Let The Baker In Me Come Alive

Since our return from our honeymoon early Tuesday morning we have yet to have the time to tear into all of our wedding gifts but....I can not wait to get into the kitchen and whip up some delicious treats for "Charleston" and friends. 

With all new gear, I think its time to kick it into high drive and get this baking thing down pat. 

We received a Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer from some dear friends and I am going to put this bad boy to the test!

Our next big family-of-two event is not until "Charleston's" birthday in June so I have some time to practice. I have decided I am going to try and make him a cake by MYSELF this year. 

(HUGE step in life! HUGE)

With the help of Google and some patience I have confidence.

With a quick Internet search this morning I already started researching designs.  If you need to know ANYTHING about "Charleston" it's that he is beyond passionate for hunting just about any animal.  (Hence why him and my father, and grandfather, hit it off from the start!)

Therefore, I figured some of these birthday cakes were cute and gave me some fabulous ideas!

This one is my fave:

The following two were Groom's cakes but a little change of wording and boom, birthday cake! 

This one just screams "Charleston" with the Browning Logo, bullets, and Browning rifle.  He would go NUTs!  Although, this might be a little out-of-my league.   

(If I fail, I am definitely taking this design to a baker and let them work some magic!)

He also LOVEs to deep sea fish so if I wanted to get really creative maybe something like this :

and if all else fails....

we will stick to Shotgun Shell Cupcakes



I DO, I DO, I DO......WE DID!!!

It's done.

It's official.

 We are Mr. and Mrs. Matthew "Charleston" Cole Atkins!

Good gracious it feels fabulous to be his wife!  Nothing feels more meant to be.

Thanks so much to all of our dearest family and friends for the love and support and for making our wedding magical....and for snapping some pics for me as we wait on our photographers to come in!

Rehearsal At The Church

We said "I Do!!!" 

Lindsey Regan Thorne worked her magic on me....LOVE how it turned out!!!

Olivia Claire was our flower girl!  Such a little HAM smiling for the cameras.

 Yes, this happened.....

Dancing with my Daddy 

Wedding's are not complete without an ADPi picture 

And my K-ville girls

Dancing with my husband

Cake Lady Jill did an AWESOME job with the cake!  Just like we had pictured!

Exit: Mr. and Mrs 

On Monday it was honeymoon time!  Starting the morning off right! 

and we looked at this view every day when we woke up!  no complaints. 

Galley Bay Resort in Antigua

Just wanted to share a few sneak peaks because I could not have been more excited with how our wedding journey turned out.  My HUSBAND and I talked everyday about how lucky we were.  THANK YOU TO ALL INVOLVED!

it's here

.
i get married Saturday.  holy moly cow.  it's crazy.  it's a day i have been waiting for my entire life; cliche to say i know.  i am one of those girls that loves all things wedding; even before i met "charleston".  my dream job is working at Kleinfields helping girls pick out their wedding dresses.  ("charleston" asks if we will be able to stop watching Say Yes To The Dress after our wedding....nope! sorry bud)

i love LOVE. 

i did not know what to expect of myself during this week but i am shocking myself with how calm i feel.

all the planning is done; the schedules are with the vendors; our bridal party is informed....now i sit back and watch it unfold.  i have never been this laid back or calm before in my life.  i used to get more worked up over formal in college.  i contribute all this calmness to one thing:  "charleston"

he's not my "best friend"; i have plenty of those who will gossip with me over wine and sushi. 
"charleston" really is my soul mate. 
i wish i could go on and on about how picture perfect and pretty our life and love is like some other bloggers; snuggles, giggles and long walks on the beach....but that's not realistic. 
our life is perfect because it is OUR form of perfect.  yes, we do snuggle and laugh together but we also argue and challenge each other; it sometimes happens.  it might be weird but i somewhat appreciate this part.  it allows us to grow together.  we will always be two separate individuals but in "charleston's" words "we are a family of two" and that's what matters.  the one thing i love the most about US is that we are SO very similar that when we click (99.99% of the time), we are a force to be reckoned with; a true team.  that's OUR form of perfect and exactly what i love everyday.  its not butterflies, flowers and rainbows but true, hard, honest team work through life.  that's us.  i can't wait to marry this man.  i can't wait to make him proud.  i can't wait to honor him everyday for the man that he is. 

as i think about our wedding day i am reminded of a post i read awhile back; i even posted it before and i posted it again below.  it still rings loud and clear. we have already jumped through a couple hoops in the wedding planning process but at the end of the day, none of those hoops really matter.  what matters is that "charleston" and i are uniting our lives in front of our family and friends.  we are making a commitment to each other; a commitment to love.  vows.
for better or for worse.  for richer or poorer.  in sickness and in heath.  to love and to cherish.
i am so overwhelmy blessed that i get to make this commitment to "charleston" that i will NEVER take one day of our life together for granted. 


The Mason Jar Manifesto by Jonas Peterson

It’s 4.47am when I sit down to write this. I woke up 30 minutes ago and couldn’t go back to sleep. I’ve been thinking about this for so long, but a couple of things lately have reinforced what I already knew.


The wedding train has derailed.

Put down those mason jars, store away that vintage typewriter and fairy lights and sit down because you need to listen. This is an intervention. The whole wedding industry has gone detail bananas and we need to clear a few things up.

- You! Over there! Step away from the hay bales and the Vintage Navajo rugs and come over here. Sit! Down! No, you don’t have to put lavender on the plates, you need to wake up!

We’re getting lost in details. The whole wedding industry is drifting away from what weddings are about and we’re all part of the problem – bloggers, photographers, planners and vendors – all hypocrites feeding the detail beast.

Strip it back.

Peel the layers off.

And start again.

At the center of every wedding we have a girl. Who fell in love with a boy. Or a girl who fell in love with a girl. Or a boy who fell in l… you get my point.

The rest is fluff.

If you read magazines and wedding blogs today, you’d think it’s all about the dress, the decorations, invitations or a million other things.

THINGS.

It’s not.

It’s about celebrating love, a manifestation of commitment, a gathering of friends and family.

Because you’re in love.

But if you visit many of the blogs today, you’d think it’s about other things. Heck, there are even themed shoots with no people. As if candles and old LP players on a blanket in a clearing in a forest make a wedding. Just add people. And maybe a groom. Or actually don’t, the wedding is about the details, remember? Details, details, details.

Strip it back.

Peel the layers off.

And start again.

Weddings are about people, it’s about commitment and celebrating love. It’s about you. Build on that and everything else will follow.

I am a detail person, so it’s not that I don’t like details. I love details. Details, details, details. Love them. I honestly do. I’ve worked with some of the best planners in the business and they’ve styled weddings to perfection, made details stand out and it’s always been great, because they’ve built on the couples, starting with who they are. And I actually like shooting details. A lot.

When I was younger I used to record mix tapes and give to girls I liked.

Every detail was thought out, every letter, every scribble, every word on that tape had meaning. I love me some details. I grew up in a house with vintage bottles and mason jars everywhere. That and rocks collected from oceans and fields. So I get the jar and bottle thing, I truly do. Throw in some rocks and I’m there. But remember what the wedding is about, why you’re doing this, that’s all you really need. Don’t stress out about building a fairytale wedding, perfectly crafted, every detail borrowed from somewhere else.

Look away from the blogs and magazines.

And look within.

Why are you doing this? What does it mean to you? Do you really need all that…stuff? And if you want stuff, are you adding stuff that actually means something to you? What do you want to remember from your day? The cake, the flowers, the dress from Hoya de la Poopy?

Or do you want to focus on that moment between you two? The boy? Who fell in love with a girl?

Strip it back.

Peel the layers off.

And start again.