Franklin Wedding: Pre-Ceremony Photos

Elizabeth and Rustin did not see each other before the wedding ceremony as is tradition, but the girls and guys did take pictures separately before the ceremony.  Here are a few of those pictures.

The wind kept blowing a tree branch in Elizabeth’s face, so Jen helped pull it away.

Showing off her hot pink heels!

Elizabeth and me…..bride and maid of honor!

Hand on the hip makes your arm look thinner! 🙂

We had our own personal paparazzi.

Well hello there!

The ring bearer was Rustin’s little brother, Ryan.  And he would not let me dance with anyone but him!  Such a ladies man!

Ryan making his move!

The flower girl, Rustin’s little sister, Sam.  Such a cutie!

Jr. Bridesmaid, Rustin’s other little sister, Rachel.  Yes, all his siblings are quite a bit younger than him!

There he goes again!  Trying to steal the bride!!!

The nice thing about living in Tennessee….lots of greenery to use as a backdrop!

This one’s my favorite.

Me and my love!

Close up!

The wait begins….30 minutes until ceremony time!

Rustin and his future father in law.

The boys striking a pose.

Oh geez.  Boys…. it must be next to impossible for them to take a serious photo.  Next post….The Wedding Ceremony!!!

Franklin Wedding: Getting Ready for the Big Day

As usual, whenever I’m looking forward to something, or I have to wake up early for something, I always wake up well before my alarm goes off.  Elizabeth and Rustin’s wedding day was no different.  I had to be at the salon at 10:30am to get my hair and makeup done.  In addition to having my hair/makeup done for the Franklin wedding, this was also going to be a run through for my own wedding day.  And since I needed to have nice hair and makeup for their wedding, I thought I might as well schedule the run through for that day.  I know, smart, right?  I woke up around 8am, fed the cats, let the dogs out, and got dressed.  I needed to make a couple stops before I went to the salon.  One was to pick up hair extensions and false eyelashes at Sally Beauty Supply.  In order to have the fuller look I wanted, my hair stylist, Maegan, suggested that I get some hair extensions.  And I was definitely happy that I did!  And false eyelashes are always fun, and make your eyes pop.

When I got to Rustin’s parents’ house (where the wedding was taking place), all the girls were in the bathroom watching Elizabeth get her hair done.

Here’s a close up of her up do.  So pretty!  And I love the flower.

Elizabeth was trying to decide if she wanted to wear her veil or not.

The other bridesmaids and I convinced her that a veil was definitely the way to go on your wedding day!

This “Bride” robe that I bought her came in really handy.  And it was so pretty too!

Here’s Jen applying some makeup to Elizabeth’s eyelids.

Then Elizabeth added some more makeup.

And then I added even more makeup.

While the rest of the girls got ready, Elizabeth went over her vows.  Both Elizabeth and Rustin wrote their own vows.

Can’t forget the garter!  Ooo la la!

It was my job to help her lace up her dress.

I had practiced a couple weeks before the wedding, so it was easier than it looked.

I love the look of a lace up back!  Unfortunately, my wedding dress zips up, but I think I’ll live. 🙂

It did take quite a while to lace her up.

Here’s the flower girl, Rustin’s little sister, Sam.  Such a little cutie!

Hello!  My name is Joanna.  And I have hundreds of bobby pins in my hair.  Sure, they make my hair look pretty, but after a few hours of them tugging at my skull, I developed head aches in several spots around my head.  But you know what they say, “Beauty knows no pain!!”

Franklin Rehearsal Dinner….Aloha!

Well, it’s finally happened!  I’ve kept my word, and the pictures I said I was going to share with you have finally come!

This past week and weekend we have been very busy bees!  Tuesday night, Steve went out with Rustin and his friends for a bachelor night full of……..well…..whatever it is that bachelors do….minus the strippers.  All I know for sure is that Rustin most likely did not remember the entire evening.  Or probably most of the entire week, for that matter.  He had a “bachelor week”, and much to my delight, Steve only participated in that one evening instead of the entire week of bachelor madness.

So, getting back to the rehearsal dinner, which took place Friday, May 27th.  It was Hawaiian themed, and the first things I noticed when we got there were these awesome centerpieces.  Live fish!  Now, granted, this type of goldfish usually don’t last more than a month or so before they die, but when I was little, I remember keeping one alive for at LEAST a year.  I know.  Impressive.

Here’s Jen, one of the 3 bridesmaids.  Doesn’t she have beautiful, blue eyes?  They draw you in!

Steve was in the wedding too.  One of Rustin’s 5 groomsmen.  Isn’t it usually the bride who ends up having a hard time narrowing down who the bridesmaids are gonna be, and eventually ends up with more attendants than the groom?  Well not this time apparently.  He’s got beautiful, blue eyes too. 🙂  Please, Lord, let our children get his eye color, but my 20/20 vision!  That would be awesome!  Thanks for listening!

Here’s where the ceremony took place.  Ceremony and reception were held in the lovely backyard of Rustin’s parents, Eric and Wendie.

Look at that happy groom!  But then again, he is always cracking jokes, so this is nothing new.

Back up, sista!  Rustin can never be serious…….as I mentioned in my toast at the wedding. 🙂

Can you guess what Rustin is doing here?

How about now?

That’s right.  He’s dancing down the aisle.

We all danced down the aisle.

Shake that booty, Steve!

Yes, even I got in on the dancing action!  Hey, it’s what they wanted, so I obliged!  Note: There will be no dancing down the aisle at my wedding!

Elizabeth didn’t dance.  She’s the bride.  She can do whatever she wants!

So we ran through the ceremony only one time, I believe, and we didn’t really even go through the whole thing.  We just practiced where we’d stand and when Elizabeth would hand me her bouquet, etc.

Then we practiced walking out.  I didn’t get to walk out with Steve, unfortunately.  And it made it a little awkward, because on the day of the wedding, I was wearing 4 inch heels, so I was significantly taller than Eli, the best man.

Here’s the beautiful bride, Elizabeth, with Krista, another bridesmaid.

Bride and maid of honor.  In about 40 days, those rolls will be reversed! 🙂

The bride with all her bridesmaids.

Then, of course, Steve being the class clown that he is had to come and jump into our picture.

Then one by one, each bridesmaid’s hubby came and took a picture with us girls.

Can you guess which man belongs with which lady?

Ah yes, the Dr. Evil shot.  Don’t ask me why we did this pose.

Rustin had handed out some victory cigars.  Victory for what?  I’m not sure.  Getting through the rehearsal?  His last day as a single man?

Yes, you’re all very cool.  But I don’t think you’ll make it into the mafia.

See that pool in the background?  Just keep that in mind for a future post. 🙂

Best Friends Forever!!!  I can’t believe I’ve only known Elizabeth for a year, and already we are so close.  I feel like I’ve known her my whole life!

Love you, girlfriend!  ❤

Elizabeth’s Bachelorette Party

It’s almost wedding time for my best friend Elizabeth!  She’ll be tying the knot with her fiance, Rustin, this Saturday, May 28th, and I’m the maid of honor!!  It’s my first time with that special title, and I’m so honored to stand up with her on her special day.

Last weekend we celebrated her last few days as a single woman by going to another bridesmaid’s house for dinner and a lingerie party, then to downtown Nashville for a bachelorette night on the town!

Here’s Elizabeth with her new mother in law, Wendie.  I know, they look like they could be sisters, right?

Look at these cute petit fours that Krista provided!  The chocolate one was TO DIE FOR!!!

Mmm….they were so good that I had to include another picture. 🙂

I told Elizabeth that I wouldn’t post any pictures of the lingerie she got, so here’s one of her opening a Victoria’s Secret box.  I know, I know…..but some things just need to be kept between us girls!

Laughing at a story Krista was telling.

She was telling a story about how she hit her head and then her friend tried to apply some bandaid glue to the wound, but it dripped onto her eye and sealed her eye shut.

Here’s the bride to be and me!  Besties!

We started our night out at Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville.  We sat upstairs and pretty much had the whole place to ourselves.  And the nice part about that was that we didn’t have to scream to hear ourselves talk.  It was nice and quiet. 🙂  I know….I feel like I’m an old fogey already.  TURN DOWN THAT RACKET!!!!

On the stage at Margaritaville.  The last person to perform on this stage was Toby Keith!!

Aww, this is a cute one of Elizabeth, Wendie, and me.

Oh Krista, she loves to have a good time! 🙂

Jen likes to have a good time too!

And ok, ok, so do I. 🙂

They had a game at Margaritaville where you had to somehow swing a small ring attached to a cord and hook it onto a hook on the wall.  It was not easy, and none of us ever actually accomplished it.

But we all tried!

I REALLY focused, but I couldn’t do it.

Ok, maybe I wasn’t that focused.  But it’s hard to focus when someone keeps taking pictures of you!

Elizabeth was showing me how to throw the ring.  So I asked her to show me her technique, since she clearly had a secret method that no one else knew about.

But of course she couldn’t do it either!

Being silly.

Are your feet hurting you, Elizabeth?  Haha, don’t worry, all of us that were wearing stilettos ended up taking our shoes off at least once throughout the night.

Go Elizabeth!  Go Elizabeth!  It’s your birthday bachelorette party!

Work it!

I witnessed some expert dance moves that night.  We’ve got Elizabeth with the pointer finger.  Jen looks like she’s trying to DJ.

Everybody put your arms up!

Go Krista with those fake “hand” guns!

Luckily, I was the one mainly behind the camera, so you don’t get to see any of my awesome moves.

Pretty lady.  Looks like she had fun. 🙂

Last photo of the evening, because right after this picture my camera battery died.  We had alot of fun, even though we didn’t end up getting home until around 3:30am.  I hope it was a night that Elizabeth will look back on with fond memories.

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding, Betty!!!  I can’t wait to stand next to you on Saturday when your pledge your love and your life to the man of your dreams!

Cheesy Pesto Pasta Bake

It’s been a while since I posted a new recipe, so I thought I’d post the recipe for the pasta dish I made for Elizabeth’s bachelorette party.  This is a trusty Rachael Ray recipe (love her), and you can find the original recipe HERE on the Food Network website.

Here’s what you’ll need:

  • 1 pound of your favorite pasta (I used penne)
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan in a slow stream
  • 3 large cloves garlic
  • 1/2 small to medium yellow onion
  • 1 (28-ounce) can crushed Italian tomatoes
  • 1/2 cup, 10 to 12 fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 cup store bought basil pesto sauce
  • 1 cup ricotta cheese
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
  • 1/2 pound shredded mozzarella

Start by bringing a pot of water to a boil.  Salt the water and add your pasta.  And while you’re at it, preheat your broiler.

Next, finely chop the garlic,

And half of the onion.

Saute in a large skillet until soft and tender.

Next, add the crushed tomatoes to the onions and garlic.  The recipe says to use a 28 oz can, but I didn’t have one, so I used two 14 oz cans.  Same thing, right?

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Since it has already been established that I do NOT have a green thumb, I bought some fresh basil at the grocery store; but if you are like my mom and can pretty much grow anything, go ahead and use your own freshly grown basil!

Tear about 10 – 12 leaves (or 1/2 a cup) into small pieces and drop into your sauce.  Trust me, you’ll want to use fresh basil, not the dried stuff.  It’s SO worth it!

Stir the sauce around so that the basil wilts into the sauce.  Turn your heat down to low and let simmer for a few minutes.

Next, spoon your pesto into a medium bowl.  You can definitely make your own pesto, but I’m lazy, and store bought pesto seemed like the easier option.  Plus I was in a huge time crunch since I had to make this dish in pretty much less than half an hour.  I know….excuses, excuses.

Next add the ricotta cheese.  Now, I’ve used ricotta cheese before in lasagna and such, and it never really looked quite like this.  The ricotta I was used to was a lot more liquidy and not so stiff, but this is what I bought, so this is what I was gonna use.  Stir that around so that it’s completely combined.

Next add your parmesan cheese.  This isn’t quite 1/2 cup, but like I said….I was in a time crunch, and I didn’t feel like searching through the pantry for another bottle of cheese when this one ran out.

Drain your pasta and add to a baking dish.

Stir in your pesto/cheese mixture and make sure it completely coats the pasta.

Pour the tomato basil sauce over the pasta.

Sprinkle shredded mozzarella alllllllllll over.  Now….remember my time crunch?  By this time, I was already about 3 minutes late, and they live about 15 minutes away.  And I still had to stick this under the broiler for about 5-7 minutes, so that means, I didn’t have time to take a picture when it was all finished.  So just imagine that this has been under the broiler for 5-7 minutes and that the top is all nice and bubbly and golden brown.  Looks great, doesn’t it?!

This recipe got rave reviews at the party, so I know you’ll love it!

P.S.  I was 20 minutes late to the party.

Slacking

I’m so sorry that I haven’t posted something new in several days.  I’ve been super busy since about the middle of last week, and my blog has taken a backseat to the rest of my life, unfortunately.

It all started on Thursday.  I got my hair done at 12:00pm, and that took about 2.5 hours.  My roots were about an inch long, so it was definitely time for a touch up!  It was getting to the point where I had to wear hats every day.

After my hair appointment, I went to work, which is normal during the week; but at 5:00pm I met Elizabeth at The Streets of Indian Lake (a shopping center in town) and went shopping for different wedding items.  And, ok, ok, I bought a couple dresses too.

The next day (Friday) was work as usual, but I asked Steve if we could leave a little bit early so I could rush home to make a pasta dish for Elizabeth’s lingerie/bachelorette party that night.  I ended up being about 20 minutes late because of that dang pasta dish!  But it tasted pretty good, so I guess it was worth it.

That night, we went downtown to celebrate Elizabeth’s last couple weeks as a bachelorette, and we didn’t end up getting home until about 3:30am!  Steve had gone to Rustin’s house for a little guy’s get together while the girls were out, but sadly he was the last one left by the time we got home…..by a few hours.  I felt pretty bad about that, but he was pretty understanding, and waited for me at their house so we could drive home together.

Saturday and Sunday were another 2 full days of working on the Smoke House, and by the time we got home, I was too tired to even think about writing a blog post.

Monday was our first day at work that we were short one employee, so I was pretty busy taking over all her responsibilities, as well as setting up our new cash register.  We decided to get a cash register because we have been getting more and more walk in customers and the register will help us keep better track of cash transactions.

So here we are on Tuesday, and I finally have time to post a little something on my neglected blog.  I have several pictures from Elizabeth’s bachelorette party and a step by step tutorial on the pasta dish I made for the party that I still need to post.  So don’t worry!  More posts will be coming soon!!!

Just a Dream

Last night (which was probably more like this morning, since I always dream right before I wake up), I had the craziest dream about my dogs, Kaylee and Camelot….but mostly Camelot.  I don’t know about you, but I always have the most vivid dreams, and I always remember them pretty much every morning.  Steve never remembers his dreams, and he thinks that he doesn’t dream at all….but that’s obviously not true, because everyone dreams or we’d all go crazy (or so I’ve heard).  But every once in a while, I have a dream that is so vivid, that when I wake up I have to take a few seconds to check my surroundings and realize that it was in fact, just a dream.

Last night was one of those times.

The beginning of my dream started with me driving to pick up dinner at Panera.  Only, when I got there, the Panera was mysteriously turned into a McDonalds.  I spent a few minutes deciding what I could get at McDonalds that would be close to something I would get at Panera, and decided on a salad.

When I was on my way home, all of a sudden my car started beeping slowly.  As I drove on the beeping got faster and faster — almost like a heart rate monitor when someone’s heart rate goes up.  All of a sudden the beeping turned into one long beep (like when you flat line) and my car turned off.  Apparently I had run out of gas.

I was able to coast into an empty parking lot, and called Steve to bring me some gas (we have a 5 gallon gas can at home that we use for the lawn mower).  Suddenly, a white pickup truck pulled up and this weird old guy started trying to talk to me.  I can’t remember what he was saying, but I know that I was definitely scared of him.  And for some reason I was sitting on the ground with my back up against a wall instead of in my car….which is dumb.  Why would I not wait in my car with the doors locked?  Especially if there was a weird guy harassing me.

Anyway, the next thing I know, both of my dogs come running around the corner and sit next to me.  Camelot practically laid on top of me, basically protecting me from the bad man.  And I was wondering in my dream how on earth they got there.  We have a fenced in back yard, so unless they hopped over the fence, there is no way they’d somehow run away from our house.  And even if they did somehow get out, how did they know where I was?  I was over a mile away from home!

I called Steve again to see if he had brought them with him for some reason when he came to put gas in my car, but he said that he hadn’t even left yet because he couldn’t find the gas can.

So the dogs waited with me and protected me until Steve finally arrived and I was able to drive home.

But the dream wasn’t over!  When I got home, I saw that the wind had blown a huge hole in our backyard fence, which explains how the dogs got out.  And when I looked closer, I noticed that a huge black bear was in our yard! (Which doesn’t make sense either, because I’m sure there aren’t any black bears in Tennessee).

Somehow, Camelot had gotten back there with the bear and was fighting it!  I tried to yell at the bear to make him go away, and I clapped my hands really loudly, but still they kept on fighting.  Finally, the bear must have gotten tired and ran away.

I ran over to Camelot to check him for injuries, and really only saw some cuts and scratches.  But then, he turned his head toward me and I saw this huge, gaping claw mark running from the top of his head, through his eye and down through his lip.

That’s when I woke up.  And this morning, I had to hug Camelot for several minutes and tell him what a good boy he was for protecting his mommy from the scary man AND the huge black bear.  He didn’t know why I was hugging him and giving him love, he just knew that he liked it. 🙂  THE END.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Today is a day that our country sets aside to honor all the wonderful mothers that brought us into this world.  We wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for mothers.  When we’re little they feed us, clothe us, teach us things, and try to keep us out of trouble.  When we’re older they’re there to love us, support us, and be the friend that we can always talk to.  And to spoil their grandchildren of course.

Today I wanted to take some time and tell you a little about my beautiful mom.

Pam Pentland was born as Pamela Joan (pronounced “Joann”) Ness in Sycamore, Illinois on November 9, 1956.  She was the 3rd of 4 children born to Phyllis and Sigurd Ness, and spent most of her childhood growing up on a farm.  She and her sisters made the farm their own playground where they would play games that normal children wouldn’t play.  One such game was to go into their mean bull’s pen, taunt it, and then run away back under the fence when he started charging at them.  One time during such a game, the 3 sisters were taunting the bull, and when he started charging at them, they started running full speed toward the electric fence.  My mom and her sister Diane slid under the fence, but when my mom’s other sister Sally ran away, she didn’t see the fence for some reason, and ran right into it, with the fence hitting her in the neck.  She fell to the ground, and my mom and Diane had to quickly drag her under the fence before the bull reached her.

When my mom was 10 years old, her mother remarried Beryl Lawrence and since then she gained 4 step brothers and sisters, and 2 half siblings, which made her one of ten children.  Mom was a very obedient child, and never wanted to do anything to displease her parents.   When she was 5 years old, she waited at the end of her family’s mile long drive way in a blizzard for the school bus.  Little did she know that because of the blizzard, school had been canceled that day, but being the obedient child that she was, she waited for over an hour before reluctantly walking back to the house.  She still remembers the excruciating pain of her mother slowly thawing out her frost-bitten hands.

She accepted Christ as her Savior as a teenager (I can’t remember if she was 14 or 16) at a church camp (I think?), and attended Bob Jones University in Greenville, SC from 1974-1978.  She graduated with a B.S. in Elementary Education and a Minor in English.  She served as the Pres. and V.P. of her sorority, Zeta Tau Omega, and thoroughly enjoyed singing in the University’s Radio Choir.  After graduating at the age of 21, she moved to Canoga Park, California to teach 3rd grade at Faith Baptist Schools, where she would continue to teach for 28 years (and continues to occasionally substitute teach 5 years later).

On December 20, 1989 she married the love of her life, my dad, Martin Pentland, and has enjoyed 21 wonderful years of marriage.  In addition to me, my mom has 4 step children (Erik, Erica, John, and Jenny), and 7 grandchildren.  (None from me yet, obviously).

Here she is with one of her grandsons, Max.  It’s one of my favorite pictures of her.

One of my mom’s favorite hobbies is gardening, and her house is surrounded by beautiful flowers to show for it.  She also loves to shop, but never buys anything at full price.  She has a talent for getting great deals on quality items. 🙂   She loves the Lord with all her heart, and is daily in the Word.  She is selfless and generous to those in need and always goes out of her way to make people happy.

I’m so glad that she and my dad are coming out to Nashville for my wedding in a couple months.  In this picture we are shopping for wedding dresses and bridesmaid dresses.

I love you so much, Mom!  I’m so glad that Faith Baptist recognized you as Woman of the Year today.  You definitely deserve it!  And I hope you had a very Happy Mother’s Day!

Bikes & Snakes

Steve and I saw a couple fun sightings today!  Our first sighting was a group of dozens of bikers on Harleys riding down our street.  They could have been a different brand of bike, but when I think of cruiser motorcycles, I think of Harleys, which I’m sure most people do as well.

When we were coming out of our neighborhood we had to wait FOREVER for them all to pass so we could pull out onto the street.  They just kept coming and coming!  When we pulled out behind them, I thought it might be a good idea to take some pictures with my little point and shoot camera.  So that is why the quality isn’t that great when I was zoomed in.  But hey, it’s what I had with me, so you’re just gonna have to deal with it!

This was the first time I had seen this many bikers in one spot since we moved to Tennessee.  Normally we’d only see 2 or 3 at one time, so this was quite a treat.

I felt like we were transported to Sturgis, North Dakota for the Biker Convention!

Our second fun sighting of the day was a King Snake in the back yard of the Smoke House property that we’re rehabbing.

Isn’t he a cute little guy?  I spotted him from the master bedroom window and said “Oh my goodness!  There’s a snake in the backyard!!”  Then Steve and I promptly ran down to take a closer look.

It was the first time I had seen a snake in the wild.  You know, without it being someone’s pet.

Steve has been researching the venomous snakes that are native to Tennessee, so he knew that this one wasn’t poisonous.  Otherwise, I definitely wouldn’t have gotten this close!  When we got back inside Steve said he was proud of me for being so brave.  I think he thought that I would scream and be afraid like most girls, but I HAVE held a couple snakes before.  Plus, there was just something about this one’s face that didn’t look mean.

It had to have been at least 4 feet long!  I wanted to touch it, but Steve wouldn’t let me.

When we got home, we looked up different Tennessee snakes to figure out what breed it was, and that’s when we discovered that it was a King Snake.  Those are the snakes you WANT to have hanging around.  They eat rodents and other pesky animals, as well as venomous snakes occasionally!

Steve was brave and got kinda close to it too.  Next time we see a King Snake, we might even be brave enough to touch it!

After we walked back up to the deck, Boomer (that’s what I named him) crawled under the deck, and when we came out about an hour later he was nowhere to be found.  There are several holes in the yard that he could have crawled into.

Bye Boomer!  Thank you for letting me get so close without biting me!  You are a very pretty snake, and I hope we see you again!  You are welcome in our yard anytime, as long as you eat pesky critters and keep other not so friendly snakes away. 🙂

Charming Pink Baby Blanket

Yesterday, I completed a baby blanket for a friend who is having a baby girl in July.  It’s her first child, and she is really excited and nervous all at the same time.  I was so happy to make this for her and her precious new bundle of joy, whom she is going to name Emma.  I love the name Emma.  I wanted to name my first daughter that for a while.

Here’s a close up of the pretty shell pattern.

There is a pretty, solid border around the shell pattern, followed by an open stitched border to give the edges a pretty ruffled look.

I just love making blankets for baby girls.  So much pink! 🙂  I have a feeling that when I have a daughter of my own (hopefully) one day, there is going to be a lot of pink in our house.