Captain

I've been wanting to write something, but words escape me. I work for the most amazing hospital. I've never felt such a closeness to all of my coworkers like I do here. Working in the medical field we see a lot of sadness. Patients pass away, are given bad news and all kinds of devasting things. I knew that working at a hospital would be hard. What I didn't know is how rewarding it would be. I work with the most amazing people. Drs, nurses, phlebotomists, directors, radiology techs, registrars, insurance verifiers, even our chiefs are the best.
That's what makes writing this post so hard. I used to be the hospital receptionist. It was a hard job, but full of such reward. I not only got to know patients on a personal level, but all the employees. One of my absolute favorite colleagues, passed away today.
Kirk was my biggest advocate and had an open door policy. We said good morning every single day. Even when he would tell me it wasn't a "good" morning. He took pride in his work and patients were his first priority. He somehow always knew when I needed chocolate and was always in good supply. His laugh was contagious and you could hear it from across the lobby. He was full of knowledge and had the biggest heart. He was a family man and loved to talk about his girls. They were his pride and joy. I'm so honored I got to know him. I'm truly going to miss seeing him everyday. Till we meet again Captain!!

My Wedding Dress

The day I said yes to my dress.

I wrote a blog post last winter about the story of my dress.  It's a long one, but a good one.  You can read the entire story here.  The short story goes a little like this.  I stalked pictures of dresses long before I got engaged (who doesn't) so I had a style in mind and lace was a MUST.  Cody proposed, and I found a dress at Davids Bridal that I really liked.  I was in love with the neckline and all the bling.  I went wedding dress shopping for the first time on my birthday with my family back home, in Utah.  I had a ball and honestly thought I had found the one.  After much pondering and consideration I decided the quality of the lace was lacking on my favorite dress A TON, so I went home empty handed.



The top really is a dream.

 I restarted my search about a month later with my now mother and sister in law here in Texas. We ended up at a completely different shop where I tried on several different dresses and fell in love with one.  Well long story short it was $2,500!(!!!!)  I was devastated. There was no way I could justify spending that much on a dress. There were many tears for many months. (I'm a little bit of a drama queen) To the point where I was convinced I would NEVER find my dream gown. 



The dress that almost broke my heart.

Well November rolled around and I was more than ready to start my search again. It was tricky trying to find a time that worked for my mother and sister in law, but we found it the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  I made an appointment at Lasting Bridal Couture in Addison.  I made sure my consultant knew what I wanted and my budget which was under $1,000. We went through the store and we swam through the sample gowns.  We had a good variety of dresses all well within my budget.  I tried on 4 that were alright and 1 that was a contender.  The moment I saw this dress my thought was "it's not white, but it's really pretty."  My consultant put me in it and it fit like a glove.  I went out and my entourage agreed.  Before any of us got too excited we asked the price.  A whopping $250!!!! I was sold right then and there. It was a sample gown that was a true size 2. Essentially no one could ever fit in it, so it was removed from the show floor, and had just been sitting in the sample room for months. The longer it sat the lower the price got, which was just what I needed.
 My dress was an absolute dream come true and a steal at just $250(!!!!!).  Originally the dress didn't have the pearl buttons on the back so I had those added.  I also added a gorgeous floral belt to tie everything together. I have no doubt in my mind that, my dress was waiting for me all that time and it was meant to be mine.




The buttons!!

 

My gorgeous belt.



My dress the day of my wedding hanging in the trees.

The view from the back.

The dress in action. With my adorable niece.

If you get one thing out of this post I hope that it's this, you don't have to spend thousands of dollars on the dress of your dreams.  I can't guarantee you'll get a steal like I did, but if you look hard enough you'll find the perfect dress for your perfect wedding.