Taking care of business

Time is flying. I just can't believe how fast time is going by. Before you know it, the big day will have come and gone! 41 days to go... To say the least, the next few weeks will be hectic... as if the past few weeks haven't been. 


We've traveled up to East Texas several weekends in the past few months. The weekend of Halloween we went up. Among other things that we did that weekend, I was able to talk to an advisor at UT Tyler and figure out my class schedule for next semester. I've successfully registered for my classes :) We also spoke with the florist. He had soooo many amazing, creative ideas! He was seriously awesome. Unfortunately, he has yet to email me a quote for the wedding flowers. He did warn me that it would be a few weeks due to a very busy schedule, but I think that the patient period has surpassed and I should contact him (or I should make Jody hehe). 


Last weekend we made our way back up to East Texas for our "couple's shower". It turned out great and I'm so thankful that Jody's mom went through the effort of planning it for us. It was really nice and thoughtful of her. My mom, sisters, niece, and nephew were able to make it, which was amazing. :) I was so happy that they all came. They really got a chance to experience what Texas country really is. lol. It was definitely a culture shock. Afterwards, they came over to Jody's family's house. We rode the 4-wheelers for hours and then went out to dinner. I had a great time and it was the first time that our families got to meet (in 4 years) so it was a really good experience. On Sunday we had the chance to go to church. They had a luncheon afterwards and Jody had the opportunity to catch up with old friends. Then we met with the preacher to go over wedding details.


At the beginning of wedding planning, I set a schedule of when things should be completed and sent out. My goal for the invites was Nov. 15, plus or minus a day or so. Needless to say, I forced myself to complete my DIY pocketfolds which I had completely devoted all of my efforts to creating. Unfortunately, despite all of my strenuous research and commitment to making them perfect, I made a mistake and ended up with a DIY invitation epic fail. Okay..... maybe not epic.... but fail, yes. The labels on my envelopes fell off in the mail and several people have not received their invites. :( Now I will have to send out a follow-up postcard to ensure that everyone that hasn't received an invite is sent another one. OMG... how could I mess the labels of all things up. Oh well, I guess. There isn't much that I can do about it now. It will be fixed and everyone that is meant to be at the wedding will be at the wedding. I'm still proud of how beautiful my invitations turned out. 


We just got back from East Texas last night. We really didn't do that much considering it was Thanksgiving weekend, but we did begin moving our stuff up there. Slowly but surely our apartment's contents are disappearing. Hard to believe we only have 3 weeks left in Houston...


This coming weekend we will stay in the city. My family is gathering for our Thanksgiving/Christmas get-together. :) It should be eventful to say the least.


In two weekends, Jody will be having his bachelor party and we will be moving almost everything out of our apartment up to his parents. 


The following week is finals week. Ugh. Not my favorite week by any means, but it's always nice when it ends. I have finals everyday Mon-Thurs. On Wednesday, our lease ends so we will be staying with friends on Wed. night. On Thurs. after finals, we are driving up to East Texas. On Friday morning we will leave bright and early and head to Missouri for Jody's best friend's wedding. On Sunday morning, we'll head back to East Texas and I will officially be a resident of East Texas. Weird... 


From there, I'll have 3 weeks to prepare before I marry the man of my dreams. :) Eeeekkk.... it's coming so soon!


I've recently taken care of ordering quite a few things so my to do/buy/make list should be shortening, but it's not because I've thought of more. I've purchased tablecloths for the reception, my shoes :), silverware for the reception, bubbles, monogrammed napkins, monogram cake topper, cake server set, and my garter (one for tossing and one for keeping... and it has blue ribbon on it, taking care of my something blue).


Still left:
- Veil: Still determining the best route. One of Jody's mom's friends has her daughter-in-laws and said that I could probably borrow it. I'm hoping to look at it soon so that I can see if I'll be able to use it. That would be nice because it would be my something borrowed. If not, Jody's mom said that she would help me make one.
- Petticoat
- Rehearsal Dinner Dress
- Overcoat for Rehearsal Dinner Dress: I think I'm going to buy a long white peacoat or something
- Covering for Wedding Dress: Still contemplating
- Jewelry
- Something old
- Burlap Table Runners: I have a roll of burlap sitting here. I just haven't quite gotten around to making the runners yet.
- Linen Napkins: The website where I bought our tablecloths are out of eggplant napkins and have been FOREVER. I don't want to buy white because we are eating BBQ at the reception so they'll get soo dirty. I might just have to rent them.
- A pianist: This is Jody's job since he knows people where we are getting married. Unfortunately, he is not making much progress.
- Unity Candle

decisions, decisions...

I am well aware that by now, less than 2 months until my wedding, I should have chosen my shoes... but I haven't. :-/ So I am now finally on the verge of purchasing my shoes. I've really been wanting purple pumps and had been juggling between Paris Hilton and Jessica Simpson. Although I loved the Paris ones sooo much, I definitely didn't budget $92 shoes. With that, the Jessica ones were not that much cheaper, they were like $75. I haven't been able to find the Paris ones for any cheaper :( But... I have found the Jessica ones for $52 on Amazon! :) I bought them... I hope that I've made the right decision!

Jessica Simpson Evoni Pump 

Shoes are not the only things that I have yet to purchase/do. I'm afraid to say that I have a lengthy list. :( Here goes:

- Veil - I really don't want to spend a bunch of money on a bunch of tulle. The prices for these things is ridiculous... but I want a veil. Don't think I could go without one. Therefore, I think I shall make one!

- Garter - I'm pretty sure I'll go with 'something blue'.

- Petticoat - My dress pretty much requires one and I haven't even really thought getting one yet.

- Cake Topper

- Rehearsal Dinner Dress

- Something to wear over my dress - January in Texas is so unpredictable, but just in case I think I should get something to cover up. I'm thinking a cute, simple Pashmina.

- Jewelry - I'm not sure if I'm making my own or buying it. I am making the bridesmaids jewelry though.

- Something old 

I know that there is more to the list than that, but I can't seem to think of them right now. To top it off, my shower is tomorrow and I don't even know what I'm wearing. lol I will be heading to the mall in a bit and hopefully I get lucky :)

DIY Wish Tree

Rather than going with the traditional guest book for the wedding, I decided to have a wish tree. I just love the concept and think that it's such an awesome spin on the traditional guest book. If you're not familiar with a wish tree, it is a tree (or set of branches) and guests hang tags with wishes written for the couple. I intend to make a scrapbook after the wedding with all of the tags. Many people use manzanita or curly willow branches and decorate the trees with flowers and dangling crystal beads. Instead of spending money on branches, my dear friend Val and I spent an afternoon hunting for worthy branches around her lake lot. We struck gold. We gathered so many branches that I was able to pick some really great ones for the wish tree. Here is a picture of our pile:

And of de-leafing (and de-spidering) the branches:

There were even baby acorns growing on the branches which we saved so that we could create fun fall decoration:

I contemplated spray painting the branches white, metallic gold, or metallic silver but decided to keep them natural. I figure that it will go along nicely with our rustic theme. I went to Hobby Lobby and picked up some purple and white silk flowers. These will be the color of our flowers at the wedding. I used a hot glue gun to secure the flowers. I am also still considering hanging some sort of crystals from the branches as well. In the case, I have river rocks, which are keeping the branches in place. I will probably also add pine cones in with the rocks in the vase. I am going to decorate the vase as well.

Here is a picture of the wish tree as it is now:

 

 I'm so excited for the wish tree! It is kind of simple now but I think that by the wedding, the finished product will be beautiful! :)

It's FALL!

So perhaps it's because I live in Texas and truly miss actually having 4 real seasons throughout the year, but in the past few years I have developed a love for the fall season. Now, fall in Texas is tremendously different from that of Washington. In Washington, it is probably in the 60's with dewy mornings and crispy nights. In Texas, it is just now dropping down to the 70's (though it's really still in the low 80's for most of the day) with crispy mornings and nights and warm days. Previously, I would have thought that this was ideal. Now.... not so much. I want COLD! lol Not like freezing, but 40 - 50's sounds amazing! There's just something about wearing a long sleeve shirt, sweatshirt, and jeans that sounds so COMFY! Plus, sitting on the couch watching football sipping on a warm beverage sounds so appealing. 

My current obsession: pumpkin. Weird huh? Okay, maybe not too weird. After all, it is fall. For the past couple of days I have been craving pumpkin drinks and food. On Sunday I wanted to go to Starbucks so badly to get a Pumpkin Spice Latte, but I did not get a chance to go, so I came home and decided to make one myself.. and then I decided to make Pumpkin Spice Hot Chocolate. :) 

I found a great recipe for Pumpkin Spice Hot Chocolate at this site: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2009/10/pumpkin-spice-hot-chocolate-mix-recipe.html. The recipe didn't call for any sugar though so I did add 1/4 cup to it. The recipe is as follows:

• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/4 cups nonfat dry milk powder
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 3/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup sugar (my modification)

Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl. Store the mixture in a container. Stir 3 tablespoons in a mug with hot water or milk. Enjoy!

 

I also found an awesome recipe for a Pumpkin Spice Latte at this site: http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/pumpkin-spiced-latte/Detail.aspx. The recipe on the site makes 3 servings, but can easily be scaled down to 1, which is what I've posted below. The recipe is as follows:

• 1 cup hot whole milk
• 1-1/4 teaspoons white sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 2 ounces double-strength brewed coffee
• 1 tablespoon sweetened whipped cream (optional)
• 1 pinch pumpkin pie spice (optional)

 In a blender, combine milk, sugar, vanilla, and pumpkin pie spice. Blend until frothy. Pour mixture into a milk with coffee, mix. Top with whipped cream and pumpkin pie spice, if desired. Enjoy!

 

HAPPY FALL! 

Details, details, details.

It's back to school! Not that I've really been out of school for long. I just had a week off between summer and fall semester. I'm kind of excited to get back to a regular semester. Though, I am happy that I chose to take summer classes because I got so many classes out of the way in such a short period of time! 

So I've been making some progress on the wedding planning. Let me cover the major and the minor.

The Major:

*Dress - BOUGHT! :) I purchased my dress a few weeks back. I did not expect to buy it so quickly, but I really didn't have a choice. When I went into Alfred Angelo on a Friday and told the girl that the wedding was in January, she looked at me like I was crazy! Pretty much, the dresses that were being ordered at that time would arrive in mid to late November. Considering that alterations could take a couple of weeks to a month to be done, I was really cutting it close. So I went back the following Monday and bought it! So the details... It's beautiful! For a very long time I've had a picture in my head of my perfect dress. Some of the aspects of my vision are just irreplaceable. I guess that the girl helping me realized this because the very first dress that I tried on was amazing. I absolutely fell in love with it. I tried on several dresses after that and liked quite a few. There was only one other that I really loved, but I just didn't think that it beat the first one. For the entire weekend I could not stop thinking of the dress. On Monday when I went back with my sister, she helped me make the final decision. Luckily, she loved it too and the decision was made. I bought the very first dress I tried on :)

*The Church - check! A few weeks back Jody and I went to Quitman and spent three days searching for places for the ceremony and reception. Pretty much from the start I've wanted to have the ceremony in a church. For one, it costs nearly nothing. Secondly, I've always dreamed of getting married in a church. There were a few churches to consider, but we decided on First Baptist in Quitman. Jody grew up going to the church and very pretty inside and out. I'm very happy and excited that we are having the ceremony there.

*Reception Venue - check! During our weekend in Quitman, we spent countless hours searching for somewhere to have the reception. As you know, wedding venues are not the cheapest places to rent and to be completely honest, digging us into a big sinking debt hole just to get married doesn't seem like the brightest idea. With some great input from Jody's mom, Rhonda, and several of his family friends, we looked in every direction possible. When we started planning, one of my first ideas was to find someone with a barn and see if we could use it for the reception. A rustic, country wedding sounded very appealing to me. You would think that in East Texas everyone has a big ole' barn, right... wrong! It was becoming increasingly difficult to find somewhere that was either decently priced, large enough, or within a reasonable distance. Luckily, one of Jody's groomsmen mentioned that he had a friend that had a nice barn/shop that he might let us use. He gave him a call and he was willing to allow us to use it! The next day we went and looked at it and loved it. It was HUGE and very nice looking. When the weekend was over, we considered all of the places that we had seen and decided that the barn would be the best place. I'm very happy with our decision :)

*Catering - check! Since we are having the reception at a private location our options for food are pretty open. We weighed the idea of cooking ourselves or finding a catering company to do it for us. We figured that BBQ would probably be most fitting and easiest whichever way we decided on. I wasn't really fond of the idea of some of our guests completely dedicating all of their time cooking and serving. They would miss so much of the day. One day, Jody's mom emailed him with information that his Aunt Brenda had sent her. She knows a gentleman that has catered several events that she has attended and she highly recommended. She got some prices from him and they were amazing for 2 meats, sides, veggies, and dessert. That's a very good deal! So obviously, we decided on going with him for our catering and I'm sure that it will turn out wonderfully. 

*Photography - I'm working on it. Cheryl was generous enough to fly down here in early August to take our engagement pics that turned out amazingly! Now we just need a photographer for the wedding day. Cheryl and I (mostly Cheryl) have been rigorously emailing photographers. I spoke with one today and she seems great! Since she's in Dallas, Jody and I are going to have a phone consultation with her on Saturday and hopefully it works out because I really like her.

*DJ - I'm working on it. I've contacted several DJ's and am still in the process of deciding which will be best. We also considered a band, which would be really cool, but after some deliberation decided that a DJ would be for the best.

*Honeymoon - This is also a work in progress. I will update you when we know more. Whatever we choose to do, I know that it will be wonderful because we'll be together! ♥

Well I think that covers most all of the major details so now for...

The Minor:

For many of the wedding details, I have decided to DIY bride. Why? Number 1 - for the most part it is cheaper than hiring someone else to do it. Number 2 - I am kind of controlling. In work, school, etc. I have always been the multi-tasker that wants to do every project myself. I want to be able to put my personal touches on everything and look back at it and be proud of my work :) I have always liked crafts and being artistic and I think that I'll really enjoy the DIY projects.

*Save the Dates - check! As you probably have noticed by now, the Save the Dates are completed and have been sent! This was the first of my many DIY wedding projects. I designed them myself in Photoshop, printed out the magnets at home (on our new printer Jody bought for me :) ), attached them to a cardstock card that included Hotel Accommodations, added postage, and sent them out! The date is officially saved now! There's no turning back now! :)

*Invitations - This is another DIY project. Do you know how much invitations can cost? It's ridiculous! I have began working on them. I'm planning for the colors of the wedding to be dark purple, black, and ivory. I'm using black cardstock to make a pocketfold invite. I'm layering using a dark purple cardstock with ivory paper. Originally I started with using purple ribbon, but after researching a bit, I found raffia. It is from a type of palm tree in Madagascar and it's often used to make stuff like hula skirts, fake hay, and scare crows. I found some dark purple raffia for super cheap on the internet and it just came in! It adds that rustic look to the invite, which I really like. I've started so early because I have so much going on and figured it couldn't hurt to start getting them taken care of. I hope they turn out well!

*Decorations - Almost all of the decorations will be DIY projects as well. From centerpieces to wall/ceiling decor I plan to do most of it (with the help of some very wonderful people of course). As Ive said we are going more rustic, which hopefully will result in less cost. 

*Registry - I have registered us at Target and Bed Bath and Beyond. However, nothing is actually in our registries yet. lol Hopefully soon we will find the time to actually go in and pick out everything.

Okay. Does that cover most everything? Probably not, but it's a start.

Here is my wedding inspiration board :)

Here we go.

I've been wanting to start a blog for quite a while, but never quite got around to it. I decided that now is the time. Plus, with all of the current excitement in my life, I figured it might be helpful to have a place to gather and organize all of my thoughts and ideas. 

As you probably know, I am getting married to my best friend and love of my life, Jody, on January 8, 2011. I can't even begin explain how excited I am to be marrying such an amazing person. However, just thinking about planning a wedding can be kind of stressful. So far, I have done a pretty good job with planning, but this should help out quite a bit considering the fact that on here I can post pics/ideas as I come across them so that I don't lose them in the mess. It will also be helpful because it will give ya'll the chance to see everything and give me your input. 

So... here goes nothing. Enjoy :)