The Summer I Went to Europe - Day 7

So, I decided that since I can't possibly move into this year's Europe trip (aka Honeymoon) without finishing up LAST year's Europe trip.  Our last day of the trip was spent in Barcelona and we had a great day.  We decided to do a bus tour that took us all around the city to some of the most amazing cites.  Our first stop that morning was to Park Guell.  This park was designed by Gaudi, a famous architect who has many wonderful displays in the city of Barcelona.  It was one of my favorite places throughout the entire trip.  I almost wish we had found this place on our own so we could have spent a lot more time exploring it and taking it all in.  Here are a few pics:

There are tunnel-like pathways below and a gravel walkway above.

Patrick posing near a tree growing up through the pathway.

Again, columns below, and a walkway above.

Patrick and I posing with a view of Barcelona in the background.

Us posing with one of Gaudi's most famous statues.

The next stop on our tour was the famous La Sagrada Familia.  This is another one of Gaudi's designs and it is absolutely one of the most amazing things I have ever seen.  Construction on this church began in 1882, and it will not be complete until sometime in the next 10-20...almost 100 years after Gaudi's death!  It's simply amazing.  Again, here are a few pics:

The outside of the church...

These are sculpted into the side of the church, and are very high.

I love the 3 kings...

The ceiling inside the church.

Spiral stairway, again, inside the church.

I love the stain-glass windows.

This is also on the outside the of church...fun fact, every row and column of the numbers sums up to 33...the age Jesus was when he died.

This is near the alter at the church.

That afternoon, the tour took us to an area of Barcelona called El Poble.  Looks like we failed to get pics there, but it was a small village that mirrored other areas of Spain...very cute and fun.

That evening, it was our last night in Spain...we spent the evening walking around the streets and taking it all in.  We had a yummy dinner and we sat on a sidewalk and had some sangria.  It was a lovely evening and a great way to end a wonderful trip.

Until next time...

Weekend Update!

Well, it was our first married weekend...that we weren't honeymooning...it was pretty typical, but still very nice to have a weekend with nothing crazy planned.

Friday night, we went to Urban Grub to celebrate our sweet friend, Kevana's going-away.  She is moving to New Jersey, and even though we'll miss her very badly, we wish her the best and hope she's super happy up north, where she's originally from.

Saturday, we were up and at 'em pretty early and on the road.  Why you ask?  Because we couldn't wait to get to Knoxville to see this sweet girl's face:

She has been with my parents for 3 long weeks, and we couldn't wait to see her and hug her and cuddle with her.  I wish I could say that she missed us as much as we missed her, but I'm pretty sure she had made herself pretty darn comfortable at her grandparent's house...she also loved Ms. Peppermint, my parent's dog.    We're still glad to have her back, and I think she's glad to be home.

That afternoon, we went to a wedding reception for Brent and Megan, who were married in Colorado the weekend after us.  They had a celebration with their Knoxville family and friends that also served a dual purpose as a fundraiser for Big Brothers Big Sisters of East Tennessee.  You may have heard me mention Brent's mom before, Elaine.  She and I are very good friends, and she was even a reader in my wedding.  Despite the rain, it was a lovely celebration, and I'm sure Brent and his mom and Ken (Elaine's husband) were very happy with the way things turned out.

A picture of both sets of newlyweds!

After the party, Patrick and I met my parents and brother at Litton's (one of our favorite burger joints) for a yummy dinner, then it was back to the house to relax while the boys headed out on the town.

Yesterday morning, we were up and back on the road to Nashville fairly early.  I spent the afternoon returning wedding gifts, and then doing some grocery shopping.  Pretty low-key for the last day before heading back to work.

How was your weekend?

The Honeymoon Is Over...

...In the literal sense anyway...let's hope the figurative "honeymoon" lasts for a long, long time!  =)

After 22 hours of traveling yesterday, Patrick and I are safe and sound back in the US of A!  We had a wonderful trip and visited 3 of the most amazing cities I've ever seen.  I have to say that I am somewhat glad to be back home and to FINALLY (after 9 months of planning a wedding) starting our lives as a married couple.

I know I've been a little out of pocket (apparently, I'm not as good at multi-tasking as I thought), but I fully intend to update everyone on everything wedding related from showers, to the bachelorette party, to the bridesmaid's luncheon, to the rehearsal dinner, and of course the BIG day!  Oh, and I'm also full of fun stories the honeymoon!

Can't wait to share this wonderful time in my life!  Until next time...have a great Monday, friends!

You Can Now Call Me Mrs. Sun!

Yep, that's right!  I am a married lady!  The weekend was wonderful and perfect and couldn't have been more perfect.  I'll be back soon with more details, but until then, I'll leave you with my favorite Photo Booth shot of the night...

Have a great week everyone!

Happy Wedding Day!

Dear Patrick (aka My Beau),

I can't believe that after 4 years of dating, tomorrow I become your wife.  I can't help but reflect on what an amazing 4 years it has been and how all of that will culminate into something forever very soon.

I feel so lucky to have met the perfect person for me.  You are kind, sweet, intelligent, handsome, fun, and there is never a dull moment with you around.  The fact that you and I are together is proof to me that not only does God exist, but that He is very active in my life.  You are EXACTLY who I always envisioned I would spend my life with.  You respect me; you always want me to succeed in life; you are my biggest cheerleader; you are always there to support me (even if it means toting an unruly doggy all around Nashville to make sure I have enough water during a half marathon); you "rescue" me from snow storms; you travel with me; you expose me to so many new things; you keep me from getting too stressed out over silly stuff; and you LOVE me!  What more could I ask for?!?!

Several years ago, when it seemed that so many of my friends were getting married and meeting the right person, I remember complaining to my mom, "WHEN would I meet the right guy?"  She always told me to just be patient...that God would only give me someone very special and very unique.  I always thought she was just trying to make me feel better, but then I met you, and I knew EXACTLY what she was talking about!  You are the unique and special person I have been waiting for!

I can't wait to see what the future holds for us, and I'm sure that no matter what ups and downs come our way that we come through it even stronger than we started.

I love you very much!
Melissa (aka Melrose)

Weekend Update!

So, I think blogging has officially taken a back seat to planning a wedding.  However, life will ALMOST be back to normal in just 2 short days, and will completely be back to normal after the honeymoon, so hopefully, I can get back to my regularly scheduled programming soon.  In the meantime, I wanted to do a quick update on last weekend.

Friday night, I had a low key dinner with Alysia and then I just came home and relaxed.

Saturday was pretty much spent either at the pool or doing some wedding stuff, but other than that, it was also pretty low key.

Sunday, however, was my beau and I's last "date night" as a single couple.  We went to dinner at J. Alexander's (my favorite) and then to see the movie Ted.  It was cute, and some parts were down right hilarious...however, I didn't love it.  It was wonderful to spend a whole evening just hanging out with my favorite person though and enjoying each other's company since we knew this week would be so crazy!

I'll be back soon with even more wedding updates!

Happy 4th of July!

I hope you all have a wonderful day honoring our country and all thing red, white, and blue!  I will be spending the day running in a 5K, laying by the pool, eating some yummy cookout food, and hopefully knocking a lot of stuff off the remaining to do list!

Happy 4th of July, y'all!

A "No Picture" Weekend Update!

Alas, I left the camera at home this weekend...maybe it was too hot to even think of snapping any sweaty pics or maybe it's just one of the few weekends this summer that I don't feel it necessary to get a snap shot of every fun moment...either way, I still always regret it after the fact.  Anywho, here's what happened in my world this weekend:

Friday night was my last haircut and color before the big day and man was it nice to be pampered for a couple of hours.  Julie, my hair girl (who is wonderful, BTW), spent an extra long amount of time making sure my color and cut was JUST right!  After that, I headed home, spent a little bit of QT with my beau and my Zo, and called it an early night.

Saturday morning, Zoey and I slept in and relaxed, and then I headed over to lay by the pool with Kathleen and her sister, Emily.  It was scorchingly hot outside, but that still didn't stop us from getting 5 hours of color to our skin.  That evening, I headed to my last Nashville Junior Chamber event as a Board Member...our annual Gala was that evening at The Standard.  It was a fun night, despite the fact that I went Stag since my beau was celebrating Round 2 of his Bachelor Party.

Sunday morning was another day of sleeping in for Sweet Zoey and me.  Then I went to lunch with Patrick, Mickey, and my brother (who had come into town for the big Bachelor celebration the night before).  I tried to head back to the pool after that, but realized without the distractions of having 2 girls to talk to the entire time that I just couldn't handle the heat and headed back inside after just an hour.  The rest of the evening was spent with wedding chores, household chores, relaxing with Patrick and Zoey, and watching the Olympic Trials.

All-in-all, a nice relaxing weekend!  Can't believe I'll be Mrs. Sun in less than 2 short weeks!  Woohoo!

How was your weekend?

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

Happy Wednesday!  Thank goodness it's hump day!  I really, really have decided I don't like this day very much...the stress of the work week is in full force and the weekend seems sooooo far!  However, in an effort to make the best of it, here is what I'm loving today:

1.  That I only have 6 more work days left before I change my name!  Yippee!  I can't wait for a week off work...it's been too long!

2.  That today was the day that Anna Catherine, Kathleen, and I booked our first Girls' Trip in SIX years!!!!!  Yes, that's right, 6 years!  We are heading down to St. Pete in November to run in the Lady's Speed Stick Women's Half Marathon!  I've always wanted to run that half when it comes to Nashville, but September is just TOO hot to run here...in my opinion, anyway...I can't wait to get some fabulous sun and run a great race in just a few short months!

3.  That 3 weeks from tomorrow, my beau and I will be leaving on our HONEYMOON!!!!!  It will be wonderful to spend 11 lovely days touring all over Europe with my favorite person!  What a great way to begin our married life!

4.  Wednesday's off work!  Like I said above, I'm REALLY not a fan of Wednesdays...however, next week, it's like we get to skip Wednesday all together and instead get a mini-weekend right in the middle of the week!  Thank goodness for 4th of July!

5.  And always, I'm loving these 2 creatures:

What are you loving today?  Head over to Jamie's blog and share!

Weekend Updates

Well, hello blogworld!  Long time, no see.  I think it's pretty safe to say that the stress of wedding planning is kicking my butt!  HOWEVER, it's also safe to say that it's worth it and in the end, I'll be married!  So, what else could I hope for.  I'm saving this past weekend update for later in the week, since it was my big Bachelorette Party Weekend and deserves its own post.  However, let me catch you up on what's been going on the last 2 weekends.

Three weekends ago, was a big weekend for me...Friday night, my mom was in town and she and I had dinner with Alysia and her mom (Mrs. Jones).  It was so great for the 4 of us to spend time together!  We had a great time and a yummy dinner at Chuy's!

Saturday morning was time for me first dress fitting, then it was time for my Nashville shower (blog post coming soon), then that evening, Patrick and I attended our friends' Anna Lea and Wes' wedding.  The bride looked beautiful and the reception was a blast...which makes for a very successful evening if you asked me...a little later in the evening, Patrick and I decided to pull out the camera!

Me with my beau...

Junior Chamber Friends!

Patrick and me with Chase

Patrick having fun with the tamborine!

Patrick and I with the bride and groom!

On Sunday, Patrick and I played kickball in our last regular season game of the season and then we all headed back to my house to relax by the pool.

The following weekend started with a relaxing Friday evening at home, then I was up bright and early to head down to Bell Buckle for the Moon Pie 10 Miler.  I was originally supposed to run this race, but since I haven't been training appropriately, I instead just ran the first 3 miles with my friend, Anna Catherine, and turned around and walked back to the finish line to meet up with Mickey and Kathleen.  It was AC's first race ever (other than a 5K), and Mickey and Kathleen had a great time!  AND, I was able to get 6 miles worth of exercise!  Seems like a productive morning to me!

That afternoon, we headed out to Gooch Beach for Mickey's parent's annual pool party.  It was super fun, and I just love all of them!

Sunday was spent relaxing and then playing our last kickball game of the season...since Patrick and I were in the mood to do something fun...and not just spend the evening catching up on life, we decided to grab a yummy meal at The Other Place (a local neighborhood bar and burger joint) and then we decided to head to Grassy Knoll Movie Nights to watch The Sandlot.  It was the perfect end to a lovely weekend.

What have you been up to?