3 days until I officially become Mrs. Kevin Hatcher :)

It's almost that time...the one I've been waiting for quite awhile now. The time seemed to pass so slowly for so long and now it is just days away. I cannot believe it. We have the car packed, our suitcases packed, and we are ready to hit the road to Wilmington this afternoon. We can't wait to get the festivities rolling. We have a lot to get done between the time we get down there tonight and Friday morning but we are so ready! The car is packed tightly with all kinds of wedding items from floor to ceiling. We barely found room to fit Ellie even with renting a Yukon for the weekend. I've loved just about every minute of this engagement and planning for this wedding. A few minor things that mean nothing to us now attempted to pull us down throughout the process. But through those minor setbacks we learned how true the saying, "everything happens for a reason" is. We could not be more excited about the venue we chose and how beautiful it has become. We never could have imagined the result when we first went to see it. It was our only option at the time, but now one that is simply breathtaking. In fact, we love every vendor we chose. Each one of them has brought such an amazing aspect to our wedding. I cannot wait to see it all come together. So much work from so many people has gone into this day and I am so excited to get down that aisle, say our vows, and finally call Kevin my husband!

The Final Countdown...

It has been one busy month to say the least! Unfortunately Kevin's family has had to deal with two very devastating losses, both grandmothers (Ganna-Louise Hathcer and Grandmommy- Frankie Jean Sutton). It has been a very tough time for both sides of Kevin's family. The engagement ring Kevin gave me was Ganna's ring. I feel so blessed to have her ring on my finger for the rest of my life. I feel doubly blessed that I was able to enjoy it with her while she was still here. The joy on her face when she saw that ring on my finger is something I will never forget. Both were loved so much and will truly be missed. With that, we spent the first weekend of March in Lumberton, North Carolina, where Kevin's mothers family grew up. Even with all of the wedding "to do's" we decided to let it all go for the weekend and just enjoy family. We had the most amazing time all being together and really spending time reminiscing old stories of Grandmommy and Granddaddy as well as the kids and grand kids. I even got the chance to meet a few of Kevin's extended family members that will be at the wedding. We were sad to leave but excited to think that the next time we would all see each other would be for the wedding.

The following weekend my mom came in town and my goodness were we busy. We spent the weekend in full fledged wedding mode. We worked on my dress, the ring bearers suit, knocked out a little shopping, altered Austin and Kevin's suits for the wedding, and knocked out a few of the "crafty" wedding tasks that I will reveal after the wedding. Needless to say we did not stop from the time she arrived on Friday until she left Monday morning. I am so grateful to my mom for EVERYTHING she has done for me for this wedding. I can't even list all of the things she has helped me with. Thank goodness for her amazing talent with a sewing machine otherwise I wouldn't have been able to do so many "do it yourself" things for our wedding.

Another thing to knock off the list...we received our wedding bands :) All I can say is I am in love and had a REALLY hard time taking them off after trying them on when they arrived. I cannot wait to wear those rings so very soon! I don't want to give away too many details before the wedding so I'll wait until after to describe them. The best part is the AMAZING deal we got!

Last weekend my bestest Lil Sister/Friend Ren came to spend the weekend. I was so grateful to have her help me with some last minute wedding tasks as well as keeping my mind off thinking of the wedding every second. She truly is an amazing friend and one that I just can't get enough of. We cooked, enjoyed girly movies and got organized for the wedding. There are soooo many things we have to get down there next weekend so she helped me put it all in order and box it up so we will be ready to pack the car and head on our way next week.

Well, that about sums up the last few weekends of wedding planning. I cannot believe how close we are. It's all about numbers now, how many "to do's" left, how much this, how much that, 6 more working days, 7 days until we leave, 10 days until the wedding...AHHHH! All I can say is we are pretty much done with everything we can do until we get down there so come on days and hurry up. I know I shouldn't wish away the last few days of our engagement, but all of this hard work over the past 15 months makes me soooo ready for this incredible weekend to arrive. I can't wait to be surrounded by all of family and friends. Not to mention the end result...Kevin will officially be my husband!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love him more than anything in this world and cannot wait to walk down that aisle and say our vows.

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures for this post...it was all about the planning that can't be disclosed just yet...

Bachelorette Weekend!

Let me start by saying I had the best weekend EVER! My sister has never been to a bachellorette party let alone planned one and she pulled it of with an AMAZING weekend to say the least. The picture above is of the house we stayed in. There were a few of us that got there on Thursday night (Me, Dev, Suzanne, Anna, Celeste and Molly) and the rest came in at varying times on Friday (Lindsay, Kathleen, Amy, Ren, Emily, Claire, Erin, and Tiffany) . We stayed at a ski in/ ski out cabin in McHenry, Maryland. The resort WISP is located there. Friday the weather was crazy. It started with a rain storm and incredible winds and thus made for pretty slushy and horrible conditions to ski/snowboard in. Against our wishes we decided not to take the risk and we stayed in. Anna scooped me up and took me to the Spa. I chose the deep tissue massage and she chose the prenatal massage. I can honestly say it was the best massage I've ever had! I will certainly be going back for a massage the next time I'm there :) When we returned from the massage it was snowing...a beautiful powdery snow. A few of us grabbed some mimosas and jumped in the hot tub while we watched the huge flakes come down. The weekend had only just begun and was turning out to be such an incredible weekend. While we were outside a few of the ladies set up all the fun decorations. We cooked spaghetti for dinner and then spent the night playing games while everyone arrived.

The next morning we cooked an awesome breakfast and then my sister and I hit the slopes. I had never been snowboarding with my sister so it was a real treat to have the morning with her. She is so much better at snowboarding than I am but we still had a blast just the two of us.
We decided to head in for lunch so we could hang with the girls for a bit. After lunch we hit the slopes again to make a few more runs, this time Emily came with us.

Once we returned we jumped straight into the hot tub with the ladies that stayed back. Then it was time to shower and get ourselves ready for a fun night out at the local mountain bars (haha). The girls made really yummy fondue and chicken kabobs for dinner. They wouldn't let me do ANYTHING. Next up was present and game time. My awesome friends showered me with lingerie gifts of all types. I even got a special pair with my wedding date and MRS. HATCHER printed on it as well as two coffee mugs that say Mrs. Hatcher and Mr. Hatcher. I just loved them all! My friends are way too good to me. Next we began the trivia game. Claire got in touch with Kevin a few weeks back and asked him to answer a bunch of questions about himself, us and a few other things. Then she read them out loud and I was to try and guess what his answer was before she would read what he actually answered. We were in sync for almost all of them...I was pretty excited about that! I'll post the questions/answers soon.

After the game we took off for the bars to begin our ladies night out. We were only able to find one bar open and it was quite the hole in the wall bar. So, needless to say when 14 cute girls walked in those boys couldn't believe it! There was a great band and lots of dancing going on. I was so sad when the night was over because the next morning we had to get up early to get back in time for my sister and Anna's flights.

Below is a recap of pictures from the weekend. I was so sad when the weekend was over...I had been looking forward to this weekend with all of my girls (high school, college, and family) for a long time. How often is it that you get to have all those groups together at one time? Hopefully we will make it back there for another fun girls trip sometime.

The 1 Month Countdown Begins...

I will officially, most certainly, 100% become Mrs. Kevin Hatcher one month from today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you can't tell I am just a tad bit excited. I cannot wait to marry the man of my dreams. I often wondered when people say that, if they honest to god felt that way or if it was just something you were supposed to say. I can say with certainty that I AM marrying the man of my dreams. He completes me in a way that no one in my life can. He stands by me/puts up with me when I've had a bad day and may not come off as the nicest person in the world. He rounds me out with the qualities he provides me. The bottom line is...I literally don't know what I would do without him and I love him with every ounce of my being. For all of those reasons and more I KNOW that I was created for Kevin and Kevin was created for me and that we were meant to find each other 7 years ago so that one day we would be walking down the aisle pronouncing to all of our friends and family that we will be together until the end.

There are many things left to do and I know you shouldn't wish away the last weeks of engagement, but I surely hope this last month flies. I can't wait for the most important weekend of our life to arrive.

Here is one of my favorite pictures taken of us back in 2006...LOVE HIM

This is another one of my favorite pictures of us more recently...

Here's to one more month as Breanne Parker Gurley :)