MIA...But I'm Back!

Hi everyone!

Sorry I've been completely MIA since basically March. I had my defense then literally did not feel like doing a thing until about now. I made all the edits to my thesis, submitted it, then proceeded to sit on my butt for the next two months.

I'm kind of in a weird transition mode...I've graduated, I'm working part time at MSU until I find a permanent job elsewhere (anyone want to hire me? :) ) and I feel like I have a lot to do with extra time to do it but I haven't done anything. I haven't ran, cleaned, packed...nothing. I'm trying to get myself into more of a schedule so I get back to running and working out (I gained a few pounds :-O so mad at myself!) as well as organize our apartment so when the time comes to move my life is a little easier. Bear with me y'all! I've missed blogging!

There will be more in-depth posts on each of these, but here's what I've been up to for the past few months:

Holidays and spending time with family in MS before we move:

 Had our engagement party at the church in Zach's hometown:

 Visited Charleston and explored the Charleston Tea Plantation:

 Took our engagement pictures in Charleston!:

 And I graduated!!:

I also found my wedding dress! But no pictures of that until next March! ;)

I'll be catching up with more in-depth posts of the spring as well as my wedding planning and attempt to run again in 95 degree heat! See y'all soon!

One Year Ago Today

You are sad and discouraged, tossed around in a storm. But I, the Lord, will rebuild your city.

Isaiah 54:11

Wedding Wednesday: Pretty in Pink Bride! and a Few Engagement Pictures!

Happy (Wedding) Wednesday everyone!

As you all know, the colors of my wedding are fuchsia and champagne gold.

I knew from the start I wanted pink accessories to go with my wedding gown, and this past weekend I made my first pink purchase for my wedding day!

I ordered these gorgeous shoes! I got them on Zappos and I saw them and just fell in love. They have a low enough heel for me to be comfortable dancing the night away, and I love the detail in the front! I can't wait for them to get here tomorrow so I can wear them around the apartment.

I've also been in the process of deciding which fuchsia hairpiece and sash I want to go with my gown. I've been corresponding with Eren from Bridal Shoppe on Etsy and she has been wonderful with helping me figure out what kind of styles I like!

Since I don't want to give away every little detail until the big day, I will show y'all something similar to what I like! I love the three flower design of the above hairpiece, but without the feathers.

I LOVE this bridal sash, again without the feathers.

Check out Bridal Shoppe on Etsy to see more gorgeous sashes!

I have no clue what to do about jewelry. I want to wear fuchsia but I also like the classic pearl necklace for a bride. Any ideas?

Here are a few of our engagement pictures from our session at MSU with Matt Dorroh. He was an awesome photographer and we had a great time spending our afternoon with him a couple of weeks ago. Highly recommended!

In Davis Wade Stadium

With our sweet Zoe

In the stadium

On the field!

In front of the Swalm School of Chemical Engineering - where we met!

I LOVE how our pictures turned out. I can't wait to do it again in a few weeks in Charleston!

Chobani Winner!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

I hope you all had a great weekend. Mine was very relaxing and I did tons of wedding research online, had lunch with Emily and Eric, and played Scrabble with Zach's mom who came up with Zach's little brother Jonathon on Sunday. They were going to a Junior Day at MSU and came to stay with us for the night!

I've already contacted the winner, but I just wanted to publicly announce that the winner of the Chobani giveaway is:

Dee from Dee Stephen's Adventures!

Thanks so much for entering!! I'll be back tomorrow with a Wedding Wednesday post!

Defense: Check

I had my defense yesterday at 9:45 am. These past few weeks have been extremely nerve-wracking and sleep deprived, and I was happy and terrified to finally see the big day come.

After a fairly sleepless Tuesday night, I headed to campus early to set up and run through my slides one last time.

Most students bring a few goodies for the people who come to watch their defense presentation. I made these chemistry cookies on Tuesday night! Chocolate cookies in the shapes of beakers, test tubes, and Erlenmeyer flasks!

I also made blueberry and apple cinnamon muffins since I had a morning defense. The pink cheetah muffin wrappers fit in perfectly with my pink-and-gray-jungle theme I had going on.

You can see from my slides that I had pink and gray colors and used gray and white zebra to spice up the title slide, as well as section dividing/transition slides and the "Questions" slide.

I gave my presentation, which last about an hour, then took questions from anyone who came to watch my presentation that wasn't on my graduate committee. I had several professors and other grad students come to see my defense. Luckily the questions weren't terrible!

After their questions, I was left to answer questions from just my committee. They did ask one question about one of my models that was challenging to explain since the modeling is done using a computer program, but I was able to get my method across to them. I was expecting a question on that since it's hard to convey on a presentation slide, so I was prepared to answer that question. After all questions were answered, I had to leave the room while my committee conferred. Then my advisor called me back into the room and congratulated me. I passed my defense! Talk about a relief!!

I ate lunch on campus with Zach after my defense, went to physical therapy, then went HOME! I definitely laid in my bed for a fantastic relaxing hour with my furry girl Zoe, then I did have to go back to campus to watch another grad student's presentation.

Zach and I went to dinner last night to celebrate. Sorry for the fuzzy picture but the dim restaurant wasn't conducive for good picture-taking!

From here, I have a few minor edits to make to my thesis based on feedback from my committee (and my own Type-A self) and then it's off to the library for format review!

The hardest part is over though! The defense is the most stressful part of graduate school!

For the remainder of the semester I'll be putting the finishing touches on my thesis, writing two journal manuscripts for publication (not too bad since my thesis is written and they will be based off that), and continuing my work on a few projects until graduation day!

Don't forget to enter my Chobani giveaway! It closes tomorrow at 5 PM!

Also, I posted about my wedding venue selection but for some reason it says the post date was last week. Strange!

St. Patrick’s Day and a Chobani Giveaway!

Happy Tuesday everyone! I know, I know…I’ve been MIA again. I’m defending tomorrow (AHH-TERRIFIED) so I promise my disappearing acts are almost over!

I was able to enjoy a St. Patrick’s Day parade this weekend in Jackson! Zach, Zoe and I headed down Friday after work and had a great Saturday afternoon watching the parade.

I know…I don’t have any green shirts at the moment, but I tried!

This was my favorite float: A football-themed float called “Religion of the South”!

After the parade, we hung out at Zach’s grandparents’ house with his family before going out to dinner. Everyone else had more fun than I did though, because I was stuck inside working on my defense presentation instead of chatting on the porch enjoying the weather.

At least Zoe and Zach’s brother Jonathon kept me company!

Speaking of Zoe, she was quite her festive self this weekend.

She LOVES holidays!

I’ll be updating y’all on our wedding venue and my defense later this week! I also have an awesome healthified blueberry pie recipe to share!

Now for the fun part: A giveaway!!

Chobani Greek Yogurt sent me a package of their three newest flavors to try: Apple Cinnamon, Passion Fruit, and Blood Orange. I had been DYING to try them so I was so so excited!

My favorite of the three was Apple Cinnamon. It tasted like Apple Pie yogurt and was delicious with cinnamon graham crackers mixed in!

The blood orange was also delicious! I loved that it was a little tangy and it was a really different flavor of yogurt compared to the typical strawberry or vanilla flavors I tend to eat. I’m thinking I need to eat my last container of this with some mini chocolate chips mixed in!

Lastly, was the passion fruit. I loved the flavor of this yogurt because I love almost all passion fruit flavored things I try! I was not expecting the passion fruit seeds at the bottom, but I have to say I actually liked them. The crunch made the yogurt have a different dimension of texture than regular yogurt. I think this yogurt would be yummy with some pecans or walnuts (and chocolate!) mixed in!

Chobani has so kindly offered to give a case of these three yogurt flavors to one of you! How exciting! Please enter in the comments with your favorite Chobani yogurt flavor and please leave your email as well!

This giveaway will end on Friday, March 23, 2012 at 5 PM EST

Wedding Wednesday: 359 Days!

The location Zach and I will be getting married is:

The Pavilion at Patriot's Point in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina!

We are getting married on Saturday, March 16, 2013!

This venue is absolutely beautiful!

It's just over the Ravenel Bridge from downtown Charleston, and has waterfront views of the city and Fort Sumter.

We loved the outdoor kitchen where the chefs will cook all of our food, literally ten steps from where they will be serving it to our guests. This venue also comes with a event planner, who was so sweet, very informative and organized, and very receptive to all of our ideas.

The parking is fantastic (which became a huge factor once we saw the limited or no parking at other venues), and the ceremony site, reception area, and bathrooms are all handicapped accessible with plenty of room for maneuvering with wheelchairs, which was important to us since some of our family members are handicapped.

I really just love how planning and hosting an event here will be easy and turn out to be a beautiful wedding and reception, especially since Zach and I will be planning from a distance, at least for a few more months!

The ceremony site has an ocean view backdrop, and I loved that we are able to hang lanterns and pink paper lanterns in the trees! I had seen this idea elsewhere and I really wanted to be able to do it for my own wedding!

Gorgeous pink flower aisle runner!

What a view!!

The ceremony location has so many options for customization, and has tons of space as well!

I'm definitely using this outdoor fire pit for s'mores!

I'm so excited to be planning my wedding at such a great location!

The details that play out in making our big day will be enhanced by this beautiful venue!

All pictures from the Pavilion at Patriot's Point Facebook Page

Don't forget to enter my Chobani giveaway!!