Chocolate & Wine

I went shopping today, {Brian is coming home tomorrow and I needed to get things for a home cooked meal for him}. I left the house and got to Walmart at 3:30pm (the same time school gets out), and I was hungry. Let me just say this, its very bad news when I go shopping on an empty stomach. They tell you not to go like that, however, I wasn't hungry when I left my house, but when I got to the grocery section, I cracked. I spent too much money. I bought LOTS of fattening things, and 3, yes 3 bottles of sweet red wine! {Once I try these wines, I'll write a brief review since they were cheaper brands and affordable for all. Oh I only drink sweet red, and it has to be SWEET.} I apparently am on a wine kick...I should have picked up some chocolate too, because I am craving it now. I got home and heated some frozen Stouffer's Mac & Cheese up and hoofed it down along with some homemade sweet tea {a huge weakness of mine}. I then proceeded to eat 2 Kosher pickles. To feed my chocolate fix, I'm really thinking about making this. Trust me, you will want to check it out, unless you are trying to stay away from an amazing sweet, delicious...well just click...man is it tasty...num num num...its creamy, chocolaty, and delectable!

Have a good night...I'll be stuffing my face, alone for one more night! I'm blowing my WW diet out of the water for sure tonight! Pray for me! Haha!

God Bless,

 

I'm obsessed *sigh*

Yes, I said it...officially obsessed!

I went to Sam Moon in Austin today with my mom. We were in there for 45 minutes. I managed to see only 1/2 of the entire store, and walked out with $150.00 of jewelry, and luggage.

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am a bag and jewelry addict. I LOVE accessories. I could have easily spent a thousand dollars in that store if I had the chance. Thank goodness I said no to several items I knew I didn't need. Needless to say, my mom was literally pulling me out of the store like a little girl!!! I will be back though, and soon...there are lots of great ideas for wedding gifts for my girls ;) and even my guys too!

My crafters bubble got bursted. If you didn't know already, my mom and I make jewelry. She has invested the past 6 months into creating jewelry. I walked into this store and realized that she would no longer be making jewelry. I managed to get all 3 of my necklaces for $10.50 a piece. My mom has sold hers exactly like these for $25.00. There is no way she could make these for only $10.50. NO WAY!

Here is what I LOVE the most about Sam Moon...they have an ONLINE STORE! In case you aren't familiar with Sam Moon, it's a Texas thing. They sell luggage, handbags, millions of accessories, and so much more. They are a trading company and sell things at 50-75% off of department store prices. Only problem is that they get all of their products from China...I'm an advocate of USA made products, but this I just cant help myself. They only have 5 stores currently...Dallas, Frisco, Houston, Fort Worth, and their newest location, Austin. They are opening a new location in Houston in the Memorial City Shopping Center next fall *sigh*. I WILL be visiting them weekly once they open...*wink*wink*
Here is a look at my shopping spree at Sam Moon Trading Company...be sure to visit them online or at one of their locations!

Here is my collection of jewelry 3 new necklace sets, 4 new earrings, and a bracelet.

I'm a sucker for swarovski bundles, swarovski flowers, and unique designs.

My zebra cross pendant that I couldn't live without

Pearl and clear swarovski necklace...simply elegant

My FAVORITE piece I bought today...Bronze bracelet

I also bought 2 black duffel bags for Brian for work. I don't have pics because they are in plastic bags and I think I'm going to try to give them to him for Christmas, so I don't want to unwrap them. He already knows I got them for him though. I also got a cute pink and brown duffel bag for myself.

(Oh yes, It has wheels too!!! It's fairly large as well!)

I hate that I love accessories like these, because I really don't want to be one of those materialistic girls/women. Truth is, none of this *junk* matters in life, but I love accessorizing myself, especially when my husband-to-be comes home from jobs. I like to look my best (most of the time).

HAPPY THANKSGIVING ALL! I will be giving thanks to our Lord who has blessed me with each day of my life and each breath I've taken. He has chosen such a wonderful adventure for me! I'll be praying for our troops; past, present, and their families. They've given me the freedom to enjoy my journey of life God has chosen for me. Please don't take your Thanksgiving Day for granted, embrace every moment! Embrace Life!!!

For Now & God Bless, *Amber*

I feel like A BRIDE!!!! ♥

Yesterday was an amazing day, I decided to go to another appointment at a bridal salon in Austin that I had been to in June. They treated me like I was a princess, and they were SO SWEET! They catered to me, they listened to my questions and they put in 200% effort when working with me. I made the best decision yet in my wedding planning process. I went back.

I was nervous about trying on more dresses, because since I started looking for THE dress, I have had nothing but disappointment over and over again. Alfred Angelo, the first salon I visited, had my size, but pushed me so hard to buy a gown after my first day of trying dresses on. I was very close to buying it, and thank God I didn't. I then went to Davids Bridal, which they hurried me along, and had their own opinions about what dress I would look best in. I'm sorry but don't I know best?! Then I went to New Beginnings in El Campo. That was an ok appointment, but I didn't come out of the salon feeling like a bride. I then continued my search to the WORST place on EARTH to look for dresses. Milan 2 Bridal in Houston...HORRIBLE! I tried maybe 10 dresses on, most of them I couldn't fit into. My girls, Lesley & Lauren had to help me into my dresses, the consultants didn't even offer to help. The manager was a man, and seemed to know nothing about how a bride should feel. I was hurried along during that appointment, and the manager said goodbye to me after those 10 dresses, when he had around 100 more that I could have tried on! There were around 50 people, clients and their families in a small salon. We then proceeded to look at Bridesmaids dresses and we were still hurried along. The manager wanted us gone. On the phone he promised "Every bride gets treated exceptionally, and they get an hour and a half to their consultant!" Bull-logna! I was so disappointed that day after we left. I knew from then on, my gown shopping would become more difficult. I still decided to make an appointment for November 6, but I was not very confident, but I knew they would treat me better than any of the others. I also made appointments for November 18 in Houston to two couture salons that I figured would treat me right. Now I won't have to go!

Signature Bridal in Lakeway, Texas was an absolute Godsend to me! Sky and Ashley were amazing in my gown search. They listened to everything I said, and answered every question appropriately! They walked along the gown closet with me, and pulled out every dress I looked at and said I wanted to try on. They never told me, well it's a size 6 and you probably won't be able to fit in it. They said, we will do our very best to get you in each gown so you know exactly what it looks like on you, and they did. I picked out around 15 gowns, and of those 15, only 2 did not go over my head or over my butt! Sky, my designated consultant, was so cute and sweet and made the experience even better. She encouraged me to get into each dress and not worry about my size. There were a 4 dresses that I knew might be one. The last one I tried, blew the other ones away and became my #1 all time favorite gown. I am now officially a Watters Bride!!!

Mom picked the gown out for me to try on, she thought it was beautiful, and it turned out being THE dress! They all added accessories to the dress and made me look like a bride, once I saw myself in the complete outfit, I fell in love, and actually had an emotional attachment to the dress.

We left the salon, having ordered my gown and having paid in full for it! ♥ It is now officially MY WEDDING GOWN! It is beautiful and I feel beautiful in it! I wish I could post pictures of the entire session, however I don't want Brian to see me until I walk down that aisle! But I do have a picture of what my face looked like when I found the gown, and the moment I felt like a bride and realized that all of my worries were ending, and I was going to be walking to meet my future husband in this dress!

I was getting choked up...tears filled my eyes, but they never rolled down my cheeks. I was more excited! So I sucked it up, and smiled. My mom captured the moments of me trying on dresses yesterday! I'm so glad she caught this plus many more amazing moments I will never forget!

I can't wait to become a wife to an amazing man and start a family with him! He is the light of my life, my soul mate and I can't live without him! Thank you God, Brian, Mom & Dad for making this day possible!


For Now & God Bless, *Amber*

A Testing Week

So, it's past midnight on Saturday night, and I'm extremely exhausted, yet I can't sleep. INSOMNIA?!?!




Well I hope not. This past week has been a very stressfull week. I haven't been this stressed since the week of our engagement party, back in July.

Brian has been in West Virginia for over 4 weeks now. It's been a trying 4 weeks. When we both decided it would be a wonderful opportunity for him, we knew the backlashes of him being gone for a few weeks. Well a few weeks has turned into 2 months. He most likely will not be back in Texas until mid-October. Ever since he left, I have taken in surprisingly well, while he has taken in surprisingly hard. He is constantly saying that he misses my touch...something that I didn't really think of missing until he said it. Of course he misses other things, like hugs, and kisses, but he also said that he misses my smell, which to me, is so heart-warming. He misses the little things about being gone.

He's extremely homesick and this past week has shown me all too well. We've been emailing each other back and forth almost on a daily basis. But last night was one of the toughest nights so far. We argued, and we both said words we shouldn't have. I was at a retirement party at his work shop here in EC, and he was pretty upset that he couldn't be there with me. While at the party he called, and wanted to talk. I didn't want to be rude, seeing that the owner of FESCO was at the party, so I told Brian that I would talk to him at a more appropriate time. He was really tired and stressed and was ready to go to bed, so he wanted to talk then. I got frustrated.

We don't get to talk much, but it always seems that when Brian calls, its never a good time. I'm in the bathroom, I'm cooking and have filthy hands, I'm at a gathering and don't want to be rude, etc. It hit me last night and today after a sleepless night, that I needed to drop everything for him and talk to him.He misses home, he is in a place a thousand miles away, and knows no one, by himself, working nonstop, without a day off in 4 weeks. He's miserable, he's tired, he wants to be home where he knows he is going to be taken care of.

So today, I told myself to give up & stop everything that I'm doing when he calls, because talking to my future husband is more important than anything else. I miss him terribly, and want him home as well, and I hate knowing that he hates where he is at. I want to jump on a plane and just go give him a hug.
Tomorrow I'm supposed to be getting something from him. I have NO idea what it is, but its from him, and I'm sure I will love it. I can't wait to see it, only problem is, I know I will cry my eyes out as soon as I get it.

On another note, I drove into Houston today to try on Bridal Gowns with my Maid of Honor, Lesley, and a bridesmaid, Lauren. Both of which I've know for over 10 years, both of which I graduated high school, and have amazing memories with.

Dress shopping for me is difficult, being the size I am and the world we live in, a plus size woman CAN NOT try much on at a Bridal Shop. This place was HIGHLY disappointing. They basically told me up front that I can try on whatever I want, however, the sizes are going to be 2 sizes too small for me. Which meant that if I was a size 12 (HAHA) then I would have to try on a size 14...hmmm let me think...THATS REDICULOUS! Needless to say, I tried on maybe 5 dresses, liked NONE of them, and then the manager pushed us out. However, I did get to see some bridesmaids dresses on Lauren, and we ultimately picked a bridesmaid dress. Which is AWESOME because now I don't have to stress about pleasing everyone in the bridal party. It is what it is...and it's cute!

Well, I'm going to try to get some much needed sleep, craft & clean tomorrow while I wait for my package, and hopefully get some much need landscaping done to my house tomorrow evening. Have a wonderful rest of the weekend, and please don't stress, because IT'S NOT WORTH YOUR TIME!


For Now & God Bless, *Amber*