House Divided

Last night our house was divided. Why?, you ask. Because there was a certain basketball game on that happened to be #1 vs. #4. Both teams happened to play in the ACC conference and they both just happen to be in North Carolina. Care to take a guess?...

#1 - Duke Blue Devils

vs.

#4 - Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Brian went to Wake Forest for his masters degree and I grew up a Duke fan. This made for an interesting night. No matter the outcome of the game, I won. I grew up in Winston, work for Wake but am I a true Blue Devil fan. So naturally, I cheered for both even though my heart belongs to Duke. I wore a Duke long sleeve shirt and had on a Wake shirt under it. After sloppy playing by the Devils, Wake squeezed out a win at the buzzer. A Wake-Duke marriage.... should be interesting.

Stationery Giveaway

Image credit: Nina

What girl doesn't love personalized monogrammed flat cards? Here is your chance to win 20 free cards in the color of your choice with your initials! All you have to do is head over to House of Rose blog to enter! Mandy's best friend is Nina from NMBELINA Designs and Nina has offered to team up with Mandy for the giveaway. Nina's works is amazing so this is certainly a giveaway you don't want to miss.

Good luck!

God's Work - Pray for Harper

I first read about Kelly's Korner on Nina's Blog. Ever since, I have been hooked on reading the updates on little girl Harper. I am happy to report that Harper is such a fighter and through the work of God and the power of prayer, she is doing better. If you have ever questioned the power or prayer, I invite you to visit Kelly's Korner. I can assure you, you might be forever changed by it. Please keep Kelly, Scott and Baby Harper in your thoughts and prayers. I was truly touched by their story and their amazing faith. I hope each of you have a blessed day and remember to keep praying!

Also, you might have noticed that we added the "Praying for Harper" button to our page. If you wish to do the same, visit Kelly's Korner. Then copy the code under the button - right sidebar - on her page and then paste into an "HTML" gadget on your own layout page. This is a great way for people to have a direct link to it!

One Year

After we first started dating.

One year ago today, we had our first date. Although we were friends first, we didn't "officially" start dating until we had our "first"date at Village Tavern. Tonight, we are going back there but I won't be arriving 10 minutes late, like I did for the first date. What can I say... Duke vs. Maryland game was on.. once Brian found out my reason for being late, he knew I was a keeper. We have spent a lot of time together over the last year and we are thrilled to say that in 254 days.. we will officially be Mr. and Mrs. Brian Moore.

Us Now

Penned & Pretty

If you're familiar with the wedding blog world, you have heard of Jessica from Tying the Knot. Her blog has become an inspiration to many and each post always contains a pretty picture. Today is an exciting day for Jessica as she has seen her dreams come to fruition and her new little shop has opened up. If you are looking for someone (other than yourself) to address your invitations, save the dates, escort cards, etc.. look no further than Penned & Pretty. Jessica will be addressing all of our invitations and I can't wait to work with her. She is an amazing woman that has the heart of gold. You will not be disappointed, I promise. Congrats Jessica! We are so excited for you!

Coach Kay Yow

Women's basketball, especially the ACC conference, lost a true hero and legend today. Coach Kay Yow, NCSU Wolfpack coach, lost her decade-long battle of breast cancer. Coach Yow came to NC State in 1970, one year after my mom ended her career as an NC State basketball player. She will forever be remembered as an inspiring coach whose team fought in her honor.

For more information about Coach Yow and her life, click here.

"That 93 pounds is...."

Favorite line for last night's Biggest Loser comes from Bob.. a contestant has lost 93 pounds in the first 3 weeks. Bob's reaction? "That 93 pounds is Nicole Richie!" Oh, how I love Bob.

image credit: People Style Watch

Not much to say about last night's episode except... What the ?!?!. Why in the world did Jillian's team vote for Damien? Game play? Perhaps. But for the love of all... Joelle drives me mad. All she does is complain! She clearly doesn't want to be on there. She has no desire to give herself a new healthy. Nevertheless, we are stuck with Joelle for at least one more week. Big props to Damien and Nicole for looking amazing since he left the show! I was happy Tara won the challenge for the second week in a row. I'm rooting for her.

Next week should be interesting.

Free Vacation?

Who doesn't like to win free stuff? Sunglass Warehouse is offering you a chance to win a $3,000 vacation package to wherever you want in 2009. Check out all the goods that come with winning this prize:
"Our vacation giveaway includes $2,500 for roundtrip airfare and hotel stay and services, $200 worth of essential vacation accessories (four pair of sunglasses, a beach tote, two bottles of sunscreen, and two beach towels), and the winner will also receive an extra $300 in cash for food, shopping, or whatever is needed along the way!"

Want to enter? All you have to do is click here!

Contest entries must be submitted by 11:59pm EST on Monday, February 16, 2009. The prize drawing will be held on Tuesday, February 17, 2009 at 1pm EST and the winner will be notified via e-mail.

Good luck!

NC Wedding Planner Extraordinaire

Image credit: Alyse Woodward

Let me tell you about our wedding planner. She's amazing! I met with Alyse yesterday for our first one hour consultation and 2 hours later, we were still just chatting away. Her ideas are fresh and unique and she completely gets the vision we are hoping to create for our wedding. The fact that she is as excited as we are about our wedding is awesome. A lot of our friends were surprised we were having a wedding planner, since I love all things wedding but my reasons were confirmed yesterday. I can completely trust Alyse with my wedding and my mind will be at ease on the big day!

If you are an NC bride-to-be looking for a wedding planner... you must check out Alyse's blog and website. I would highly recommend her to any bride-to-be!

Engagement Announcements

As a way to announce our engagement, we sent out announcements to family and friends. It was a very easy DIY project as I just uploaded the picture into Publisher and then decided what wording to put on the picture. We ordered the announcements through VistaPrint using a coupon code found online. We ordered 100 postcard announcements for less than $20. Talk about a deal! Here's the picture of the final product. This was my first time using Publisher so I was pretty proud of myself.

The front

The back

We wrote the addresses in the white part on the backside. We have received so many compliments on them so we thought we would share them with y'all.

Wedding Progress

It's been one month since we got engaged!! During this time, we have been very busy with the wedding plans. Here's all the progress we have made thus far, in no particular order:

• Set a date - 10.03.09


• Reserved a ceremony site - My Church


• Booked a reception site


• Reserved my minister


• Went to a taste testing for our reception food


• Finalized our menu for the cocktail hour and reception and locked in the 2008 rates!


• Finalized our wedding party


• Picked out our wedding colors


• Had monograms designed by Jessica


• Sent out engagement announcements (more on those later)


• Decided on which company we will order our OOT bags/boxes from.


• Decided on which vendor we will use for our invitations... With the help of Jessica From "Tying the Knot" Blog


• Started buying gifts for our wedding party


• Booked our photographer,who we are so excited about!!! (more on that later)


• Met with a baker for our wedding cake


• Started the wedding dress shopping


• Started the bridesmaid dress shopping


• Hired a wedding planner - Alyse!


• Designed our wedding website: See link on the left side of our blog.


• We have looked at a DJ and Videographer.. hope to book them soon.


• Complied our guest list into Excel for easy updating.


• Send out or hand delivered "Will you be my bridesmaid?" cards (more on those later)


• Start researching bouquet and centerpiece arrangements


• Decided on our favors for the guest


• Decided on the items for our OOT bags/boxes


• Contacted a recommended travel agent to discuss the honeymoon

Tomorrow I'm attending a bridal show in town and I'm dragging Brian with me. Can't wait! Our goal is to have our cake baker and our DJ and videographer booked by the end of January. Wish us luck.

First Blog Award!

I was so excited when I checked Jessica's Blog today to see out that she tagged our blog as FABULOUS!

So here it goes...

Here are the rules: List 5 obsessions/addictions that you have, and tag back to the person who gave you the award. Post the rules. Tag 5 more people!

1. Our "boys", Deacon and O'Malley

2. Planning our wedding in October

3. Watching College Basketball

4. Wedding/Photography Blogs

5. Each other

So I will select 5 people to pass this award onto:

Becky

Lindsey

Alyse

LyndsAU

Molly

Toughin' up cupcake... BL Recap

Who watched Biggest Loser last night? You know we did! We have made a conscience effort to eat more healthy and exercise more often in 2009. With our wedding on the horizon, we want to look and feel our best for the big day. So last night was the perfect time for Biggest Loser to come on and motivate us. I can't tell what this season will bring but I can tell you... a lot of weight will be lost. Daniel (orange team) lost 30 lbs during week 1! My favorite line last night: "Toughin' up cupcake! You aren't the only fat chick in the room" - Tara (green team) referring to her teammate Laura. Tara is sassy and strong willed.. she might be my favorite.
In a twist, they sent 9 contestants packing last night. I think this is the shows way of proving to America that they can lose weight on their own. If their partner is still in the game after 30 days, they will be brought back to the show. Can't wait to see who returns.

In other BL news.. Season 6 winner Michelle is engaged! Congrats to her!

Anyone else as addicted to Biggest Loser as I am?

Biggest Loser: Season 7

My favorite show comes back on tonight... Biggest Loser! I am very excited. For some reason, I am always motivated when I watch the show. Yesterday I dragged my butt back on the treadmill. Yes, I hated every minute of it (I hate running!) but I survived and felt so much better afterwards. So, perfect timing for Biggest Loser to start up again. Literally, this will be the biggest season ever. From the Biggest Loser Email:

"Among this season's competitors: Wheaton, Illinois's Jerry and Estella Hayes, grandparents in their 60s whose minds are ready for the challenge even if their bodies aren't yet; Willow Spring, North Carolina's Daniel Wright, who at 19 years-old and 457 pounds is the game's biggest player ever. Daniel and his best friend David (390 pounds) have made up their minds to take control of their lives; Kristin Steede and mother Cathy Skell, from Greenville, Wisconsin, have a combined 300 lbs. to lose to transform their lives. "

With an upcoming wedding, I am determined to get back into shape. Lyndsau has inspired and motivated me. She has gotten back into shape the right way, healthy eating and exercise. Something I am determined to do!

Another Petree Engagement

My Brother, Zach, proposed to Taylor on New Years Eve! Congratulations to you both! Can't wait for the big day on 12.05.09!

That's right.. my parents have 2 weddings in 2 months! It's gonna be a blast!