Friday, March 30, 2012

Inspiration vs. Reality, part IV

OK, so where are you? (movie reference anyone??) Some motel room. (there, I gave you some more) Maybe I'll get another freaky tattoo to remind myself... anyone??

But seriously, my head is in a billion places right now, and looking over wedding pictures is how I calm the storm. That's my excuse and I'm stickin' to it! My paper for work is almost done. Once the paper is done, I get to start writing my thesis and defend. I've got five months, I should be done in four :) I don't have a huge amount of confidence in my writing skills so I'm always scared when I write something that it's going to be total rubbish. So while publishing this paper and officially getting the OK to start the final countdown is an awesome prospect, the fear of failure is stressful.

I got my first 'job offer' yesterday. I call it job offer but put it in quotes because it doesn't work the same way in science, you e-mail a prospective professor, and if they say 'Yeah, let's meet and talk' you're in the position of leverage. That doesn't mean you have the job BUT you'd have to really mess up at this point. If I can keep it together, Kyle and I will both be in great positions, both of us having good jobs, both working only ten miles from our new home! It's pretty intense... and stressful.

The home inspection is today. It's when we find out if there's some massive structural problem that we don't know about. This is highly unlikely because the house isn't that old, has little to no damage, and looked and felt great. BUT you never know of course. And there is a slightly higher possibility of there being something not massive but still expensive wrong with the house, and if the current homeowners don't agree to fix it, and we can't afford to fix it, then we're at an impasse, and the whole deal might fall through. Again, highly unlikely, all this, but still... stressful.

So there's a little look at why I'd rather be looking at wedding pictures. Ha, actually even that's kind of stressful because the man and I swore we are going to do thank you notes this weekend. Not really the most exciting of Saturday activities. ANYWAY, I'm almost done with inspiration boards. I'm slowly starting to shift my Pinterest use from wedding photos to kitchen and bathroom photos, but NOT TOTALLY! Still subscribed to a few of my favorite wedding blogs. So, without further ado, styling inspiration:
Succulents, fiddle heads, feathers, big hair flowers, big hair... yup, that sums it up! So there's no need to beat around the bush, here's out inspiration-turned-reality board; stylin'!
In love = me! I knitted my own shawl, made those hair flowers and the hangers, my Mama made my garter, the florist did a FANTASTIC job on the flowers, and Ben captured it all! Oh, and I am so glad I wore flats, so so glad; every muscle in my body ached the day after the wedding from all the dancing, but not my feet! The only thing I wish was that we had more time for portraits of me and the girls before the ceremony, but that was no one's fault but time; that fickle mistress... bitch...

Anyway, what do you think?! Thanks for the comments so far, I really enjoy these inspiration boards, and I hope you all do too!

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Inspiration vs. Reality, part III

In continuation of my excuse to relive my wedding over and over again, I bring you another inspiration board and accompanying inspiration-turned-reality board. I'm super excited about this one because it's decor details, table settings, DIY stuff. I had a lot of fun with most of the projects and Ben did a fantastic job capturing them. Basically I'm as excited about this board as I was for the details post!

As I went through, I was sad for a few seconds here and there, there's no picture of our chair ribbons, no pictures of all those crates and extra wine bottles we collected (the ones not at the alter or on guest tables) BUT, and it's a big BUT, I was happy again when I continued perusing our pictures and seeing the overcompensation in other areas. You'll see, hopefully, too. I've certainly let go of any hang-ups I have about what might not have been captured. I am such a control freak, it's unhealthy.

Inspiration boards are healthier:
Ohhhh how exciting! I look back at these pictures and I see inspiration that I had started to gather almost two years ago!

Moment of truth, if the above is sort of how I saw the wedding looking and feeling, then did I get it right???
Nailed it!! Now obviously, the inspiration photos are from multiple sources, so this statement is going to seem really obvious, but the reality board is much more cohesive and carries a theme. I could look at the centerpiece photos for days.

I think it's safe to say I'm having way too much fun with the inspiration boards. Only a few left, then I'm going to have to find something new to blog about :( Well, we'll tackle that obstacle when we get there.

So let me know what you think!!

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Inspiration vs. Reality, part II

Continuing on in our quest to waste more time at work, I bring you the second inspiration-turned-reality board from our wedding. I next tackled details, like paper and some DIY. Without further ado:

INSPIRATION!
and REALITY!!
I do wish we had a few more detail photos or more close-ups (some of these are crops), but I think I am also probably missing a few, and I am in love with the ones that we do have, so I'm not complaining.

The next one is going to be exciting because it's all decor, so, yay! Everyone have an awesome day!

Monday, March 26, 2012

Two awesome things

Every now and then, I hear about non-wedding-related stuff and I want to share it, but then I say 'I'm not going to bother everyone with this one dumb thing.' Then sometimes I hear about two non-wedding-related stuffs in one day and I decide to bother everyone with both of them!

First, every now and then, scientists do very silly things, like this:
This is indeed very silly. I can't believe I haven't shown it till now. Well, I just became aware of a new silly thing, that's also for a good cause. Every time someone views this next video, a donation is made for cancer research. The older guys in the video are some of thee premier cancer researchers in the world, which just makes it sooo much funnier.
Every now and then, scientists do these silly things because really, we have no shame, and the amount of work that goes into it just cracks me up, because ofttimes it seems we have no sense of humor. WE DO!!

Oh the other thing? Oh, just that we're home owners now...

WHOO HOOOO!!! Kyle and I put an offer in for a sweet little split level in the burbs and they countered, but we didn't want to fight or lose it, so we accepted. And now we own a house!!! You wanna' see?!

Cute yes?! It's a four bedroom, two and half bath 2,750 sqft split level! Plenty of space for all our crap :)

That sitting room has a massive picture bay window, it gets fantastic morning light.
It's very well-maintained, doesn't look like we have any work to do right off the bat; paint and drywall is in good shape, hardwood and tile floors are great.
 Large bedrooms, good bathrooms, really nice warm paint choices throughout.

 Feels like home!
It used to be a dentist office, so it has several bonus rooms on the lower level, and lots and lots of space; walled off right now, but as we have the time and money, the lower level will be transformed into a gigantic living room with a wet bar and a full guest suite.
The house has a covered, three season porch and an open brick patio, so we'll be able to be outside almost all year round!
One of the best features: we're on a corner lot and we have a half acre!




Sure, maybe as we go along we'll feel the need to make it a little more modern but for the time being, I am so super excited we've found such a sweet first home. I think we can really start living a real day-to-day life now, not just a "I hope we don't see a roach in the kitchen today" life. No more "I hope all that banging and yelling is across the street and not on our front porch." No longer a "need to wear shoes throughout the house to avoid blackfeet" life (it's the downstairs carpet, not my cleaning skills, I swear!).

For the recently married or getting married soon or even the married for a long time ladies, did you get super excited moving into your first house with your new hubby??

Inspiration vs. Reality, part I

Now comes the time when one asks oneself 'Was all that wasted time spent staring at blogs at work worth it??'

It took me longer than I had hoped, because I have to sift through photos, but here is my first comparison of inspiration V reality and I will ask you, the loving reader, to help me affirm that our wedding lived up to my ridiculous expectations.

As we go along (I think I have like five of these boards), you will definitely see where there are shots missing or different. If Ben didn't capture one thing, he did a better job than I expected capturing something else! Of course. Ben is awesome. Anyway, here goes:

INSPIRATION!
REALITY!!
Soooo?? I luuuurve this board. Lookin' good so far! I'll try to get these out in quick succession.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Interwebs. Interwebs good...

I've been trying to describe or express how excited I have become about today's technological advances in the way of picture stuff as it pertains to online stuff. Obviously, eloquence is not my forte, what I'm trying to say though is that whatever I'm trying to say is applicable to post-wedding:

Do any of the younger generation brides remember hearing their parents talk about how expensive thank you notes (I guess only if you do professional calligraphy or something like that) and photo albums and large prints are?
I personally remember dreading post wedding because of these unexpected costs; unexpected because you already spent so much on the wedding, right? I need to fork out more money?? And a lot, at that?! No thanks. Can someone make this easier for me please?

Enter The Internet. We are a lucky generation to have access to all the internet deals that we do, all the weird programs that randomly give you half off deals for NO REASON! All the random websites that give you free stuff just for writing reviews or some other easy dumb thing. The random awesome websites that just give away free stuff for NO REASON just because they were feeling charitable that day. I have to thank a few faceless weirdos-- I mean heroes:

For the best free stuff just for writing reviews: WeddingWire
For the most amazing $100 off deal for wrapped canvas prints: LivingSocial
For amazing wrapped canvas prints: EasyCanvasPrints and fabness
For the best randomness like free pictures for Leap Day and free labels for 'Hey, it's the end of January' day and a free photobook for 'Hey, it's the first day of Spring!' day: SHUTTERFLY!

Are you following me?? I wouldn't be able to do what I've been able to do without these completely random but unquestionably awesome deals and steals. I was able to get Thank You notes from Shutterfly at a great price because they were running a completely random $30 off deal so Thank You notes only cost about $70 or something like that. Wanna' see?
Please excuse all the crap on my coffee table. I am aware of how distracting it is. So, as you can see, we couldn't decide, then I realized we didn't have to, what's wrong with having two designs?? Nothing! So we do. In this same order, I believe I also got free shipping because it was over $30 AND they were also giving away 50 free pictures. So I also got pictures to include for grandparents, etc... So now I'm just feeling guilty that we haven't finished them yet. To be honest, I realized early on that there are a couple gifts that never came with names and so I've been dreading writing thank you notes ever since then :)

Seems silly doesn't it? It is, but then also house hunting has taken up a lot, a lot of time too. Anyway, then as I mentioned above, we also got a couple prints for super cheap and one for free, and one was included in our photography package. Wanna' see the grand total?
Again, sorry for the coffee table clutter, and for the little puppy butt on the left side. Trust me when I say that it's disconcerting looking at gigantic-sized pictures of yourself. It's weird, I try not to get too close to the center one.

ANYWAY, because of internet deals, we got a room's worth of wedding portraiture for under $100!! Basically, it's kind of a big deal, for me at least. We still have to navigate the scary world of albums, but not yet. I keep telling myself that after this little victory, I get to relax for awhile ;)

In the meantime, I'm also working on Inspiration vs. Reality boards. Doesn't that sound promising?! It's gonna' be epic. Ya'll probably have some idea of how my overactive mind works at this point, and when it comes to how I pictured our wedding vs. how our wedding was pictured? I'm tingling with excitement. It's a manic, nervous excitement:
That's what it looks like. Anyway, back to work. I'm hoping we're honing in on our future home. We have had some frustrating times but this past weekend was productive. I can't wait to reveal our new home!!! We have to have one first though, so, until then, I'll be back soon with some pretty boards!

So for all those readin' along, are you already in your permanent home with your hubby or soon-to-be hubby? or are you house hunting too? And if the latter, are you having trouble focusing on anything else?? Where my first time homebuyers at?!

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Eleven Twenty Five Eleven: DETAILS!!!


I'm excited two fold for this post; details are awesome, but also, since there are details involved in the whole wedding, looking at the details alone is kind of like reliving the whole thing again... but without people.

Anyway, as promised (I know it's a day late, I wasn't feeling well yesterday, shut up!), all the nitty gritty:
Very hard to say what my favorite dress or hanger picture is as Ben gave me even more than I'm showing here, but I just couldn't choose, so there's lots to ogle at :)
 

 





 Next we move outside to the ceremony site... Still so in love with that alter!
 Aisle markers courtesy of Sister Jordan:


Some of my favorite things...
 






G signing the bench my Daddy-o made!
I adore these two pics; the odd angle of the menu sign and the broke down Cards sign! Awesome job, Ben!



Have you seen our favors?! All the work and excitement over these babies and I'm super psyched how well they turned out. Just like I'd hoped, well worth all the time and effort.





Gotta' thank Mother Nature somewhat for the awesomeness of the invitation pictures, but Ben also did OK ;)


I was a tad disappointed that I forgot to bring a complete invitation suite because it looks kinda' wimpy without the RSVP envelope and the RSVP... but in general, who needs to see the invitation. Kyle's mom kept one intact.

Here's the swoon-worthy part. I LOOOOVE these ring shots. Impossible to choose my favorites, so here's all of them :D


Swooning yet??


*Sigh* Moving along... Girls and guys getting ready:









FLOWERS!!! Another case of not being able to choose favorites:
Ceremony details!

Lots and lots of reception details! It's amazing to see, I think everything turned out just how I hoped. The only thing Ben missed was the crates and wine bottles I had stacked all artfully over by the desserts and coffee tables and the chair ribbons, but that's literally it, and the only reason I'm the least bit sad about it is because I never made it over to the desserts or coffee tables to see them myself :( But we still love Ben :)


So so happy with all the colors and details that we incorporated. Loved that Amish stuff :)


Love the close ups of Nick working and his equipment!
 

Menu Love!!!

A couple other details. I loved the windows and the beams and the floorboards. I am still in love with our venue!
Finally, our awesome cake that I will always forever love dearly, in all its glory!
 

 
I hope you've enjoyed recaps as much as I have! I truly believe that between my friends and family and Ben and the florist and baker and DOC and of course Kyle and myself, we've built some memories to last a lifetime. And there's so much pressure on Ben because memory can only serve so much, the rest has to be documented, and he did a phenomenal job. I love looking back at these pictures. Thanks to him, I can always love looking back at these pictures, and anything that slips my mind is documented for me to remember and relive over and over again!

I want to end with my absolute favorite picture of the day... You might think I'm silly, but I love this picture, and I've been purposefully saving it for last. Because this is what it's all about:
That's my sweetie, lovin' on me XD

Miss a recap so far? Catch up!