Wedding Invitation Ornament

Last night, I went over to Aubrey's apartment to make/eat tacos and watch the DWTS results show. When I called her to let her know I was on my way over, she said, "I made you a prize today!!" I love when Aubery makes prizes because they are always super artsy and extermely thoughtful. I had no idea what she had made, but I was super excited when she showed me this...

{It's an ornament with my wedding invitation inside! It is cut into thin strips and wrapped around inside a clear, glass ornament. LOVE!}

Isn't this the sweetest, most thoughtful gift?! I had no idea that she was putting this together and I seriously think it's the cutest idea. I definitely want to do this for my friends that get married in the future. In the first picture, you can see my name. In this next shot, you can see Luke's. On purpose, no doubt. :)

And no artsy DIY gift/project is complete without a picture of the creator. Isn't she the cutest? I am so blessed to call her one of my best friends!

Wedding Update: 6.5 weeks and counting!

{This is what my parents' kitchen table looked like a few days back. Invitations, I will not miss piecing you together! And yes Cat--that is salsa and a bag of chips in the bottom right-hand side of this picture. What do these items and an open laptop remind you of?}

Holy moly, where getting SO CLOSE! I call Luke about once a day to remind him what number we're on in the countdown (44 days!!). So much is going on right now with finalizing wedding details. I can honestly admit that I didn't have any idea how quickly these decisions would be upon us and now I'm swamped! But in a good way. I can't wait to marry my best friend and officially begin our married life together. :)

Here's an update:

1) Wedding invitations go out tomorrow (praise the Lord!!!).

2) The bridesmaids shoes have been ordered.

3) I'm going for my final wedding dress fitting today with my momma.

4) I'm also headed out to The Ranch with my mom and wedding decorator this evening to finalize room layout, decor, wedding day schedule/time line, etc.

5. I've scheduled my hair/make-up consultation for bridal portraits and the wedding day.

5). Bridal portraits are on May 22nd!!!

6. The rehearsal dinner is organized/planned and is going to be an awesome party!

7. Wedding music is picked out.

8. A few more pre-marital counseling sessions are in the process of being scheduled.
9. Groomsmen and bridesmaids gifts. Hmmm...:)
10. And thank you notes are STILL being written (and I'm seriously grateful for all of the gifts we've recieved, but whoever came up with the idea that thank you notes are the most proper way to say thank you needs to be hit upside the head. Just sayin'... ).

There are actually about 1,000,000 20 other items on my immediate wedding to-do list that didn't make the cut on this particular blog post. These listed items are just the first 10 that come to mind. But I'm making progress and before we know it, this wedding will be behind us, Luke and I will be husband and wife, 3 more of my awesome friends will be married this summer, and the world will continue to spin madly on. However, I don't want to be there just yet. God's timing is perfect down to the very second and I plan on enjoying every one of these seconds (even the most stressful!) of this precious time.

What a weekend!

I will embarrassingly admit that I am just now starting to recover from the royal wedding. After waking up at 4 a.m. on Friday morning to watch the couple's nuptials live and working all day (Fridays always being the hardest day of the week to get through), I was plum tuckered out! I don't know why I just wrote that. Anyway...

 {How incredibly gorgeous was she?}

On Saturday morning, my momma drove into Corpus Christi. She and I went to lunch with Luke's aunt, Brenda, to plan the wedding rehearsal dinner (It's going to rock!). After this, we met up with my baby sister, Becca, to help her find outfits for her senior pictures that were scheduled to be taken Sunday morning. The rest of the evening was spent prepping wedding invites to be sent out. Oh my goodness, this process is draining! I will be the happiest bride once this task is behind me!!

On Sunday, mom, Becca, and I woke up early for Becca's senior pictures. One of my wedding photographers, Jamie, took her pictures and I already know they are going to be amazing!!! We had such a fun time. Of course, these pictures don't do any justice because they were taken from my iPhone, but I just love this young lady. I can't believe the last Martisek girl is about to graduate from high school! What a beautiful young woman, both inside and out.

After Becca's pictures, we all went back to my apartment to get ready for my last bridal shower. My awesome Corpus Christi girls put together a sweet shower for me today and I feel very blessed to have them in my life down here in South Texas. Quite a few of them are friends that I made back in my Zephyr days, only making our connection that much stronger. I love how God provides in this way. Thank you to all of my beautiful friends that made this final shower so special. I love you all very much and I can't wait to celebrate with you all in less than two months!!

{Cute food and decor!}

{So sweet}

{I love our bath towels!!}

{Some of my beautiful friends at the shower}

{So happy my mom and Becca could be at the shower}

After my mom and Becca took off to go back to Hallettsville, Luke and I went to dinner with our favorite married couple, Jay and Morgan. Jay has completed two tours to Iraq in the Army and his father is a Navy captain who has served on many tours, so our dinner conversation usually involves some military talk. This evening we had actually been talking about Osama bin Laden and whether or not he is still alive, what our government was keeping from us, why he hadn't been killed yet, etc. How crazy that on our way home we found out that bin Laden had just been killed?! GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!! Finally, we have some justice for 9/11! I know that this awful man's death does not bring the thousands of men, women, and children that were killed almost a decade ago back to life, but I do pray that their families will sleep a little more peacefully tonight knowing that this murderer is no longer walking on the earth. But seriously, how ironic that we happened to be talking about exactly this right before it was announced! Crazy.

What a weekend, right? I hope you've had a relaxing one and that you have a great start to your week. And happy 1st of May! I always love the fresh start of a new month. Do you have anything extremely cool/fun/exciting planned for May? If so, I'd love to hear about it!

"And I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free. And I won't forget the men who died, who gave that right to me!!!"