Ultimate Wedding Week: All in One

As you all know from my previous post about our wedding, I was really glad it was over our first night as a married couple :( I look back and think, what the heck am  thinking I had a beautiful wedding, I had all of my family and friends there, and most importantly God blessed our union as a married couple, and yet I am still not happy! You are probably thinking, what is wrong with her, right?

Well, the whole thing was planned by me, paid for by me, and therefore worrisome for ME!

Maybe not entirely paid for by me, my dad and Zac's grandma helped pay for our very expensive ceremony venue, the beautiful Perkins Chapel at SMU (a supposed 3 year waiting list exists, and it is the venue for such celebrity brides as LeAnn Rhymes, wait she is not a celebrity and she is divorced now so... umm.....) Anyway, I was a total DIY, budget conscious wedding planer so when it came to everything, I had to either buy it cheap or do it myself. I was so glad my wedding was over, after all the stress I went through, and all the unfortunate occurrences throughout the day;

• half my family was 25 minutes late to the ceremony
• my nephew was dehydrated and had to go to the emergency room
• the waiters at my reception did not get drinks out until 30 minutes after my guests arrived, Im talking even water!
• my flowers were not arranged the way I wanted them at the reception because the valets broke 2 of my vases I had driven all over town to find...
• the food was 1 hour late

I am very thankful for the wedding I had. I did not get to enjoy it the way I hear of, read of, or have witnessed myself of other brides, but nonetheless it is over and I am glad I at least get to share with you some of the memories from my wedding day.

The Rehearsal:

Perkins Chapel on SMU campus

Walk through 

Dinner at MiCocina after

My two lovely TCU gals, Sandy and Cheech

Before the Ceremony, you can kind of tell how stressed out I am already!

Getting my dress on

Flowergirls

The Ceremony:

The Reception:

You can't tell but this building is in the middle of downtown Dallas (a feature I wish had been emphasized more in my photos...)

One of my centerpieces, this one my friend Natalie arranged

First dance

Delicious cake, french almond!

Throwing the bouquet, in the dress I changed into

Beautiful Friends and Family

My mom and I dancing :)

The bride and groom :)

I guess it doesn't really look like there were too many things that went wrong... 

If you are a future bride and are paying for it/planning it all yourself, save yourself the trouble and elope!!! 

Just kidding, just make sure you get people to help you do everything and eat something!!! I probably would have avoided a lot of stress that day if I had not drank a cup of coffee and had a bite to eat earlier in the day. 

Also, make sure you know how to distribute your budget, I definitely wish i had spent less on my reception (venue and food) and way more on flowers, and the entertainment...

Hope you enjoyed!

Mrs. S

Best week of my life!

More like, LAZIEST week of my life!

Hello everyone,
I must admit that even though I love me a good week off from work, it is no surprise that I am ready to go back to work after a long week of laying around the house, eating a bunch, and teaching a couple of lessons here and there... I am usually the person to have a ton of things planned for a break, but after a super busy month of work, I decided I was going to make my week a complete resting period!

Friday March 9th: Go meet with other educators and get a great motivational lecture by 2 Fine Arts directors of Richardson and Lewisville ISD at a German restaurant in Plano

Saturday 10th: teach a lesson, go buy new printer, go to bed at 8pm

Sunday the 11th: teach a couple of lessons in Dallas and go see my family

Monday the 12th: Take Paisley to get surgery for her tumor on her little shoulder, and get spayed, she is much better now :)

That night my sis Nancy came over with her son Sebastian and we stayed up till 2 am talking and laughing!

Tuesday the 13th: Go eat at On the Border for lunch and have a lazy evening.

Wednesday the 14th: spend all day on the couch until my mom came over to spend the night.

Thursday the 15th: Take my mom to Frisco Mercantile, visit Hobby Lobby, and make lunch at home. Another lazy evening after some yummy In N Out.

Friday the 16th: Go to Academy where I got these bad boys, Go SMU! 

Also, we headed over to Calloways Nursery to add more flowers to our landscaping, what do you think?

The grass looks bad in this pic, but Zac put some special grass stuff so it can grow prettier...

We let the girls go out without leashes to see the new flowers...

I also got this beautiful bugambilia plant for my backyard, I named it Bijoux!

Saturday the 17th: While everyone was out at the St. Patty's Day parade in Dallas, I was sleeping in and finally got up and ready to go teach one lesson in Dallas. Since we opted to skip the parade, we figure we would celebrate by making corned beef and cabbage and it was delicious! 

Today, I had 1 lesson this morning with my student Leah. Now, this is us :)

Hope you all have a restful Sunday, and I look forward to hearing from y'all!

Love, 

~Mrs. S

Simmonds family

My mom and Zac and I on Christmas 2008

My oldest sis Veronica on 4th of July 2009

Simmonds family at the Oklahoma BYU game at Cowboys Stadium

Nan and I at my Tulsa bridal shower

My pops and me at my rehearsal dinner

Cousin Mayra and Betty at the Cowboys game

 

Bridals

Dallas Arboretum

The Adolphus Hotel in downtown

Letting loose in downtown Dallas

Monogrammed maiden last name at the Adolphus

Stairway of bride...

Easter Deco

Seeing as how Easter is just around the corner, I felt the need to add some pastel to the house, and start a collection of Easter Deco that I hope to use for years to come. I have been to several Marshall's and found a couple of things I thought would go great in my dining room since that will be the area of the house that is most decorated. I found this super cute bunny to put in between my buffet lamps...

I also found this beautiful shiny runner with a pleated accent on the ends, perfect length for the buffet too!

I found this centerpiece for my dining table at Kirkland's. It's bright, and it makes the room feel like spring. I also put a new chandelier picture up on the wall that I couldn't resist getting at Kroger last week. How does it look?

This easter egg tree was a gift from my MIL, isn't it cute? I put it on my breakfast table.

And finally, Zac let me get this beautiful secretary desk after looking on Craigslist for months! It was listed for 100, but I figured I would ask for a take it or leave it 70, and the seller accepted! It is quaint and fits perfect on this wall, and I love the carved accents on the door and top shelf. It looks a little old-lady-ish so I will probably paint it at one point. For now, it is just right! 

Hope you are all having a fabulous week, or SPRING BREAK like me!!!

~Mrs. S

Monogram Swap!

One of my favorite things about blogging is finding new blogs to follow so when I found Crystal's fun blog, Life According to Crystal, I immediately became a follower!

She announced a monogram swap back in January and I couldn't wait to partake! I was paired with Ashley at Loving Life and Lilly, and she was an amazing swap partner, if I do say so myself! She was so thoughtful, she sent me this scarf from Marley Lilly for when I cheer on my SMU mustangs during the cool fall weather, along with a sweet note!

I have already worn it several times...

Can't wait to participate in the next swap!

Hope you are having a great week!

~Mrs. S

Mr. S's 30th Birthday

Baking cupcakes for the party on Friday night

My sister Esmeralda

My sis Nancy, cousin Mayra, and I

The girls were very well behaved

Leftover cupcakes, they were lemon flavored cake with buttercream frosting

We had a lovely time with family and friends, and it was a total surprise for Zac!

~Mrs. S