2011: The Year In Review

It's hard to believe tomorrow is the last day of 2011.  This year has had it's ups and downs, people have come in and go in my life , but overall, 2011 has been a great year.

I figured my last blog of the year could be a reflection of big events that have taken place throughout the year.

As always the year started with my birthday along with so many other friends celebrating their birth.
We had people over for game night and had a lot of fun.

26th Birthday

Shortly after that day, my "nephew"  was born. My friends Melissa gave birth to Reid.  He's the cutest kids I've ever seen and I'm not saying that just because he's my nephew, he really is!

Reid Lewis

In February, my friend Josh G. received orders for deployment. Dave and I were lucky enough to be in Columbia they day he flew out and were able to see him off along with my mom, our friends Krystle & Joe and Josh's fiancé, Stee. 

Me with Josh & Stee

My friend & sorority sister Prissy got married as well that same weekend. I got to reconnect with a lot of girls I hadn't talked in since graduation, so it was opportunity to see some many faces! Congrats again to them, they are so cute and such a sweet couple!

Andy & Prissy (Photo Courtesy: J.Kay Bryan)

March & April were full of events related to the wedding. The ladies at the church in Columbia that I grew up at hosted a bridal shower for me.  It was such a fun time. I was really glad that one of my bridesmaids, Amanda and my future in-laws were able to make it since it was during the middle of the week. 

Church Bridal Shower

Christie, Melissa & Tracy also host another bridal shower/bachelorette party for me at the clubhouse at our apartment complex.  We had an awesome time, with lots of laughs. 

Bridal Shower/ Bachelorette Party

Melissa, Christie & Tracy

May of course was the best month of the entire year.. it's the month I married buy best friend and became a Turner. We also went on our 7 day honeymoon cruise. 

You can see more pictures from the wedding here and some other pictures from the honeymoon here.  ( I know, I never finished blogging about the cruise... one day....) 

In June, we took things slow, trying to get back to normal life and get our place in order after being invaded with wedding gifts.  I did host my first ever lia sophia jewelry part with my friend Heike. Us girls had a great time trying on jewelry and of course, spending money!

Heike with lia sophia

We celebrated the 4th of July with some friends and family out in Mount Pleasant and caught the fireworks show on the Isle of Palms.  

August and September were pretty busy.  I got a chance to finally see Hootie & The Blowfish in concert for the first time. It was great to see Darius and the band get back together and play in their hometown. 

I also worked with a non-profit for a while and met a great person that I have now become good friends with.  Even though we no longer are apart of that organization, we are hoping that in 2012 we can create a new one to give back to our military. Susan is such an inspiration and I'm so glad to have met her!

With Susan on 9/11

My grandparents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary this year.  They were on a read trip to Texas over their anniversary, so they decided to have a vow renewal ceremony in October at our home church.  About 40 people showed up to show their love and support.

In November, Dave & I got the chance to go to the Florida vs. USC football in Columbia.  Our friend Josh got to come home early from deployment and got tickets.  We sat in the end zone -- great seats -- and it was the perfect game to go to! It was homecoming so I got a chance to see a bunch of friends who were in town for the game.

Josh & Dave

Thanksgiving we spent in Columbia with family.  My mom & stepdad came down from Kentucky and Dave's family came up from Augusta.  

The weekend after Thanksgiving, Dave had to leave for El Paso, Texas for a month of training for work, leaving me back in Charleston by myself.  Boy, that was the longest month of my life.

During December, my best friend married her best friend in a small ceremony! Suzanne & Matt got married on the 17th in Athens, Georgia.  They are the sweetest couple and are perfect for each other! I'm so happy they found one another. 

Suzanne & Matt

Dave happend to return the same day I was in Athens for Suzanne's wedding, meaning he got to come home a week early and we'd be able to spend more time with his mom for Christmas.  We spent 4 nights in Augusta. On Christmas day, my grandparents and uncle came down to exchange gifts and have dinner.  We had a great time. 

The Baxter-Brown-Dasher-Turner Family!

Our First Christmas

Those are just some of the highlights of the year. I'm really looking forward to what's in store for 2012! 

From our family to yours, Happy New Year!

Can't Make Up My Mind

 So I really thought I had my invitations picked out until I really started doing the math on the prices my graphic designer/printer gave me.  I just couldn't pay as much as they were asking for it and it not be completely what I wanted. I wasn't in love with what they did so I continued my search.  Mind you, I've never had a hard time with invitations before...parties, birthdays, work events... those have been easy to decide on...but for this wedding, it's a different story.

I was talking to my Matron of Honor, Suzanne, one day about the invitations and she asked me if I had checked out Zazzle.com. It's a website that does custom you name it on there... from business cards to invitations to tshirts and even phone cases, you can design just about anything you want there.  I probably spent a good 6 hours on that site that day looking at all my different options from pre-made designs to create your own from scratch, I tried it all.  And I finally found two designs I was really happy with. But then it happened again, I couldn't make up my mind. I asked Dave for input and he kept telling me to go with what I liked and that was the problem, I liked both.  Then he suggested I e-mail all the girls in the wedding party (including our moms) to get feedback on all three invitations (the two I designed on Zazzle and the one from the printers).  That was the best decision ever.  Pretty much everyone had the same answer, they liked the design from the graphic designer but they really liked one of the ones from Zazzles.   So today I ordered 10 of the invitations to see how they turn out before I place a huge order (we're talking almost 200 invitations!)

Next on the to-do list --- Guest Favors! Dave and I are both fans of koozies. To be honest, Dave has an old laundry bag full of koozies he's collected from over the years. And Dave doesn't go anywhere without one and it's usually his Zac Brown Band koozie.
So we want to give our guests something we enjoy so they can remember being part of our special day for years to come.  I saw a design of a koozie on facebook one day that I really liked and knew that's exactly what I wanted for ours... but then once again, the search began for that piece of art work.  Being from South Carolina, I love the Palmetto Tree. It represents where I'm from, where Dave's lived most of his life, and the Southerners that we are. And today I finally found that design on a website......
It's the Palmetto Tree & Crescent Moon with wedding rings hanging from the moon!! I want to add our names and wedding date and then it will be complete!

On to side notes not pertaining to the wedding:  I'm back to work. I started this week as a producer at WCSC Live 5 News in Charleston.  They are the CBS station in the area and the #1 news station in the market. I've been hired to start on the weekend show but I was told they don't keep people on the same show for too long because things start to become habits and the best product isn't being put on air.

Softball season is finally over.  Dave's co-ed team finished 3rd in their division. So a big congrats goes out to Sons of Pitches for a great season.  The men's team is done as well...not as great of a season but there's always next year.

Oh and we can't forget what a wonderful weekend it was for Carolina Football! The Gamecocks are the SEC East Champions, after beating Florida in the Swamp. Congrats to Steve Spurrier, Steve Jr. and the whole team for a job well done!

Until next time.....