had nice people working there, and I was very pleased with the name change at the bank along with our 300 new checks with both of our names and address for FREE :) I just got back from HR at work and I'm now wearing my new employee ID. So, I think I have it all covered. I'm sure I'll run into Russell here and there, but I am now officially known as Lindsay Thomas.

Wedding Pictures

I wish I had the professional pictures back, but until then, here are some for your viewing pleasure that people sent to me.

Wedding Recap

The wedding was amazing! I keep thinking about the ceremony and reception and what a fun time we all had. Numerous people said it was the best wedding they have ever been to, and I would have to agree. Not only was it a time to celebrate our marriage, but we were able to ring in the new year with our friends and family...brilliant! Thank you Warren for marrying me. I'll never forget our vows and what they mean. For those of you who missed the slideshow at the rehearsal dinner, I will try to post it here for you to see. Thank you to all our friends for celebrating with us. Much Love :)

We're Legal

Warren and I got our marriage license yesterday and met with Morgan to go over the ceremony. Just two more weeks to go. I can't believe it. Where has the time gone? We also met with our DJ to go over songs and the NYE countdown and ball drop. It's going to be AWESOME!!!

Jamaica Mon!

Just a short 28 days from right now, Warren and I will be getting married. And 29 days from now, we'll be here....

Missing Lynchburg

I can't believe the holidays are here again. We will be spending Thanksgiving with my family this year since Warren will be concentrating on finals and my family is in town. It seems like just yesterday that we were getting ready for the trip to Lynchburg for Turkey Day last year. This year is much different. We won't be making the trip to Lynchburg for Thanksgiving or Christmas, and I'm a little sad about it. I really get along well with Warren's large family--multiple cousins and all, and I was looking forward to the present swap again this year. We'll have to wait until the wedding to see the Lynchburg Peeps. We made sure to add Jack Daniels to the bar in honor of Warren's Lynchburg ties. We will be spending Christmas Eve and morning with Warren's mom, sister and brother-in-law in Cartersville...good family, good food, flowing wine, and a game of Dominos. What more can you ask for? Happy Holidays!

Seven weeks to go

Seven weeks from tomorrow Warren and I will be getting married. Pretty much every weekend until then has something wedding related on the calendar. I'm still very excited, and can't wait for the bridal shower this weekend. I went to my first dress fitting last weekend. The lady I am trusting with my alterations, Lucy, speaks very little English. She's a shorter lady, so I felt bad as she was armpit height trying to pin my dress up. I begin to wonder what my problem is when it takes me longer to decide on an american or french bustle than it did to pick out my actual dress. Luckily, I had my trusty wedding planner, Lindsay Cordell, with me to help make that decision and to help zip up the dress. Lucy made sure to tell Lindsay C. to come back for my next fitting. So, thank you Lindsay for all of your help. And I'm praying for Lucy to work her magic on the dress as they ordered it way too big.

The wedding is next month!

I was starting to get a bit stressed thinking the wedding is next month, so I took Friday off work and got a good amount of wedding related things done. My mom and I made a trip to David's Bridal. After my previous trip to Bride Beautiful being a complete disaster, I was fearing walking into David's. Taking a day off and visiting on a weekday is the way to do it. There was only one other bride to be in the whole store trying on dresses. I had the whole shoe section to myself and a person to help me. So, I found shoes, a bra, a purse and a garter. We then headed to New Natalie's Bridal to try my dress on. After four months of waiting, my dress had finally arrived. So, the lady at New Natalie's helped me into my dress. I asked if she had zipped me up, and she said yes. The dress then fell off me. It's probably three sizes too big. Seriously???? Why even bother to measure me if you are going to order the dress three sizes too big? So, now I start my fittings this weekend. I was told alterations take 6 weeks. Hooray! So I won't really know what my dress looks like on until 2 weeks or less before the wedding.
On a more positive note, I went to my friend's mother's house to decide on a veil length. Mrs. Upton has offered to make my veil as a wedding present. So, I tried my friend's veil on, and it's so beautiful, so I'm using that as a guide for mine. Tomorrow night I'm meeting with the Classy Chicks string trio to pick out ceremony music, and Saturday Lindsay C. and I are going to Michael's to get decoration ideas for the reception. I feel so much better now about having things done. Invitations have been mailed, and now I'm excited to see who will be coming. I am so lucky to have such great friends and such a sweet fiance helping me through all the planning.

Bride not so Beautiful

This past Sunday my MOH, Kelley and I went to Bride Beautiful to look mainly for shoes. I also am still looking for a purse, garter, and some other misc. accessories. I had heard good things about this store, and after looking on their website, was really excited to visit. I walked in, and my mouth dropped open. There were people EVERYWHERE. I don't really like crowds, and it was a madhouse. I immediately froze in the doorway with a panicked look on my face. I stepped into the store and just kind of stood there in awe of what was going on around me. I said out loud "why are there so many people here" and a random girl at the shoe table (later to be my shoe enemy) said "they are having a major sale". I immediately thought to myself "surely not this many people are getting married".
But then I remember how most brides are...most people take up to a year or longer to plan their wedding. So, these were the Spring of 2009 brides who were in there trying to find the perfect dress. I just wanted to find shoes--closed toed for the winter. Apparently I should have been shopping for those six months ago because I'm having a hard time finding any. So I went over to the shoe table and started looking around. My shoe enemy kept cutting in front of me to look at the shoes that were out for people to try on. She had brought her dress with her to try to match the color and was taking up way too much space. I gave it about five minutes, turned around and left. I've now decided that the best thing to do is to take a full day off of work and get all the remaining accessories in one outing. Hopefully the stores won't be as crowded on a week day.

Tuxedos and Rehearsal Dinner---Check!

After many different vest/tie combinations, the groomsmen attire has been picked out. I can't wait to see Warren in his tuxedo. So, groomsmen, it's time to get fitted at Men's Wearhouse. We are also putting a deposit down at Wildfire Grill for the rehearsal dinner. I'm so glad we are getting things checked off the list. Click here to see the menu:
http://wildfirerestaurant.com/second_level/menu/club.htm

Countdown

Dresses are ready!

Just called New Natalie's and the bridesmaid dresses will arrive this Friday (see pic above). I can't wait to pick them up and see how they look on the girls. My dress will be ready in two to three weeks, and my mom and I are going shopping for her dress tomorrow night. I'm going to try to get a few wedding related errands done this weekend. This month will get busy towards the end of the month as bridal shower and wedding invites will be going out. Wedding invitations will be in the mail in about three weeks---CRAZY!!! I'm still getting the question: Are you excited? Yes, I'm still incredibly excited about marrying Warren. We make a great team.

100 Days To Go!

I told Warren I would write a blog when we were at the 100 day countdown. Well, here it is. 100 days to go before I'm Mrs. Thomas. There are days when I feel like we still have lots to do before the wedding, and other days I feel like it is still far enough away that I don't have to worry about getting everything done any time soon. The bridal shower date is set for Nov. 15th at my maid of honor's house and the bridesmaid luncheon is going to be in the KatyDid room at the Swan House (see pic). Bachelor/Bachelorette party plans are still in the works as are the plans for the rehearsal dinner. Everything is coming along nicely :) In other news....the vet found a cancer spot on my dog Tally. My parents adopted Tally when I moved in with Warren, and my mom has grown especially attached to her. Tally will have surgery next week to have the tumors removed. Please send out your prayers.

P-M-C/S

Warren and I started our PMC on Saturday (pre-marital counseling). Probably not the best week to start it as I was in high PMS mode and sensitive to everything. I flat out told the therapist "I'm a cryer and it's that time of the month". So, when he asked Warren to describe why he fell in love with me, I was thankful there were tissues within arm reach. Our initial visit was us telling the therapist our story, how we met, how Warren proposed, our challenges as a couple, etc. As this is an out of pocket expense on a super tight budget, I'm hoping we get a lot out of it. If any of you want to know how I have been feeling for the last week, watch this and hold onto your hats.... http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/annuale/221774/