Engagement Pictures

After 2 trips to Auburn, a little bit of rain, and some waiting, we FINALLY got our pictures done and back! I cannot stop looking at them. Our photographer, Madelyn, is a girl I used to lead in Switch way back in the day! She is so sweet and insanely talented. Joshua made me laugh pretty much the entire time so excuse some of the pictures with my nose scrunched and my entire mouth wide open.

The countdown is on to Mrs. Oliver! Hurry up March 29th!

Wedding Planning Bliss

You always hear horror stories of wedding planning. Whether it is blowing budgets out of the water, your venue double booking, invitations being completely wrong, or your hair stylist standing you up. There is always that little bit of worry of what you're getting yourself into when it comes to planning your wedding. I am only a few months in so far but every single thing is going perfectly! I can't even believe how easy and fun it has been so far! Ive already booked a venue that was he first and only one we looked at and we are both IN LOVE. There is so much included in the base price its even better of a deal than I even thought. I got my dress at the very first shop we went to. I had the everyone cries moment and I don't think I have ever felt prettier. I got my veil the same day and I put it on at my house almost every single day! Haha! I have found a photographer that I am obsessed with her pictures and she is well within my budget. I found a videographer and got a family discount so I can completely afford that too. My random roomie turned bridesmaid Lauren Huff is going to design our invitations, RSVPs, etc so I know I will LOVE them and everyone else will too! I have points from a credit card I got a while back so we have both of our round trip flights for free wherever we decide to honeymoon. I am not one of those people who has to have every single detail that I have always dreamed of but I do have a vision in my head. Every thing that I have found from my dress to the venue has exceeded my vision so much I could cry. It literally has been going to smoothly I feel like a disaster is just around the corner. My dad always says "You have not because you ask not." so I am making that my motto and people, let me tell you, IT IS WORKING! Do not be afraid to ask people for discounts or tell them you love what they do but they are just plain out of your budget. You will be surprised how incredibly helpful people really are. If you are rude about it, you will not get far at all. You do not have to spend $20,000 to have the wedding that you've been dreaming of. I am determined to be proof of that. I am going to look at bridesmaid dresses today with my MOH Melissa so hopefully we can decide on something! I did compromise though and we are having the ceremony outside so pray for clear blue skies on March 29, 2014!

Complete Proposal Video!

I did a little bit of work in iMovie to put together our video. Now you can see Josh's slides as well as another angle of video where you can see him down on his knee! Enjoy!

Dennis Oliver

Josh's dad Dennis passed away this afternoon. 

Our hearts are heavy but we know he is with Jesus. He is perfectly healed. No leukemia. No brain infection. No nothing. Just pure, whole, healthy, and worshipping his Savior at his feet from now until forever. We will certainly miss him here and the coming months will be hard. Our lives will never be the same but they are better because he was in it. We love you Pops!

Isaiah 57:1-2

Good people pass away; the godly often die before their time. But no one seems to care or wonder why. No one seems to understand that God is protecting them from the evil to come. For those who follow godly paths will rest in peace when they die.

I'm going to be an Oliver

Wednesday April 3rd was a regular ole Wednesday. I woke up late so I had to pull my hair up in a bun and didn't really put on much makeup. I put on school clothes that I didn't put much thought into and went to class. Dr. Helms said she needed to record out facilitation for facilitator training, a valid excuse. We went through a full 3 hours of facilitation learning all about Hospital Acquired Pneumonia. Just as we were about to wrap everything up, Dr. Helms said they were trying something new where they bring in someone from another team to go over a Learning Issue that another team is having issues with. In walks Joshua. My first thought was why in the world did he not tell me he was doing a presentation for my group?! He said Dr. Helms asked him to come in and give a presentation via Powerpoint. He pulled up the presentation and at this point I still have no idea what is going on. I am still thinking he is about to teach us about the BUN:SCr ratio or something completely school related.
Then he starts his presentation and I finally understand...
He talked about how we met in high school (including hilarious pictures of Joshua with long purple hair!) and how I was such a good student in food and parenting. He moved on to how we reconnected when we both came to Auburn and started having classes together (he even included exact classes in the presentation). He talked about the one semester we were lab partners and thats where we started "talking". Then he talked about our first "date"...you know, that one where he woke me up from a nap on the couch, hair messed up, jeans and a t-shirt, to go on a double date with his roommate and his girlfriend who were dressed up. I came home and told my roommates "I think I just went on a date."  He detailed every little bit of our relationship. It was so thought out and you could tell he put so much work into it! Then he started talking about the important step of asking my parent's permission. Instead of just asking my parents, he also got them to make a video giving their blessing (This is where I start to lose it). Then his parents made a video too because their permission is just as important (more crying). Then to top off all of that sweetness, he got my 2 best friends, Melissa and Stacie to make a video too!

Then he said now there's just one more person to ask...

I stood up, he took my hand, said some stuff that I don't remember because I was bawling my eyes out, and got down on one knee.
Of course I said YES! (followed by an oh my goodness! when I saw the ring).
He put the most amazing ring I have ever seen on my finger and then we got to celebrate!

Pictures DO NOT do it justice. It is way too shiny and gorgeous for me to focus on anything!
It was literally the most thoughtful, sincere, sweet, personal, romantic, most amazing proposal I could have ever dreamed of. I cannot believe I get to MARRY the sweet guy who did it all for me. I love you Joshua!

P.S. Its all on video so if you want to take the 20 minutes to watch it feel free! (it doesn't include his actual slides but I will hopefully have that soon!)

Here's how:

Click this LINK
username: hsoppharmd
password: pharmacy
Click on the link for 2012-2013 P3 on the lefthand side under Video LibraryIn that list click on the link for IP Sessions (8)Click on the first one in the list that has April 3rd date on it. You will have to fast forward to about 2:55:25 when it starts (unless you want to learn all about Hospital Aquired Pneumonia! Ha!) And it goes from there! It is about 20 minutes long!

Valentine's

Every year, Valentine's Day comes at a time when we have a million things going on at school. We usually just go to dinner or something pretty simple. Our anniversary is on the 24th so we usually over-celebrate then. This year it was flip-flopped. We have finals week the entire week after our anniversary so we decided to celebrate V-Day. Josh made plans and I tried to pick out presents. He took me to the restaurant that we went to on our very first Valentine's 4 years ago, Chef Lee's. Then we went to see Safe Haven. It was so great and incredibly thoughtful (brownie points to Joshua!). My favorite part however, came before that. He was so excited about his present to me that I got excited and begged to do presents on Tuesday. I got him a couple of little things and some amazon gift cards to buy a new lens for his camera. 

I thought I had done pretty good...until he gave me my present. 

He got me one of these babies.

It is a Nikon 1 and I have been wanting one basically since I saw Ashton Kutcher advertise for it. It is insanely out of my price range (because I am a cheapskate) so I just gave up on it and was looking for something else. Imagine my surprise when I opened a gift and saw that! Not only did he get me the camera but he got me a bigger lens too (additional dollars I wouldn't have spent myself). I was so shocked and a little embarrassed! After all, I got him gift cards remember? Then I started looking for a camera bag because I am so nervous to get one little scratch on this beauty. Everything I found was either cute and $150 or it was a plain ol' boring camera bag. 

If you know me, you already know that my next thought was "I can make one myself". 

I bought this purse at Target with a gift card.

Then I bought a camera bag insert from Etsy. It looks just like this one but I got it in Teal. It fits snug inside the purse so its a cute little camera bag! I like my $20 price much more than a $150 and I got to pick my cute purse too!

Then I went a little overboard and bought this fancy neck strap because who doesn't love chevron and bows?!

I already knew Joshua was incredibly sweet and thoughtful, but this was just over the top. I am one lucky girl with an amazing man and now an amazing camera. 

DIY Hair Ties

I heard about Emi Jay hair ties which are the ones that don't crease your hair. My hair creases if I even look at a ponytail holder so I was completely intrigued. I bought some that were like 3 for $10 or something ridiculous but I thought if it worked it may be worth it. I am pretty hard on my hair ties so these 3 didn't last long. I was faced with a decision: pay an insane amount for 3 little hair ties or make my own. I decided to look to Pinterest for some options and I struck gold! I made like 50 of my own for $10 (much better deal I think!)

DIY Hair Ties

Materials:

• stretch elastic (I purchased mine here) **They have a million colors so have fun choosing!
• Each yard makes about 6 hair ties

Instructions:

• Measure elastic equivalent to wrap around the circumference of your wrist, leaving an extra inch on each side
•  Cut the elastic (a sharp scissor is best to avoid fray; cut on a slight angle)
• Hold the two ends of the elastic together and wrap them around one finger. Pull the two ends through the loop. (do not pull on the edges of the elastic or it will fray)
• Enjoy your cheap cheap hair ties!

Have fun making your own and saving some dollars!

Potato Soup

I made a batch of my favorite potato soup the other day and I said something about it on Facebook and has a ton of people ask me how to make it so here it is!

Potato Soup
Potatoes  (5 lb bag with 3-5 removed)
Potato flakes (I use 1 little pouch of whatever is cheapest)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 stick butter
2 large cans evaporated milk
1 can chicken broth
16 oz velveeta
Salt
Pepper
Garlic powder
Bacon pieces
Shredded cheddar cheese
Green Onions

Peel potatoes and cut into small cubes (the smaller the quicker it takes to boil them). Place in a large pot, cover with water and add the seasonings (no specifics just toss some in). Boil until done but not too mushy. In a separate pot, melt butter and add flour. Whisk together over low-medium heat until smooth. Add evaporated milk and stir until it thickens (about 2-3 minutes). Slice velveeta and add a couple of slices at a time (*only do a couple at a time and make sure you keep stirring! It is easy to burn this step!). Pour some water out of the potatoes until slightly covered. Add the chicken broth. Add the other pot's mixture and stir. Add the bacon pieces and ~1 cup of cheese. Stir in the potato flakes to desired thickness. Top with cheese and green onions and enjoy!

Easy Peasy! This recipe makes A LOT of the soup so you may want to half it. It reheats well so if you like leftovers this is a good recipe to eat a couple of times!