A wedding thank you for my sifter!!

This post is for the person who was kind enough to go online and have the sifter with the spinning handle instead of the squeeze handle. Target wouldn't let me register for the spinning handle one and I don't enjoy using the squeeze handle ones because my hand starts hurting after a while (plus the spinning handle is simply more fun). The package arrived a week or so after the wedding and my parents brought it to Avery's wedding to hand off to me. However, when I opened it it came with no card. I was so excited at the time, but between writing thank yous and unpacking other gifts I simply unpacked it and put it on the shelf. I completely forgot about posting this. About a month ago, I went to post this thank you and the internet was down and then I forgot again.

So this is to you, whoever you are, I love my sifter and it makes me life so much easier. Thank you for the wonderful, thoughtful gift! I was so happy and surprised when I opened. I am sorry this thank you is three months and a day late. I used it tonight to make gingerbread cookies and it is lovely. It will last me many happy baking years!

Christmastime has started because of you and Jared is going to be so happy when he comes home from work and the house smells delicious and when he has gingerbread cookies in his lunchbox. :)

* To everyone else, if you know of anyone that has mentioned they didn't get a thank you note, maybe you could let me know who gave me this gift and pass that along. Thanks!

Profesional wedding photos are up on Jen Seay's website if you want to see them. This is actually not one of her photos, but cousin Laura's photos. I thought it was cute and so I am using it to announce that my photos are up!! Go look at them.


And here is one of Jen's photos. I love my family!! And I had the more gorgeous bridesmaids ever. Check out the pictures of me and my bridesmaids (doesn't Hayley have the most beautiful eyes?). I am so happy that my family is now symmetrical. We have four blonds and four brown haired people. Now my siblings have two options, two of them must marry blonds and two brown haired people or all of them could marry red heads. :)

I've been married to my best friend for one month!!

And it keeps getting better and better...

Thanks again to everyone that made our wedding day and rehearsal dinner so perfect. I wouldn't have changed a thing; everything was a dream come true. Jared and I feel so blessed to know such wonderful people and we are so thankful so many of you helped to make us feel so loved and special. We will continually be thankful for all you have given us. Here are just a few of my favorite pictures and people. I need on of the parents. These beautiful memories were taken by my sister, Anna. Thanks, little buddy.

Preview of photos are online...

Visit Jen Seay's website to see previews of our wedding photos. Thank you all for coming!!

Faith & Jared Shelton!!!

I am started to get excited today because I started thinking about all the people that are coming to my wedding from far away and close by.

People are coming from:
Germany
Nepal
Mexico
Ukraine.

They are also coming from:
North Dakota
South Carolina
Colorado
Delaware
Maryland
Massachusetts
New York
Tennessee
Pennsylvania
Florida
Alabama
Mississippi
Virginia.

I think I named them all. :) That is so awesome! I love visiting with people.

Going to the gym makes me so hungry!

Also, I can't wait for everyone to see the yard. It looks so nice thanks to so many people. Thanks mostly to my wonderful family who spend hours and hours each day watering and weeding. Also thanks to Aunt Suzanne for coming over to water and weed and the Balls for bring mulch. It looks so lovely. It makes me feel so loved and happy!

45 months...

It is hard to believe that Jared asked me out 45 months ago. It doesn't seem like it has been that long and yet, I feel like I have know Jared forever. Thanks for all your love and support of us over the past four years! It is going to be so much fun moving into a new stage of life with my best friend. :)



























Here is to many more great memories!!

Totally love this. I have to make these sometimes. The blog I found them on has directions on how to make them. Check it out. They seem pretty easy. :)

Some of the many things I have done this summer so far:

- celebrated my birthday yesterday with the Maddox Family

- dress finished (thanks Mama Cindy)

- 40 pounds of blueberries picked so far

- 10 pounds of blueberries frozen

- had my hairs cut (Thanks Mrs. T)

- flowers bought and picked out

- wedding cermony planned

- photos picked out
- organized Jared's kitchen

- painted shelves for our house

- took my schoolbooks to Jared's house

- started planning decorating for the backyard

- had my teeth cleaned

- I received my diploma in the mail with my birthday cards!!

- started sewing an apron

- painted the whole upstairs and stairs (first coat only)

- packed all my craft supplies

- kept up with all the thank you cards

- watched Father of the Bride for the first time with Jared

- and I have sort of helped in the yard and cooked a few times

- and tons of other things

I thought I was going to have tons of time this summer... HA.

It has been a week since surgery and I am allowed to go to the gym now!! YAY! I am also only putting one drop in my eyes instead of five different ones (and that one ends on Friday). I also find out Friday how good my vision is. It was 20/20 in the right eye last week and he said it would only inprove as time goes on... So we shall see. It was pretty exciting being able to see lines of text that I couldn't normally have seen before. I have tried to take off my glasses at least five times in the past week (and they haven't been there...).

I tried on my dress yesterday and I am having the bottom hemmed up about an inch or inch and a half. It is going to look awesome. I am glad to check having the dress fixed off my list. Now that is finished. Thankfully, the rest of the dress fits wonderfully; I am just a bit too short for it.

I made dinner last night (chicken poppy seed casserole) and I am making dinner tonight (probably pancakes, or waffles, or swedish pancakes... something breakfasty). I love to cook. I look forward to using my own dishes and cooking in my own kitchen. What fun.

I miss Sarah. She is housesitting and it isn't the same without her especially since she lives next door to my room. It is quiet and lonely without her there.

I finished my four books for May, but I have them written down in my journal and I don't have my journal with me at the computer right now.

I can't decide what flowers I want my bridesmaids to carry. I don't really care and yet I do care. That is the problem I am facing right now. Today I am going to figure that out and finish my resume and start filling out job applications.

Pretty dull. I know.

They are finished!!! 44 thank you notes are finished. I put the last 22 in the mailbox this morning. Thank you all for you wonderful presents. I feel so loved. I really enjoy writing thank you notes. I am looking forward to getting to write more after my wedding, especially because I will be able to sign my name, "Faith Shelton" (I should probably start practicing that) and write my new address as the return address!! What fun.

P.S. The below photo is for Joe Howard to show how he has changed me from using one boring stamp to many fun stamps. I'm lazy though and only decorated a few of my envelopes. Ha.


Welcome June!! 20 days until my birthday and 40 days until I marry Jared.

I turned in my last paper and took my last final today.

I am finished graduate school.

I cannot even begin to express how excited I am. I nearly danced out of the door of my classroom where I took my last final. It was all I could do to keep from laughing and cheering. All of my graduate student friends are so jealous that I finished in a year; no on finishes a graduate degree in only a year at Maryland (unless you are crazy determined to marry Jared this year and not next year). By the grace of God I survived and now I can start with fun stuff like visiting Michelle this weekend, going to La Tolteca on Thursday, planning my wedding, and spending lots of time with Jared and my family.

la la la

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels...

These are a few of my favorite things:
(and for my shower or birthday or wedding you can buy any or all of these)

* (&) Ampersands (anything with them on it or in the shape of them... paper weights, bookends, pictures, cards...etc. I like them in silver the best, but other colors would be fun as well).

* Polka dots (sheets, cards, curtains, aprons ... etc.)

* Extra 5 quart bowl for my Kitchen-aid mixer (I can't seem to register for this at Target or Macys - sad sad)

* Stamp pads

* Alphabet Stamps

* Bath and Body --> Sweet Pea lotion (the stuff in the glass bottle is my favorite, but I like any of the creams) and Jared has the Pumpkin Spice wallflower (so you can buy refills if you want).

* Victoria Secret --> Love Spell is my favorite scent.

* Picture gift cards!! We want to get a lot of pictures printed out and put all over our walls. So either frames (which I have tried to register for the ones I like so you get the general idea) or gift cards to go get pictures printed out. We really want one of Annie's pictures printed on a canvas.

* Quilting material --> the plastic cutting squares, the rolling cutters, the quilting board, thread in all colors, material (or gift cards for material)... Talk to Mrs. Shelton and she could probably offer suggestions. :)

* Sewing machine :) YAY!!

* La Tolteca

* The Story of Ferdinand (the Bull) - childrens book (love)

* Robert Munch collection of books (called Munchworks I think... love)

* Pippi Longstocking Books!!! (love)

* Corduroy books (love)

* The Story of Ping (the duck - another childrens book ... love)

* Put Me in the Zoo (love)

* Harold and the Purple Crayon Books

* Any or all Dr. Suess Books

* Go Dog Go

* Jeeves and Wooster books

* Olivia books

* Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel

* Any Babar books

(I love all the childrens books that I have put on this list, but I especially love the ones that I wrote "love" next too).

I'll add to this list as time goes on.

A sneak peak at the groomsmen...

Here is the best looking groomsman in my wedding modeling the suits Jared picked out. Anna has more pictures on her blog. Click HERE to see them. I love white shirts and vests together. The ties even match the dresses almost perfectly! I doubt any of my bridesmaids will be willing to model their dresses. So you will just have to wait until the wedding to see them looking awesome. Everyone is going to look so wonderful. These are the details I like about my wedding, along with shopping for wedding bands with Jared and making the invitations and stuff like that. Those are actually enjoyable and relaxing. I like the simple things that don't require anyone else and their input. ha.

2 months

* Rings purchased
* Invitations finished and mailed

God has richly blessed me with the most wonderful fiance (for me) ever. I am continually amazing how we think the same way about everything important. And he is so sweet and considerate and helpful. He helped me so much with the invitations when I was feeling stressed and he has done so many other things (even just little things) that have just made my life easier and happier. I thank God for Jared and his wonderful self. I am greatly blessed.

Oh, and my parent"s yard is looking AMAZING!! They are doing such a wonderful job making it look nice for my wedding. We should have taken before and after pictures. It looks so good. And the corn in the garden is up!! Sweet!

I am doing something today that I have never done before... I am willingly skipping my afternoon class * ... And not just any class, I am skipping the class the my adviser teaches and there are only 12 of us in the class. He is bound to notice I am missing. I hope I graduate. heh.

I was honestly planning on spending the weekend at 9501 because I have a ton of work to do before graduation, but I was talking to Jared earlier this week and he sounded like he was having a really rough week. I thought it would get better, but when I talked to him yesterday he sounded really discouraged. So I called him at lunchtime yesterday and asked him if he would like to have dinner with me tonight and see me this weekend. And of course he said, "yes". I figured you have to skip class at least once in your life, right? :) And cheering Jared up is worth the downgrade from an A to a B any day.

* I have unwillingly skipped a Friday of classes for my cousins wedding three years ago. I also have skipped one Friday lab for the women's retreat, but I okayed it with the professor and he said we weren't doing anything in class other than going over homework problems. I don't count either of those as skipping class.

God willing, I am:

* 43 days away from graduation

* 49 days away from perfect vision!!

* 93 days away from being Jared's little wife!


I scheduled my lasik surgery today. Sweet. I am having it done with the guy who did Tiger Wood's eyes. heh. He is really awesome. I met with him today and he is one of the nicest doctors that I have ever had to interact with. So happy! God is good. I'm very excited!

Wow. It is the end of March. I just finished my fourth book today at the gym. This is cutting it too close for me. I don't have time to really sum up any of them, but here is what I read this month. Oh, and I am running out of books to read so send me any books that you think I would enjoy!!! I need books. Or at least I need a better selection of books... I just have a few right now so I am going to have to read the ones that I have. I like choices.

* The Silent Boy - Lois Lowry
* The Great Divorce - C.S. Lewis
* The Scarlet Pimpernel
* Respectable Sins - Jerry Bridges

I've also finished 15/30 thank you notes and have written 6/50 pages of my main paper. I've read 9 journal articles in the past two days and I am working on two different homeworks and a case study. So, I don't know where the April books are going to fit in, but I am determined to find time for them. I can't give up now!

Oh, and thanks to everyone who was involved in my wedding shower. I felt so loved and special. It was better than I thought. Thanks! Planning it around my favorite foods was such a great idea!! I loved it. I will always remember it fondly, especially when I use my awesome new cookbook with all my recipes from everyone. Thank you thank you Aunt Suzanne, Hayley, and Sarah, Mom, and everyone else. :)

And to think, I even got notes from people that live far away from me. Thanks Hornors, Stef, and Sarah Foley! Everyone was so sweet to me. I didn't expect notes and presents from people that couldn't come. That almost made me cry. It was so great that even though they couldn't be there they still took the effort to make me feel so loved. I have my stack of cards sitting by my bed and I read them when I get discouraged. :) They remind me of how good God is to me. I am richly blessed with some great friends both at home and far away. I am looking forward to seeing ALL of you in July!

So far this weekend I have graded almost all my labs, helped Luke with math, gone to breakfast with Hannah and Elijah, tried on my wedding dress, and gone to dinner for Hope's birthday. ha. Coming home is such a distraction, but it is good. Seeing Hannah and little Elijah this morning put me in a much better mood than I was in yesterday. heh.

Off to go study for my midterm.

3. 22. means 111 days...

I'm back. The flight back was the worst landing that I have experienced. It was rough for half and hour and I was so sick. The guy four seats over from us threw up; I really felt like it, but I refused. ha. I'm now unpacking and doing homework that is due tomorrow. The trip was awesome. Germany was so amazing. Wandering around the Maginot line for three hours with the Sperows was so much fun!! London was pretty cool. The Underground is impressive; I enjoyed riding on it and changing trains. I saw Sherlock Holmes's house, ate in the pub where Narnia and LOTRs was read for the first time by CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien, and saw so many other neat things. I will try to have pictures uploaded and more stories by next week, but I have a midterm and lots of homework and 60 pages to write by the end of April... (I could start that later, but I should probably work on that now).

Oh, 111 days until I marry Jared and I don't have to leave him anymore and we can take little trips together. Isn't the date cool? It is 3.22. and we have 111 days left... how neat is that little number trick?!?! I love it.

And Sarah is a great travel partner if you are looking for one. She loves to travel.

I have a lot of countdowns going on right now:
(God willing I will get to enjoy them all)

3 days until Germany with Sarah.

8 days until England with Sarah.

73 days until Graduate Graduation.

105 days until I turn 23.

111 days until I have been engaged for a year to Jared!

123 days until I marry my best friend, get to move into my own cute little house with Jared, and have my first kiss.