2011 Bachelorette Week 9

(Author: Matthew)


I'm guessing the first 10 minutes of week nine began the same way they did for weeks seven and eight. I really have no idea. Cecilia and I fast forwarded through them because we assumed Ashley would do her usual this-is-what-I-like-about-these-guys routine. Even if something else did happen, you'd be hard-pressed to convince me we really "missed" anything.

After Ashely's recaps, we were treated to a "surprise" visit from Ryan, who intimated he'd flown down to Fiji on his own dime just to see if Ashley really, truly, seriously, cross-her-heart-and-hope-to-die didn't want to marry him. In no way whatsoever was this a continued audition to be ABC's next Bachelor. He totally came to Fiji for the right reasons. When he skipped his way to Ashley's hotel room, her first word as she swung open her front door was, "Whhhhhyyyyyy?" (I wish that were true. She actually said "Ryyyyyyy," but I'm sure "why?" is what she meant.)

Ryan barged in, took a seat on Ashley's couch and in the least-scripted way possible, poured out his heart and soul in his typical bobble-headed fashion. He asked her if she had any regrets and if she thought she should give him one more chance (he seriously asked her this). The whole time Ryan was talking, Ashley seemed to be working through her options if he was to charge at her with violence in his eyes should she give him an answer he did not appreciate. Ryan let her off the hook (dang it) by telling her to think it over. Before leaving, Ryan played to Ashley's perpetual insecurities and passed her a love note and told her she looked great. Well done, sir.

Before her date with Ben, Ashley put on her acting flip flops and tried to stare pensively at the ocean as if she was giving Ryan a second thought. When Ben sauntered up, all thoughts of Ryan vanished from her mind. In a two-minute segment Ben described his relationship with Ashley using four words: "effortless," "effortless," "effortless," and "effortless." So moving.

Now. We all shed a tear when Ames was sent packing last week. More than anything we knew we'd miss his quotes. Ben seemed to sense America's loss and did his best to fill in the gap. Of his Bachelorette experience he said, "This journey has been a real break-through for me. I've really found myself again, and in finding myself, I've found a girl I really care about, and I'm really happy." He was talking about Ashley here. I think.

The next scene was a little ridiculous. Ashley baited Ben into rubbing her down with sunscreen. It was just as awkward to watch as it is to read. Once they were good and sun-protected, Ashley and Ben dove off the deck of their enormous yacht into the blue waters beneath them. During the ensuing snorkeling montage Cecilia and I talked over their commentary as we wondered whether or not the coral reef had been color-enhanced in any way. Our final ruling was "no." Before dinner, Ben admitted he was falling for Ashley, that he had so much to tell her, but tell her he could not...until that night.

In a hilarious see-through v-neck shirt he chose to tuck in, Ben tried to hide his outrage when Ashley showed up to dinner sans makeup. Ashley inquired if Ben was scared he and she were so close to engagement. Ben replied, "No. Because I'm available today, whereas two months ago, I wasn't. I'm on my way to the whole I love you thing." This response, confusing as it seemed to be, won Ben a makeout session followed by the overnight suite card. Ben claimed that even though he was rewarded the overnight-suite card, he would NOT tell Ashley he loved her. As soon as he got Ashley in the hot tub though, he completely changed course and said, "Everything in my life is now clear." Huh?

Ashley's date with Constantine was much more exciting. Although, not for the reasons she would've wanted. During their helicopter ride to a private island, Cecilia asked me if Fiji was where apples came from. I stared at her in confusion and then responded, "No, babe. You're thinking about Fuji apples. Those are Japanese." She was dubious, so she made me Google it just to confirm.

The date seemed doomed from the start. After Constantine's tennis-shoe-clad-cliff-jumping performance (which is, by the way, the exact same uniform I would've worn), Ashley wanted to talk about house buying. Constantine admitted looking at 108 houses before choosing the one he ended up purchasing. He tried to defend his position by saying, "Women and houses are not the same. A house is a financial investment." In his mind, I'm sure that made sense. It did not make sense to Ashley (or anyone else), though. Ashley's strategy for the conversation was this: she wanted Constantine to once and for all, admit he was just as into her as Ben and JP were. To her dismay, he did not take acquiesce.

Dinner was a study in tongue-tiedness. Ashley continued to try and get Constantine to tell her he was mad about her while Constantine continued to trip over his words. He became downright eloquent, however, when it was time to talk about the overnight suite. He started by saying he did not have complete confidence he could tell his dad that Ashley was his future wife. Stunned, Ashley asked, "Well, where does that leave us now?" Constantine replied, "If I'm going to be honest about it, then this means the end of the road for me." He promptly arose from his chair and bolted off the set. Earlier in the evening, President Obama had interrupted the program to put pressure on the Republicans to accept his debt ceiling solution. I knew this meant our DVR wouldn't catch the end of episode nine. But because Constantine handled himself with such class and left the show on his own accord, I was relieved to know it didn't matter whether or not I saw the final rose ceremony. Here's to Constantine and his outpouring of good timing. If not for The Gentleman, I would put him first on my Bachelorette MVP ballot.

Back to Ryan. Just as we all had guessed at the beginning, his reappearance was completely contrived. Ashley set him up by giving him complements first and telling him he was who she thought he was...and then she admitted she still didn't have feelings for him. That gave Ryan yet another chance to do the whole "When will it be my turn...when will I find true love?" schtick (which is why he came to Fiji in the first place).

JP. Let's sum this up in two sentences: Ashley loves to be complimented. JP gives compliments to Ashley freely.

If JP doesn't win this thing, I don't know what to tell you. Dude has it in the bag. And Ashley sported a men's button-down shirt as her uniform of choice on their overnight suite rendezvous to prove it. Game. Set. Match.

We're all ready for this journey to end...

2011 Bachelorette Week 8

(Author: Matthew)

Week eight of the Bachelorette basically began the same way week seven did.  Ashley recounted the laundry list of qualities she admired of the remaining bachelors.  We saw our first sign of danger for the Gentleman in this segment when Ashley talked and talked about how physically attracted she was to Ben, Constantine and JP.  When it came time to describe Ames, the only adjective she seemed to be able to remember was “unique.”  Ah oh.

The first hometown date took us to Cumming, GA where Constantine did a convincing impression of a guy in a park excited to see a girl who he was actually dating.  Did anyone else think it was fishy that Constantine suddenly discovered words this week?  Where was this guy in weeks one through seven?  Baffling.  

Constantine is Greek.  His parents (Dimitri and Elleni) have Greek names.  When he shared these names with Ashley she bit her upper lip and stared back at him like she was being forced to solve a calculus equation.  The date moved from the park to Constantine’s family’s restaurant.  Everything felt pretty scripted here.  The unquestionable highlight for Cecilia and me was when we paused the DVR just long enough to read the alcohol-serving rules, which were posted above the kitchen door (just in case you're wondering, the rules were: "No serving an entire carafe of wine OR an entire pitcher of beer to any party of one.").

The date transitioned from the restaurant to Dimitri and Elleni’s house, where Dimitri took one look at Constantine and proclaimed, “In all his face, I see him happiness.”  He did not share what he thought of Ashley's face, but I'm betting it might have been less profound.  During dinner, Elleni grabbed Ashley and demanded she move to Cumming if the relationship progressed further.  Ashley did some more upper-lip biting and dodged the question as tactfully as she could.  As it always goes, yet another dubious hometown-date parent seemed to have her mind changed by a shaky Bachelorette/Bachelor answer and Elleni and Ashley became friends.  Huh?  The night ended with a giant Greek dance-off and one of Constantine’s male relatives raining dolla, dolla bills y’all on all the females.  Ladies and gentlemen, Greeks in Cumming, GA!

For the next hometown date, we were taken to Chadds Ford, PA to the stately home of The Gentleman.  In Ames’ first fashion disaster of the season, he wore a pair of fluffy blue boxer shorts that marched up his back like one of his family's prized stallions.  Whoops.  At the Ames' family mansion, we met Ames' sister, Serena, who was dynamite.  She sequestered Ashley as quick as she could and led her into the family's indoor pool, which was located in the mansion's east wing.  While she never said it directly, she communicated clearly that Ashley was in no way a suitable wife for her The Gentleman.  Future hometown-date family members should've been taking notes from Serena last night.  She put on a varsity-level clinic of intimidation.  Nice job by you, Serena.

The scene shifted to a picnic that prompted Ames to say, "I'm going to take you...to my favorite tree.  A picnic under a magnolia tree is so romantic...I can't think of anything more romantic in the world."  Ames then played the I-Was-A-Nerd-In-Boarding-School sympathy card, to which Ashley replied "I think we're the same" (no way).  Ames summed up the picnic by saying, "It's best when the ordinary is extraordinary.  There's so much magic in the ordinary."  But would Ames' magic last?

After Ames, Ashley took a trip to Sonoma, CA to meet Ben.  Whether Ben meant to make Ashley nervous was unclear, but it's what he did as soon as they started talking.  He admitted he'd only brought one woman home to meet the fam in the history of his dating life, and for good measure he explained how much pressure Ashley would be under once she walked through his mother's door.  If Ben's mother and sister didn't like her, then they had no future.  Bazinga!  

Unfortunately for us, Ben's mom and sis faked their way through liking her and Ashley made it through yet another hometown date without a single war wound.  So disappointing.  The date did give us a sequence of substance when Ben tearfully confessed he was a bad son after his father died and lamented he should have been around more instead of going into a shell.  His mom stepped up to the plate in a tremendous way, forgave him and told him how proud of him she was for saying it.  The answer is "yes," Cecilia cried during this scene.

On the final hometown date, Ashley traveled to Roslyn, NY to meet JP.  There was some intense hugging, some roller skating, some wine drinking out of Dixie cups, some Ashley fishing for complements (and JP obliging), an awesome mustache appearance (JP's dad), a mother worrying everything was moving too quickly and a couple semi-threatening remarks if Ashley broke her son's heart, and the same mother immediately caving by calling her lovely and precious.  All in all, it was solid waste of 20 minutes.  Let's move on to the rose ceremony.

As soon as Ames' stupid boxer shorts made their debut during the hometown date, I knew he was doomed.  That's not true.  He was doomed long before that, for the reasons mentioned above.  How sweet would it have been if JP would've been sent home?  Ames could have pointed and yelled, "Were you expecting THAT, my friend?!  Were you expecting THAT?!"  Who am I kidding?  Ames is too classy to even think about doing something like that.  He proved as much as he shook, literally shook, Ashley's hand as he exited stage right.  Before departing, Ames gave us three killer quotes.  Here they are in their entirety.  Happy trials, The Gentleman.  

"Its been totally beautiful, and full of the unexpected and even more poetic than I would've ever imagined."

"I feel pretty numb.  I fell in love with someone who did not fall in love with me, and I wonder what it was.  I'm never going to get to know.  I was hoping to spend a lifetime of adventures with this beautiful woman, and now I'm back to sharing a lifetime of adventures with myself, which is...uh...less enticing."

"More than anything, I want to be loved, and I thought I'd found it, but I guess not."

Until next week...

Trash the Dress

Author:  Cecilia

This past weekend was a busy one for us Creasmans.  We started off Friday with trashing my wedding dress.  Yes.  I trashed by beloved wedding dress.  So many people have asked me questions on this event so I'll try my best to explain.  The first question is:

"Why?!  Why would you RUIN your wedding dress?"

I usually answer that question by asking a question (if the person is married).  Can I ask, "where is your wedding dress?"  That question is followed by a sigh and a "up in my attic in a box".  Exactly.  Before I even met Matthew, I knew that I wanted to trash my wedding dress.  It's where my artistic side trumps my sentimental side.  So from the moment my parents paid for my dress, I did not let my self get attached to it.  I wore it on my wedding day, hung it in the closet, and haven't looked at it since.  When I approached my wedding photographer, John Newberry, about taking pictures of the whole thing, he was excited to do it.  I will say that one of the big factors that pushed me to do this is that I trust my photographer.  John and his wife Brittany make an amazing team and I trusted completely that he would capture the moment and take fantastic pictures.  It also helped that John was so excited to do the shoot.  Apparently, there aren't many brides that are willing to trash their dress.  I am not one of those brides.

"But what about your DAUGHTER???"

Okay people.  Let's face it.  It's 2011.  I'll bet you anything that when it comes time for my daughter to walk down the isle, chances are my wedding dress won't be in style.  I mean, I love my mama...but there's no way I would wear her wedding dress.  Lace?  Sleeves? Poof? no thank you.  Also, I loved getting to spend the day trying on wedding dresses with my mom.  It was such a fun day to drive to Brinkley with her and my girlfriends and have a day of trying on dresses and finding "the one."  IF I have daughters, you better believe that if they are anything like their mama, I won't be getting off easy.  They are going to want a NEW dress.  And I, like my mom, will smile and buy it for them.

The third question is: "How?  How did you do it?"

This was the tricky part.  I have wakeboarded since I was little so it's something that has always been around in my family.  My parents have a boat at Heber Springs, and for as long as I can remember, our summers were spent on the lake.  However, we needed to do the photoshoot closer to Conway.  My Uncle Allen & Aunt Regina live on Beaverfork Lake in Conway (where Matthew proposed) and they have a boat and a dock.  The plan was simple.  Start off on the dock, with my wakeboard in the water, and let the boat pull me off the dock, that way my hair wouldn't be wet to start and we could get some good pictures before I looked like a wet dog.  Though the dock start was a little harder than expected, we did it.  John sat in the boat and snapped away while I rode behind the boat without a life vest (ssshhhh, don't tell the park ranger).  Once I fell, I would flip over on my back and float until the boat came back around to get me.  My wakeboard floats by itself, so staying on top of the water wasn't that hard.

By the end of the day I was exhausted.  The picture below took several tries to get it right.  Climbing up a ladder with a soaking wet wedding dress, after you have wake boarded is no joke.  Every part of my body was exhausted and I am still sore from it all (today is Monday).  However, it was all worth it!

And then we have the swamp love picture.  As Matthew and I were crawling out of the lake for the ump-teenth time, I said "Hey let's take one of those romantic pictures that would look like it belongs on a romance novel"  John went along with our plan and wah-lah--swamp love!  

The picture happens to be a fan favorite.

Something we weren't intentionally trying to do.  Way to go.

So is my dress trashed?  Well... not really :)  After a good wash in the jet tub, it fluffed right back out.  Granted, it smells a little "lakey" but other than that, it's fine!  NOW it can go in a box in the attic :)

2011 Bachelorette Week 7

Author: Matthew (His first blog post.  Ever.)

Let's address the obvious first.  This is a post about the Bachelorette.  Before you get on your high horse and start making jokes, we need to outline why a dude would watch this stupendously stupid show.  Guys watch the Bachelor, Bachelorette or Bachelor Pad to a) impress their wives, b) impress their girlfriends or c) impress girls they hope to one day make their girlfriends or wives.  That's the entire list of reasons.  You'll never convince me otherwise.

I started watching the Bachelor in the fall of 2009 to impress a striking, long-legged blonde named Cecilia Lambert.  I guess there could have been some other similarly awesome stuff I did along the way, but watching the Bachelor that fall was roughly 92% responsible for Cecilia saying "I do" on January 21, 2011.

Almost immediately, I began brainstorming ways to make this weekly two-hour waste of time more bearable.  It started by trying to correctly guess the last five bachelors after the season premier.  When Jake the Amazing Pilot's season ended and just before Ally the Former Facebook Marketer's season began, Cecilia and I expanded the game to guessing the top 15 AND final five bachelors before the initial rose ceremony.  About a week before Jake Come Here to Me's first rose ceremony, we tweaked the game again, this time deciding to treat the franchise like folks do NCAA March Madness pools.  We nailed down a list of specs and rules, which I won't explain here, just know an Excel spreadsheet full of IF formulas is involved.  Then we invited Cecilia's friends and mine - all participating dudes characterized by one of the three categories above, of course - to play the game with us.

If it sounds dumb, I promise you it is.  But its fun.  Each Tuesday morning, I write a recap about the previous night's show and email it out with the updated standings to our game's competitors (33 this season).  Below is this week's email.  You've already killed several minutes by reading the words above, so how about you keep going?  You owe it to yourself.  We'll post the previous six weeks' recaps sometime soon.

~~~~~~~~

This week’s show began with Ashley dropping knowledge about the group’s next destination: “Taiwan is the hidden jewel of Asia, because not a lot of people know about it.”  A producer immediately leaned in and explained that, actually a lot of people know about Taiwan considering Taiwanese companies manufacture a large portion of the world’s consumer electronics.  Ashley then bit her lip and looked angrily at the camera as the producer pointed and laughed.  (I’m making this up of course.  I had to.  Last night’s show was THAT boring.)  Ashley next rattled on about the various things she liked about the six remaining bachelors.  I’m sure she was very flattering, but I was busy playing Hanging With Friends on my phone, so I missed most of her bachelor recaps.  Of The Gentleman, she said, “Ames is one of the most unique guys I’ve ever met.”  Indeed.

The episode’s first date was with Constantine.  Until last night, Constantine had been an enigma to me.  He had no identifiable spark with or distinguishable interest in Ashley that I could see.  I could not, for the life of me, figure out why Ashley had kept him around.  Cecilia explained I had been looking at it backwards.  Because Constantine would rather be kickin’ it with the boys and watching Ames do Ames things, this makes him a rare challenge compared to the rest of the guys.  She wants to him to care, so she works a little harder on him to try to get him to care.  That seems stupid to me, but what do I know?  (The answer: not much.)  During the date Ashley made Constantine paint a “love balloon” that they would release into the sky later that night.  Disgusted, Constantine looked at the balloon the same way a four-year-old might gaze at a heaping plate of bean sprouts.  Realizing he had no choice but to paint, he got to work.  Later, during dinner, Ashley told Constantine he was exactly the kind of guy she is attracted to.  Horrified, Constantine quickly changed the subject and starting talking about his family.  The night ended with Ashley and Constantine launching their love balloon into the air.  As Constantine genuinely admired the scenery, Ashley grabbed his face and forced him into one of her patentedly-awkward kisses.

Next, Ashley had a one-on-one date with Ben.  It was basically a replay of all of their previous interactions.  “I like you, you like me, if we were married life would look like this, blah, blah, blah.”  Ben did confess that he was in love with Ashley, but he’s not ready to tell her yet.  Give him a couple more hours.

Before the group date with Lucas, Ames and JP, the guys were sitting around in their hotel suite when Ben be-bopped into the room with a mile-wide smile like he’d spent the night in Ashley’s bed.  Ames asked the obvious question, Ben denied staying in the same room overnight with Ashley and immediately Ben’s I-know-something-you-don’t-know attitude vanished.  Nevertheless, JP stormed out of the room in a quasi-jealous rage and hunted desperately for a door to slam.  He was unsuccessful.  The group date was another weird choice.  Each guy was given a wedding tuxedo to wear and a corresponding photo shoot to do with Ashley.  Not surprisingly, Ames MURDERED his photo shoot, while Lucas and JP simply went through the motions.  Later at the cocktail party, in a move I totally would’ve disapproved of had it not been The Gentleman who made it, Ames showed Ashley old pictures of himself and his family, including a tremendous grade-school photo that powerfully communicated why The Gentleman now has veneers.  Ames’ gamble failed, and JP, through his constant pouting and bickering, won the group date’s rose.

The final date of the episode was a one-on-one with Ryan, who to that point was probably the group’s frontrunner with JP.  From the start, though, we could sense Ashley’s wheels spinning.  She seemed indifferent.  Things continued to snowball until she abruptly stopped the date and confessed he would not be receiving a rose at the ceremony.  Stunned, Ryan walked away...and promptly shifted into 2012-Bachelor-Tryout Mode.  He shed crocodile tears, yelled obscenities, asked why, placed his head between his legs and acted like he might throw-up and concluded his tryout by doing the obligatory, “I don’t want to be alone!!  When is it going to be my turn?!?!?!” routine.  It was pretty blatant.  If ABC buys this and chooses him over Bentley to be our next Bachelor, I’m writing somebody an angry letter.

The episode ended with Constantine, Ben and Ames joining JP as rose winners.  As Ashley escorted Lucas to his limo, JP turned to Ames and excitedly proclaimed, “I was not expecting THAT.”  Dignified as ever, the Gentleman simply shot JP a look as if to remind him, “I have degrees from Harvard, Yale and Cambridge.  You think those don’t mean something, chump?  And, have you SEEN the fashion risks I take each week?!  I’m wearing vermillion-colored pants tonight for goodness sakes!!”

In the show’s last 15 minutes or so, there was an uncomfortable interview with Emily.  I’m still trying to sort out my thoughts on it.  She SEEMED legitimately heartbroken and tired of all the publicity she’s been getting, yet, if this was really true, why do an interview on national broadcast television to further promote your fame?  I’m dubious she did it for the right reasons.


click here to view the week 5 update


Click here to view the week 6 update

The Honeymoon

For our honeymoon, Matthew's parents sent us to Bora Bora.  Major thanks to Will & Teresa for sending us to paradise after our wedding!  Bora Bora is the most BEAUTIFUL place on earth! 

Bora Bora is south of Hawaii, and is in the shape of a circle, with lots of islands surrounding it.  The islands are actually the top of a volcano, and are surrounded by a lagoon.  So we weren't on the ocean, we were actually in a lagoon which is why the water is so pretty!

Once we landed at the airport, a shuttle boat whisked us away to our resort!

I'm telling you...the colors are unreal...

Welcome to the Intercontinental Resort and Thalasso Spa!

Got my flippers on.  (Mount Otemanu in the background is actually the center of Bora Bora.) 

Nothing like a good pair of goggles.  And that hammock over my left shoulder? 

Yep that was mine all week.

Our king size bed over looked the lagoon.

The bathroom.

Our bungalow had a balcony, then a lower platform you could swim off of and lay out on.

Matthew fed the stingrays.  I did not.

Sunset in Bora Bora.

The food was incredible.

So was the desert!  3 different kids of Creme Brulee!

Smile Matthew!  

(Shortly after this trip Matthew agreed it was time to send this hat home to be with the Lord.)

These were the pool boys, they brought you towels, drinks, gave demonstrations, 

and kept us laughing all week!

Over-the-water chapel.

Matthew found a hermit crab.  It took 5 minutes to take this picture because I 

was scared of it and kept dropping it.

Our bungalow platform.

Picture of our bungalow from our platform.

The pool!

I loved the pool.

apps that I love...

Author:  Cecilia

I got an iPad2 this past spring.  I originally bought it for work.  Being a pediatric speech pathologist, I am always looking for new ways to motivate the kids I work with and steering clear of presenting the same concepts in the same way each session.  So here are some apps that I love for language development and for my own...personal development :)  Please feel free to comment and leave your favorite apps!  I love new suggestions!

Personal

1.  Cross It Off Lite
this app is PERFECT for to-do list, grocery store list, and what-not.  I think you can also get this on your iPhone.  You can categorize your list as well.  So when something is out at the Creasman home, either I or Matthew adds it to our list.  We then take the iPad to the grocery store and use the app while shopping.  One swipe of your finger crosses off the things you have in your buggy :)  Matthew loves to be the crosser-offer...and I let him because I'm submissive.  ;) hah.

2.  Flipboard
oh how we love a good magazine.  and flipboard lets you have just about any thing you want right at your finger tips.  Which do I read?  Oh you know...the good stuff...people magazine, E! online, CNN, and I LOVE "Real Simple Magazine" (it has great simple recipes and home solutions that have you going "why didn't I think of that?")


For Work:
Most of the kids I work with are from age 1-4, so naming objects, talking about pictures, answering questions about pictures, are highly targeted.  There are several flash card applications that make things smooth sailing in speech.

My First Words by Smart Baby Apps -  I use this for naming for my 2-3 year olds.

ABA Flashcards - Actions, Emotions, Foods, Clothing

ABA Receptive Identification - By Function - this app is good for my 3-4 year olds

For you SLP's

Articulate It! - by smarty ears (love love love this app and the way it collects data)

Our Wedding [Wedding Day]

Matthew and I tied the knot on January 21st, 2011.  It was such a perfect day.  The day started by all of by bridesmaids gathering at Matthew's house (now "our" house) to get ready.  While the girls did their thing, Matthew went with his groomsmen for breakfast, True Grit, bowling, and pizza.  

My bridesmaids were incredible.  Each one of them were supportive and selfless toward me.  They each understood it was "my" day and helped things run so, so smoothly.  Lauren, my maid of honor, is INCREDIBLE at fixing hair, so I naturally enlisted her for my wedding day hairdo.  

Below are pictures from our special day.  Mad props yo to John Newberry for his amazing photography skills.  (If you want to see ALL the pictures, click John's name, click "clients" then "weddings" then "matthew + cecilia") 

Yea buddy.

Thank you Lauren for my wedding hair!

The shoe shot.  You can't have a wedding without it.

Matthew getting pretty for his bride.

Kristin was very proud of her socks.

Sweet Windsor.

The rings!

Daddy gave me a sparkly!  My favorite!

Now.  Let me tell you how amazing my bridesmaids and my old roommate are.  I lived with Cara Jo Duren from May 2010 through January 2011.  Saying she is pretty handy is a huge understatement.  Cara spent hours cutting down branches, transporting them to her garage and fashioning them there with my bridesmaids for my stage decor.  I loved my wedding.  Heather Hoyt decorated the church and the reception and made my vision come alive with branches, candles and flowers, which helped give the atmosphere a natural feel.

Cara's handiwork.  She's LEGIT.

My beautiful bridesmaids.

Say this in an uppity voice: the Haaaaarvard pose.

The Lamberts!

Matthew led a small group of high school guys in New Life Church's Real Life student ministry.  We were honored to have them be ushers at our wedding.  They took their job very seriously. 

Yes, those are ear pieces and sunglasses.  

Matthew and his groomsmen. So hard.

Someone bribed them into smiling.

Get back!  Give him room! (Our ushers were the best)

Matthew and his sisters, Sarah & Anna (my new sister-in-loves!).

McAllister (my ringbearer, son of our preacher/ one of my bridesmaids) feeding me Cheetos.

My sweet flower girl and niece, Avery.

The talented Becky Mitchum playing our grandmothers/parents down the aisle.

Brandon Shatswell and Jason Hollis doin' work, son.

Pre-ceremony prayers with my bridesmaids.

...and its official.

Matthew's turn for prayer time.  :-)

Walking down the aisle!

Love this one.

We walked down the aisle to the Black Eyed Peas, "I Got A Feelin'."  True story.

Unfortunately, our photographers and videographer missed (because they were with us) my grandparents shaking their rumps when it was their turn to come down the aisle. It brought the house down.

Goober.

Our wedding reception was at the Greek Orthodox Annunciation Ballroom, the only place big enough (without the crusty feel) for our reception.

Heather Hoyt did an AMAZING job decorating!

My Wedding Cake!  Italian Creme Cake by Patty Cakes in Conway.

Wicked awesome.

One of my favorite shots.

Our first dance.

My sweet daddy.

Mother + groom dance. 

Check out my cousin's suh-weet bow tie.

And, the crane shot (just kidding).

Katy Barber just won the lottery.  I think.

Line dancing. For realz.

Best.  Night.  Ever.