Foto Friday–On the Water

Last month, we took a trip down to Florida to visit Jack’s Grandparents.  While it did take 2 days to drive from Ohio to Florida, it was not a hardship at all.  We were on the Gulf side, between Sarasota and Ft. Meyers, FL.  The weather was PERFECT and BEAUTIFUL.  We spent a few days at the beach (where I got sunburned badly), one at the big aquarium in Sarasota and the rest of the time just enjoying the company.  I love that my In-laws are Snow Birds.  I think I may join them next year. 

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip.  You can be sure there were a ton more than this, but I thought I’d pick my favorites for this post.  I did run them through Photoshop, but the only touch ups I did for any of them was auto levels/color/contrast.  I didn’t do anything fancy at all.  I didn’t feel that they needed anything.  Maybe I’ll play around with them another day.

The surf was exceptionally strong (high?) the first day we were at the beach.  This guy was taking advantage of the good surging conditions.

These are my in-laws.  I loved how they look as they’re taking a walk on the beach. Of these two very similar photos, I couldn’t decide which I liked better, so put them both on here.

After the grandparents finished their walk, they said they’d watch Jack while Rick and I went for a walk on the beach.  What a great time.  I want to remember what it feels like to walk in the surf and sand.   

This Egret looks so regal sitting on the pier waiting for his next meal – an accidental drop by a fisherman perhaps? The Herron was ready at a moments notice.  Or maybe he just enjoyed watching the fishermen on the pier like we did.

The last night of our vacation, we went to the beach to watch the sunset.  It was a cloudy night, so the sunset wasn’t all that impressive, but the subtle color in the clouds were still beautiful.  I’ll definitely miss the beach!

Three Sisters A Shop

Have I ever told you how many cousins Jack has?  He has 8 cousins.  This may seem like a standard amount of cousins to grow up with, or it may even seem like very few to you.  But to me, it seems like a lot.  Until I was in high school, I had 2 cousins.  TWO! And they were about 16 years older than me.    Then, 20 years ago, my youngest cousin was born, and I now have a total of 3 first cousins.  That made for very small family gatherings growing up. 

Jack will grow up with different family dynamics.  Thanks to my sister, he has two cousins on my side of the family.  And thanks to my husband’s sister and brother, he has 6 cousins and counting.  Our family gatherings with Rick’s side of the family are much bigger (and louder) than my side.  Here is a look at all the cousins on that side:

 

Aren’t they beautiful?  (pardon the littlest girl’s skin…she had fun putting ‘makeup’ on that day with some markers she found) Thanks to our newest member, the boys aren’t so out numbered like they used to be!  It’s going to be fun watching those boys grow up together.

The three oldest girls are possibly the most creative girls I know.  They are also the most talented girls.  They write, draw, paint, take pictures, knit, crochet, and who knows what else?!  The oldest has a passion for all things British.  She is planning to study in England someday (hopefully at the end of this year). That isn’t cheap, as we all know, so she and 2 of her sisters have created an Etsy shop to sell their creative wares. This will help her (and any of the others if they can someday) get to England to study and work.

Want to see what they make? Here’s a sample:

Look at how cute these little dolls are!  Aren’t they adorable?

And these little animals.  So sweet!

 

They also make paper crafts like these flower  balls. They’re bright and fun!

These notecards are all personally hand drawn by the youngest of the three sisters.

Head on over to Three Sisters A Shop on Etsy to check out everything they have to offer.  I’m so proud to be their aunt, and I couldn’t be happier to advertise for them here.  I can’t wait to hear all about her trip to England…we’ll be able to swap stories then!

I’m Not Dead! (And Our Floors Are done)

I don’t think there were too many people out there wondering if I’d actually died or not, but I’m sure someone other than my mother was wondering if I was ever going to blog again.  I am!

I’d like to get back into a sporadic-regular blogging schedule, but we’ll let that work itself out in the future.  I have tons of stuff (by tons I mean about 5) to blog about, but I haven’t had the motivation to actually sit down and get any of it into word form. 

Anyway, I thought I’d update you on our floors.  They’re done!  They were done before Christmas, which meant we were able to host our annual family Christmas Eve celebration with my sister’s family and our mom.  I LOVE that Christmas get-together.  I love them all, really, but because this is the only one I host, it seems more special to me I guess.

Here is a look at our floors in the few Christmas pictures I could find that showed off our floors. I never took a really great AFTER picture, so these will have to suffice. 

This was the night that we actually finished.  I was in love.  We have since changed out the metal registers for wooden ones.

Here is the widest shot we have from our Christmas Eve party.  Those are my sister’s boys.  Jack (and the rest of us) LOVE them!   You can see how our dark coffee table and our dark secretary (in the back to the left of the tree) look with our dark floors now.  I like it. Though, I have my eyes on a light beige shag rug (that I’m hoping comes way down in price soon) to put under that coffee table.

This is our Christmas morning.  You may notice an absence of presents under the tree.  We usually stick to the rule of 3 presents for each of us, but this year, Rick and I decided to count our floors as our gift to each other, so we didn’t get gifts for ourselves.  I love how, on Christmas morning, I asked Jack “It’s Christmas morning, do you know what that means?” and his response was “Yeah!!  We get to get out the train!!” 

This last picture is blurry.  Too blurry to show as a good picture on a blog – unless you’re trying to show the length of the new floors you just put in, and you’re trying to protect the identity of the Plasma Car thief in our house.  It also does a good job of hiding the clutter in our kitchen. 

We love our floors, but it was HARD WORK putting them in.  It took about a week (or 2) longer than we expected, and we had two big situations that required us to pull up floor that had already been laid.  It was very interesting ad frustrating. 

Thanks for still hanging around my blog to see if I’m alive.  I appreciate all my readers, even the ones who never comment.  If you are so inclined, please leave me a comment today saying that YOU’RE alive, so I know if anyone other than my mother reads my blog.  I have missed you, blog friends! I hope to be around more often on your blogs as well as writing more posts for my own blog.

Happy 2012!

 

Apple Picking & Applesauce Canning

A few weekends ago we went apple picking.  We didn’t know what to expect, since this was the first time we’d done any apple picking as a family.  BOY was it busy!!  There were so many people that we almost turned around and went home.  But I really wanted to make applesauce, and I really wanted to create a family memory, so we soldiered on. 

After driving to the correct part of the orchard (this is a BIG farm), and taking one bag from the attendant –a 20lb capacity bag – we made it to the part of apple picking that is actually picking apples. 

We were picking Melrose and Suncrisp apples this day.  Melrose apples were developed at Ohio State University, and they have become the official state apple.  They are delicious!!  They’re tart, juicy, and perfect.  Of course, when you go to pick apples, you have to try out the goods. 

When I tasted a Suncrisp apple, I have to say that I liked it just a bit better.  It’s amazingly delicious.  While the Melrose is a cross between a Johnathon and a Red Delicious, a Suncrisp is a cross between a Golden Delicious and a Cox Orange Pippin (never heard of that one).  It was a bit tarter, just as juicy, and still a great eating apple.  I have had a love affair with Honeycrisp apples for a few years now, but this one surpasses my honeycrisps in flavor for sure.

When I got home, I washed the apples and stored them in a jumbo ziplock bag in my crisper drawer.  Eventually, they were going to become applesauce.  A few will become pies, but those won’t happen until Thanksgiving.  I’m hoping they store well like they say they do.

Last weekend (after another trip to the farm to buy 3 more pecks – does 4 pecks equal a bushel?  That’s how many I ended up with) I set into making applesauce.  I LOVE homemade applesauce.  There is nothing like it, and it’s so stinking easy!  If you don’t take into account the time it takes to peel, core, and chop the apples before getting them into the pot. 

After 2 hours, and help from Rick, I filled to overflowing two crock pots. (Thanks, Heather for letting me borrow yours!!) I add some sugar – around a half cup, though a full cup makes it so much better – then sprinkle the top with cinnamon.  Mix it all up with about a 1/2 cup of water) and let it cook on low for about 8 hours.  My house smelled SOOOOO good!!! At the end of the 8 hours, I took a ricer to the sauce just to make sure it wasn’t too chunky. 

This was my first attempt at canning anything.  (Thanks, Heather for letting me borrow your canning equipment!) I must say, if there was a fly on my wall watching me can, it would have died of laughter.  I can’t say I’m all that good yet at judging how much water should be in the big canning pot.  The floor got a good soaking from the boiling water that was displaced by my 6 cans.  My feet were pretty soaked as well. 

You’ll notice there are no pictures of me actually canning.  It was just too big of a mess to think about grabbing my camera to document the hilarity.

I ended up with a total of 10 quarts of applesauce from about 3 pecks or 20lb bags.  I have another peck left to make sauce and enough apples pulled out from my first trip to make 2 pies (I hope).  There are a TON of apples in my house! 

This applesauce is the most divine thing I’ve ever tasted. If you ever find yourself with 8-10 apples (or 100lbs), please take the time to peel, core, and chop those apples, throw in some sugar and cinnamon if you want and make applesauce.  It’s REALLY something everyone should experience. 

Foto Friday–Black and White

Rick’s dad is a preacher.  30 years ago he preached in this tiny town’s Methodist church to a congregation of 5 people.  I’m guessing he was the last preacher to stand at the pulpit in this church. 

The name above the doors says it was founded in 1870.  It survived over 100 years, but it’s still sad to see a church that has been abandoned. 

This last picture is SOOC.  I love how it looks black and white but really is in full color.  The previous picture I simply edited in Picasa. 

Have a great weekend!

Happy Anniversary! {Wedding A-Z}

Today, 6years ago, Rick and I entered into the world of wedded bliss. Every year I say to myself, “you should do an anniversary post!”. Every year (I’ve been blogging for two years) I fail to produce one. At the beginning of the month, a bloggy friend of mine did this and I decided to steal it. Thanks for the idea, Rachel!

A = Attendance

We had a very small wedding. My dad and step-mother graciously let us take over their backyard for the ceremony. I think I invited just over 100 people and probably only about 70 or 80 came. I think the distance (it was over an hour away for most people) may have kept some away.

B = Bridesmaids

I had my two best friends, Heather and Beth stand up with me. Officially I didn’t have any bridesmaids but a Matron of Honor and a Maid of Honor. I loved that I could have them both in the same honored position. They picked out their dresses, which provided my color scheme for the wedding. they liked the dressed a lot, though they’ll never wear them again. I won’t mention that Beth loves hers so much that she puts it on every chance she gets. She wore it for Halloween one year. She really loves it!

C = Cake

I had no clue what to do about my cake. I ended up going to a local grocery store and ordering their wedding cake. It was so yummy, and it stood up well to the 90+ weather we had that day. I told them I wanted my cake topper to be something with stargazer lilies. I think it turned out pretty good.

D = Dress

I loved my dress. I tried on 5 and this was the one I came back to every time. I bought it from a woman who was running a dress shop out of her old house. It’s not even there anymore. The two things that I loved about my dress were that it had a pocket - how fun – and it had a cathedral train. I didn’t want to leave the train long since my wedding was outside, so my mom’s friend put French bustles in it. I absolutely LOVED how they looked.

E = Engagement

Rick and I met through eHarmony. We were matched on my birthday (May 31), met two weeks later for our first date on June 11th, and were married the next August. I love that we met on this huge matching service, bu we lived just 4 miles down the road from each other. Turns out, we just needed a way to meet – our lives matched up so well after that!

We were engaged for 6 months before we were married. I forced him to get engagement pictures with me. It was in the HUGE package deal I ordered from our photographer so I couldn’t let it go to waste.

F = Flowers

I made my own flowers for my wedding. My friend Heather made her own for her wedding, so I kind of stole her ideas. I loved my bouquets. I was so proud of them. It was the first really crafty thing I’d ever done. I think pretty much every one hated the dangling green things on mine, but I liked it. I especially loved the lilies. My favorite flowers are lilies.

G = Groomsmen

Rick had his brother and brother-in-law stand up with him. Their requirements for their suits were to wear grey suits and I’d provide the ties. Poor guys. I made them wear coral! I’m sure they dumped their ties in the Goodwill box as soon as the wedding was over.

H = Honeymoon

We rented a small cabin in the Middle of Nowhere, West Virgina, and we loved it. It was so remote we saw black bears and knew of mountain lions being on the property, not to mention the hundreds of deer we saw everywhere. We found fun stuff to do for the week like canoeing, seeing a fish hatchery or two, visiting historic sites, fishing, grilling out, playing board games, and driving around the countryside.

This was the first time we stopped at Cabelas together, which has now become a tradition on our big vacations.

I = Invitations

With the help of my bridesmaids and mother, I made my own invitations. I think I bought the kit at Target or somewhere like that. The original invitations were white and silver, and we just added a bit of coral cardstock to tie it in with my wedding colors. (these pictures look like they’re from a cell phone, but they’re from an actual digital camera. It was such a sad little camera)

J = Justice of the Peace

Our associate pastor and Rick’s father married us. We both wanted Rick’s dad to officiate, but we also really wanted our associate pastor to have a part, so we split the ceremony for them to both have parts. It worked really well.

K = Keepsakes

I didn’t have favors I don’t think. Maybe I had little bells on the table for guests to ding-a-ling during the reception, but no formal favors. I did make our programs really huge hearts so that they could be used as fans. It was HOT HOT HOT that day, so we made my program substantial enough to hold up to being used as fans. I didn’t put a stick on them because I thought that might be overkill. Big hearts are bad enough. I also had these cute cups of fake rose petals that guests were supposed to toss at us while we walked back down the aisle, but I guess they all missed the memo on that one. Only one or two people actually threw petals at us. Oh well. It was better for the environment that way.

L = Ladies Night

I had a bachelorette party, but I didn’t take any pictures. So this is a picture from my bridal shower. It’s my mom, sister, aunt, and grandmother. My grandmother was so happy to make it to my wedding. Her next goal was to make it to see my twins be born. Unfortunately, she died just 9 days after my wedding. I’m pretty sure my last goodbye to her was as we were all leaving from the wedding. What a great final goodbye to have – we were all so happy, and so huggy that day. I’m glad I got that goodbye.

Oh, and I don’t have twins, and she had the same goal about my sister, so I’m pretty sure she wasn’t prophetic, just wishful.

M = Music

I was blessed to have live musicians at my wedding. My friend and roommate at the time (who happened to get married just 2 weeks before I did) played the keyboard for the communion song. I also asked my aunt to play the violin for pre wedding and walking down the aisle music, but she and my grandmother gifted me with her stringed ensemble she plays with often for weddings. It was beautiful. They played Pachabel’s Cannon in D while the girls walked down the aisle and Bach’s Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring as I walked down. I LOVE that song.

N = Newlyweds

This is the first picture we took of ourselves as a married couple. This is when we went back home after the wedding, and after his parents had gone. (they came back with use after the wedding to wait out a storm before heading home). Though I look a bit ragged in this picture, I love how perfectly happy we look in this picture. I loved my wedding day!

O = Old, Borrowed, Blue & New

My mom helped me take care of the old, borrowed, and blue items. I’m not sure how far back this particular dime goes, but each woman in our family puts this same dime in her shoe when she gets married. I’m not exactly sure why a dime, but probably for good luck and prosperity in your marriage. I also had my grandfather’s handkerchief in my dress pocket, and if I’m not mistaken, it may have had blue in it. If not, I may not have had a ‘something blue’ on me. I can’t remember if I had a garter or not. If I did, it probably had blue in it.

Rick and I took care of the ‘something new’ item (besides the dress). We built an arbor to put up as our alter in the front of our tent. Rick spent HOURS working on that thing. We were still painting it the day before the wedding. (it’s currently sitting in our basement in pieces)

P = Photographer

We hired a photographer who I felt was like an old family friend. He was the photographer who did all of our school’s pictures, everyone’s senior pictures, and I’d recommended to two of my friend’s weddings before he did mine. Unfortunately, because of my lateness in ordering pictures, and his retiring from the business, our actual pictures (the ones in our frames) didn’t turn out very good at all. I was a bit disappointed in his pictures overall. It’s a good thing my sister is such an avid picture taker! She is responsible for over half of the pictures you see in this post. This is what she looked like the entire day, and I love her for it!

Q = Question Popping

Our actual question popping moment wasn’t extraordinary. We were sitting in his truck, in his garage when he looked at me and said “We really should get married. Do you wanna get married?” Swoon. But now that truck (that’s in the shop still) holds a place in my heart.

The next week, when I returned from a conference, he gave me a ring. It was oh, so romantic again. I was sitting at the dinner table and he said, ‘I got you a ring.” Swoon.

R = Reception

Our reception ‘hall’ and food was provided by my dad and step-family. We decorated their newly built pole barn (thanks, Jenn for sacrificing your thumb for my wedding decorations – staples are fun!) and Sandi (step-mother) put out a great spread of sandwich fixins and sides.

I made (actually, I think my step sister Andrea and her friends made) little flower center pieces with plastic flower pots and bright fake flowers. Sounds classy, right? I liked them.

Right after our ceremony was over, my guests had to change out the rows of chairs for tables and chairs. I had asked a few of the men coming to help, but I think everyone just kind of pitched in and helped. Again, so classy!

S = Shoes

There was a picture of the actual shoes I wore for the wedding earlier in this post – under something borrowed, old, blue. But these babies were made by Heather (Matron of Honor) just for me, so I wanted to show them off. I originally thought that I’d want to wear flip flops for my actual wedding. I thought it might bring together the informal setting with the formal dress. But then I realized I didn’t want to SLAP-SLAP-SLAP my way down the aisle. I saved the shoes for my honeymoon. They turned out to be really great slippers.

T = Trash the Dress

It’s currently hung in the spare room with dirt still on it’s hem. I wanted to clean and preserve it, but I never went to figure out how much it would cost. It may never happen!

U= Unique

I’m pretty sure no one has ever stopped a ceremony to get a spider off of the bride’s dress, but that’s what happened during our wedding. There was a great big daddy long leg spider climbing up my dress, and I think Beth alerted me about it. Rick, my hero, leaned over and picked it right off. I’m not a fan of spiders! I lov e that my sister got a picture of this. That’s a great photographer!

Another thing that stopped our ceremony for a second was a huge plane that flew overhead. We couldn’t hear anything but the plane, so we had to stop and wait for it to pass. Jennifer (the sister photographer) still kicks herself that she didn’t run out of the tent and take a picture.

W = Weather

It’s always windy out at my dad’s place, so I knew the wind would keep us a little cool, since the temperature was supposed to be up in the low 90s. Unfortunately, our ceremony took place during a calm before a storm. It wasn’t too windy (though the MIL’s did have a hard time lighting the candles), so our guests were sweltering! Then, after the ceremony, the clouds started to get dark. This first picture is of the last people getting through the food line and coming back to the tent. (Rick’s sister and brother-in-law). They made it just in time. The clouds opened up and drenched the land while we were all *pretty much* dry under the tent. Afterwards, the huge, white, puffy clouds were perfect for pictures.

After all the guests left, the skies opened up again and I guess a horrible storm came through. It was bad enough to rip the tent, which the tent company said they’d never seen happen to their tents before. I love this picture because even though the storm was bad enough to rip a tent, it didn’t pick up all the fake rose petals I laid down on the ground. I’m sure they’re still finding those fake petals even today! (so un-green!)

X marks the spot

I didn’t get a guest book for our guests to sign, but this framed engagement photo instead. I had seen this idea popping up everywhere, and I loved it. I found a frame that looked like it was from old barn wood, which was perfect for our outdoor theme. It hangs in our living room still.

Y = Yes!

I love this picture of me and Rick. This was my photographer’s idea. Very cute.

This section was supposed to be about my service and vows. I’m not sure there’s anything spectacular about either of those, so I’ll just stick with this picture.

Z = zzzzz

What else is there to do after your own wedding, but sleep it off? All the work leading up to it, the emotions during the day, and the excitement of going on a week-long vacation with your new husband all leads up to a good night’s sleep. I loved my wedding day, Rick tolerated it, and we’re living happily ever after!

-----------------------------

Oh boy. I can’t tell you how long this post took me to type up. I will say that I started it right after I saw Rachel’s which was back in the beginning of August. Whew! And now, you deserve a break. Go grab a nap or something. You deserve it after reading the longest post ever!