LABOR DAY WEEKEND IN THE BLUEGRASS STATE!

            For Labor Day, my parents and I drove to Kentucky to visit and meet Jenn’s entire family. Being in three states all year makes it hard for everyone to get together and meet one another. This was a very exciting time for Jenn and I because family is VERY important to us and we can’t wait to make ours ONE BIG family! Our weekend was very enjoyable as we did a lot of dining and catching up with each other. My parents and I drove down a day early from Jenn so that we could work on some wedding things we needed to take care of while we were there. It was a success! We finalized on the rehearsal dinner location.  The weekend was very relaxing with not a lot planned but to get to know one another and enjoy each other’s company! Saturday we met with our photographer to go over some plans for the wedding! We think she is going to do an amazing job and can’t wait to see her work her magic! It’s appointments like that, that make the wedding feel so close around the corner! We also got to run errands like getting Jenn’s ring clean (does the diamond ever SPARKLE) on her hand!  I catch Jenn every now and then just staring at it and smiling! I’m pretty sure she loves it!! While we were out Saturday we were shopping around and I did it!! Yes, I did buy my first UK hat!  Jenn and I are still working on this issue balancing DUKE and UK in our lives! But, we are both progressively getting better! Haha We need a flag for our house that has DUKE and UK…think we will ever find that?!? Doubt it! Because we don’t know of any household that likes both teams!! 

Tracy's NEW UK hat and the beautiful flowers that he had for Jenn we she arrived

On Sunday, it’s tradition to go eat after church with Jenn’s papaw. We met Jenn’s Papaw and he gave us a sneak peak of his awesome car that we will be riding in at the wedding!! It’s a Beautiful car! We can’t wait for him to roll up in it at the wedding for all to see! Until then, it is under safe lock and key and is a secret! Haha

Tracy's parents and Jenn's grandparents after church

Overall it was the most amazing weekend with our parents. We are truly blessed with the family and friends we have surrounding us!

The end of the weekend was really tough, especially for Jenn leaving her parents & Hunter and my parents and me.  The trip home was tough as Jenn was driving straight into tropical storm Lee and delayed about an hour and a half. We drove through a lot of rain as well and delayed our trip an hour but it was worth it! 

Our AMAZING parents and Hunter:)

Things to come…. Tracy’s LAST trip to Birmingham in October, a whole blog on our wedding party, and a Thanksgiving extravaganza in KY with all the family from NC and KY together! CANNOT WAIT!!!

Again! Thanks for following! Love you all,

Tracy and Jenn

From the shores of North Carolina to the Big City of Atlanta!

Summer 2011 brought much excitement for Jenn and I and kept us very busy as well. Jenn and I have had an excellent summer. It was that time of the year to return to OCEAN ISLE, NC!!! Beach trip here we come!!

                                    Driving to the beach!

So, it was our second trip to Ocean Isle Beach which was very nice and relaxing. It was the end of July and what is better than being with the one you love and sand on your toes, waves crashing, and sunlight beaming down!  While at the beach we celebrated Jenn’s 25^th birthday where we went to a nice steakhouse, Liberty’s at Broadway at the Beach in Mrytle Beach, SC.

                                          Birthday Dinner at Broadway

Our 45 min drive to Broadway went well until we were about one mile away and we were at a stoplight and someone bumped us in the rear. We were both fine but our car had a small dent and some scratches in the bumper. I was thankful for no more damage and not too bad of a hit. It was just an aggravating situation. I am glad to say that our car has already been repaired and is looking like new. On vacation we played lots of tennis, rode the golf cart, and enjoyed my niece and nephews and also my brother-in-law’s niece and nephew. Jenn and I love to get to play tennis together! Below are pics from a night of playing tennis and one of our many rides on the golf cart!

 The tennis courts were right outside our condo and so fun to get to play every night! 

So thankful to have the golf car this year since we were further than usual from many things on the island! Jenn and I loved to take a ride every night and just see the whole island!

Also on our trip we were able to walk the beach and one night while we were walking the beach we saw baby sea turtles hatching and making their way to the ocean. It was pretty neat and Jenn really liked it. She had seen it before but it was my first experience. Pretty amazing!

This is a pretty short and sweet version of the beach trip! We could blog for days and days about our week there! But, we wont! haha To move on.................................. August quickly rolled in and once again Jenn and I were looking forward to another trip to get to meet up and be with each other! 

So ATLANTA, GEORGIA it was!

Atlanta is a pretty good middle for Jenn and I to meet. We hadn't ever gone to Atlanta together, so we thought what better time than this year since we don't know where we are going to be the next year or so! 

In august, we meet in Hot Atlanta at the Hilton Hotel in downtown Atlanta which was extremely nice.  

                                View from our hotel room looking at downtown Atl

Jenn rode in with her friend Stacy and her husband Travis and son Landon aka “Lil Man”.  We met up at this fun pizza place across from Emory University called “Everybody’s Pizza”. It was sooo good.We ate a really good salad and split an awesome pizza! We definitely ordered too much food!

                                  After dinner at Everybody's Pizza

On Saturday morning Jenn and I walked to the Coca-Cola factory in Centennial Park and took about a 2 hour tour of the World of Coke. Jenn would give this advise, “Don’t drink any of the cokes from the other countries- it will make you sick” haha! This was a lot of fun! Jenn was mostly excited because she learned that the inventor of coke was a pharmacist!:)

                 She insisted that she pose with the drugs, mortar and pestles!

                                        One of the many decorated coke bottles!

After the World of Coke we went to Stone Mountain which I wanted to take Jenn to because she had never been there and I always enjoy Stone Mountain and the laser show.  It was a hot day, but was not overwhelming. We were able to enjoy the beautiful day and it was amazing to look out down from the top of the mountain!We got ride a train around the mountain and stay to watch the laser show that night! It was a wonderful day!

                                         On top of Stone Mountain!

On Sunday, Jenn and I along with Stacy, Travis and Landon went to a Sunday Braves game together. We both enjoyed the Braves game even though they lost 6-5 and it was hot. Luckily Stacy did a great job getting the tickets and after the 1^st inning the shade covered us from the sun and heat. 

                                     The whole gang at the Braves Game!

It was such a bittersweet ending at the game! That meant it was time for us to say our goodbyes until Labor Day.....by the way, a blog is coming soon to you about the wonderful Labor Day weekend we just had with our parents in KY!! Sorry for mistakes on this post, the blog was not cooperating tonight!

Talk with you all soon! 

Love always,

 Tracy and Jenn

Say YES to the DRESS

So, let me begin this blog by saying that Tracy and I should win, bloggers of the year! Don't you all concur! HA Totally kidding considering we have not blogged in a month! So much has been happening this last month and it has been soo busy! Let me take you back in time for this blog- End of July!

The end of July was fast approaching which meant 1. I was packing to move back to Alabama until February 2. I was trying to balance work/spending time with my family in KY 3. Going to the beach with Tracy and his family 4. Trying to get what I could of wedding planning finished before coming back to Alabama. So needless to say, this is when the blog updates were no more! haha 

So the first really exciting thing to share is....... I FOUND MY DRESS!!! It was basically spur of a moment idea when mom and I decided to go to Cincinnati one weekend on a Sunday and Monday to go wedding dress shopping! I didn't have a lot of important people with me (bridesmaids, etc), but I did have my momma who I knew wouldn't let me down!!! I definitely didn't think  that I would find my dress that day. I do have to admit, I wasn't really looking forward to it. I'm awful with making decisions and just knew this was gonna be prom all over again- finding 5 or 6 dresses I wanted or part of that one and part of this one! We ventured into our first bridal boutique around 12 that Sunday afternoon. I immediately was assigned to my consultant whose name could not have been a coincidence...it was Tracy! She was great! We started grabbing tons of dresses off the racks and taking them back to the room. Before I knew it I was being strapped, zipped, buttoned, clipped, etc, etc into all of these dresses. Yes and no piles were quickly established. Deep down, I knew immediately which dress was going to be my wedding gown, but I wanted to make sure I had no regrets. I have always heard that most girls end up going back to their very first dress they try on...... and I DID!!! I fell in love and felt like a bride for the first time! It is such an amazing feeling, especially when you look over at your mom and tears are running down  her face because she is so happy for you! I'm not giving any details about the dress-- to find out more, join us July 21, 2012 in KENTUCKY!!! :) 

We left the bridal boutique at 5 that afternoon! No need to go to any of the other boutiques! What a relief and shot of excitement to push forward with wedding planning! The rest of the time in Cincinnati mom and I just enjoyed our time together. 

Leaving the boutique as a happy bride!!

                   

To change the subject- final details and decisions were finally made for our SAVE THE DATES! The very end of July, the save the dates came in and are all ready to go as soon as I and help from my lovely bridesmaids address the envelopes! I'm so ready to send them out, but am trying to follow my handy " The everything wedding organizer" book my Matron of Honor (my sister) got me after our engagement. It's been so helpful- so I guess I have to wait a couple of more months before sending them out! But, it's okay to be excited already!!! Not much has happened with the wedding since then! I am still looking for a photographer (which I better find soon)! I'm getting more excited everyday with the color scheme and uniqueness of the wedding plans! I'm hoping everything will be perfect! I don't see how it can't be when you are marrying your best friend!! 

This is just a little to catch all of you more up to date with the wedding plans- soon to come, so stay posted, is exciting stories from our beach trip and trip to Atlanta. Then we should be caught up and will do a much better job blogging on time! 

Hope all of you are well and thanks for following during this special year for us! 

Love Always,

 Tracy and Jenn

The RED, WHITE, and BLUE in KY!

Fourth of July trip to KY was Great and passed by way to quickly! I arrived Friday night around 9:30 and Jenn met me at the Famous Root beer Stand in Corbin. It was very good but the lady taking my order at the car glanced and saw my DUKE hat in the car right after I asked about a Dixie Burger. Needless to say, she knew I was out of town and I don’t think she was too fond of my hat. She wasn’t too bad to me I guess…. My food arrived and tasted pretty good! haha

Tracy's FIRST trip to the ROOT BEER STAND! YUM:)

Saturday was a full day as we all traveled to Cincy to watch a Reds game. We made a little stop in a town called Georgetown KY before going on to Cincinnati. Georgetown is where Jenn went to undergrad for 4 years! She was very excited to share with me where so many wonderful memories lie! It was a beautiful campus with old builidings. I'm glad I got to see where she lived and walked to class everyday!

The entrance to Jenn's sorority house where she lived 3 years!

After we left Georgetown we kept driving and we parked in Covington KY and walked over the Bridge on the Ohio River to the Great American Ball Park.  It was a great game being that it was an in-state rivalry. Cincinnati Reds vs. Cleveland Indians.  It was very very HOT but the seats were great. We were 19 rows up between 3^rd and home. After the game we walked a mile to a Ribs restaurant on the Ohio River. It was a beautiful view and great food. I really enjoyed the whole day Saturday.

After the Reds Game! So hot:(

Leaving the Stadium! Great American Ball Park!

Montgomery Inn on the River!

Sunday was Church Day; we went to Jenn’s Church Sunday morning and ate lunch with her grandpa and grandma afterwards. Sunday’s are nap day for me so we did get an hour nap which was great but not long enough. ;) Sunday night we went to Church with Jenn’s Grandparents. She also took me to the first KFC in Corbin, KY. There was even a couple there from NC checking it out.

Tracy and Colonel Sanders!

First KFC

After church

July 4^th was a nice and relaxing day and we had a hamburger and hotdog cookout but there weren’t any  major fireworks shows around so we watched Macy’s Fireworks Spectacular event on TV. Our last day, always a sad day, we went to Berea, KY to visit one of my childhood friends. It was great to see him and we had a nice time catching up and talking sports. I’m back missing her now but the beach vacation is coming soon!

Tracy enjoying 4th of July outside with everyone

Tracy loves to talk about all the fun events, but always manages to leave out all of the FUN wedding planning: ). He forgot to mention that we accomplished a lot with wedding planning! Sunday night we stayed up until 1 AM picking out invitations….all the way down to the minor details! So thankful that is finished! We know the colors, design, and just have to take the information when the time comes to get them printed! They are going to be so beautiful! On Monday, we woke up to have a photography session with the one and only, Mrs. Debbie Felts! We weren’t ready for full blown engagement sessions this trip so we decided just to get a couple of shots we would like to use for our save the dates! Mom did a wonderful job! We had so many good pics, it was hard to choose from! We went around London to get shots, but some of the best pictures came from the great views around my house! The day Tracy left, I went to the print shop and gave our pictures and decided to change some things on the original proof we had, so I’m waiting to get the updated save the dates back to okay them for print! So get excited, because they are coming to a destination near you in a just a few short months!!! I also took all of our ideas for the invitations. Monday was a full packed day! We also went around with my parents looking at various places for the rehearsal dinner. Since this is the grooms responsibility, Tracy wanted to see the places and get ideas because his mother has some great ideas she plans on doing and he will be able to help place her ideas with the best location! It was so nice to have him to do this wedding stuff!

Now, countdown until some more exciting times………..4 days until the beach! YAY Also, I have said YES to the DRESS…but that is a blog in itself to come soon!

Take care and as always,

 We love you all!

Meet Me At The Altar

Wedding! Wedding! Wedding!!  It has been a very productive past week and weekend! One day this week, mom and I took off looking for fabric and different ideas to throw around for some things for the reception! We had a lot of fun and really enjoyed each other. We found some different fabrics and bought pieces of them to see what magic mom can work up. We also found some candles to use at the reception!

On Sunday, mom and I headed to Louisville for a Bridal Show, "Meet Me At The Altar". It was my first bridal show as a bride so I was really excited! I didn't know really what all to expect!! We arrived at the show around 2 pm. At Registration, we learned of a "cake dive" that was going to be happening around 4:30. I wasn't sure what all that entailed, but the girl told me she did it last year as a bride and that it was totally worth it. So mom and I began our journey through all the vendors at the bridal show. We gathered a lot of good ideas and saw things that solidified ideas that we wanted to stray away from and ideas that we had thought about that looked gorgeous! There aren't a huge variety of photographers, etc being from a small town, so it was good to see other photographers, florists, etc to be able to compare them to the ones here. Still haven't made a final decision on a photographer, but think we will end up going with a local one! 

      In order to be a part of the cake dive, each bride had a green sheet of paper that they must have signed by each vendor! So I was frantically going around to each vendor so I could register for the cake dive. Mom just thought the cake dive was such a wonderful idea.....which she ends up getting more of then what she expected! Around 3, they had a runway of lots of beautiful wedding gowns and bridesmaids dresses. I absolutely fell in love with one dress and look forward to going to the shop that sponsored the runway to try it on! Hopefully, that will be in the next couple of weeks! At 4, they drew 20 brides names out of the registration to get the chance to participate in the cake dive! And all I remember hearing...from LONDON KY.....Jennifer Felts! AHHH my mom was cheering and I was having mixed thoughts....I kept thinking, oh wow, I hope I win something great, but I really dont want to do this! haha

To make a long story short...20 girls including myself lined up along a very long sheet cake. Each of us had a number that we stood in front of and the cake was marked off in sections on the table. Each of us was responsible for our section of the cake. We were CAKE DIVING, FACE ONLY, NO HANDS to find a token! Each token had a number on it that determined what you won! After taking all my jewelry off and pulling my hair back, I was ready for the dive! Let me tell you, brides will do ANYTHING to win something for their wedding! Guess I am considered to belong to that group now?! :)

Ready to begin the cake dive! So excited and nervous!

We all were going at it and I thought my strategy would work great! I decided I was going to use my chin to dig in the cake so cake wouldn't go up my nose! This worked for some time, but then failed! Cake was all up my nose and I couldn't breathe! All I could hear was my mom cracking up and pictures being taken of all of us! 

Taking a break from my face in the cake to see if I could see the token!

Cake was in my hair, nose, all ALL over my face! But such a fun time!

After about 5 minutes, about 15 girls of the 20 still could not find their token! So.......either a fiance or MOB (Mother of the Brides) were allowed to join in! Yes, my mother dove straight in! haha It was great. It didn't take 2 minutes and she had found the token! (only because I had went through the whole cake except for one corner:)). 

My beautiful and fun mother who was such a great sport to help out!

It was so much fun and ABSOLUTELY WORTH IT! In the end, I won an amazing price totaling $900!!! It was so exciting!

Mom and I after cleaning up a little with our token! #14!!

Needless to say, I do not want to see, smell, or eat birthday cake for a long time! haha I'm looking forward to another bridal show!!

On another note, Tracy will be in Kentucky in 4 days and I absolutely can't wait!  I'm so excited for us to blog about our time together in Kentucky! We have some fun things planned and will hopefully get some relaxation time together as well!

Everyone take care until we post again!

SAVE THE DATE!

No better time than now for everyone to SAVE THE DATE- July 21, 2012 is THE DAY! It's going to be the best day ever! The wedding is going to be in Jenn's hometown of London, Ky! We are very excited and really hope that our friends and families in NC, AL...etc,etc.. will be able to make the trip and share the wonderful weekend with us!! So make plans now:) So, for those that know me...for the last couple of years I (Jenn) have said that I would never have a wedding! HA Look what I'm planning on now! Also, those that know me well know that I am horrible at making decisions! Therefore, every idea that people are throwing out at me I think is good! So far the wedding planning process has been slow but  I'm hoping to pick it up within the next month to take pressure off of doing things during the hardest months of my rotations! Even though I think I'm not that excited about all the planning with the wedding because I stress so easily..I find myself getting giddy when I do find things that we are going to use! So...I'm guilty! I'M EXCITED! For example, I now have found our cake server and knife, guest book and pen, and a beautiful picture frame that all matches the fine china that we are soon to be registered for!:) I've been throwing around color ideas and I think its going to come together great! Tracy has been good listening to me get excited about little things like dishes and all! What can I say, he is a man and doesn't say much, but when he does have an opinion..he definitely lets me know:). One thing is for sure, we are very blessed to have 2 wonderful mothers that are jumping right in to help out with the wedding details! My mother can work some magic so I'm excited to see what ideas she has in store to share with me!

                 Me with the bags with our cake server, etc!

Tracy and I have not been together for about 1 month and 2 weeks so we are both VERY EXCITED for his upcoming trip to KY in the beginning of July! I know that I can't wait! He doesn't get much opportunity to visit KY since he always visits in AL, so I love showing him around my hometown and state! I may be in many places, but home is always home! It's definitely difficult to fit in everything that we want when Tracy visits KY. It's like he is a star! Everyone here wants some of his time and always ask.."When is Tracy coming?!" What can I say, you have to love him;)

This wasn't much to read, but hopefully in the next week or so we will have much more to share!! Hope all of you are doing GREAT!!

THE ENGAGEMENT!!!

         So our engagement happened on April Fools Day (April 1^st 2011). I really wanted to surprise Jenn with the engagement especially since she didn’t think it was possible to do. The April fools day idea was mine and I wanted it to be unbelievable and for her family and friends to guess if it was true! I was just wanting to add some fun to it! Also, it was important to me to incorporate the use of our computer or our phones since that is a major component in our relationship. So, I took off Friday at noon and headed toward Al-a-Bama to work my surprise. If you know Jenn, it wasn’t easy to be on the road for 9 hours and Jenn not know what was going on, so I had to do some convincing and maybe a little stretching of the truth! ;) I arrived at Jenn’s apartment around 8:30 pm to totally surprise her and that I did! By the way, all week she had been saying how bad she would love to see me in Bama and little did she know I had already been planning this. When I walked up to her door, I asked her to go to her door and open it and to please not ask any questions (she actually did it without any questions ;) ).  She thought I was just arriving home to skype her. She was so so surprised! I waited about 15 minutes after I arrived to ask her to check out a song that I liked and wanted to share with her. I usually do that randomly so at this point she really didn't think much of it...she was still just so excited for me to be there. She along with me, started the song and listened to it and at the end of the song I got down on one knee and asked her if she wanted to be in my wedding and will you marry me……all you have to do is “Say Yes”!!!Of course, she said YES!! The song was Say Yes, by Dusty Drake. Check it out! I've added the link but if it doesn't work look it up!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv7Lj4YMrNs
    To add on to Tracy's bit of the engagement, the rest of the weekend was perfect! We shared the excitement with our families and friends that night and the next day my sister was the first to see the BLING!

We had a wonderful weekend of tennis, walks on the trails in Birmingham, and a great engagement dinner night, recreating our first date in Birmingham at Carrabbas then onto the Vulcan to look out over Birmingham in the night! So wonderful! 

                                                  Before going to dinner for our Engagement in Birmingham

                                                                       So very excited! The Dutton's to be!