flowers

after we met with a potential florist last week, i've got flowers on the brain. girly i know, but here a few of my new favorites:

pink astilbe

craspedia

green button mums

and more inspiration:

inspiration

when you're planning a wedding, there is a lot of inspiration out there! it has been exciting (and also overwhelming) to create the look of the wedding i didn't even know i always wanted.

we've met with so many talented people who have helped us brainstorm, problem-solve, and create. we get new ideas every week and then work to make it happen- it's awesome!

mom has collected over 180 vintage plates to help create the look. here's a sneak peak:





And as my friend Serwah says, "let's look at the blogs....":

Love and Lavender

Style Me Pretty

Grey Likes Weddings

Sparkle and Hay

proud sister

a few weeks ago my little brother stephen finished his eagle project, and it is awesome.

let me start out by telling you a little about stephen: as the youngest sykes child stephen could have easily just followed in doing things that his brother and sister had success doing when they were his age. instead stephen chose to be different. he pursued creativity and became an excellent worship leader, student, friend, and servant of the Lord. He grows everyday in so many ways, and I am humbled and proud to be his sister.

stephen worked tirelessly during his hectic junior year: he carefully designed a bridge, raised money for the project, lead a team during workdays, and worked hard until he finished. as jonathan sykes (who is also pretty awesome) claims:

"Only a nuke would take that thing down."

confession

although being engaged has been a fun and exciting time, it has also been a challenging one.

there is weekend after weekend of wedding plans, fun people and fun experiences but monday after monday i return to an empty apartment and it's back to work until the next weekend. i have never lived by myself and i'm glad now that i will never have to come october. it's been hard to motivate myself to do things when the only one holding me accountable during the week is me.

while i don't want to overwhelm austin with all of these expectations, i still believe that it will be way funner doing things with two people rather than one: bikes rides, walks through the neighborhood, going out to eat, watching movies, and cooking.

being long distance stinks. i'm not sure if it stinks more with an end in sight or without one.

that just happened

walk in to patient A's room, who's feet are "burnin' up so bad" because of nerve pain that he is having. he is not due for any pain meds for another couple hours, so i'm offering every alternative i can think of: can we get an ice pack on your feet? does it help if we put a pillow underneath them? do you want a heating pad?

no, no, no. still moaning and groaning from pain.

just as i am about to give up, i tell him i will come in with his pain med as soon as it becomes due again. "you just let me know if there is anything else i can get you, okay?" i say.

"ya'll got any ice cream?"


really? REALLY?

these PEOPLE.

funny girls

when you don't have too much going on in the looks department, a girl must be funny. i've spent years developing this skill and it is quite often one of the only attributes i can fall back on. luckily there are women out there who i can look to for inspiration, one of them being tina fey. i am currently reading her new book : bossypants. it is hilarious.



it's kind of a cross between a memoir, how-to guide, and self-help with many jokes like this along the way:

"Whitney Houston’s cover of “I Will Always Love You” was constantly on my FM Walkman radio around that time. I think that made me cry because I associated it with absolutely no one."

Simply hilarious.

seriously, who doesn't love this woman?

"these lights"

last saturday i got to experience one of the coolest things i have ever been a part of: helping the less make their "these lights" music video.

adam, zac, michael, kyle, and paul of the less have worked so hard to get to this point: years of writing, planning, playing anywhere and everywhere, going against the expectations of going to college and getting jobs, and most importantly never giving up on their dream.

as everyone arrived at the old warehouse in downtown atlanta the excitement built around these guys and what they were doing. the energy level stayed high all night even during the 527638th take of the bridge to the end of the song, as you can see in this pic:


the feeling of community and encouragement was overwhelming that night as old friends caught up and new friends were made, all with the common goal of supporting these guys making a huge step towards their goal.

the way the support was raised for this project, the professional talent that worked (for free) to film, and the meaning behind the song and the video all showed just how much these guys are blessed by God and are doing what they are called to do.


i'm so proud to call this talented group my friends. trust me guys, the finished product is gonna look good.