I went to elementary school and middle school with my husband. However, we never really had any interaction. One day when I was in the 8th grade my mom was picking me up from school. I got into the car and she said “Who is that boy over there? He’s cute!” I quickly responded with “eww mom! hes a dork!” Well about three or four months later I was on vacation for the 4th of July with my family and friends. I was walking with three of my friends around the campground we were staying at and saw this boy on an orange bike with a GREAT tan and orange sunglasses on. I immediately said to my friends “he is so cute! I know him from somewhere!” My friend then responded and told me he was from Camden but we couldn’t remember his name. (I know we were so stupid… Camden is so small how do you not know his name.) However, I did realize who he was. When I got back to our site I found my mom and asked her if she remembered the boy she had said was cute. She said she remembered and I went on to tell her “Well he is really cute now!” (My mom still gets a kick out of that one.) As the week went on I continued to see the boy on the orange bike and we finally asked him his name. He told us his name was Billy Bob. We saw Billy Bob everyday and even got in a water balloon fight with him on a the beach. I can still remember that night like it was yesterday. He pegged me with the balloon then continued on to pick me up and try to throw me into the ocean. It was an instant spark… except…. as Bree would say “he had all the ladies in the campground.”  We became friends and continued to talk when we got home. My parents ended up buying a place at the campground that summer and I would see him down at the beach on the weekends. Billy Bob would have a different girlfriend every week. After the summer ended we went back to school and started our freshman year of high school. We continued to talk and became really good friends. Our friendship blossomed and on October 2,2001 he finally asked me out.

We  not only became boyfriend and girlfriend, we became bestfriends. We had both just turned 14 and neither one of us could drive. Needless to say we spent a lot of time at my house. He would come over to my house every Saturday and we would go out to eat with my parents. Every Saturday brought on something new. Whether it was watching a movie or my sister and her friends pretending to marry us. We dated all through high school. We both had our first kiss, he took me to our junior and senior prom, we took Denver to  Disney world for the first time, we watched many soccer/softball games, and our relationship continued to grow. We had no idea what we wanted to do when we graduated and didn’t have a clue where we would go to school.  After we graduated, we both ended up going to the University of South Carolina by chance. Well not really by chance… we never thought we would ended up at the same school and had left it in God’s hands. I know God sent us there together for a reason. He has been with us through out our relationship and we know we were made for each other.

The college years were not too much fun. People say that your college years are the best of your life. I would have to definitely disagree. Neither one of us were in the party scene and liked being home. However, we had each other, which really made all the difference. We made it through our college years together and not too long after graduating, Denver (Billy Bob) proposed after 7.5 years of dating.

Denver had worked really hard to get my ring. He found a guy in Columbia who used to work for Tiffany’s and he designed the perfect ring with lots of meaning and symbolism inside. One day, my good friend Mary Ellen called to see if we would like to take a carriage ride that was supposedly given to her. They said they couldn’t go because one of the children was scared of the horse. I said sure and she then said “ok! be at my house at 8 AM on Saturday!” I responded with 8:00AM? Are you serious?” She said yes and of course that Saturday Denver and I showed up at her house at 8:00AM. I wasn’t really expecting anything because who proposes at 8:00AM!? Denver and I hopped in the carriage and took a carriage ride around Camden. Our ride took us to the Cup grounds. When we got to the cup grounds I saw the viewing stand completely decorated and jockeys out riding their horses. When we got o the viewing stand I saw that we had breakfast and champagne. I was thinking to myself… “I don’t think this was apart of the package.” After we started eating our breakfast a jockey came over and handed Denver a box. He proceeded to get down on one knee and ask me to marry him.  I later found out that he had decorated the viewing stand and called all of the jockeys to come out and ride. He had also set up the carriage ride and there was a photographer there who caught it all on camera. It was perfect…

We set our wedding date for April 17th, 2010. Between June 6, 2009 and April 16th, 2010 we both got new jobs, bought a house, and just about everything that could possibly go wrong did. However, on our wedding day everything went perfectly. With 300 of our closest friends and family members, we said the vows that we have felt in our hearts for over 8 years, I married the boy my mom had picked out for me on the side of the road in 8th grade, and started the next chapter of our fairy tale. It was amazing to see all the beautiful faces who shared our special day with us. We were overflowing with happiness. We feel very blessed to have found each other at such a young age. I have felt like I am in a real life fairy tale. See the thing about fairy tales is that they are never perfect. Something always goes wrong in them, but they always end up living happily ever after. I can’t wait to continue on with my fairy tale and to live happily ever after.

Below are pictures. My famous Aunt Trish and I made the dress I wore to my rehearsal dinner.

The first dress I made was for my sister. We found some beautiful fabric online back in January. The fabric had some beautiful greens and blues and screamed my sisters name. I had bought some fabric for a sash, but we were spending one of our many hours in Hancock Fabrics when she saw some blue fabric she LOVED. I think the sash really made her dress and she looked very cute. As far as style, she wanted something very simple and fun. I found a pattern she liked but I made some alterations to the pattern to make it exactly what she wanted.

The second dress was really fun to make and I think it is the cutest dress thus far. This dress was made from Lily fabric. It turned out really cute. She really wanted a strapless dress, which was a first for me. The dress was made with a solid pink top(to match her boyfriend’s pants), the Lily fabric for a skirt, with an eyelet sash to match. The dress was perfect for the Carolina Cup and fit her perfectly. We took the left over lily fabric and made her boyfriend a cute bow tie. I loved working with this fabric because I was constantly discovering something new. As I was cutting the pattern I was finding little lion and butterfly faces all through out. I cut the bow tie to where when sewn you could see the little faces. I think it really added character.

I had not intended to make anything else, but as usual I get really excited and could not stop sewing! Maybe it was my new sewing room or that it was just nice to get away from all the wedding planning. My next project was to make my fiancee a pair of slacks. My aunt secretly thought I was absolutely crazy to take on this project with everything else that was going on, but I wanted a challenge. After 7 hours I had a pair of slacks… now the only question was…. did they fit? Luckily, they fit perfectly. God was definitely on my side! The pants turned out better than we could have hoped for and he loved them!

As the day before the cup came around I still did not have anything to wear, and for some reason I wasn’t worried about it. I had been working comp at work all week, helping coach the JV high school team, plus wedding planning and just did not have time to make myself anything. I had decided that I didn’t want to wear a dress this year because the weather man kept saying it was going to be cold. I cam to the conclusion that I wanted to be comfortable and warm. I decided to make a pair of pants… the day before the cup! After going out the varsity softball game, I started my pants at 8:00. I don’t know what I was thinking…. I had never made these pants before and was basically winging it. As time ticked by, my fiancee reminded me that I had not made his bow tie yet. 12:00 came and went. I eventually turned the TV on around 1:00 AM and I started learning about why my dog scratches and if this is normal from the pet doctor. At 2:00, I started learning about these bands that are trying to make it big. 3:00 brought these infomercials that were telling me how I could become a millionaire with just a webpage. Thats when I thought… What the heck am I doing sitting here making these pants when I could be making a million dollars online!? Finally, at 3:30 AM, I had something to wear to the cup. However, I still did not have a bow tie. I started making his bow tie and sometime around 4:15 to 4:30 AM, I had a finished product. It was a great experience and I cannot wait until next year! See pictures below. (Click on the thumbnails to see the larger pictures)

Next up:  prom clutches, wedding attire, and my baby sisters graduation…

However, around the holidays I ALWAYS sew. Which means… I’m back to blogging… This year I definitely have fewer projects planned than most years. One because I’m so busy and two because my mom really gets mad at me. I have a tendency to make a big mess… (Cant wait to have that sewing room! )

In my family we have a tradition. Every year we all get new PJs. Well, last year I started a new tradition. Instead of buying new PJs, I started making them. To me its just so much more special. You get to go find the perfect material to match the persons personality and they always feel just a little more special. I just wish I could make myself a pair… I have trouble sewing for myself. I always tend screw it up somehow!

At Christmas time I love making tie blankets for people. One year I made over twenty! I think that tie blankets are the BEST gift. They are soooooo warm and comforting. If you have one, I am sure you would agree. I only made three tie blankets this year. However, they were some of the cutest ones I have made. If anyone needs directions on making them let me know. I talked my future mother-in-law into doing some and she couldn’t believe how easy it is.

My other project is/was  for a little guy I have known his whole life. Little L is turning 11 tomorrow. He is mature beyond his years and the funniest little guy you will ever meet. Just ask “I like’em big”, “turkey legs”, and “bird legs”. lol A couple of weeks a go Little L made his mom pin a piece of fabric to make it look like a bow tie. Once I heard this I knew I had to make this child some bow ties fast! Anyways, I already had bought some pretty fabric for bow ties and I went out and got some Christmas fabric to make him some bow ties for his birthday. I ended up making him four bow ties last night and gave them to him today. They are pictured above. Happy Birthday Little L!! With two pairs of PJs done and many left… hopefully I will be done by Christmas! If I don’t blog before… Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!!

I am so excited! Last night, we ordered the fabric for Ab a dress! She picked out some gorgeous pink and white Amy Butler fabric. I can’t wait for it to come in to make the dress. I also made some new bow ties. Sorry, there aren’t any pictures. I cannot seem to find the cord to recharge my camera, which may be a problem since graduation is Saturday. I will try to get some pictures up this weekend. I am also going to make some headbands. I’m pretty excited about that as well. I have so much I want to do and not enough time. If there any people out there who love to sew, I have a magazine to suggest! It is called Sew Hip. It is a sewing magazine from the UK and has become my FAVORITE magazine. It has awesome ideas and comes with patterns (which makes the magazine definitely worth it)!

Hi All!!! Earlier this week, I drug Denver with me to the fabric store and found some GREAT bow tie fabric. I am super excited and cannot wait to make some more bow ties! This week, I haven’t been able to sew much due to exams and coaching. However, after Saturday at 11:00 I will be free of exams! (I don’t know whether to be excited about that or not! lol Real world here I come!) I’m going to make up some more bow ties by the middle of next week. I found some awesome striped fabric, a garnet piece (Go Gamecocks!), a couple of pieces that will make awesome abstracts, and a few vibrant solids. I am thinking about making some Carolina/Clemson bow ties. What do ya’ll think? If you see any fabric you like for a bow tie, let me know! Below are my new found treasures! (Click on the thumbnail to make larger.) Oh yea, if you don’t know how to tie a bow tie, no worries, these are already tied and all you have to do is velcro them on! Easy, Right?

I bought a sewing pattern last year with the intentions of making my own dress for the Cup. Well I was in the middle of student teaching and that just didn’t happen. I pulled that pattern out and admired it so many times… Now it was the time to use it! It was an awesome pattern. With this pattern, you can piece together your dress. (It is the NewLook #6774 pattern.) It had like five different tops to choose from and three or four different skirts to choose from.

So, I set out to the fabric store on a South Carolina SUNNY “Snow Day” with my mom and aunt. (If you’re from SC you know what day I’m talking about. lol) I found some drapery fabric I loved and decided what the heck… why not use it? My sister had given us an idea of what she wanted and we bought her some cute navy seersucker with anchors. (Anchors are SO in this year! I see them everywhere I look.) I got my needed fabric, some more fabric for other projects I wanted to do, and some patterns. (I got an awesome pants pattern that I can’t wait to do!)

I headed home and couple of weeks later on my LAST spring break started on the dresses. I went to my aunt’s house and she went over the dress patterns with me. The first dress took us a while to figure out, but we got it! The second one we decided to change the top up half way through, so we made that dress like 2 or 3 times. lol But we had a TON of fun! It’s always fun to sew with other people and it’s especially special to sew with a family member. As I sew with my aunt (Which is really my great aunt, but I refer to her as my aunt or Trish.) she tells me stories from when she and my grandfather were younger. (There are 10 of them! God Bless Mama Callie!) I also love hearing about how she would sit at the kitchen table with my great-grandmother and sew. She talks about how she used to use the peddle sewing machine and Mama Callie would sit there with her and watch her sew all day on Saturdays just to make herself a new dress for church the next day. My other great aunt always walks over and sits with us. She has a lot of great stories too. lol She always says “They sure didn’t make fabric this pretty back in my day.” And tells me I should be a home economics teacher… We have to remind her that we don’t have those classes anymore.

Once we worked for many hours and figured out the pattern we ended up with some great dresses. My sister wanted a big sash on hers and it really made her dress. I made one for mine but decided not to wear it. My boyfriend and sister’s boyfriend decided they wanted a tie and bow tie made to match, which turned out really cute! I had a tie pattern to follow and just made up the bow tie. Here are a few pictures below before the rainy cup day!