Parasites & Pelorosaurus: FFTL Link-Up

Well, most of us are all back at work today after a long, three-day weekend, which makes today feel like a Monday. Which isn't the greatest feeling, until you remember that it IS in fact Tuesday, and we only work four days this week! So then it's not too bad :) And since it's actually Tuesday, and not Monday, that means I'm going to skip my weekend recap for now (maybe it'll happen later this week?), and today we're doing From Firsts to Lasts link-up! And I'm excited because today is the first day we're doing the "lasts" part of this, so I'm excited for a tiny switch-up in things today!

Today's LASTS topics are:

Last book you read

Last movie  you saw in a theater

Last book I read

The last book I read was "The Host" by Stephanie Meyer. I really didn't know anything about the book, but one day Jeff's Granny gave it to me to borrow after she had finished it. She is 85 years old, and I'm 25 years old, and we have the exact same taste in books - we both love the weird, sci-fi/fantasy stuff! I let her borrow The Hunger Games series, and the Divergent/Insurgent books, and she liked those a lot, so now we share books pretty often :) 

So anyways, when I first started reading The Host, it actually took me quite a while to get into it. I had no idea what it was about, and so I was confused at first. But once I found a couple reviews and I got a feel for it, I couldn't put it down! I was constantly trying to sneak in 10 minutes here or 15 minutes there to read just a little bit more. And then once I got near the end, I stayed up till about 2 a.m. one night finishing it! It was really interesting, and I certainly liked it. If you like that kind of genre, then I highly recommend it! I haven't seen the movie yet, but I'm hoping to soon, as it's currently in our "cheap" theater here in town. (They get movies about 2 months after they come out, and it's only $3 a ticket!) But anyways, it's about aliens who call themselves "souls" (although the humans call them "parasites") who have invaded Earth, and taken over 99.9% of the human bodies. Some humans still remain in hiding, and this is about their fight for survival. It's really interesting, and I would like this to have been a series so I could read more of the story!

Last movie I saw in a theater

I'm not 100% sure on this one, but I'm thinkin' it was Jurassic Park about a month ago. And we actually saw it one and a half times! We went on a Thursday night, and got over half way through the movie, when the power went off in that entire part of town. So they kicked us out of the theater, but gave us free readmission tickets to come back again. So we went back the very next night, and watched the whole thing from the beginning again! And it was so good - way better than I remembered! I was actually jumpy and squealy at a few parts, like I was 7 years old again! But it was lots of fun :)

If you'd like to join in on this fun link up, check out the super simple 'rules' below, and get to writing! Can't wait to see all the new link ups this week, meet new friends, and read y'all's posts!

1. Write your own post about this week's topics & link up with us!

2. Put the new button on your post or somewhere on your blog

3. Visit some of the other links, and share the love with them on their posts!

4. Spread the word on Twitter and/or Facebook

<center><a href="http://penguinspastapolkadots.blogspot.com/search/label/From%20Firsts%20to%20Lasts" target="_blank"><img alt="First Things First" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmFNj40GVx7AP9lraT1humdBRP4sPomeZ4oguCN66q29JzJjlpc-OGntw64ux7ruFcLcYzj_cczAnHhqf7lqCfH98cbM6N2UYQjPLVmUzbsB2FRCj10gkHiz2CEoROFWYqwDUKlvQs85A/s1600/Firsts+to+Lasts+-+1.jpg"/></a></center>

And if you'd like to prepare for next week's link-up, the two 'first' topics will be:

First blate you went on (or who you would like to meet if you haven't done this yet!)

First blog you visit on your reader, blog roll or RSS feed

Preview of the Reception

She had a lot of cute ideas and things for her reception, and everything ended up looking really cute. We did a pretty great job doing all of the decorating and everything ourselves, and we were very pleased with how it all turned out for her big day! And once again, I can't wait to get all the professional photos back and see all of those! We ourselves didn't even get pictures of everything completed, so I can't wait to see it all it's glory!

I wrote that for them, and made the bows too :)

Groom's "cake." But it's a cookie cake, because he doesn't really like cake that much, but he loves this stuff!

Guests made their own bags of popcorn to-go as the favor, that said "Thanks for poppin' by!" Wish I could copy this!

Giving our toasts. And Zach's toast blew mine out of the water. It was so good!

Everything for her wedding ended up beautiful. The decorations, the flowers, the cake, and most importantly, the bride! She was gorgeous, and I was so proud of her and happy for her. I was so very blessed and happy to have been her Maid of Honor, and I'm so thankful she gave me that opportunity! Now I can't wait for her to get to do all of this for me, as my Matron of Honor in October!

Right now, they should be getting ready to return home from their honeymoon, and I'm already excited to see her and hear how everything went. I can't wait to hear all about what they did and how gorgeous the Virgin Islands were, and see pictures! I feel like a little kid whose big sister was gone away to summer camp or something, rather than the 25-year-old big sister, whose little sister just got married and went on her honeymoon! I'm just so excited for her!

Puzzles & Parks - My Summer Bucket List!

Apparently the thing to do around blog-world this summer is make a summer bucket list. So of course, y'all know I just had to jump on that bandwagon! I mean, hello? Summer is my absolute favorite season. (Thanks Florida for basically an 8-month summer!) And obviously I'm a sucker for a good list or two, or three, or forty-five... And so the two together? Summer and a list? I just had to! And now without any further ado or rambling, I introduce you to my...

2013 Summer Bucket List!

1. Go tubing at Bear Paw

2. Go to a country concert - preferably outdoors!

3. Visit a new beach in Florida with Jeff

4. Buy fruits and veggies from the farmer's market

5. Go antique shopping and to the flea market

6. Ride 75 miles on my bike

7. Go on a picnic in a park

8. Complete another thing from my 30 Before 30 list

9. Eat at 3 new restaurants that have outdoor seating

10. Clean out under my bed

11. Actually start training for the 5K, with the C25K app

12. Find a place for Jeff and I to live! (and move in!)

13. Clean out under my bathroom sink

14. Take the boys to a water park

15. Plan, decorate & cook for family dinner one week

16. Keep learning the ukulele

17. Create a giant pot of succulents (once in my new house)

18. Purge & donate some of my clothes and shoes

19. Complete a 1,000 piece puzzle

20. Do some more Pinterest crafts

21. Make a really awesome summer playlist

22. Try Geo-Caching, finally!

23. Make something cute for Megan and Bo's new house

24. Build a sandcastle at the beach with the boys

The "time-frame" for this will officially be starting this weekend, for Memorial Day Weekend. And even though summer is usually considered to be over by Labor Day, I'm extending this through the end of September, because summer weather in Florida can really last through Thanksgiving sometimes... So I might as well take advantage of that. So I'm starting this weekend, and I'll get to cross things off all the way through September!

Between all of these activities and things to do, and also planning a wedding for October, we're sure going to be super busy! But I'm just excited about going out and doing more things! Life is so much more fun when you make a real effort to do fun things and enjoy your time. So that's exactly what I plan on doing over the next few months :)

Did you make a summer bucket list? Do you want to? I think we all should! Doesn't it just sound like so much fun?!

Peek of the Ceremony

Obviously I wasn't taking any pictures of my own during the ceremony, so I only have a couple that I was able to swipe from a couple other people. The majority of these come from our friend Allison, who is also the mama to the precious flower girl and adorable ring bearer. And then a good amount also come from my sweet fiance who set up some video cameras (unbeknownst to us!) and was taking pictures! Glad I was able to gather up at least a few shots of the ceremony while we wait for all the professional pictures to come!

If you missed the last few recaps, you can see them here: bridesmaids luncheon, rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, and getting ready the morning of the wedding.

Look to the left, behind the white wall, and you can see us singing, while they do the sand ceremony on the right!

I'll be so excited to see more of these once the photographer sends them all back to Meg! Tomorrow will be the last recap with a few shots of the reception. (Unless of course we ever find Megan's camera, then I'll eventually show you some bachelorette party pictures too! Fingers still crossed for that one...)

Pampering the Bride

Saturday morning, the day of my baby sister's wedding, we grabbed all our bags of clothes and cosmetics and extras, and headed out. We stopped for some coffee of course, and made it to the church by 9 a.m. Megan had asked Kaley (her brother-in-law's girlfriend) to do her hair, and so she arrived early too. After the tears had dried from reading letters from Bo, my mama, and myself, I did her wedding makeup for her! Which ended up looking great, if I do say so myself! She was definitely getting pampered by all of us, and getting waited on hand and foot! Can't wait for that to be my turn ;)

Then all the other girls started arriving, and we all helped each other with everyone's hair and makeup. We played music and laughed and had a good time! And then we finally got Megan in her dress, and us in ours, and we set off to have the bride and bridesmaids photo shoot!

We had a good time taking all the photos before-hand, and I just can't wait to see how the professional ones from the photographer turn out! Unfortunately we have to wait about a month or two, so that stinks, but we'll be so excited once they are finally ready! And tomorrow will be a tiny sneak peak at the ceremony, with just the few pictures I was able to swipe of that :)