Saturday, December 31, 2011

Another Anniversary

It was 2 years ago today that my best friend took my breath away when he asked me to be his forever.

Happy Engage-iversary to my husband  :)

I cannot imagine a better proposal...

Our first picture as an engaged couple
Happy New Year's Eve!!  Hope you have a safe and fun night!!!

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Wedding Wednesday

I just love looking at ideas for photos... I always imagine what it would look like if it was me in the pictures.  I found a really cute idea of a create bridal party picture that I wanted to pass along!

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The mirror is so pretty and I love how the bridesmaids look around it!  Hopefully someone out there can pass this idea on to their wedding photographer!

You can check out all of my Wedding Wednesday pins on my Wedding Wednesday Pinterest Board!

Happy Hump Day, and almost Happy New Year!!!

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Wedding Wednesday

Since it's the week before Christmas, I thought it would be fitting to include a really cute "gift" idea in my post this week.  If you are looking for a cute way to ask your friends to be your bridesmaids, I think I've found a great option for you!!!

via
You should definitely head over to The Wedding Chicks website and read about everything involved in making these boxes, but here's a preview for you...

This is a wooden box that was personalized with wedding colors and some major artistic ability.  Inside was info about the big day, the role of the bridesmaids (a non-demanding list with things like "wipe away happy tears" not "do whatever the hell I tell you"), who all of the girls are, info about the dresses.  There was also "inspiration board" type pictures and such.

I guess I would probably not do this if I was unsure whether or not these people would say yes because it's kind of a lot of work for someone who is going to say "thanks but no thanks", but if you have great friends who you know will be honored to stand beside you on that day, GO FOR IT!!!

You can check out all of my Wedding Wednesday pins on my Wedding Wednesday Pinterest Board!

Happy Hump Day!!!

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

It's almost Christmas!!!

I survived the last few weeks of the semester and now I'm finally on what feels like a much needed break.

I've been so busy that I have not been able to post pictures of our decorations at home.  For our first Christmas in our new house, I wanted to decorate, but I also didn't want to spend a ton of money... we have plenty of time to add to our Christmas collection.  I'm really happy with what we've been able to do this year...






I came up to my mom and dad's house on Sunday afternoon and after some relaxation and a little bit of sleeping in, we got a lot accomplished yesterday.

Decorate Tree - CHECK!!!


Make some sweet stuff - CHECK!!!

Crock Pot Candy... this was really cool!
Peppermint Bark

Melting Snowmen... I love these

Peppermint Sugar Cookies
This is all we really took pictures of, but we got a lot more done... my mom made cinnamon rolls and I made fudge and of course, we also made dinner that did not consist of mostly sugar  :)

Today will be full of shopping.  My dad and I are going shopping for my mom and then when my mom gets home from work, we are going to do some more shopping, mostly for stocking stuffers.

We are going to wrap presents tonight, do a little more baking tomorrow and then my aunt and cousins will be here on Thursday.  Hooray!!!  This is my favorite week of the year!!!

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Wedding Wednesday

We did not do a lot of shopping around for our Save the Dates.  I had a friend at work who was also planning her wedding at the same time as I was, so when she found a magnet save the date at a reasonable price, I took her vendor suggestion and loved the results.

I found this idea and I absolutely love it, especially if you have a really good "how we met" story!!

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You can check out all of my Wedding Wednesday pins on my Wedding Wednesday Pinterest Board!

Happy Hump Day!!!

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Not a Bad Weekend

There was a lot on my "to do" list this weekend, and we got quite a bit done!!

  • Lights are up on the outside of the house... it looks pretty good... I'll post some Christmas pictures soon
  • We got SO much Christmas shopping done.  I'm really excited to wrap everything this week... I love wrapping presents!!  I just have a few other things to get for J and then I'll be done!
  • We did a TON of baking on Sunday.  We have:
    • Peppermint Sugar Cookies
    • Peppermint Bark
    • Fudge
    • Oreo Tuffels
    • We still have a few other things that we want to make and take to my mom's
  • I got most of my committee work done... I'm still waiting on the scoring for one more of the committee members... hopefully he gets his stuff in tomorrow... we don't have time to wait.
What did we not get done this weekend?

THANK YOU NOTES!!!!

I wanted to get these out forever ago, then we wanted to wait on them because we wanted to put our change of address postcards in with them.  Well, now at least some people will be getting a thank you note, a change of address and a Christmas card.

I am bound and determined to get those thank yous out this week before I leave for the holidays!!!

I'm really looking forward to having a less busy week at work.  By less busy, I mean I'll hopefully be on my way out by 5:00 pm or 5:30 pm... it's still going to be a week full of meetings and stuff to get done, but I'm planning on being able to come home and get some stuff done here, too.

We really need to get the other presents we have for J's family in the mail, so that's top priority for Monday!

Hope you have a great week!!

Thursday, December 08, 2011

What A Week...

This week has seemed to take FOREVER because it's been so busy... only 1 week and 1 day left in the semester... it's almost over (HOORAY!!!!) and then I'll be back to a semi-normal schedule.  Luckily the busiest week ever is almost over AND a fun weekend is about to begin!!!

This weekend I have to:

  • Do some committee work... we are choosing the best in newly constructed collegiate rec centers
  • Christmas shopping... SOOOOOO excited for this!!!
  • Making Christmas Cookies... I'm really looking forward to some fun time in the kitchen with J making a bunch of different Christmas goodies
  • Thank You Notes... yes... I know... but we haven't hit 6 months yet so I'm not violating any wedding law yet
  • Get the Christmas lights up... I only have one more week at home before Christmas so hopefully we can get the lights up so I can enjoy them for a week  :)
How's your Christmas shopping coming???

Wednesday, December 07, 2011

Wedding Wednesday

For those of you who may need flats because you don't want to be taller than your fiance/husband or for those of you who just want flats because of the comfort factor, I think these are amazing and there's no way you can go wrong with them!!!

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I'm not a huge fan of the white things, but I do love the other stones on the shoe... they may be a little gaudy, but I prefer to call it "costume jewelry" or "I'm the bride, and I'll wear what I want".

You can check out all of my Wedding Wednesday pins on my Wedding Wednesday Pinterest Board!

Happy Hump Day!!!

Friday, December 02, 2011

5 Months

Happy 5 Month Anniversary to my wonderful husband... I love you more and more every day!

Catie's Captures

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Wedding Wednesday

When it comes to wedding rings, I must say that women have so many more cool, unique options.  Most men's bands are pretty standard... there's not a lot of customization to them most of the time, but I found something that I absolutely LOVE and that I think is the coolest thing I've seen for men's wedding bands

They send you an impression kit, you send back your finger print and they make a ring out of it.  There are a TON of options on these rings from a lot of different makers, and the prices tend to start at about $150 and go WAY up from there.  I think that this is a really cool option for a unique and personalized wedding band AND they make various styles of women's rings with a finger print!


You can check out all of my Wedding Wednesday pins on my Wedding Wednesday Pinterest Board!

Happy Hump Day!!!

Monday, November 28, 2011

Thanksgiving Recap

Our first Thanksgiving was a success!!!  We had time with family and we are completely exhausted, which means it must have gone well, right  :)

Everyone arrived on Wednesday... J's mom and step-dad from Minnesota and my mom in the afternoon, and my dad late a night after he got done refereeing his basketball game.

We went to a local burger joint for dinner on Wednesday so we didn't have to be in the kitchen and then we went home and relaxed since everyone was tired from traveling.

We got up Thursday morning and got in the kitchen!  My mom brought cinnamon rolls (grandma's recipe) for breakfast and then we cooked all day until dinner at 3:30.  We had turkey, ham, a bunch of casseroles (corn, pineapple, sweet potato), green beans, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, and a pumpkin and squash soup that was my experiment that luckily turned out really well!  J also made 2 apple pies and 2 pumpkin pies and my mom brought a cherry pie for dessert.  Everything was delicious and we even used the china that I got from my grandmother to make dinner EXTRA fancy.  Here is a look at our table...

Our Thanksgiving Table

My DIY Centerpiece
Clean-up was quick because everyone was so helpful and then we relaxed and watched football.  The final Texas v Texas A&M game before the Aggies leave for the SEC, started at 8:00 pm (Horns win!!!) and it ended at about 5 minutes until midnight, when it was time for shopping!

J, my mom and I were the only ones who ventured out for midnight shopping, and it was a bust.  Kohls was so full that we didn't even make it to the parking lot... we just U-Turned and left.  We went to Target, where we did find a parking spot, but where there wasn't anything that was worth waiting in line to pay for, so that was kind of a waste, too.  We were home by 1:00 am and in bed by 1:30 am... much different than normal.

On Friday we got up and had breakfast and then went to Brown County... to Nashville, Indiana, which is a super cute little town for of craft shops and tourists.  It was crowded, but not unbearable and we did get a little bit of Christmas shopping done.  We got home and ate (again) and then J, his mom and step-dad and I went to the mall and to Lowe's.  His mom was taking our Christmas presents back to Minnesota for J's side of the family, so we had to get as much of their shopping as possible done.

We got home and I realized that I did not have any gift boxes, so I ran to CVS and got some stuff that I needed and wrapped a bunch of presents (I love wrapping presents) that are on their way back to Minnesota to go under J's mom's tree!  It's actually kind of nice to be done with a few people on our Christmas list.
Saturday, we got up and had another great breakfast and then J took his mom and step-dad on a quick driving tour around campus while my mom and dad and I relaxed around the house and got the Christmas tree put up... HOORAY!!!  When J got home he was so surprised to see the tree up... it was great!

J's mom and step-dad got packed up when they got home and headed out on their log trip north.  J and I went for our run (5 miles... I made it!!) and when we got back, my dad had already left to go ref his basketball game.  I ate a little bit of lunch, despite my upset stomach from my run, and then my mom and I headed out to do some shopping.

She was looking for Christmas gifts, which she found a few of, and I was looking for things to decorate the tree and the new fireplace.  I think I got some really great deals and the inside of the house is fully decorated (minus the tree topper that I wanted J to help me pick out) and the outside just needs some lights!

Our house just works with Christmas.  We have a warm living room with a really deep red accent wall and our dining room and kitchen are a light green.  Those are the colors I went with for my tree and my decorations and I just LOVE how they look.  PICTURES TO COME SOON!!!

Sunday, we got up and made breakfast and my mom got packed up and on the road.  I got the ornaments that I bought, up on the tree and there are even presents under there already (from J's mom and one from me)!!!

The rest of Sunday was spent on the couch for some much needed relaxation and quiet time.  A little bit on online shopping, some time on Blogger and some TV... perfect way to spend a Sunday!
The next couple of weeks are going to be SUPER crazy at work, so I'm hoping to have some really relaxing weekends, with some Christmas shopping and some quality time on the couch, enjoying the Christmas tree!

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Progress Report...

Last weekend I told you about all of the things that we had to do before our parents came for Thanksgiving... I would say that overall, we did a pretty good job!

We did not get the doors painted, but that was last on our priority list, so we'll get to that eventually.

We hung all of the blinds and all of the curtains (we need more panels on some of the windows, eventually) and we even got some stuff up on the walls in the living and dining room.

We got the garage organized, which was quickly reversed when J's mom brought a whole bunch of stuff with her from Minnesota.  We also got the bathrooms organized, but the big room over the garage is now a storage room that will be sorted through gradually.  We want it to eventually be a second family room/craft room.  Right now, we don't have a TV to put up there and we also don't have furniture up there yet (the couch is coming from my mom and dad soon) so that room can be a work in progress!

I got all of the rooms and bathrooms cleaned and I am officially in love with our Shark.  We have the steamer, that cleans your floors, and I was amazed at the stuff that it took off the floor!  We got it at Big Lots (refurbished) for about half price because I wasn't sure if I'd like it or not, but I think that it was a good investment  :)

Overall, I was pretty happy with the way the house looked and everyone loved it!  My parents were down a few weeks ago (the weekend before Halloween), but at that point, there was a lot that still had to be done, so my mom was really impressed when she got here.  It is finally starting to feel like home and I think that we are at a point now that we can take some time to live in the house before we do more stuff to it!

Thanksgiving recap coming some time this week!!

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Wedding Wednesday

Happy Day Before Thanksgiving!!!  I hope that everyone is able to spend the holiday with family and friends!

Since Thanksgiving is closely followed by the beginning of "Christmas Season", I thought I would take this opportunity to highlight some great winter wedding decor...

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Another inexpensive idea for centerpieces, or you could use them to line a walkway to a church or reception.  A vase, some salt, some cranberries and a candle.  Very simple, but also very elegant!  If I can find some good fake cranberries (I'm not sure how long real ones would last???), this may make an appearance on my dining room table this holiday season!
You can check out all of my Wedding Wednesday pins on my Wedding Wednesday Pinterest Board!

Happy Hump Day!!!

Friday, November 18, 2011

This Weekend's To Do List

We have company coming next week and we are hosting our first Thanksgiving in our new house... HOORAY!!!  I'm so excited, but it means that we have A LOT to do this weekend!!!  I was sitting at the BMV this morning, trying to get my car registered, and making a mental list of all the things that we have to get done this weekend:

  • Painting - finishing up some detail work and paint the doors
  • Hanging
    • Blinds - they arrived today... HOORAY!!!
    • Curtains - this is also on the "to buy" list for some of our rooms, but I'm waiting until the blinds are up to decide what kind of curtains I want in the bedrooms
    • Stuff on the walls - we currently have NOTHING on the walls in our house
  • Cleaning
    • Bathrooms
    • Kitchen
    • Floors
  • Organizing
    • One of the guest rooms - right now it's the shoe room, but it will soon be a bed room!
    • The garage - I'd really love to park my car in there!!!
    • The room above the garage
    • Our bathroom - we need to "his and hers" it... right now everything is everywhere!
We also have some furniture to move around and some boxes still to unpack.  There's a REALLY slight chance that we may actually tear down the weird vines that are growing on our back porch and up the side of our house.  I hate them and they need to go away!!!  Doing this would also mean that we would like get our fire pit dug out because where else do you think the vines would go  :-D

It's going to be a long weekend of a lot of work, but with a deadline in sight, we will hopefully have some extra motivation!!


What are you up to this weekend????

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Wedding Wednesday

I previously posted about the Birthday Guest Book, but this one rivals it for one of the most fun, creative guest book ideas I've seen!

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So, each guest writes a note to the Bride and Groom about one thing that they just MUST do together now that they are married.  AWESOME!!!

I think there are a few different ways you could do this.  I think one of the most important things that you should do with this idea is have a card already made so that their suggestion AND their name is on there.  That way you know who made the suggestion and it would be a great chance to send that person a post card or a note once you do what they've suggested.

I think another cool thing that you could do with these is give each one a page in a scrapbook that could be used as your check list.  You take pictures or save mementos from the experience and then add them to the scrapbook page with notes about the experience.

No matter how it's done, I think it's an amazing idea that gives couples some really great ideas of things that they could do together "as long as they both shall live".

You can find all my Wedding Wednesday ideas on my Wedding Wednesday Pinterest Board!

Happy Hump Day!

Saturday, November 12, 2011

How Can You Help???


On Thursday morning, I went to a breakfast for Habitat for Humanity of Monroe County and learned a lot about an organization that has always seemed great to me, but I had no idea how great it really was!

I learned during this breakfast that it's not just a hand out.  I knew there's an application and selection process involved when people get their houses, but I had no idea that once they were selected as a "partner family" (meaning, they were approved to have their own Habitat house), each adult living in the house is required to put in at least 250 volunteer hours of building into the other houses in their neighborhood, or other neighborhoods in the city.

Another thing that I did not realize was that the families who are approved for the homes are buying the homes.  They have a mortgage with a 0% interest rate, but they also pay property taxes, which obviously contribute to their community.  In Monroe county, we have a 0% foreclosure on our Habitat homes, which obviously means that they are selecting the right families to be a part of ther communities.

We heard from a Habitat homeowner who has 2 kids and who has held the same job for something like 8 years.  He and his wife could just not seem to get ahead enough to get a home for their kids.  He was elloquent, hard-working and so very thankful for their chance to give their kids a yard to play in and a space to call their own.  I'm not saying that I was expecting something less from him, but I was especially touched by his story and his tears.

While working in Texas, we were asked each year (as state employees) to be a part of the State Employee Charitable Campain, and I always donated.  My money usually went to the Parkinsons Research Foundation, since my Grandfather had Parkinsons and it was something that affected our family so greatly.  Now that I am not in Texas anymore, I was trying to determine how and where I contribute, and where better to contribute than right in my own community?  I think once J and I get our feet under us financially in the next few months, we will make a contribution to Habitat.

I was invited to my breakfast by my boss, who also invites the Gradute Assistants who work with us.  This blog is inspired by something she said to them...

I invited you today, not because I want you to feel as though you need to donate today.  But one day, you will be in a place financially that you have money to give to a cause, and there will hopefully be a Habitat in your community, wherever you end up, that you'll think of at that point.

So, with this, I hope you'll look into Habitat in your community.  Maybe you can just start with some hours on Saturday morning, given to the construction of a house in your community.  Maybe like us, you have a Habitat "ReStore" where you can donate things in your house that you may no longer need or want, or maybe you are in the place financially that you can make a contribution.  I hope you'll learn more about Habitat and see if it's something you find worthy to support.

Hope you're having a great weekend!!

Wednesday, November 09, 2011

Wedding Wednesday

For those of us who did most of our growing up in the 90s, you probably have a fond memory of Mad Libs.  Yes, they are a great way to help kids learn what adjectives and nouns are, and yes you can make them as dirty as you want, but who was the genius who thought of this????

via
OK, so they are not exactly like the classic Mad Libs because you aren't doing them blindly, but I think they would still be a really fun activity.  If you have a close knit group who all know each other, they could be a great way to share some major laughs!

You can find all my Wedding Wednesday ideas on my Wedding Wednesday Pinterest Board!

Happy Hump Day!

Monday, November 07, 2011

Well, what do you think?

Hopefully you've noticed today that my blog looks different than it did last week.  I'm no longer the long distance bride for two reasons... I'm not a bride anymore, AND I now live less than 200 miles from the place I got married, instead of the 1,000 miles that I did during planning.

So, it was time for a change.  There will be a few changes to the content as well.  Wedding Wednesday is still happening... I love it too much to not keep looking at wedding stuff.  It's also going to change to more info about what we are doing to our new(ish) house that is definitely still a work in progress.  I think I'm also going to add a "menu" section to the week... maybe Monday, since I love alliteration   :)

Hopefully I won't lose any readers... I don't really have any friends here yet, so for right now, you're all I've got!!!  I promise I'll also do a better job of consistent posts... 2 or 3 a week for sure!

Happy Monday and welcome to the next chapter of my story!

Wednesday, November 02, 2011

4 Months

An extra post today to say Happy 4 Month Anniversary to my awesome husband!!!






Photos courtesy of Catie's Captures

Wedding Wednesday

For brides on a budget... here is a a simple and yet totally awesome centerpiece idea that I love!

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Seriously... start at the dollar store... find cylinder vases, a big bag of rubber bands and some tea lights.  Then you just need a few cans of spray paint.  put the rubber bands on in a random pattern, spray and VOILA!

You could do different shapes/sizes/heights and 3 at a table would be the perfect simple centerpiece!  I think these would be really cute as a winter decoration, too!

You can find all my Wedding Wednesday ideas on my Wedding Wednesday Pinterest Board!

Happy Hump Day!

Tuesday, November 01, 2011

Happy Halloween (yesterday)

My parents visit last weekend was awesome... my mom and I did a lot of shopping and my house is all ready for Thanksgiving now!  I think one more trip up to their house and we will have all of the furniture for the house, too!  Once we have all the furniture it will be so much easier to really get things put where they belong and where they are going to live permanently.

Obviously yesterday was Halloween and it was kind of a depressing Halloween for me.  We had friends in Texas who always had a Halloween party and there was always a group of us at work who dressed up for Halloween... this year we sat at home and watched Hocus Pocus (DRVed from ABC Family) and gave candy to a few trick or treat-ers.  I dressed up for work, but I was one of only about 3 people who did so I mostly just felt silly, rather than festive.

I'm leaving for a 2 day conference on Thursday morning so I probably won't be doing much blogging this week, but I'm hoping that I will actually have some time this weekend to get some more house projects done and actually convert my blog, which I've been talking about for a while but haven't gotten around to yet.

Wedding Wednesday tomorrow!!!

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Wedding Wednesday

I was definitely not into the extravagant cake... our cake was simple and 2 of the 3 layers were fake, which I would suggest to anyone, regardless of how fancy the design is because sheet cakes taste so much better than the fondant on the pretty cakes.

ANYWAY, despite my love of the simple cake and my disinterest in a fancy cake, I fell in love with this beauty as soon as I saw it...

via
OMG... How beautiful is this?  I think I love it because it's simple, but has a really striking element.  If I would have seen this before the wedding, I'm pretty sure I would have figured out a way to make it happen.  AMAZING!!!

You can check out all of my Wedding Wednesday pins on my Wedding Wednesday Pinterest Board!

Happy Hump Day!!!

Monday, October 24, 2011

HOORAY FOR A WEDDING

I am SOOOOOO excited to announce that my little cousin (who really isn't that little anymore) and bridesmaid is ENGAGED!



Her boyfriend (now fiance) surprised her with a trip to Washington DC (one of her favorite places) for her Birthday and proposed there!

The ring is beautiful... I guess I would call it "non-traditional", but I absolutely LOVE it so instead I'm calling it

SOOOOOO PERFECTLY "THEM"


I am so excited for them... we love him and are so excited to officially add him to the family!!!

Friday, October 21, 2011

Last Weekend and This Weekend

J and I went up to Ft Wayne last weekend to see my parents and to get more of our stuff, specifically our dining room table and beautiful hutch that's been sitting in my parents' garage for about 5 years, since my aunt handed it down to me.  The dining room has been a major catch all up until now, and we were running out of places to put serving dishes that we got as wedding gifts, so we really needed to get the hutch down to our house.

Before we left for Ft Wayne, we got up extra early on Friday morning to go and get...

Yes... that is the iPhone 4S and I am now the owner of one... a white one... it's pretty!

So, once we got to Ft Wayne, we went for a run (which I just realized I needed to log on my Mini Marathon Blog) and then spent the evening relaxing at my parents' house.

On Saturday, my mom and I went shopping and got pedicures and then we went our for her Birthday dinner. The place we had our rehearsal dinner sent us a gift card as a thank you, so what better time to use it than for dinner, drinks and dessert!

My mom isn't really hard to shop for, but she is hard to surprise, so when I saw that this was coming to the Embassy Theater in Ft Wayne, I had to get tickets for her and my dad.


I really wish that J and I could have gone with them, but it's on a Tuesday and that's a long way to drive.  Hopefully they will have a great time!

Sunday was spent around the kitchen table for a long brunch and then packing up our car so we could head back home.  We got the dining room table and hutch into J's truck and he hit the road to beat the rain.  We got 4 of our 6 dining room chairs in my car along with a few other wedding gifts that still remained  at my parents' house.

Our house is finally coming along!!!

We are running a 5K this weekend and making dinner for my co-workers who had a baby a few weeks ago, and then I am hoping to make our couch pillows and get some stuff done around the house.  Hopefully we'll have house pictures coming soon!

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Wedding Wednesday

Sorry for my lack of posting this week, but I could not pass up the chance to do a quick post today to share my newest wedding find on Wedding Wednesday!!!

Mother-in-Laws can be hard to buy for... but I found this amazing gift that is small and very inexpensive as far as monogrammed handkerchiefs go, but I think it is so powerful  :)

I wish I would have found this earlier because I would have bought it for my Mother-in-Law FOR SURE!!!

via

I could not have put it any better myself, and I can only imagine the reaction that would ensue.  SOOO, if you are looking for a Mother-in-Law gift, I would definitely recommend looking into this... you can link to the Esty seller from my Pinterest page!

Friday, October 14, 2011

I was runnnning...

I have always been an athlete, but I played volleyball, basketball and softball so I was always more of an explosive, anaerobic athlete than one that needed high endurance like soccer or cross country.

WELL, as I get older, I am running out of opportunities to play the team sports of my past and it's time for something new.  J was a runner throughout his life, including college where he ran cross country and track, and when we first met, he was in the middle of marathon training, which he completed in October 2008 (Twin Cities Marathon).

After his marathon, I decided that I wanted to learn to run.  I know that sounds really silly, but for someone who has never run more than a mile or two continuously, you actually do have to "learn" to run because you can't just go out and haul ass like you do as you're chasing after a volleyball.

The moral of the story is, I needed a goal... I needed something to strive for and something that would challenge me AND SO, I'm running a half marathon.

May 2012... 500 Festival Mini Marathon in Indianapolis.  I'm hoping for a pace of 10:00 min/mile or less.

J says I should keep a running log... I decided to keep a running BLOG.  If you want to follow along, or check out our training schedule, you can come check out my new blog...

www.myminimarathon.blogspot.com

It's going to be a lot about my runs, but I may throw in some additional thoughts and info on my favorite products ever now and then.  Come train with me!!!

Thursday, October 13, 2011

ABC, All About Me...


Get to know me ABC's.


You may know all about my wedding, but here are a few things you may not 
have known about me!

Age: 28.

Bed size: Queen, but I'd move down to a full if it meant we could get a Tempurpedic... ok, maybe not a full... that's really small. 


Chore you hate: Putting laundry away. I don't mind putting it in the wash or in the drier and I don't mind folding.. but I absolutely HATE putting it away. 


Dogs: None... and no other pets. I love animals SO much, that I would feel bad having to leave a dog home with no one to play with all day. I know... I'm a little ridiculous about it.

Essential start of your day: COFFEE!!! Just one cup, but I love the taste!


Favorite color: It's a tie between Purple, Green and Burnt Orange


Gold or silver: Silver 


Height: 5'7"  


Instruments I play (or have played): I used to play the piano and so wish I would have continued... I love the way a piano sounds... so simple, yet so powerful. I may start taking lessons again if I can afford it. 


Job title: Assistant Director of Campus Recreational Sports for Informal Sports and Student Personnel... yes, it's a long one and yes, it is as confusing as it sounds. To sum it up, I supervise a lot of college students in the hopes that one day, they will become real people instead of get stuck in the transition from kid to adult. 


Kids: None and non coming in the near future! I'm never going to be one of those people who tries to plan conception, which is so not like me because I'm a planner... I'm just going to have to let God do his thing and I'll get excited when he does.  


Live: Indiana... just moved here from Texas not too long ago. 


Mom's name: Sue   

Nickname: Lexi (my real name is Alexis), Lex, Lexo and Girlee (that's what J calls me)

Overnight hospital stays: No, but I have had a few surgeries... knee scope, gall bladder removed, LASIK 


Pet peeve: Oh there are SO many... one of them is that I hate when people say words/phrases wrong... It's especially, not "expecially" (I have no idea how people turn the S into an X) and it's "Up and at em", not "Up and Adam", unless you're name is Adam, which is the only time that would be an actual phrase. I shudder when I hear things like this.     

Quote from a movie: 

"Now let me say, without hope or agenda... that you are perfect" -Love Actually


"You stink... you smell like beef and cheese... you don't smell like Santa" -Elf 


Right or left handed: Right.     

Siblings: None.


Time you wake up: Usually around 8:00 am 


Underwear: Yes??? 


Vegetables you dislike: Cooked spinach    

What makes you run late: My hair... it can definitely be cause for a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day!


X-rays you've had done: Lots... probably just about every bone in my body! Well, maybe not my arms... I've never hurt my arms before. 


Yummy food you make: LOTS! I don't really bake... there's too much attention to detail required... but I really love to cook! One of my favorites is Cilantro Lime Chicken 


Zoo animal: Giraffes and Elephants.Hope you're learned something new about me today!!!

Hope you learned something about me today!!!

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Wedding Wednesday

As promised, this blog is not moving completely away from weddings... Wednesdays will be Wedding Wednesdays when I'll post about something cute that I've found a love!  Most of these will probably come from the amazing things I find on Pinterest... I'm so addicted.  You can find my Pinterest pages here

I thought that our Guest Book was one of our most creative things at our wedding, and this Guest Book idea is another one that I love.

via
You may not get the sentiment that you could get with other Guest Book options, but who doesn't love to have people's Birthdays?  I must admit, I would probably only do this with a smallish wedding because you may not want to have 250+ Birthdays on the calendar.  I would also probably do it on a perpetual calendar like this one (which is on my Christmas list)...

via
...because I would not want to have to transfer them over to another calendar every year.

So what do you think of this as a guestbook option???

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Now What???

Well, the wedding is over... the honeymoon is over... our life has just begun.  I still plan to do some wedding related posts, but probably just one day a week... we'll call it "Wedding Wednesday"  :-D

So, starting tomorrow, this blog will be transformed, slowly but sure, to match the newly started chapter of my life.  I'm working on a new title and possibly a new look (we'll see about this one) and we'll be moving from "recaps" to "real life".

Stay tuned... we're just getting started!

Monday, October 03, 2011

3 Months

Happy 3 months (yesterday) to the best husband ever...






Friday, September 16, 2011

Product Review - Pictures on Canvas

One of my most favorite things is finding cool ways to display pictures.  One of my current favorites is putting pictures on canvases, of all sizes!

I was recently emailed by pictures on canvas and had the chance to order a canvas so I could tell you all about my experience.  I must say, it was a great one!


You start by picking the size of the canvas.  They have standard options that range from 8 x 8, up to 24 x 36, but you can also create a custom canvas size.  I went with an 11 x 14.


The next step is to pick your image.  I did have a couple challenges with this... the first one was that I had so many pictures to choose from (not a bad problem to have).  The only issue I really had with the site was that depending on the closeness of the picture as it was taken, it may not fit on the canvas size you choose.  It may have been something that could be fixed and I didn't know how.  You can choose how the picture is oriented on the canvas and also edit which part of the picture is seen.


The next part has some options on the details of the canvas.  I chose to have colored sides, rather than stretching the photo and I love them.  I took a stab in the dark and hoped that the color I chose would work with the new paint on our walls and I think it will look great.


Finally, you decide if you want to make any edits to the photo itself.  You can make it sepia or black and white and you have the option to have them do some retouching on the photo.  Luckily, I was using a high quality photo that was already black and white so I didn't need to do any of these things.


I had my expedited, and I'm not sure how many days it took, exactly, but I know I was surprised to see it when it arrived so it must have been pretty quick  :-D


I absolutely love it.  The photo is so sharp and the definition is amazing.  I've seen a lot of canvases that have colors that get kind of mottled, but that is definitely not the case with pictures on canvas.  I would recommend them to anyone!


If you're interested, you can check out their website or their facebook page where you'll find coupons and special offers.  Happy Friday!!!

Monday, September 05, 2011

Happy Labor Day

Happy Labor Day everyone!  In honor of the past two weeks of ridiculous amounts of hours spent at work, I'm enjoying my extra day off... but don't be confused... we are working on the house.

Wedding recaps begin again tomorrow, but I wanted to let everyone know that coming soon will be a product review of a Easy Canvas Prints where I just recently purchased an 11"x14" canvas of one of our wedding photos.  I'm not sure where it's going to go yet, but I'll figure it out eventually  :-D

If you're looking for a place to make photos into canvases, you should check them out.  If you don't like to pay full prices for things (who does when you don't have to), head over to their Facebook Page and "like" them to get some Sweet Deals.

Hope you all have the day off, too and that you're enjoying it!

Friday, September 02, 2011

2 Months

It's been two months since we were married and it's been a whirlwind.  We haven't even started writing thank you notes because there have been so many things going on... the honeymoon, a new job for me, a 1,000 mile move, buying a new house that needed some work, the loss of my grandmother and the start of a new school year.  All of these things have been draining and I wouldn't say it's been a bad start to our marriage, because I still love J more and more every day, but it's been stressful and I'm ready for life to slow down so I can actually enjoy my husband.

I'm so lucky to have amazing pictures to look at and remember the best day of my life...







Happy TWO MONTHS to my Best Friend

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Grandma

Sorry for the lack of posts this week... it's been a hard week for me.  Last Sunday, my Grandma passed away.  The only grandparent I had left, the only grandparent who was at my wedding, and my Grandma who I was pretty sure was going to live forever.

She turned 83 on August 1.  Just the day before we were all in Indianapolis.  My cousin was playing a basketball game there and everyone went.  Grandma was her normal self... walking, climbing stairs, talking with everyone and cheering on her granddaughter.  The week before that, she had two of her great grandsons at her house for the week and took them all over the city.

She turned 83 on Monday, August 1 and just a few days later, she was in the hospital.  She had a stroke and although her motor function was not affected, her speech was.  Her sister called a couple of days late to wish her a Happy Birthday.  She was not talking right so her sister called my aunt, who called my mom.  My mom took her to the hospital where she went through tests and continued to have trouble finding words or speaking correctly.

I got to see her on Friday afternoon... I wish I had been there sooner.  I think she knew who I was... but I can't be sure.  We spent the next two days in the hospital and family members came from all over to be with her.  On Sunday, at exactly 9:00 pm, she was gone.  It was peaceful... she had sons, daughters and grandkids all around her bed.  There were a few people who didn't make it back, but who said their goodbyes on a phone held to her ear.

My mom told me that the doctor told her on Wednesday that she could no longer live alone.  I'm pretty sure that this is when she made up her mind that she did not want to live if it couldn't be how she wanted.  I am very lucky to have great memories of her from my wedding week.  She was at my parents' house every day helping me with things... she saved the day by re-making the bottom layer of our groom's cake... and I have these great pictures of her (thanks to Catie's Captures) that I can always remember her by...

 Putting Grandma's corsage brooch on her
 Mom, Me and Grandma
 Grandma arriving at tea after saving the groom's cake
 Bridal Brunch
Grandma with her brothers and sisters