It Has Only Just Begun.

I'm a married lady now. It still feels a little funny. Not much about my relationship with Kyle has changed so when it comes up in conversation or something happens to remind me of our new union, I get butterflies and have to giggle to myself just a little. I kept staring at our rings while we were on our honeymoon and I even had to pinch myself a few times to remind myself that it wasn't just a dream.

That being said, I could not have imagined a more perfect wedding (with the exception of showing up to MY OWN wedding 30 minutes late)!!! It was such a beautiful day and I was so overwhelmed with the love and support of our family and friends! The honeymoon was absolutely fabulous and we had the BEST time together. It is so much fun traveling with your husband! We did a lot of eating while we were there though, so I'm paying for that now.... : /

It took a while for us to adjust to coming home. First there's the time change- Hawaii is 6 hours behind us! Then Rock Hill doesn't really have a good view of the mountains or the turquoise ocean water... that is a hard one. And the worst of all was returning to work on Tuesday. I felt physically ill going in. I was trying to think of any possible alternative so that we could go back Hawaii and live there. I don't mind being a beach bum. So what if I have to eat pineapples and coconuts for the rest of my life! I could be a wedding planner or something there. It could work, right?

This week feels a little more normal, but we are still dealing with the post-wedding blues. We are thinking of planning another vacation ASAP so we can have something to look forward to.

I'm trying to get used to being a good little wifey. I'll have to post on my failures and feats. Tonight I'm making White Chicken Chili for dinner. I'll let you know how it goes. :)

In 2 Days!

Well... it's almost official! In two more days I'll be Mrs. Kyle Christopher. Do you know that there are eleven letters in Christopher? Did you also know that when I write Christopher out on paper, it usually looks like one big 'C' and a bunch of scribble behind it? Kennedi Christopher. I think it has a nice little ring to it.... don't you think?

The last couple of weeks have been a complete whirlwind of stress, surprise, celebration, and absolute bliss. I am so excited about so many things! The most obvious, I'm marrying the man that my heart desires, then I'll be going to Hawaii. Those should be good enough for anyone, but I can't tell you how utterly ecstatic I am to be seeing every person that I know and love gathered together for such a time as this. I now understand why a wedding day can be so overwhelming! I'm completely overwhelmed with love and excitement.

My bachelorette weekend was absolutely amazing! I couldn't have asked for a better time! My girls all came together for the perfect send off weekend and of course Holly and Laura made it so that it was just my style! Have I mentioned that they should be an event planners? I have truly been blessed with some amazing friends and I consider myself the luckiest girl in the world to have them!

To run through the highlights: we had a lot of fun!!!! I learned how to pole dance, we had a lot of fun, and .... we had A LOT OF FUN!!!!!! Really, I think it was the best bachelorette party weekend that I have ever even heard of!

I'm sure that I most likely sound like a sap with all of the emotions running through my heart, but I just have to say that God has been very good to me. I know that I'm not worth it, but He decided to love me anyway.

In two days I think I'll be the most blessed woman that I know!

Back to Charleston...

I feel like I was just there... and yet I'll be on my way again tomorrow for my B.A.C.H.E.L.O.R.E.T.T.E weekend! I can't even begin to explain my excitement! It is a very rare thing that adults get to have sleepovers anyway, but I get to spend the whole weekend with my girls and I am S-T-O-K-E-D! I mentioned to Kyle last night that I didn't want to hurt his feelings, but I doubt I'll miss him much this weekend... good news is- its mutual. I'll be in Charleston, and he will be in Savannah with the guys! How exciting is that!?!?!? I feel like a little girl! eeeek!!!!

The best part (scary part) is that I don't really know anything that is going to happen this weekend! Now, I have been warned, but I'm still not even 25% sure that I know what to expect... My LOH lives and breathes to plan events and I just so happen to be the perfect guinea pig for her. I'm sure there will be plenty of body parts, lacy things, beverages, and other embarrassing paraphernalia involved in this "Celebration Surprise" weekend!  Ah, I cannot wait!!!!

I still have lots of things to do before I head out tomorrow, but I honestly can't stop thinking about how much fun we are going to have!!! Wahoo!!!!

Bridal Portraits: Take Two .... and three

Earlier this year I did a bridal portrait session with my good friend Jennie. She was visiting from LA so we decided to get some pictures while she was here. She did an amazing job and I was throughly impressed. Jennie is a great friend of mine who has agreed to come here to shoot our wedding, along with our other photographer, Sarah Whitesides. So I planned to do one session with Jennie, and one with Sarah.

When trying to plan my bridal session with Sarah, I had a really good idea! I decided to have my second bridal portrait session in Charleston SC. The reason why this is such a good idea is two-fold. On the one side, who could think of a better setting for bridal portraits? The whole town is a photo op! Then on the other hand I knew I would be spending the whole weekend in one of my favorite places on the planet!  Best idea ever, right?

Mom and I got to Charleston around 9:00 Friday night and decided to take it easy and get some rest before the big day on Saturday. Our photographer (who traveled with us) stopped by our room for a bit to check out my dress and chat and then we were in bed before we knew it. We woke up the next morning to a B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L sunny day with not one cloud in sight. We had a great brunch with some friends, got our nails done, and did a little shopping before we had to start getting ready for the shoot.

I headed into the salon around 3:00 and was all ready by 5 ish. I have to say, seeing everything all put together just about took my breath away. I haven't had everything on all at once yet with my dress, hair, veil, shoes, jewelry, etc... let me just say that I had a moment.

We headed outside about 5:30 to start our shoot and of course... it started raining. OUT OF NOWHERE!!!!  Perfect. Sarah and I spent the next hour and a half ducking into buildings, hiding under awnings, dodging mud puddles, and huddling under an umbrella. It was quite the opposite of what one would consider to be a lovely occasion. Of course this is just par for the course with someone like myself.

You can imagine my surprise to find that Sarah had actually gotten some really cool shots from the day... but we both agreed to give it another go on Sunday to see if we would have better luck. After all, we were still in Charleston and we both knew we weren't making another trip out. So, we made the best of an otherwise awful  not so fun situation, had dinner, hung out downtown (after it conveniently stopped raining), and got some rest before doing it all over again.

We got up on Sunday to another seemingly beautiful morning, had breakfast and headed out for the salon... again. It took a little longer to get ready this time because I didn't have a scheduled appointment for Sunday. My awesome hairdresser was so kind to squeeze me in! I got all ready to venture out... again... and this time the weather was PERFECT! Not too hot, bright, and beautiful! We got some really great shots and I cannot wait to see them!!!!

Pumpkins, latte's, and pies, oh my!

It's almost that time...my absolute favorite time of year. Fall is right around the corner. Mmm... I'm feeling warm and fuzzy just thinking about it. It makes me so happy to see the leaves changing, to feel the cool breeze on my  face, and to smell the crisp autumn aroma in the air... there isn't anything quite like it.

No wonder why I picked October for our wedding month, right? It's the best month! There's just something about it that makes me feel right at home. However, I have to be careful too because that is also the time for soups, and pies, and all kinds of delicious goodies that like to stick right around my hips for the winter! ;) (and we thought only animals store food for the cold months.)

Either way, I couldn't be any more excited. I just get to add one more thing to look forward to every year, and it just so happens to be one of the most important events of my entire life! How awesome is that?

Let's discuss the list of things that are coming up right around the corner:
Charleston Bridal Shoot
Bachelorette weekend
WEDDING
HONEYMOON
Halloween
Thanksgiving
Christmas

Are you catching my drift?

Carolina snuggie, fuzzy socks, and snowflake pajamas... here I come!

So blessed and undeserving.

This past weekend was absolutely beautiful!

I had my first wedding shower on Saturday. I tell you, there is something so overwhelming about being in the room with so many people that you love, all coming together to celebrate you. It was such a neat experience looking around the room and seeing all of the familiar faces that I've come to know, love, and respect throughout my lifetime.

Lindsey planned this shower and I have to tell you, my expectations were blown out of the water as soon as I walked in. Don't get me wrong, I knew she would do an amazing job (she's just good like that)! However, I did not expect that she would make it so personal with all of the thoughtful little intricate details that only Lindsey would know to include. I was completely blown away and I enjoyed every second of it.

As I was opening all of my (many, many) gifts, all I could think about is how blessed I am... and how I don't deserve a bit of it! For whatever reason, God has been so good to me. There is no way that I would be the young woman that I am today without the influence, encouragement, and love of these amazing women around me. Even more, there is no way that I would be the young woman that I am today if there wasn't a God who loved me in spite of myself and chose to make me His anyway.

I don't ever want to take for granted the love of my family or friends. I especially don't ever want to take for granted the love of my father. He loves me so good.

Two months left and I almost forgot my... BIRTHDAY!?!?!?!?

Kyle and I went to Charleston this past weekend with some of our friends. It was a really fun time (despite the not so fun rainy weather) and we were really glad to have a weekend away from all things WEDDING! I really am quite curious to know what I'll be doing with my time once all of this hoodoo is behind us. Maybe I'll catch up on some of the sleep I've been missing for the past... oh, I don't know... 8 months!!!

I was talking with some friends from work today and we were discussing last minute end-of-summer vacations that we are all trying to s-q-u-e-e-z-e in so we feel like we got some sort of break before we head into fall. One of the girls mentioned that she and her family are heading to Tybee Island next weekend from the 26th through the 30th. It wasn't until she said that when I realized, "Hey! My birthday is NEXT WEEK!!!" I never thought I would see the day when I forgot about my own birthday Month! 

I usually start celebrating August 1st and then I don't finish until the 31st... and you better believe that once my birthday week starts, I'm reminding everyone each day leading up to it (as if anyone could forget with my constant and clearly obvious reminders). However, for some reason I keep forgetting about it this year! There have been so many other things on my mind that I honestly haven't had the time to stop and think about it. I suppose I should work on that, huh? 

Okay, how's this?

'HEAR YE, HEAR YE, ONE AND ALL- AUGUST 28TH IS THE BIRTHDAY OF KENNEDI McCALL. PLEASE DO NOT LET YOURSELF FORGET IT, FOR IF YOU DO- BE SURE YOU'LL REGRET IT!'

hey, I'm a poet and I didn't know it! -Maybe I really am getting older- I'm starting to use my dad's jokes! 

On another note, I'm really looking forward to this weekend! It is my first bridal shower hosted by one of my lovely bridesmaids. I am super excited, although it does feel a little weird. I have been in 8 weddings and to countless showers. I don't know what I'll do when the presents are actually for me! ... and it will be right before my birthday! I'll definitely post some details about it afterwards. 

How lucky am I to have my birthday, wedding, Thanksgiving, and Christmas all back to back? 

Coincidence? I think not.