motivation time.

I am entirely addicted to pinterest and a friend of mine just recently got engaged....so of course I am searching pinterest for wedding ideas for this beautiful sophisticated yet country chic wedding... ya i'm just as excited as the bride to be!!! We had a wonderful lunch talking about planning and ideas, and I (of course) shed some tears. I get teary eyed even thinking about my wedding day and knowing she will soon be going through that exact same moment!!! I'm beyond thrilled for her and derek, both super sweet people who will have a beautiful life together. But my point being is I was playing on pinterest and found a neat little motivation pin and ugh I could die when I saw it! Its brilliant!!! let me post a few of my faves....
1. Marry the right person, this will decide 90% of your happiness.
2. Work at something you enjoy and it worthy of your talent and time.
3. Give people more than they expect! I love this I am a ridic overachiever and this fit me perfect!!!
4. Have a grateful heart.  this is something my hubby and I are working on... we need to sit back and see what all we are thankful for
5. Become the most positive and enthusiastic person you know....... ahhhh i love this!!! I'm so enthusiastic about everything... some find it annoying I find it wonderful!
6. Don't do anything that wouldnt make your momma proud :)
7. Be bold. Be courageous. Be loyal.
                       I just loved this little diddy. I can't belive Christmas is sunday! wowee... I still need to buy for my brother, dad, and sisters boyfriend....geeesh I hate shopping for boys. like for real?!? what do you get them? Devin is easy to buy for, sports stuff, tools, or clothes that I like....haha. But wish me luck on this one, I hope to finish in the next couple days.... ya know bc christmas is in 6 days?
            Btw I'm not going to lie, this is my lazy day and I'm watching drake and josh. who doesn't like nick? :) In my defense it is drake and josh christmas special lol. enjoy your beautiful rainy cold monday.... I will too enjoy mine.
Destiny

The good wife.

I have been working 12s here lately and it is amazing! Serisouly its not much fun working half the day for 3 days but that means i get four days off!!! And while Devin is at work I have been loving being able to cook, clean, shop, paint my nails... haha for real how nice is it to just know you have all day to do things you want!? And I've been loving being able to cook a yummy dinner in my new beautiful kitchen for the hubby :) i'm sure a few years from now I will look back and be like omg what was I thinking.... but for now I love it!!! Tonight I'm making poor man's steak mmmm.... and oh so easy!!! hamburger patties, veggies, throw in pan and cook. Hooray for me being able to drink a couple glasses of wine while waiting for dinner to cook!
      Another wonderful thing is that Fall semester is over!! I finished with 1 point under and A.... go figure, but its over!!! I still really need to decide what i want to do when I grow up.... I basically want to be a mom, wife, and crafter..... but this thing called bills has me also working as a nurse lol. Which I also love but it takes a lot of time away from my family, and I know when we have kids I will hhaaaatteee it :(  Speaking of babies!!!!!..... some friends of ours came over with their cutie pattotie 1 1/2 year old who devin and i both adore!!! she opened her christmas gift from us and we just play and love on her everytime we see her...... seeing Devin playing with a baby :D swoon! And she had on this super cute pink fleece nike sweater....ahhh I don't know if I want it for my kids one day or to stretch out for myself :) hehe.
         Thus far Christmas tree is up, lights are up outside, gifts are wrapped and christmas is around the corner. I'm so excited to give Devin his gifts this year..... which I will blog about someother time.
          Right now I am addicted and loving pinterest. wow is all I can say, I need to learn to link up and all that computer jargin! until next time
stay classy, des

Happy Holidays from The Dannells!

The last day of classes for fall

My best friend and I baking Christmas cookies!

Devin's fire department christmas party.... fun had by all.

Happy Holidays!!

Our first thanksgiving as Mr and Mrs :)

My brother is always doing stupid thigs with me :)

Our first tree in our new home and my goofy niece

I can't believe Thanksgiving has come and gone already!! I hope everyone's was as fantastic as mine, anytime my family is all together I feel so blessed!!! Sooo.... now its onto Christmas!!! Christmas use to not be my favorite holiday but I'm pretty sure now that I'm married and have a little family of my own it is now one of my top faves! I have my own beautiful house to decorate...( which btw I wish I had an unlimited fund saved up for this matter) But thus far my christmas decor is minimal...but after the holidays when things are on sale ITS ON!!  Today some friends and I went on a Christmas tour which goes around to beautiful houses in clay county and we go through and look at all their christmas decorations......guh it was amazing!! We also made a pitstop and bought some mighty fine aprons to wear when we cook christmas cookies this friday :) pictures to come!!!
On a side note the hubby (hehe still so weird saying) had his wisdom teeth removed last friday :(  My poor baby... but I can't pass up an opportunity to spoil my husband to pieces :D So of course I've been making homemade soup and lots of mashed potatoes.... I say I've rather enjoyed us lounging in pjs all day watching christmas movies and eating pureed food :) haha my guilty pleasure lol.
Until next time....which hopefully is soon
Des!

Memories of my wedding day.

Here I am a married woman for a month now!! And I want to remember everything about that day so I will try to start from the night before...... we ran through rehearsal out at the ceremony site, we ran through it about 3 times and everything worked out perfect....in the back of my mind something will not go right.... but as of right now everyone walked when they should to the song they should. My dad even started crying as we were practicing walking down the aisle (put a knot in my stomach about the real thing) . Then my parents and family had a big bbq ready for us when we got back. All decorated up with fall centerpieces in all..... I guess they wanted to dress up a simpl bbq a little more haha, but dev and I wanted a cookout and a cookout is what we got. We had lots of family and friends there and the food was good. Here are a couple pictures from rehearsal dinner. Oh and the guys got their gifts that night too and It didn't take long for those flasks to be full lol.






My mom and grandma at rehearsal dinner



 

That night I went back to the house by myself, my mom and sisters offered to stay with me but I really just wanted to be alone and think.... not bad things all good I promise :) Devin came in about 11pm and packed up for the next couple days, we chatted for a minute. Of course he wouldn't admit he was nervous!!! I knew I was!!! couldn't sleep if my life depended on it. So I stayed up until about 1am writing my "wedding letter" to my husband to be....... The next morning I woke and it was was unreal.... noway could this be my wedding day! A year, month, week, and even days prior I just couldn't believe I was actually getting married. I always wondered how I'ld feel. If I'ld be nervous. What will I look like. What would he look like. What kind of day it would be. I just felt like it would never actually get here. I packed everything up that I would need for the day, along with my 31 purse that says "Mrs Dannells" lol. And the attire I wore to get all beautified in you ask? a cardinals jersey (a playoff game was that night) black pajama capris and a pair of ugg boots (it was sooo cold that morning!!)  Me, my mom, and sister headed to Stella's.... Alisha was up first and looked amazing after Stella finished... adorned with the hairpiece I handmade all my girls. Then my mom hopped in the chair and ended up looking glamorous (made me cry) waterworks number 1 of the day. Now my turn. I had no idea what I wanted done I just let Stella work her magic.... and magic it was, I couldn't believe how beautiful my hair and makeup looked.... and of course as she added my veil my mom and sister started crying and so came waterworks numeral dos.... (we will loose count soon) Some of the bridesmaids came by to say hi then head out to the ceremony site.  Devin's brother Kyle showed up to deliver the letter from Devin that he had written the night before.... we were to read them right before the ceremony. In place of writing our own vows this is what we did. The envelope said "To My Bride" then it actually hit me. I think secretly he knew those three words would make it all sink in.

"To My Bride"

It was 11 am, and 3 hours until the ceremony was suppose to start. We were all at Tiffany's house.... girls getting ready everywhere.... makeup, bras, dresses, and cameras everywhere. All I knew is that I was hungry and nervous and those 2 things mixed are not good.... My mom bought sandwiches from the bakery and I ate a TON!!!  After I stuffed my face :) it was touchup on makeup and get into dress time. Something funny was that I got into the underwear of the dress and everyone thought it was my wedding dress. LOL I guess it could have been... woulda been a heck of a lot cheaper!!! I kept peeking out the window to see the ceremony site because I didn't even get to see everything finished. I had a plan in my mind and just hoped I had explained it well to Chelsea, jessica, erica, and stevi..... and apparently they got it loud and clear because it was beautiful!!! It was also a beautiful day too.... just perfect!!! slight breeze with the sun shining. I could not have asked for a more perfect day.

Now it was time to slide into my dress... slide was not the word... lol between my hair makeup and veil it was more like a mission.  But we got it! OMG I can't describe the feeling of being in your wedding gown right before you walk out to meet your husband, I felt beautiful!! And everyone told me that the day flies by and that they don't remember anything about their day, so I knew I would embrace this day and remember every detail about it.... and thats what I did. I remember everyone around me tears in their eyes, cameras, and smiles.

     Now it was time to get some pictures with the bridesmaids before the guys show up for their pictures!!! lol oh what fun this was!!! for some reason the bugs loved the poof stuff of my dress because it was the place to be. I had every bug imaginable trapped in the layers of my dress, so I was spinning and jumping trying to get them out..... it was a sight to see. I walked around for a bit and soaked it all in, the amazing day, the ceremony site, the haybales surrounding a fire with smoores and apple cider, the yellow lanterns hanging from the trees, the shepards hooks holding mason jars that Devin, stevi, and I stuffed handpicked wildflower in a couple days prior.
After a few poses we decided to try a jumping picture.... a jumping picture is a cute idea but not a good idea for the bride lol. I jump. I land on my dress. theres now a huge grass stain on my dress.... before the wedding.... :) oh well nothing could ruin my day obviously. Then the guys showed up so we had to all sneak back into the house while they got pictures taken.  I kept trying to sneak a peak at Devin... I had to see him.... but of course everyone stopped me :) So we all anxiously waited for 2:00. Family members stopped in to see me before the ceremony... which is not a good idea because here came the tears again.  I saw that the guests were starting to fill the seats.... yay!!
 Devin was outside reading his letter because Tiffany was peeking out the window giving me the play by play haha.... "hes rocking back and forth on his heels, he looks like hes trying not to cry, hes laughing" haha thanks tiff. Now its time to read mine..... something I will forever cherish. My sisters and the bridesmaids wanted to read it after I did, I let Tiffany read it out loud... I didn't care, they know how we feel about eachother its no secret obviously :) And they cried...ugh enough of this crying lol
Now it is like 10 minutes before the ceremony and my Dad was here, he has not seen the dress, I wanted it to be a surprise for him as well as Devin.  I have never seen my dad so happy. He spun me around smiling and crying.... it was perfect. I love my Daddy.
Time to line everyone up. Nathan still has his flipcam up, videotaping random wedding stuff :) I was like "wow this is going incredibly perfect and smooth" first song actually started at 2:00 right on time. I later found out my grandma and grandpa didn't line up to be sat but they just sat themselves. lol oh well.
As Macey is walking out supposed to be throwing her flower pedals.... "supposed" the key word. She would barely walk as she was covering her face, as abra pushed her down the aisle throwing the pedals out.haha..... I was thinking "dang mace your going to take up the whole song and dad and I will walk out to silence :) not so...
Together can never be close enough for me
Feel like I am close enough to you
You wear white and I'll wear out the words I love you
And you're beautiful
Now that the wait is over
And love and has finally shown her my way
Marry me
Today and every day
Marry me
                    Now it was me and my daddy's turn to walk down the aisle. :) I can't even go into the emotions I was feeling walking down the aisle. I didn't see anyone except Devin at the end of the aisle. My dad was crying, I was crying.... half the girls were crying... and I'm sure there were others lol.
Vows, lighting of candles, warming of rings, ring exchange, kiss, clap.... you know, the usual.
       Yay we are married!!!! We walked around and talked to people for a while, got a glass of apple cider, which sadly ran out way too fast. We loaded up in the white transam decorated with streamers and balloons lol, as we were driving down the road balloons were flying out everywhere!!! haha!!! Of course we had to stop and get a bigg swigg at hucks before we continues with pictures at the depot! After lots of pictures we headed to the reception site. It was nice to have 45 minutes of calmness with Devin, we actually got to talk and reflect on our beautiful ceremony........ and that we finally get to wear our rings!!!!! All I know is that I did not think I could be any happier than I was at that moment, driving to Effingham, windows down, holding hands with my husband... who I might add looked stunning in his brown tux.

The wildflowers we picked turned out to be the perfect touch

Some of the bridesmaids getting ready before the ceremony

At the reception eating our yummy dinner!!

The groomsmen dressed up as the village people for the YMCA!!!

After the reception right before we slid into pajamas and ordered pizza :)

My husband driving the TA to the reception :)

    

on taking the name of mrs. dannells

magazine worthy ehh?

My oh so wanted "dip kiss". So the past month has been chaotic to say the least.... but so so beautiful. I married the man of my dreams on october 1st. The ceremony was perfect and planned to the T and completely dev and I, including ceremony ending with smoores and apple cider :) I will blog later about what particulars I remember from the day that we don't want to forget, but for now I'm just doing a little update on how wonderful it feels to be married. I always thought "nah nothing will feel different we have been together for nearly 5 years" was I wrong. It feels so so different, what I do I do for us, not a moment goes by that I don't think of Devin and what any decision I make will impact us. We are not devin and destiny anymore... we are a team, and a very supportive team at that. Nothing made that anymore apparent than with the recent decision we made. I currently work at a hospital about 45 minutes from home.... its a long drive and a scary road. I feel like I don't have time for us working 5 nights a week and class one night a week. I applied and interviewed at a local hospital in which I will have a 5 minute drive to work and have 4 days off a week.... tempting. But devin was my biggest cheerleader, for a lot of people this seems like a ridiculous decision, but for us it seems right. I can spend more time on finishing school in hopes of starting my masters by 2015, I will be closer to home for when we do decide to start a family. It meant a lot to me that devin just held me and said that we will make it work....I think thats all I needed to hear. So this will be mylast week at St. Anthonys.... and if I eventually regreat it, I suppose it will be a bigger incentive to continue with school. I'm looking forward to what may come in the next year, noone gets anywhere without taking chances. And I know devin will be beside me the whole way and that makes me feel like I can face anything.
So so excited about turning a new page.
Destiny Dannells

on househunting

just don't do it... haha ok ok just kidding. but really do your homework. OMGoodness there is so much involved.... Dev and I were all like ok well we want a house, we know where we want to stay and we know we want a family soon....so bring on the houses.... we looked, we loved, we swooned, we hated, we wished..... first off.... don't fall in love with one of the first ones you find *yay go us, we so did this* we were looking at how perfect this house was for US.... not how perfect it would be for OUR family we will have oneday (come on surely the kid can sleep on the couch?) haha. After putting a lot more thought into it in the next few weeks, we came up with a "must" have list and this is a replica of that list
~big living room
~dining room... that I can so totally paint red and have a cute cute old hutch and 6 seating table with a bench seat preferably. I don't ask for much :)
~3 bedrooms. one must be a large master with large closets... i am so over sharing a small closet with this wonderful man, 2 closets i believe make for a happy marriage. and of course one for guests and one as a drum and craftroom... that is until one day we decide to give up that glorious room to a baby... ehh we'll see. haa
~2 bathrooms. i mean really this is a must. noway am I ever again dancing outside the bathroom begging devin to hurry up. again. key number 2 to a very very successful marriage in my eyes. 2 bathrooms, one for me to shower and get ready in and one for him to shave and have facial hair all over the place?
~yard yard yard. I don't know about anyone else but growing up I lived outside, i would if i could have. I want a yard big enough for my dogs to run and play and for my (future) hubby to run and play lol.... i want a tire swing. i want a firepit. i want a patio. we don't always get what we want but a yard is a good start.
~garage..... music to my ears. because god forbid if that boat sits out through one more rainstorm :)  and we also need a place to store our one toolbox haha.... hey tools come with time, one day we will be proud owners of enough tools for any project... maybe
~utility room. yes i like to throw my clothes into the laundry room and not have to see them. its the one place that I believe is allowd to be "messy"
~kitchen last but not least. i crave a dishwasher. growing up I was considered the dishwasher, I have mixed feelings on it, I don't mind doing dishes most of the time.... but when i don't want to cook because I don't want to do the dished... thats when we have a problem lol :) I need roooom, I want to cook I really really do. and maybe one day when I get out of this 1x1 counter space of a kitchen I will cook because I'll have room too.  also I really feel that having a paula dean pot and pan set (preferably in blue) that I will cook a lot :)
    those are my few things that definately stand out in my mind!! oh ya and good plumbing and electric would be nice too :) haha.
....Also I learned that sq. footage is very important... who knew? haha. also look at age of the roof, windows, appliances, upgrades, does if have a basement of crawspace? is it on a concrete slab? how much are taxes? what do the utilities run.. average and highest? is it something you can grow into? how old is hot water heater, central heat and air? I know theres much much more but like I said we are newbies at this whole dropping a few grand on a home haha.
One of the most important things is to sit on their couch. yeah whoever owns the house will never know. but sit down look around lay back. does this feel like a place that could be home? This is just my experience thus far. and remember when one door closes another opens up. and its so much fun house shopping with someone your spending the rest of your life with because its like you picture your future self growing in this house with your family :) oh yeah and the house must have a peaked roof because its so much more entertaining watching Devin hang the christmas lights that way :D
~wish us luck and we continue on this adventure!!

where did this summer go?!

So I failed with all my plans this summer lol. I feel like I accomplished a lot with wedding stuff, organizing bills, a good start on the house, and my bsn plan laid out..... but I didn't seem to find much time for myself, oh well guess thats how it goes. Since the last time I blogged I feel a lot more comfortable on my job, like I can actually call a doctor and not start sweating at the thought haha, and I love all the girls I work with, I guess you have to because basically working with them 5 days a week 2:45pm til sometimes 1 in the morning they are the ones you eat dinner with, talk, and vent to haha. But yes I love my job as a nurse, my day flies by and I love learning new things...... I'm still working 2 jobs, this will probably continue until after Christmas time, which I don't mind. Keeping busy providing for ourselves :) 39 days until we say "I do"whoa..... That's a whole other blog lol.
With the wedding coming up I've been thinking a lot about all the UNreassuring relationships that we are surrounded with. I'm going into this knowing that we will be with eachother forever.... but so has everyone else around us, but I wish we had a little more support and encouraging words on marriage instead of the usual mistake quotas. Its a little depressing and I haven't had many people to talk to about it because I'm ussually not the debbie downer who wants to talk about this stuff on a fun lunch date with a friend lol. But I guess its something I need to realize that we are in charge of our marriage and how it turns out....noone but us.  Ok i'm heading to work early I have some IV therapy training wow sounds fun right haha. I will try to blog more often.... and I'm sure the next blog will be about my first class into my bachelors program.... {the wonderful world of} pathophysiology.... wonderful :)