Derby Shower

My Aunt Melanie, Uncle Andy and Mammaw threw Aaron and I an amazing Derby themed wedding shower this weekend. They worked extremely hard to make it perfect. The decorations and food were fabulous. They are all about the little details. We had a pretty big crowd with people coming from all over the state. We had an awesome time. There was a contest for the best hat and most original hat. I ended up winning "best in show" with a beautiful light blue hat decked out in rhinestones and feathers that my Mammaw made.  My sister, Kelsey, won "Most Original"  with her UK inspired hat.  We also bet on horses and I was surprised with how much people got into that.  Everyone had their own unique methods for picking their favorite horse.  Some people of course went with the best name, some just picked their favorite number, my aunt had to look at each of the horses right before the race before making her final selection and there was a table of men inside surrounding the newspaper with stats trying to decide. My aunt created a candy bar with all of mine and Aaron's favorite sweets. One of my aunt's best friends brought a collection of specialty popcorn flavors to set up a popcorn bar that even featured a Mint Julep flavor. The kids were entertained by a massive tunnel/tent system that Bryce and Tyler set up. It was so fun.

Thanks to all who came and enjoyed the day with us. We had a blast and hope you did too. My Aunt decided that the derby party might become an annual thing now since the theme and activities were such a hit.


  My grandmother made beautiful derby themed wreaths for the front door.

I couldn't get this picture to rotate. This was part of our betting display.

Hat decorations!



Relaxing right before the big race!

 

We had awesome food.... burger sliders, hot browns, corn dogs, banana pudding, cupcakes, etc.. My aunt also created a really cute popcorn bar and candy bar.  

Our jockey! (again, couldn't get this to rotate)

Most of the guests came decked out in their derby attire but they all came with beautiful gifts. Aaron and I were definitely "showered."

Aaron and I :)

My great grandmother, Mammaw and Aunt Kay.  (& little Z, of course)

Aaron was an excellent Vanna White during the gift opening.

The derby winners - my Aunt Melanie (hostess) and Tyler (my sister's boyfriend)! The guests bet on horses during the party. Half of the money went to Aaron and I while the other half of the money was divided up equally between the winners. These two were hilarious as their horse, I'll Have Another, crossed the finish line.  Tyler stood up and said "I just wont the Kentucky Derby!!!!"

Me and my little buds - Zachary and Bryce

Thunder Over Louisville

Thunder over Louisville was this past Saturday. Kelsey and Tyler (my sister and her boyfriend) came up to Louisville so that we could all go together. It was chilly but still a lot of fun. If you've never been, you need to go! Thunder over Louisville is the largest annual fireworks show in North America. This is not your typical fireworks display. Thunder over Louisville is half an hour of any other shows finale - times 4+.  Thunder is the kick-off celebration for the two weeks prior to Derby. More than half a million people show up to this event.  The Thunder Air Show takes place during the day and spectators can see over 100 different planes. When it gets dark, the real "thunder" begins. Over 1 million dollars are spent on the fireworks for this show. This year a canon was continually shot during the show and it was so loud and startling we saw several people drop to the ground instinctively when they heard it. SO funny. As the charming gentlemen standing in front of us said, "this sh*t make da urf shake!"

 I didn't take this picture but it was a good shot of the fireworks. We sat to the right of the boat this year.

 Kelsey took this picture of the fireworks.

 This is a shot of the fireworks waterfall on the bridge. It's really hard to get a good picture of this without a good camera. This picture just makes it look like the bridge is blowing up. This mile long display is one of thunder's signature bridge effects.

This part of the show got people really excited. In the video, you'll see the rainbow colored fireworks on the bridge shown in the first picture.

Here is the video portion of the waterfall. You can also faintly hear the canon. The video doesn't do this justice!

This is part of the finale of the fireworks show.

Projects, projects, projects!

This weekend was VERY busy. Aaron and I helped my aunt and uncle with various projects around the house.  Aaron and Andy spent 20+ hours installing....well, I'm not really sure what you call it, but they finished out the underside of one of their decks. (pictures below) They also installed some new lights under the deck.

I helped my aunt with some derby themed projects in preparation for our upcoming derby party/wedding shower/cook-out. My family loves themed parties! Aunt Melanie has come up with some great and very creative ideas. I can't share pictures though - I am under orders not to spoil any of the surprises. I think it is going to be a really good time. I'm not big on typical church showers. I think they are incredibly boring, especially for the guests. I am excited.

Oh... & today we are officially 2 months away from the wedding. Yay!

Getting closer to the Wedding! :)

I've been working on the wedding programs this weekend while I've had some time off for Easter break. I got to put on my dress today so that my Mammaw could make the final measurements on the dress before she begins to hem the bottom. Our wedding coordinator at the Don sent us more choices for the brunch menu, table arrangements, and other details. All of the final decision making is getting me really excited! 70 days left! Here are some pictures of the venue that mom and I took last summer.

A picture of Aaron and I in front of the Don Cesar Beachfront Hotel in St. Petersburg, FL. We will be getting married on the beach in front of this hotel on June 17th.

A picture of the Sunset Pavillion - our reception will be held here following the wedding.

The aisle I will walk down toward the beach during the wedding.

A view from the room the wedding will take place in in case it rains on the morning of the wedding. Fingers crossed that the weather will be perfect!!

Here is a picture of my family at the Don on June 17th, 2012.

:)

Weekend Fun

This past weekend Aaron and I traveled over to Flemingsburg, KY to spend some time with my grandparents.  My mom was in eastern KY too for work so we got to visit with her as well.  I spent Saturday writing a paper (blah) but I did have some pretty cute company....  this little guy was soo good and literally laid in bed with me for at least 4 hours without fussing at all. He even put himself to sleep!

We came home Sunday and randomly bought some plants at Lowes on the way. I know absolutely nothing about plants but it actually turned out looking okay....I think! Aaron also bought some contraption that would create stripes in the yard. It looks awesome! See below...

And last but not least.. I thought this picture was just too cute not to share.

back to blogging

It's been a while, but I've decided to pick back up the blogging. The house project is pretty well finished. There are a few things that we haven't been able to work out yet - one being our crazy couch issue. We have literally had four different couches in our living room sinces January and another one is being delivered sometime next week. I think the store and the delivery people are starting to hate us. Other than that, we could not be happier with the house. We love it.
But.... on to the next big project. We are on the countdown to the Carver-Johnson Wedding in June! We have officially passed the 100 days out mark and I am SO excited.  I am ready to really get into the planning and details now with the help of my awesome wedding planner: my mom! It's going to be fun. Today, we are going to register at Kohls, Macys, and Walmart. Thankfully, my mom is coming with us because we would have no idea what we are doing.  Aaron and I luckily share pretty similar tastes when it comes to colors/styles but there are definitely some instances where we don't exactly share the same....vision. So, this should be interesting! :)



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I will post some more pictures of the finished house soon. Aaron has been working on a lot of little projects around the house as well that I will have to show off as well.