love in living color.

Our engagement photos were taken last week in Dallas by the fabulous Brooke Ogilvie! She is in Lubbock, but traveled all the way to Dallas for our shoot. Not only is she a great photographer, she is the sweetest person you may ever meet. We had a lot of fun taking pictures all over Dallas. She posted a few pictures from our session and I will post my favorites here. I am not going to upload a facebook album until we have all of the photos from our shoot(which will be in 2-3 weeks.) So here are a few sneak peek pictures of Taylor and I......

GIG 'EM FROGS

You know what bothers me this Saturday at 9am? All of these bandwagon TCU football fans. FYI: You have had a good football team for years! And (besides my FAVORITE TCU cheerleader Melissa) TCU's fans rarely even make it out of the parking lot and into the stadium. Lots of tailgating, but not enough support for their amazing team. It took college game day and a #4 ranking to get people to the game. (I know-I had THREE people call/text me to borrow my TCU student ID to get into the game today.) There are TCU facebook groups about "getting out of the parking lot and into the stadium..."

And my poor, poor AGGIES! Aggie football clearly isn't about winning or being #4.... It's about supporting our football team no matter WHAT they're doing. (Even if it's losing to Colorado 34-35.....) It is one of the biggest difference about being an AGGIE vs. being a Horned Frog. You don't have to be a TCU football fan if you attend TCU, but goodness you WILL BE AN AGGIE FOOTBALL FAN if you attend A&M. and you will make it into the stadium before game time. We may not have an undefeated record, but we sure do love our team :)

Okay, I'm off my soap box. I will always cheer for my horned frogs, because that's where my college adventures unfolded! And, I did make it to the games ;) More importantly, if Texas doesn't win out..... TCU could go to the National Championship. So, the AGGIES beating t.u. would help my ags AND my horned frogs?! GIG 'EM!

a day in the life of a substitute teacher..

Luckily, kindergartners and first graders haven't quite figured out how to play pranks (YET...) However, subbing these little ones has definitely kept me on my toes. So far, I have:

-subbed a bilingual kindergarten class (clearly they forgot to request a BILINGUAL sub) and I had to dig deep to remember Senor Navarro's vocab lessons....
-had a 5 year old boy tell me, "I told my mom you were so cute that I was going to marry you. I told her I'm gonna marry my substitute teacher!"
-been called every variation of my name possible (Miss Garrison is clearly too complex)
-had a girl wet her pants because she "forgot she had to go to the bathroom."
but my favorite.....

"We wish you were our real teacher, Miss Garrison!"

......prayers every day for my own classroom next year :)

Baby, just say YES....

TO BUYING ME T.SWIFT TICKETS FOR HER CONCERT IN DALLAS MARCH 11TH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Taylor, (my taylor!) I need to go to this concert. I know, I know, you NEED to go? I can just hear him now: "Don't you know the difference between a need and a want, Rachel?" YES I DO. and I still NEED to go.

Don't let my pretend quote from Taylor fool you, he is also a T. Swift fan. Do you even know how many road trips we have spent jamming out to her albums?? Too many! I, however, have been listening to her long before her awkward moment with Kanye stunned America. I secretly feel like (if we, you know, met) we would seriously be best friends. (Well, that's not so secret anymore....) Her first album captured my heart and I am sure Taylor Swift MUST have dated the same boys I have...... and gone through every teenage experience just like I did. See, soul mates!

I just watched my DVR'd Oprah from yesterday (hello, my girl was on!) and I cried. I CRIED! You have to go and watch the show--it tugged on my heart strings. Are you listening, Amanda??! She is such a well grounded, inspiring little lady and I HAVE to see her live. I don't care if I am surrounded by 12-15 year old girls with T.Swift shirts on. I have to be there!

ps-The Monday after Taylor proposed he sent me this text:
"I talked to your dad, go pick out a white dress. It's a love story, baby just say yes." :)

See you March 11th, T. Swift.....

Monogram

I have been doodling monograms for months now (on paper, napkins, school work, etc...) and finally sat down and tried to work on one on the computer today. Look what I came up with:



I would like to find a way to incorporate some green in the monogram, but for now, this will do!

Wedding update

Guess what's going on 10 months from now?! OH no big thing, just my WEDDING DAY! Can you believe it? I can't.... On October 11th, Taylor and I will have been engaged for six months....six sweet, sweet months.

Having said that, I should really be rocking and rolling with wedding planning! So here are the updates as of late:

WE HAVE BOOKED OUR DREAM BAND!!!!!!!!!! Taylor and I went to a wedding in Longview back in July and absolutely fell in love with the band that played at their reception. And what do ya know? They're Houston based! So naturally, I was convinced this band was made to play at our wedding. They play so many genres, it is sure to be a good time on the dance floor. For a sneak peak at Dry Water, visit their website!


And also, WE HAVE BOOKED OUR DREAM PHOTOGRAPHER! Thanks to Megan Goforth, we found Brooke Ogilvie out of Abilene and I KNEW we had to have her. She is truly talented and we cannot wait to have her photograph our wedding. I was a huge stickler about picking the perfect photographer, which is why I have been researching them for four months......... Luckily, persistency pays off! Brooke will be capturing moments of our special day next July 31 and I am beside myself excited. She will also be doing our engagement shoot (in November!) and my bridal portraits next spring. Check Brooke out!

If you can't tell, I am super excited about the recent vendors we have picked out and booked for THE BIG DAY. In my mind, the band, photographer and videographer (in the works!) are the most time sensitive elements in wedding planning. Florist and cake extraordinaire to come!


On a side note- The AGGIES are playing Arkansas at Cowboy Stadium this Saturday! We will be out there tailgating ALL day (even roasting a pig!) and then the big game is at 6:30. I am SUPER pumped to spend the day with all of our Dallas Aggies. BTHO ARKANSAS!

case of the mondays.

"Two are better than one.
If one falls down, his friend can help him up.
If two lie down together, they will keep warm."
Ecclesiastes 4:9-11

I am so very thankful for my sweet Taylor. I don't know why I am so deserving of a love like this, but I am certain that this kind of love is Heaven sent. Taylor has taught me that love doesn't have to be difficult- that when it's meant to be, it comes easily. Ah, what a lucky lady I am! Sorry this is a corny post-but I had such a rough day, and Taylor completely turned it around (and he's at work!) I can't wait to marry this man!