Thank You, Kim!

I love my bloggy friend Kim.  She has taught me a lot about photography and photoshop.  I just finished reading her post here, ran to open my Photoshop, and created this! 

It’s been 6 years since Rick and I went on our honeymoon.  We stopped at a very large store that he LOVES on our way out of the state.  I made us take these two pictures with the hopes that one day I would figure out a way to join us into one picture.  6 years and 2 months later, I finally figured out how to do it!

Thanks, Kim!

Before:

After:

Layer masks.  Who would have thunk it? 

 (I did this pretty quick, but it’s pretty good.  I’d do a little more fixing before I printed it, but this is all the time I had)

Thanks, Kim!

April Date Night–in September

So we stopped dating each other. I love my husband, and he loves me, but we’re homebodies.  I had no idea this ‘one date a month’ idea was going to be so hard to do!  I’m sure I have new readers since January, so go check out our first date this year and see what I’m talking about. 

We’re not doing so well with our date nights.  The April ticket kept staring at us from the wall calendar, but we never planned anything.  (our March Date Night didn’t happen until July) It’s either because we’re too cheap to hire a sitter or buy dinner, or it’s because we’re too lazy to plan anything.  I bet it’s a good mix of both. 

For our April date (that happened in September), I decided to plan something really fun.  I found a site called Dating Divas that has a ton of great ideas for dates.  I found most of them to be more appropriate for extroverts or groups, but there are a few floating around their site for the introverts like Rick us. 

I decided to use their Bookstore Date idea. I printed their cards and didn’t tell Rick what we were doing until we were enjoying our elegant desserts (McDonald’s ice cream cones) in a romantic atmosphere (sitting in the truck in the parking lot). We really know how to do up date night right!

Once you’re in the bookstore, you search out certain types of books and bond over them.  It’s really fun.  Here is a BRIEF description of the tasks.

First, we found some recipes that we would like to fix for our spouse sometime.  I’m pretty sure we’ve forgotten all about these recipes and they’ll probably never get fixed, but it did prove that we know each other well.  I picked an enchilada dish for him and he picked a lasagna dish for me.

We needed to find children’s books that we remembered from our childhood, but that our spouse hadn’t read before. That was tough!  This is Rick’s book he found for me. 

And this is my book I found for him.  I couldn’t believe he’d NEVER heard of this book.  The whole time I was reading it, I couldn’t stop thinking about what a ‘downer’ this book is.  I’m surprised that I remembered it so well. 

Another thing we had to find was a book on somewhere we’d like to go someday.  I’ve been to Great Britain  before, but I’d LOVE to go back.  I do believe it’s my favorite place in the entire world.  I especially fell in love with Wales and all its castles.  (The castle on the Wales book I’ve actually been to).  .

Rick would LOVE to go to Ireland. He wants to see the country and visit the home of Guinness.

Finally, one of the tasks was to find a book that made you laugh.  That was much harder than I thought it should be.  After several failed attempts with some joke books, this book finally hit the mark.  It is so funny what text messaging autocorrect will create.  I recommend this book if you don’t mind a few bad words and you want a good belly laugh. 

This date was just what we needed.  It cost a whopping $3 for the whole evening (thanks to Gramma watching Jack), and it was a great time to just be together and reconnect.  Rick appreciated the thought that went into planning the date, and he said he’d try to plan the next one.  I’m not holding my breath, and I kind of already have the next one planned.  (Movie night to see Courageous).   

 

Not Again!!

Remember this post last winter?  It’s one of my best stories ever, and I highly recommend taking a second to read that post.  Jack still says “Bring me back my [insert object he wants here]!!” 

Okay, now, remember this project I worked on for my husband who bikes into work?  {He actually parks in the garage more often than not, though he should be saving us $85 a month by biking in just a mile or so from a free parking lot.} 

Well, when you put those two posts together, you get what happened over the weekend. 

Someone stole his bike.

It makes me want to storm out into the neighborhood and yell “BRING ME BACK MY BIKE!” I just know that if I watch the kids riding around, I’ll see his bike under one of their sorry butts.  But, I’ve been told not to confront anyone, and I don’t plan to. 

The full story is this….

Rick keeps his bike in the bed of his truck every single night.  It’s attached with one single bungee cord.  It does not have a tarp over it, and it’s not hidden in any way what so ever.  It’s been like this for about 2 years now.

This Saturday, I took the truck and left the van for my husband who was staying with Jack all day – God bless him!  He asked me to take his bike out of the truck before I took it, so I put it up by the front door.  (I couldn’t just open the garage door and slip it in to protect it).  Meanwhile, he had a rough day with Jack, and they never left the house.  Fast forward to Sunday night, and Rick says, “Is my bike still on the front step?”

“No, I thought you brought it in.” 

“I meant to, but I forgot. It’s really not there?”

“Nope, it’s not there.”

“Great.  Someone stole it.” 

I hate my neighborhood – mostly just the punks kids – and I can’t wait to move away.  Remember the land in the picture yesterday?  Let’s all pray that God provides us with someplace like that for us SOON.  The acreage can be less, the house can be less, and the distance away from our families can be less or more, but we’ll take anything He wants to give us NOW!

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!

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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!