Easter Weekend, Freezing Temps, and Surprise Proposals!

Happy Monday!

How is it April already?  Time is literally flying by. I’m officially 65 days away from the wedding, and I’m about 65% ready! Sometimes when I’m overwhelmed, I tend to keep putting things off. I don’t know how anyone can plan a big wedding. I only have my family coming, less than twelve, and it’s still a bit stressful planning the entire day. I know it’s going to be special no matter what turns out and what doesn’t. I have so many blogs in my drafts that I can’t wait to share about the whole thing later this summer.

I know I’ve been super short and not as connected on the blog lately, but I think it’s the stress of life and feeling like I need a little break from the internet. Sometimes hopping on social media and seeing people all glam and doing things makes me feel like I need to do the same, and I hate that pressure. I hate trying to live up to a highlight reel, and the best way to feel better about your own life is to take a little break from it. So I stayed in my cozy pants all weekend, got filthy in the garden, enjoyed pizza, wings, wore zero makeup, and watched movies all Sunday on Netflix. It was the most amazing and relaxing weekend ever. 
After finishing up last Monday’s recap post, I made these delicious stuffed bell peppers for a recipe video (and later ate them for dinner!) They were so good! They are stuffed with ground turkey, cooked onions and cabbage, black beans, green chilis, taco seasoning, and topped with cheese. 😋 My neighbor and I had two days left to hit our 70-mile goal. Since the weather was amazing, we headed out for a 7-mile walk in the neighborhood! I feel like every time we go for a walk; we meet a new neighborhood cat. It was just Grumples and me on Monday evening. Kyle had to take Leo to the vet because he found a huge growth (turned out to be a benign tumor) on his paw. It was bleeding, so we thought he needed to see a vet. It ended up being benign and something that would go away on its own, but it was definitely a scary thing to find. I was up for an early morning walk so we could hit our 70-miles! We actually ended up hitting 76 miles, so yay for going over! Tuesday afternoon, I made some delicious 4-ingredient oat muffins with some bananas that were browning. They were so good and quick to make. Back on Valentine’s day, I put some tulip bulbs in the ground! It’s better to do it in the fall after the first frost, but I was late to the game. Well, they finally came up this weekend! My peach ones have made their way up this morning, so I’ll share a photo if they open up later today. My zinnias are coming up all around the tree. The seed/fertilizer I purchased for them is amazing. I ordered a few more bags this weekend to place around some of the trees in the backyard. Zinnias are gorgeous annual flowers of all different colors. Last week, I mentioned having to stake one of my camelias because it was weak. The Epsom salt I ordered for them came! It helps strengthen the health of your camellia if you give it a tablespoon of Epsom salt with water once a year. For lunch, I had an doughs bagel with ground turkey and kale salad. I purchased some organizing bags for my closet. They hold so many clothes! I packed away all my winter coats/sweaters for the season in them and still had extra bags left. You can tuck them under the bed because they are so flat. Beautiful spring! I captured this while out on a walk! I’m going to use this for goals next spring! 😉 We had record-breaking coldness for April! I was so sad and nervous about all of my spring plants, so I bought a ton of frost cloths on Amazon! Some of my plants (specifically my azaleas and crepe myrtle) took a hit. I’m hoping for a recovery, but I was so sad. I covered them the best I could, but it was so cold and windy! We had to cover and uncover our plants for Thursday and Friday. Friday was a huge day…

I got the text on Wednesday night. It said, “I’m going to propose to Emily.” I was over the moon! Having the opportunity to help set up an engagement and capture the moment is one of my favorite things. It’s even better when it’s one of your close friends. I asked Emily if she’d let me take her out to lunch for her birthday, and thank goodness she accepted. After having the best food and drinks at Nellie’s, I asked her if we could walk across the street to Stowe Park to look at the spring tulips. My friends know that me taking photos is nothing out of the ordinary. When we walked down those steps, she found her NOW FIANCE waiting by the fountain with their sweet pups and the most beautiful diamond ring. It was all smiles and tears from there!

I’m so happy it was a success! LOOK AT THAT! AMAZING 😍 😍 On Friday night, Kyle and I picked up our FAVORITE pizza! We get the Sicilian pizza without olives on cauliflower crust at Margaux’s in Pineville. You need to try this place if you’re in the Charlotte area. We ate pizza, watched a movie, and I edited Emily’s proposal pictures so she could have them asap!!! I was up bright and early on Saturday morning to shoot photos for an engagement at one of my favorite parks. I like to go early to scout out my spots. I had an oat milk cappuccino from Knowledge perk and a few bites of the delicious cinnamon rolls for breakfast. The day turned out to be perfect! ♥️

Kyle and I spent Saturday doing some stuff for the wedding and chatting with our officiant. Later in the evening, we headed to a neighbor’s for dinner and game night! I made some guacamole to bring over. 😋 Easter Sunday cinnamon rolls! ♥️  For lunch, I had a pita stuffed with broccoli salad and grilled chicken. Weird, but amazing, combo!  I made pumpkin brownies later in the day! Pumpkin is always in season.  I planted some seeds in these adorable pots from Hobby Lobby! I love projects like this. While I did some planting, Kyle worked on getting our doors painted! I posted a photo on our home Instagram if you want to see how it turned out! My peonies are getting bigger! eeeeeek 😊

I hope you all had an amzing week.

Questions for you!

1. Do you ever need social media breaks?
2. Did you have cold weather this weekend?
3. If you had/are having a wedding, how many people did you have there?