We're Married!!

We had the most amazing weekend! Everything yesterday was absolutely perfect, and we feel so unbelievably blessed to have such wonderful family and friends! Thank you all for being a part of our wedding day!! More posts to come when we get back from Hawaii!

Like a Kid on Christmas Eve...

With five days to go, everyone is asking if I'm excited... Tomorrow is my last day of work for three and a half weeks. The weather forecast for this weekend looks AMAZING (Alexis sent me the weather update this morning and said "Don't think you can get any better :)". We'll be celebrating with 111 of our closest friends and family. I will be marrying my best friend and joining a wonderful family. Oh, and this time next week, we'll be on a plane to Hawaii. I seriously feel like a kid on Christmas Eve! Can't wait for this weekend!!

Operation Chick-LeNoir Baltimore Style

With 2 weeks before the wedding, we decided that it was time for another bachelorette party, this time Baltimore-style! Last Saturday was a pretty miserable day weather-wise, but by dinner time, Hanna had passed and the girls and I headed out for dinner and drinks at Power Plant! We had a great time! I have included some pictures below...

The Jewelry Party with Crystal

Last Saturday, the bridesmaids surprised me again! This time it was a bridal shower! About a week earlier, Crystal had emailed me to ask me to go with her to a "Charity Jewelry" party and then shopping and dinner on Saturday, August 16th. I was so excited about the party and shopping, but we had already scheduled a meeting with the Deacon to plan our ceremony that day. So, with much prodding from Ryan, I emailed the Deacon to ask him if we could reschedule our meeting. No problem. The meeting was rescheduled, and I was all set to go to the jewelry party and go shopping with Crystal. I honestly didn't think anything of this, just that it would be fun to hang out with her. That week, I had my first dress fitting, and Linda and Crystal were kind enough to join me - what fun!! Ryan and I also had our traditional "last supper" with Stacey (my niece) before she heads back to college. As the week went on, I began to get suspicious of this supposed jewelry party. Not only was this Stacey's last weekend at home before going back to school, but I also knew that Melissa (another bridesmaid) was coming to MD the same weekend to look at some reception venues for her own wedding. I woke up at 2:30am on Thursday night with a revelation that my bridal shower was going to be that Saturday. I could not have been more excited, but it was killing me that I couldn't talk to any of my friends about it! I did tell Ryan my suspicions on Friday night, but he just played dumb and acted like he knew nothing about it. On Saturday, I headed to Crystal's house and when I got there, everyone was patiently waiting for me (I was running late) to surprise me! So exciting!! Everything was beautifully decorated, the spread of food was awesome, and of course there were lots of yummy desserts and favors! In addition to all that, everyone completely spoiled me (and Ryan) with amazing gifts. I really don't think I have laughed or smiled that much in a long time (aside from the bachelorette party)! Thanks to Crystal for hosting such a great party and to the bridesmaids (including Crystal) for thinking of everything! I know I say this often, but I am truly blessed to have such wonderful family and friends to celebrate with! Only 28 days to go until the wedding... But who is counting!! See below for a slideshow of the highlights from the bridal shower.

Operation Chick-LeNoir Bachelorette Weekend 2008

3 Words... Operation Chick-LeNoir

I hate to admit it, but the bridesmaids got me AGAIN! With the help of Ryan, they surprised me last weekend (at the Target in Ellicott City, no less) and took me away to the Outer Banks for my bachelorette party. Apparently, the original plan was for them to meet at the Target and then come to our house to surprise me. I think I threw Becky into a panic when I told Val earlier that week that we were "supposedly" going to PA to visit Ryan's family for his mom's birthday. I really had no idea that anything was going on... I am just paranoid/suspicious after the whole "having lunch with Mom-Mom" bridal shower! The plans were changed just a bit, and Ryan got involved. On Friday, he sent me a message at work to see if I wanted to go to dinner in downtown Ellicott City that night, and of course, I said yes because I was thinking it'd be nice to try one of the restaurants downtown. We really haven't been going out much so I thought it'd be a nice change. In addition to asking me to go out to dinner, he also seemed to be making quite an effort around the house that week - he straightened up the living room and did most of the laundry (very unlike him). If there is one thing he dislikes doing, it is definitely laundry. He also took all the beach chairs out of the car to clean them from our trip to Bethany the weekend before. I didn't really think much of this, other than how much I appreciated that he was really making an effort to help out since I have been kind of stressed with all the wedding stuff lately. Turns out he was really doing all the extra work because he knew I'd probably be upset b/c most of my beach clothes were dirty - either way, I'm thankful that he did it! So, we're getting ready to leave for our "dinner" on Friday night, and Ryan tells me that he needs to stop at Target to get his mom a birthday card and also pick up a prescription. Ok, made sense to me - his mom's birthday is today. By the way, Happy Birthday, Linda!! Right before we're about to leave the house, he says he needs to run upstairs real quick and when he comes back down, he told me he was checking his prescription to make sure that he knew which prescription he should be getting at Target. I later find out that he was actually texting Becky to tell her that we were 15 minutes away! Sneaky!! We got to Target and I definitely had no idea that there was anything going on. So, we walk in the doors and all of a sudden, Becky, Val, Stacey, Ms. Eavey (Becky's mom) and Gran (Becky's grandmother) are there and yelling "Surprise" at me. I could not have been more confused. Looking back at the video and pictures, I definitely look mad. I don't really think I was mad, but I kept thinking, "this is my Target, what are they doing here?!" They really got me. After I got over the intial shock, they told me that we were going to the OBX until Monday, and we were heading back to my house and that I had 15-20 minutes to pack. Talk about stressful. Oh, and they were all wearing super cute pink shirts with navy writing that said "Operation Chick-Lenoir Bachelorette Weekend 2008".

We ended up leaving around 7pm, and we stopped at Subway for dinner before we hit the road for the OBX. Becky drove the first leg of the trip because we had a stop to make that no one would tell me about. The only thing I could figure out was that it was before OBX because the mileage that showed on the GPS didn't really make sense. Right around the time that we get to Newport News, we got off the highway and turned to go to the Newport News airport. Of course, Becky starts teasing me and asking if I had my ID with me (as if we were taking a flight somewhere). Again, I was confused although, I was pretty certain that we weren't flying to OBX from there. We pull up to the terminal to "drop our stuff off" and there was Melissa (who lives in Boston) waiting for us to pick her up! That was the second surprise of the trip!! We finally made it to OBX at 2:30am that night. As I was unpacking, I realized that I left my toiletry bag at home - guess that's what happens when you have 15 minutes to pack.

The whole weekend was amazing! We basically spent both days and a little bit of Monday sitting on the beach (our hotel was steps away from the beach). On Saturday night, we headed out for a late dinner and then went to Kelly's in Nags Head for some dancing. We were all Dancing Queens for the night. We all were wearing our cute t-shirts and of course, I got to wear the veil. The veil definitely attracts some odd characters, but it was so much fun! On Sunday, we went out for a great seafood dinner and then came back to our hotel where we drank and played some drinking/bachelorette party type games. Kim and Robert, Becky's former co-workers, made us a theme cake for the weekend, so we had that for dessert. Very good and pretty true to life! I won't go into much detail here, but for those of you that have seen the pics or heard me talk about it, I'm sure you'll understand! Thanks, Kim & Robert - the cake was AMAZING! The weekend was so perfect - just the right amount of debauchery, but nothing too extreme. Thanks to Becky for listening to me! (When I first got engaged and we were talking about the bachelorette party, I threatened to either demote her as Maid of Honor or not invite her boyfriend to the wedding if she got a stripper for the bachelorette party.) Thanks Becky, Val, Stacey, and Melissa for making the trip down and for making the weekend so freaking amazing! Also, thanks to Ms. Eavey for making my favorite dips - Mexican and Dill. We devoured them!! Crystal and Alexis - we missed you both, but can't wait to celebrate with you at the wedding!! Here are a couple pictures from the weekend.

Melissa, Stacey, Becky & Val at Kelly's in Nags Head Me and My Girls
They are too cute - I love this picture!

Congratulations, Alexis & Tim!

More big news from the bridesmaids... Ryan's sister Alexis got engaged to Tim while they were vacationing in Cape May over the 4th of July! Congratulations - we're so excited for you!!

Congratulations, Melissa & Pete!

Just a quick post to say congratulations to Melissa and Pete who got engaged while they were vacationing in St. John!! We're so happy for you both!

"Lunch" with Mom-Mom for Mother's Day...

On Sunday, Ryan and I headed to NJ to join Mom-Mom for lunch for Mother's Day... Little did I know that "lunch with Mom-Mom" actually meant surprise bridal shower... We get to Mom-Mom's and I walk in and turn the corner to hear "Surprise!!" and see all of Ryan's aunts, my sister, stepmom and Becky (and of course, Ryan's mom, sister and Mom-Mom who I knew would be there). Ryan's mom and sister had planned a surprise bridal shower for me at Mom-Mom's house. I could not have been more shocked to see everyone there! My future mother-in-law and sister-in-law are VERY sneaky!! Who knew!!?? I was so excited and after I took a moment to catch my breath and have a glass of sangria, I was ready to party. We had some lunch -- turns out Ryan wasn't really lying to me about having lunch with Mom-Mom because I guess I really did get to have lunch with her after all. After we ate, I got to start opening the many wonderful gifts that everyone brought! What fun!! I got some really great things (too many to list on here), and I CANNOT wait to use them all! After the gifts were opened, we got to have cake and many other treats. The cake was amazing - my favorite -- yellow cake with strawberries and whipped cream (yum!!). There were also chocolate-covered strawberries and peppermint patties with my new monogram on them (that sure looked weird - I hadn't even thought about what my monogram would be yet!). In addition to all these yummy treats, Aunt Sue made these really cute cookies that were shaped and frosted like wedding dresses. They are so cute I can't bring myself to eat them! Ryan had one tonight and said it was really good. And... as if they hadn't done enough, there were awesome favors - cute little gift bags with M&M's in them with either "Wendy's Shower" or "5.18.08 Congrats" written on them. I can't bring myself to eat those either! This could also be the fact that I'm on sugar overload from all the cake I ate yesterday... The bridal shower was so much fun and I had absolutely no idea that it was coming! Everyone seemed to have a great time and I am so thankful to Linda and Alexis for taking the time to plan such a beautiful party. With each day that passes, I realize how lucky and blessed I am, and could not be more excited to be marrying into such a great family that has welcomed me with open arms!! Life is good.

I have included some pictures below of the festivities.

Me and Mom-Mom

The amazing cookies made by Aunt Sue... I promised not to post any pictures of her in this blog, so instead, I thought I'd share the cookies!

Lots of yummy treats = Bad Biggest Loser Week for Wendy (For those of you who haven't heard yet, the bridesmaids and I are doing a biggest loser competition. I am definitely not winning after all the sweets I ate this weekend, but those sweets were soooo worth it!!)

Me and Linda L. (Ryan's mom) - Looking hot in her little black dress!

Me and the bridesmaids

Me and the other beautiful Linda (Linda C. - my stepmom)

And... for everyone's entertainment, I have included the most embarrassing picture I think I have ever taken. They claimed that my bouquet needed to be worn as a bonnet - I think they were all lying to me just so they could take this picture. Oh, and in case anyone is worried that the bandaid on my forehead is because Ryan is abusing me... No need to worry - it's just covering up stitches from having a mole removed.

Wedding Season Has Begun

Last weekend, I headed down the ocean, hon, to spend the weekend celebrating Tracy's impending nuptials to Andre. A few months ago, Linda and Crystal started planning a surprise bridal shower (aka girl's weekend) for Tracy. They rented a beautiful house in Fenwick Island, and somehow we were all able to keep it a secret until Crystal told her! As far as we know, Tracy didn't suspect a thing! Crystal emailed her a cute poem the day before we were scheduled to leave to give her a heads-up that she was taking her to the beach for the weekend to celebrate. We had an amazing weekend. We didn't get to lay on the beach and soak up some sun (the weather wasn't that warm), but we went out to some nice dinners, had the bridal shower on Saturday and watched girlie movies all weekend. Oh, and we ate A LOT! For those of you who aren't familiar with Chick family gatherings, let me just tell you that we never go hungry. Everyone pitched in and brought yummy food - my personal favorites were the rice krispie treats made by Naomi - I seriously could eat a whole pan of them! The bridal shower was perfect - everything looked very pretty, the cake was amazing (see... we love food), and Tracy got some REALLY nice things! I have included some pictures of the debauchery below :).

Sully (Tracy's dog) sleeping on the way there.. too cute!

Look how hard everyone is concentrating for bridal shower bingo!

Getting ready to go out...

Sully sleeping on the way home. I couldn't resist!

Waiting for our table at dinner.

First Wedding Dance

Along with trying to convince Ryan to change his last name to Chick, I am also trying to convince him to do this for our first dance...

http://glumbert.com/media/weddingfirstdance
(Turn on your sound to get the full effect.)

Let the Celebrations Begin....

Yesterday, Ryan's parents threw us a party at their house to celebrate our engagement. Despite the hot, sticky weather, the party went off without a hitch. The food was great and the time we spent with friends and family was even better! We cannot even begin to express how grateful we are. We want to thank Ryan's parents for throwing the party and also thank everyone who made the trip to celebrate with us. We really are truly lucky to have such wonderful friends and family, and we are very excited for the wedding day and the time that we'll get to spend with everyone there. Also... A big thanks go to Ryan's brother, who was gracious enough to share the spotlight with us on his 18th birthday! Happy Birthday, Philip!!

Ryan and I are practicing cutting the cake for the big day!

Linda (Ryan's Mom), Sue (Ryan's aunt), and Linda (Wendy's stepmom) (from Left to Right)

4 of the 6 beautiful bridesmaids (left to right): Alexis (Ryan's sister), Crystal (Wendy's sister), Val and Becky (both friends of Wendy)

Happy 18th Birthday, Philip!!