9 weeks and counting!

{Easter lunch at Rudy's BBQ}

I was just sitting on the couch, looking at my calendar, and thinking about how busy my weekends are going to be all the way up to the wedding. I've always known that time was going to fly by quickly, but actually looking at the calendar has made this truth even that much more real. Here's what life looks like for me up until the wedding:

• April 23 & 24--This current weekend a.k.a. Easter
• April 30 & May 1--Becca's graduation pictures in CC
• May 7 & 8--last wedding dress fitting & Mother's Day
• May 14 & 15--TAMUCC's gradutation weekend (Yay Kubal and Erika!!)
• May 21 & 22--Beach to Bay 2011 and my bridal portraits
• May 28 & 29--Becca's high school graduation weekend
• June 4 & 5--Bachelorette Party weekend in Houston
• June 11 & 12--Kubal's bridal shower
• June 18 & 19--the last weekend before the wedding a.k.a. MAJOR WEDDING PREP!
• June 24 & 25--THE BIG DAY!!!!!

Holy moly, right?! These last 9 weeks before the big day are going to fly by! Although I've been engaged for 17 months, I know that once we're married and I look back on this time in my life, I'll miss it. This stage of mine and Luke's relationship will only happen once and I can't believe it has almost come and gone. It feels like just yesterday that I was leaving for college, crying in Luke's arms and talking about how it would be FOREVER before we'd be able to get married. This all seems so silly now. In 9 weeks, we will be husband and wife. It will be our favorite time of the year: summer, complete with scorching sunshine, humidity, and sticker burs. We'll be married on June 25th, exactly 5 days from the 6 year anniversary of the day we met (June 30, 2005). Please excuse my sentiment. I'm a little emotional about all of this. I can't wait to be Mrs. Luke Riley Hinton. SO SOON!! :)

Hope you all had a blessed Easter weekend. HE IS RISEN!

Ode to Summer (Part One)

This blog post is titled Ode to Summer, Part One because there will undoubtedly be more odes to summer before this next summer is over. :)

As I was getting out of my car at my apartment complex and thinking about what I wanted to "cook" for lunch (yeah right), I realized how incredibly beautiful today has turned out. Today's high is 79 and the sun couldn't be shining more if it tried. Instantly I decided that Brooklyn and I were going for a walk! That poor puppy is in her crate 8 hours a day anyway, so she could definitely use the exercise. We only walked for about 20 minutes before her tongue was about to fall out of her head, but I'm so glad we got to enjoy the sun for a bit and absorb our daily dose of Vitamin D.

While on our walk I began to day dream about the summertime. I mean, how could I not with so much sunshine surrounding me? I have compiled a list of a few reasons I LOVE the summer, living by the beach, etc. Hope you all are looking forward to the summer as much as I am!!

 {I adore this J.Crew bikini!}

Summer 2011, these are the reasons I am anxiously awaiting your arrival:

1. A girl can never own too many bikinis! I begin searching for a new one THE DAY Victoria's Secret and J.Crew put out their new summer lines.
2. Summer is one of the top reasons I love living in Corpus Christi. That and Luke. :)
3. Everything smells like coconut! Body spray, sun tan oil, and snow cones, OHMY!
4. I'm just happier. Sunshine makes me happy. I want to work out more because it's bikini season. And working out makes me happy. SO MUCH HAPPINESS!!
5. The beach. Not much more needs to be said about this one. 
6. Summer is the best season out at Zephyr! Thousands of kiddos get to learn about God's love while playing paintball, jumping on the blob, and sleeping in bunk beds. 
7. I met Luke in the summer of 2005. I will marry him in the summer of 2011.
8. I get to be tan!!
9. Flip flops and short shorts. 
10. The smell of sweat and sunscreen mixed together. I know this may sound gross, but I love the way I feel after I've been outside for an hour during the summer, no matter what I've been up to.

And these are just a few reasons. Have you started looking for your 2011 swimsuit yet?!