Wreck Tech!

Tailgating at my first Georgia-Georgia Tech game in 2006 in Athens. We beat them for the sixth time in a row that year!
We sat with my sister, Ashley, and her {now} husband, Alan.
Georgia-Georgia Tech 2007 in Bobby Dodd Stadium. It was a little chilly!
Georgia-Georgia Tech 2008. It was a little rainy!

This picture is just sad on all accounts. We lost. We were cold. We were wet. AND Larry Munson left us. Geez!

Here's to hoping the outcome of this year's Georgia-Georgia Tech game will be more like the first two and not so much like the last one. We'll be in Athens for the game, so come holler at us in section 316 if you'll be there! Go Dawgs!

Happy {All You Can Eat} Day!

{Design via TinyPrints.}
Don’t rely on Thanksgiving Day as your only opportunity to be humbled by your blessings. -Lauren Kelley of Love, Milk & Honey

Shout Out to Shutterfly

One of the things I'm most excited about this Christmas is sending out our very first Christmas card. I love getting things in the mail and I love pictures, and since Christmas Cards are the perfect combination of the two, I know I will especially love sending that little piece of heaven to others this holiday season. After scouring the Internet for the perfect card design, Shutterfly has officially won my heart! I may be a little partial since I used their photo books for our wedding guest book, but aren't these just adorable?




I especially love that there’s a good mix of modern and traditional designs, along with cards ranging from one photo to six {which is good for people like me who have a super hard time picking just one!}. And speaking of indecision, if you're still having trouble selecting the best company to order your Christmas cards from, Shutterfly has solved that problem for you. They are offering 50 {yes, fifty!} FREE Christmas Cards to bloggers. Um, hello! Sign me up! Just go to this link, fill out the form, and you will receive an email with instructions on how to redeem the offer. Who's with me? Ready, set, shop!

Going Home to a New Home

This Thanksgiving will be the first time in 23 years that Kyle will not pull into the house he grew up in and call it home. Now, "home" is about 20 minutes away in Forsyth, as Kyle's parents recently bought a house there. And this is a move they've been talking about for, well, 23+ years. While I know this weekend will be a little peculiar for Kyle, we're still both excited to see what his parents have done with the new house. We helped them move a few things back in September over Labor Day weekend, and the house was but an empty shell at that point. I of course couldn't resist taking a few photos, because one of my favorite things is to see the visual unfolding of progress.


{Isn't this a gorgeous view from their front porch?}


I especially love all the built-in bookshelves, they are one of my favorite things about the house!




I could just go to town filling them with vintage books and trinkets. {Basically making them look like the photo below, straight from a Ballard Designs catalog.} This element = going on my dream house checklist.


Anyway, it will take a while for the new house to feel like home, and there might always be a piece of Kyle's heart in the house that he grew up in, but there's encouragement in the fact that it's not the home itself but the people inside that really make it home. And for those very people we are anxious to see them and spend some long-awaited time together. Let the eating begin!

Afflictions eclipsed by Glory.

Let me introduce you to my dear friend, Ashley. I've known her since elementary school, and we've had some really sweet memories together over the years. We used to call her Tigger, because she just had this general bouncy air about her {especially on the basketball court for some reason, haha}, and it seems like every time anybody would come over to her house, it was time to clean out her hamster cage. Riiiight. She is a part of The Fab Five, and we of course did all the things that girls like to do growing up, like make up dances and get glamed-up for no reason at all. But we also enjoyed beating boys at sports together and going on the church fishing trips. One memory that I particularly will never forget is the night we all got a little more "adventurous" at the Bruski house and attempted to spend the night on the trampoline in her backyard. I'm pretty sure we didn't make it the whole night, though, as we were scared out of our bee-hinds because of the creepy woods surrounding her house!

So fast forward to October 18, 2008, and she was the first out of the Fab Five to get married! {In case you were wondering, yes, it was during a UGA game, but our bridesmaid dresses were red so all was good.} Ashley and her husband both graduated from Union University in Jackson, TN and are now both working as teachers, their schools only minutes away from each other. Here she is pictured with her sweet hubby, Kalep.


It was around the time this picture was taken at our wedding that Ashley told us she was having severe back pain, which she later found out was due to a bulged disk. Without going into too much detail, through her back pain from the bulged disk, the doctors were able to detect and save Ashley from other health problems, praise the Lord for his mysterious and perfectly-timed ways!

So after much prayer and seeking out their options, God was faithful once again. Tomorrow around 6 a.m., Ashley will enter an OR at Vanderbilt University Medical Center for minimally invasive back surgery. If all goes well, she will be able to walk on the treadmill on Wednesday! God continues to blow my mind with Ashley's story, and it is all very humbling. He has done nothing but open door after door, turned seemingly bad news into good news, all the while showing his Sovereignty over her life. He definitely has tremendous plans in store for the Robersons, as he's given them hearts overflowing for the people of Romania. They plan to join Ashley's family in Romania soon, specifically by being parents in a group home for abandoned children in the city of Oradea. You should check out Ashley & Kalep's recently created website to learn more about their calling and how you can support them.

I wanted to write about all of this so you could pray for Ashley and her family, and also see how amazing the God is she serves. Even though it will be minimally invasive, back surgery can still be very unnerving so pray that she will be at peace and that God's will be done, for her faith not to waiver in God, and for the surgery to go off with no complications.

2 Corinthians 4:7-18 "We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed...All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overcome to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

Fab Find Friday: Share a Starbucks Red Cup

I am by no means a coffee connoisseur, but if ever there was a time I enjoy drinking it, it's during the holiday season! Call me a fairweather fan or even blasphemous to the name of coffee, I don't care. All I know is that Christmastime takes the cake when it comes to the best Starbucks drinks. And to make them even better, this weekend when you buy one holiday drink from Starbucks, you get a second one FREE! Now who could say no to a free Caramel Brulée Latte? Not this girl! Check out the details here.


Now, on to a recap of our weekend at home! It certainly was as wonderful as I thought it would be. And I know you are dying to hear, I was 4.5 for 5 on my predictions. 4.5 because, my mom found a set of Poirot DVDs to order, but she wanted to wait and watch them over Thanksgiving when my Aunt Carol {a fellow Poirot-enthusiast} would be in town. So I was half-right, therefore gave myself a half point on that one!

Although the Dawgs had a disappointing {nay, MADDENING} loss to the Tigers/War Eagles/Plainsmen/Cheaters, we had a great time celebrating my mom's birthday on Saturday. We stuffed ourselves with delicious chips n' dip, white chicken chili, and cookie cake for dessert. My sister and her husband, Alan, gave mom two different-sized Turvis Tumblers {if you've never heard of these or don't own any, you need to fix that! Kyle and I got two monogrammed ones as a wedding present and they definitely get used the most out of all our cups.} My dad did really well with his gift, which was a Nook e-reader. Mom can't wait to read Pride & Prejudice on it, which conveniently comes pre-loaded on the Nook. And now for some pictures!

{Publix cookie cake is the way to go!}

{Our ever-growing family.}

{Alan crossing his eyes and Kyle pretending to choke me. You can tell they are each other's brother they never had!}

{And so the teasing begins...poor Brody-Boy getting initiated into the family.}

That's all folks! Have a great weekend {Christmastime is only a week away y'all!}

TruSo Featured on Style Me Pretty!

HUGE congrats to our wedding florist, Denise Myers of TruSo Weddings, for being featured on Style Me Pretty! I'm so excited for her! If you've never heard of SMP, it's only the chicest, hippest, most-widely-read wedding inspiration blog ever. Having your work published on this blog usually leads to new clients, as evidenced by the call Denise has already received from a NY bride impressed by her florals from the feature. And yes, Denise was the mastermind behind that gorgeous bouquet in the opening image! For more of her floral eye candy, see the rest of the post here.



To make the world even smaller, I interned at the venue the bride and groom chose, Carl House, which is how I first met Denise as she was the Carl House wedding director at the time. She is now pursuing her floral and wedding planning business full-time, and I couldn't be happier for her success thus far! When you work with Denise, it's like having another friend by your side instead of a stuffy vendor. If you are engaged and haven't booked a florist or wedding director, you should check out her work on SMP and seriously consider giving her a call! You won't regret it. :D

{Part of the TruSo team at our wedding, the lovely Heather and Denise!}

Imma get geeky on you.

Today is an exciting day, not because of a pending announcement from iTunes or a flashy new messaging system from Facebook, but because a research paper I co-investigated and wrote in my undergrad Public Relations Research class will be presented at the 96th Annual National Communication Association Convention in San Fran this afternoon! Congrats as well to my fellow teammates Katy Capers, Lauren Miller, Rebecca Holton and Kristin Eichbauer. You deserve a good pat on the back!

After pouring much blood, sweat and tears into our project and paper (including a 6+ hour stint at our professor's house running SPSS data and at least two all-nighters), we were delighted to hear that our little baby had been accepted to the conference. Which, by the way, speaks volumes of the quality of education at UGA's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, the fact that an undergrad research paper made the cut. And it speaks to the high standards that our prof, Dr. Sweetser, expected us to meet everyday. Though I didn't realize it at the time, I am so thankful for how hard Dr. Sweetser pushed us. Our conference paper has become a great talking point during job interviews, and even in some cases a point of leverage over the other candidates, and I largely have her to thank for that.

So I send my warmest thoughts and well wishes to Dr. Sweetser and Katy as they represent for us in SF today. The official title of our paper is The Role of Social Media in Non-profit’s Relationship with their Publics, and Dr. Sweetser will present it at the Connecting Publics via the Digital Bridge session scheduled for 3:30 p.m. this afternoon (6:30 p.m. EST). Click here to see the session page on the NCA website, and wish Dr. Sweetser and Katy good luck! I'm sure Katy will have a post up about the trip soon, so be sure to check out her blog for an update!

Much Love,

Divine Romance {Part 2}

"We believe that a lifetime is a culmination of small, meaningful 'sparks' - moments that occur all day, each and every day: a wink across a room, a hand on a shoulder, or the first official kiss as man and wife." -(once like a spark)

Here are a few more 'sparks' from our wedding day that continually remind us just how much love and light and laughter surrounded us.













{Putting on my something blue, my mom's garter.}

{A precious moment together before the ceremony.}

{LOVE LOVE LOVE this shot of Daddy and me through the balcony glass just moments before he walks me down the aisle. Hands down my favorite.}

{First look} :D



{Vows.}

{Here you can see everybody's laughing, Kyle's dad had just a little trouble with the unity candle lighter.} :)

{First kiss as man and wife!}





{My favorite out of the bridal party couple shots.}







We hope you stick around for the third and final post coming soon. All photos by Belletti Photography.

Love,

Mom, I give you the gift of Twitter.

Wishing a happy birthday to my beautiful mother today! And for those of you who have parents like mine who are just dipping their toes into the ocean of social media, here's a great crash course on Twitter to pass along from Jessica Hiche.



P.S. Mom, if you find yourself on the "I'm getting old" train at any point today, remember how many times people have genuinely thought you were our sister this year. That does a heart good!

I love you.