The Pictures Are Here!!!

Do you know how hard it is to narrow down 1200+ pictures to just 65? Not an easy task. I know this because that is what Matt and I had to do this past week for our wedding album.

We are so excited to see how the album comes out. Our photographer, Mark Parsons, was AWESOME!! Mark was easy to work with and so funny.

Since Matt and I are in tv, we are really particular about how pictures look and Matt will notice random things that most people wouldn't - ie. the bride and groom standing in front of a column, but the column looking like it is growing out of one of the people's heads. But, we also know that a professional photographer is creative and so we wanted to give Mark the ability to be as creative as he wanted because we know that would turn out into some amazing pictures.

And we were right.

We are still waiting on a few pictures to come back, including a timelapse of Matt and I standing in the middle of the street in downtown Athens. We love the pictures we took downtown, and I'm kicking myself for not taking advantage of Mark and his photographer a little more and finding some more fun spots to take pictures in! Mainly we focused on the area right in front of the arch and the bulldog on Baxter Street.

All that being said...here's a taste of some of the best pictures from the day!

Most important, we are so happy to be husband and wife. And we are so blessed to have been able to spend some quality time with the people who are most important to us on our wedding day!

Awesome picture. This is the picture that brought us to Mark.

 The house we rented was already decorated for Christmas...loved it!

 If you can't tell, I was a little excited to marry my Matt!

My dad was making me laugh while walking down the aisle.

We would not have made it through the day without my best friend (and unofficial wedding coordinator) Chaunte

Matt found these adorable toasting glasses...loved them!

We absolutely adored the cupcake tree that Gigi's Cupcakes put together for us

Can you see why we're best friends?

This may be my favorite picture from the night!

Although this may be a close second...it looks like an ad for something

Although this might be my favorite...so many to pick from.

We were in Athens...we couldn't pass up Uga!

Stay tuned for a new blog of the house -- coming soon since we close in a little more than a month!!

Until next time...

Progress on the House

The house is coming along nicely!!

The exterior of the house has been painted and the stone is up on the facade. They still have to put the stone work around the columns on the porch. It looks like the electrical is done because when we went on Saturday it sounded like workers were putting the drywall up inside (so we didn't go in).

House (as of 1/7/2012)

We also decided we wanted a Bulldog for the front porch. If you've ever driven around the Georgia area you've seen these little bulldogs around. Ace Hardware is one of the stores that carries them, so yesterday Matt and I decided to go see what our choices were. We were just perusing but ended up buying our bulldog. The store only had one left (apparently they're big sellers at Christmas and they don't replenish them until March). We ended up negotiating the price -- mainly because I opened my mouth and made a joke about a clearance/must move price, and the manager sold it to us at cost.

Here's our guard dawg. We love that he is a football dawg.

It's a great start to 2012. We can't wait to see what this year holds for the Wooley family!

Until next time...

From Me and Matt...

Look for new and exciting blogs from us in the new year!!

Until next year...

We're Married!!!

It's official!!!

Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Wooley!!!!

It's Christmastime Again...

Matt and I absolutely, positively LOVE Christmas!! We love the season. We love the sights. We love the sounds of Christmas music.

Christmas has always been such a magical time for me personally. I have wonderful memories of the way my parents did Christmas...the spread from Santa to the trips that we went on the day after. We just had the best time.

It's very important to me and Matt to establish our own traditions, while preserving many of the traditions we grew up with. It can be difficult combining two families who put so much emphasis on Christmas and our traditions.

Last year, Matt and I had a great Christmas, although we did Christmas on December 17th since we were going to New York to see his family, and then I was flying home to spend Christmas Day with my parents.

THIS year, we are spending our first Christmas as a married couple together!!! And December 17th isn't Christmas this year, it's our wedding day!!!

I hope you enjoy some pictures of our Christmas decorations. I can't wait to get into our house and share more pictures with you this time next year!

Our Christmas tree...a Douglas fir

The tree all lit up...to combine our traditions of white lights and colored lights, we put the white lights inside the tree and colored lights on the outside...you can see how it glows

Check out the presents!!!

We're The Wooleys!!! (well, almost)

The nativity set I had (and you can see Rudolph and Clarice -- the apartment doesn't have a ton of space to decorate)

Poinsettas (these will double as reception centerpieces in a few weeks)

The rest of our decorations (again, the apartment doesn't have a lot of decorating space)

Up close and personal with our ADORABLE stocking holders

So now our attention turns more so towards the wedding!!!! 14 days and we will be married! I am SO excited that I will soon get to marry my best friend!!!

Until next time...

Thanksgiving Happenings

So much is going on...sorry for the delay in updating the blog!

The wedding is less than a month away and we are pumped! We'd hoped more people would have been able to join us for our big day, but we cherish the quality time we'll get to spend with those most important to us who are coming.

Left to do for the wedding: finalize caterer and cake people and order favors. So much depends on how many people R.S.V.P.!

In other happenings...Matt and I bought a house this week!! We've been looking around online and found a house plan we really liked. The slab for the house is poured and it should be finished at the end of February.

Here are a few pictures of the model home:

'

The house plan on a slab foundation

The model home -- this is on a basement, which makes it look larger

Kitchen - we'll get to pick the lights over the island, backsplash and refrigerator

Family room - we won't have the tv cabinet above the fireplace

Closer look at the front of the model home (since it is on a basement, there are more steps up than we will have)

Front door - our door will be a little different, but we'll have the stone finish around the porch

Front porch is big enough for two rocking chairs, maybe a swing...who knows?

Stairs...the spindles are an upgrade the builder threw in for us

So much to be thankful for this year: new job, new location, my wonderful fiance (soon to be husband), our new house, wonderful family and friends and the blessings we are continued to be blessed with.

Today is the start of my favorite time of year: Christmas!!! I love the smells, the sights, the sounds...and as always, it's important to remember the real reason for the season and make sure we don't get caught up in commercialism.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!!

Until next time...

The Devil is in the Details...

You know the difference between a good wedding and a great wedding? It's not the size of the party. Nope. It's walking away knowing you have spent the most special day of your life with those who love you the most. And knowing those people want to be there is what warms the bride and groom's hearts.

That's just one reason Matt and I decided to invite our closest friends and family. We really want to be able to share our special day with you.

So now...down to the details.

Matt and I are trying to find the perfect wedding favor to thank our guests for coming! We've stumbled on so many good ideas...but nothing that has jumped out at us so far. So if you have any suggestions please pass them along.

As for non-wedding related news, we are still looking for the perfect house! Not sure it exists! We've looked at so many places. It just seems like every house is missing something. The downstairs bedroom won't fit our current furniture. The kitchen is a little too small. The master bedroom has a weird sitting nook that nothing will fit in. That being said, we think we may have found a real possibility in Marietta. I'm excited because that's the area I want us to be in. Matt is excited because the backyard looks big enough to build a pool in.

Anyways, we have a lot going on. The next six weeks is going to be busy, but exciting!!

And the wedding is going to be legend...wait for it...dary. :-) So get those RSVP's in so we plan for a great weekend with you!!

Until next time...