Post Wedding Thoughts

They say that once your wedding is over you get "Post Wedding Blues" and wish to do it over again. However, I cannot imagine ever wanting to re-do it. It was a wonderful day with minor flaws, but I am so happy that it is over. It was completely exhausting! The honeymoon was a blast. We spent the wedding night at the Radisson Hotel in Cincinnati. It was amazing. We had a balcony that overlooked the Ohio River and the Cincinnati skyline, which was a beautiful morning site. Then we disappeared for a week in Danville, Kentucky at Travis' family's lake house along Lake Herrington. It was glorious. Zero interruptions and nowhere to be. Some may view our simple honeymoon as boring, but I wouldn't have done it any other way. We were so exhausted after our big day that we slept most of the first two days of the honeymoon. It was great to not feel obligated to explore and site-see.

Married life has been a blast so far. Of course there have been minor and major adjustments that have had to be made. It's strange cooking and cleaning all of the time. We have finally been able to get our house together this past week. It is so refreshing for things to have a place. I do not consider myself OCD, but I definitely like to keep a clean and organized house. Boxes and clutter are things that drive me up a wall. Now that we are living together it allows Travis and I to spend a lot more time together. I love it! It's like a continuous slumber party. I've never laughed more in my life. We have so much fun together. This is the life I have always dreamed of for the two of us and now it is a reality and I could not be happier.

Here are some candid and professional photos from our wedding day :)

Professional photos taken by Linnealiz Photography

New Happenings

Lately I've had a lot on my plate. Wedding overload, house "renovations", school requirements, job (or lack thereof) stress, relationship quirks, and financial frustrations.

Wedding planning seems to be flowing pretty well aside from temporary stressors. It is crazy to think that it is 3 months from the 19th of March! It will go so quickly. Wow. However, the bridesmaid dresses are coming along (2 are almost finished). We figured out (for the most part) the decorations we will need for the ceremony. I'm starting to piece together my

accessories. The excitement is starting to build!

Saturday, Travis and I had to attend an 8 hour premarital/ marital seminar called RINGS as a part of a requirement made by our officiant. Although very skeptical we left with gratitude. It was not bad at all. They provided breakfast and lunch as well as snacks throughout. I enjoyed the lax atmosphere and the exercises we were able to do with our partners. Travis even admitted he was really glad we went, and he learned a lot of awesome things to apply to our relationship. I particularly learned from the discussion on confrontation. They went over healthy ways to disagree and confront one another without being disrespectful or belittling. I really think the techniques have helped Travis and I get on the same page already. All in all I'm really thankful that I attended and would totally recommend it to any couple (committed daters to married or remarried adults)

My mom and I went over to Travis' house (my future residence) to measure and comprise a game plan for our renovations. As of now it is a smelly, tacky bachelor pad in much need of some TLC! We will be renting it from his grandparents and although it is not too bad for a first place, there are a few things I could really do without. For instance, the old, musky, damp basement with the scary laundry room, the brown paneled wall in the bedroom and along the hall, and especially the teal-colored carpet in the guest room that makes decorating impossible. However, I guess these minor details should be overlooked considering what a steal we'll be renting it for. It's a great size and with a little paint and decorating, it should look pretty nice. It will definitely be interesting though, to say the least. Here is my color palette for the house so far.

I'm leaning towards "Crumb Cookie" for the kitchen and for 2 of the 3 paintable walls in the bedroom and "Rendezvous" for the accent wall of the bedroom (the 4th wall is brown panelling, which his grandparents won't allow us to paint over). I'm still a bit up in the air for the bathroom. I'm thinking possibly the "Footpath", "Sea Sprite", "Parakeet Pete", or "Limelight" for the bathroom. However, no final decisions have been made until I can take the sample in the room and test it with the lighting. This has just been my most recent project. Since Travis is on spring break next week, I'm thinking we will begin our painting adventure!

Saturday night we went and saw a band called "MONA" (pictured above) at the Canal Street Tavern in downtown Dayton. It was a great show. The lead singer, Nick, broke his hand punching their former lead guitar player and played the entire 3 hour show with a broken hand. They put on an amazing show. His voice is really unique and each member brings a great energy. And talk about the best cover of "Zombie" (by the Cranberries) I have ever heard. I would love to have a copy of their rendition... very impressive. I feel like they are on the up and up. Speaking of MONA, Travis' band, Bernoulli, might be opening for them in a couple of weeks. It would be a great opportunity for them! They just recently won the Wright State University's Battle of the Bands contest and get to open for Boys Like Girls at the Nutter Center on May 8th, which I am so excited for! More so to see them than to watch Boys Like Girls.

I found some cute things on ETSY tonight. I purchased vintage-looking lucite rose beads to add to necklaces along with monograms for part of my bridesmaid gifts from Beadsupplies. They match my wedding color (pink) and have that vintage style to them that I love so much. My mom and I also found an adorable knitted beanie-style hat for my one year old cousin from the Cupcakecardcompany. It includes 5 interchangeable flowers (of your color choice) for only $15. Great deal and super cute! Here are some photos:

I guess that is all of the updates I have for now... more later :) God Bless!

Save-the-Date Struggles

Completing Travis & I's Save-the-Date's has been the largest item on my to-do list this week. Little did I know it would turn out to be such a struggle. I wanted to do something unique so I created my own template on Adobe Photoshop a couple of weeks ago. I purchased the paper, bought the mounting strips, stocked up on photo and magnetic paper, and printed test sheets to make sure things were on track. So one would think that it would not take long to print and assemble 100 Save the Date's. Wrong. It has been one issue after the other. First the sizes, then the clarity, now the color. For some reason the ink was printing fine last night, ran out, was replaced, and is now printing in a blue-ish tone. Frustrating! Hopefully, I can finish this battle tomorrow. Here is the progress I have made thus far...

This is the template that I designed.. I used ivory cardstock from Hobby Lobby and printed the

pink background to coordinate with our colors...

100!

The next step was to mount the Save the Date onto the patterned paper

Ta-da!

I decided to design it with square indicators where the pictures should be

placed in order to ensure that they remained almost identical

After the pictures were added (2) I decided to add a photo magnet to the bottom

to make it easy for our guests to remember the date

I have most of these printed, however, the printer decided to start printing them

in a blue tone, so that must be corrected before I can go any further

I think I got about 65 magnets cut out... just 35 more to go :(

Luckily, I found ivory envelopes that fit these perfectly. I was concerned about finding large enough envelopes. I did have to shrink the design a bit, but all-in-all it still looks pretty nice, wouldn't you agree? At least these lean more towards representing me opposed to store bought/ pre-ordered Save the Date's. I was able to exercise my creativity, despite the desire to do so at times. Hopefully they will be a thing of the past in just a couple more days. Talk about a relief! Wish me luck! :)

Gravity

I feel as though I am in a slump lately. I'm not sure why. Everything seems to be going right for once. I'm home, finished with school in Tennessee, with family, with my fiance, enjoying free time, but something is off. Hmm. Christmas was excellent. Lots of time with family, both Travis' and mine. It was much-needed. I finally got a new camera that I am extremely happy with. My sisters surprised me with it on Christmas Day. Wonderful surprise! It's a Canon 1200 SD and I highly recommend it, especially for detailed close-ups with a digital... great quality and automatic scene detection! My mom just bought one today as well. Speaking of my mom, I am all shopped out. Aside from the annual Christmas shopping madness, she has drug me (willingly & unwillingly) to so many stores lately that I am over shopping (temporarily of course). This is another indicator of my slump... me? tired of shopping?... strange. I only wish I could figure out what has got me so down, it's a bit annoying really. Maybe I just need to adopt a little more creativity in my life. I haven't had any time for hobbies due to the hectic holiday festivities. It is quite possible that I just need some creative therapy. Hmm... but what to make?

In other news, I exchanged my wedding dress for an ivory version of the same dress. I think it was the right decision. I won't be able to see it until it arrives in March, so I am very anxious. I just think it will look much better with my skin tone. I also might have possibly found the song that I will walk down the aisle to. It's a piano version of Look After You by the Piano Tribute Players... it seems to be the perfect song in my opinion. Lots more wedding details to look forward to. Next on the list: Save the Dates. I need to start putting them together & getting them sent out before mid January. It's hard to believe I am getting married in less than 6 months. Maybe I am just going through pre-marital anxiety or something that has to do with leaving home and anticipating immense changes that are about to occur in my life. 22 years of doing things one way then having to change definitely warrants some anxiety, right? This was my last Christmas at home, and it wasn't even a typical traditional Christmas since Travis & I attended each other's Christmas activities.

I feel so old lately. Like I'm experiencing an early form of a quarter life crisis. I'm only 22, but in just a few months I'll be married- a wife! That's a whole new phase of life. I am definitely looking forward to it, but feel as though I have so much to learn. I don't want to turn into an old woman just because I gain a new identity as a wife. I want to still have fun like a 22 year-old should. Travis & I do most things together anyway, maybe it won't be THAT much different. A little nervous, but that's normal. Mostly excited more than anything. I have figured out that I am so not ready for the idea of kids. I used to think that I would want them shortly after being married. Now, I am sure that will not be the case. I actually get a little freaked out thinking about it. Let's hope that they will remain several years down the line.

Here is a picture of my new favorite necklace taken by my new camera!

Okay, enough ranting, time for bed. Goodnight. :)

The Roller Coaster We Call Life...

It's been awhile. Partly because I have been overwhelmed with school work as the semester has finally come to an end and partly because I have had several other things on my mind lately.

One thing occupying much of my thoughts is the fact that my boyfriend proposed two weeks ago today (May 1st)! We've just approached the beginning stages of planning our wedding and figuring out all of the millions of things we must do and pay for before this time next year. It's exhausting! But very exciting! So far the colors are pink and green and off-white... However, they are pending. Seems kind of girly, but the flower arrangements that my mom and I saw are what really convinced me that I love those colors. They have green hydrangeas, pink roses, off-white peonies, and pink and white delphiniums in them. Anyway, I have lots of time to figure out details.

Tonight we held my Grandpa's 84th? birthday party. It was tons of fun. My aunt and uncle from Troy came as well as my cousins who brought their new baby Rowynn. It was the first time I have gotten to see her and it was so awesome. She is so cute and tiny! Tomorrow will be a long day attempting to please Promzilla (aka my younger sister). It is her senior prom so of course everything must be perfect or all hell will break loose. I'm exhausted right now.. I will hopefully include something less surface-level next time!

I found these gorgeous cakes on The Knot website while sifting through their massive inventory of bridal tips and suggestions!

This is a centerpiece inspiration I found on The Knot as well...

Bridesmaid dress possibility... only in pink and slightly less puffy... Maybe this shade of pink (without the hot pink ribbon!)

I Like this color of pink dresses! I also love these decorations for a bridal shower! Very girly and cute!

My mom said she is planning on throwing Travis and I an engagement party after my sister's graduation so that we can invite his family and have a cookout/bonfire. I love that I already feel as though I am a part of his family and know that our families get along wonderfully. That's one less area of stress in my life! I'm really looking forward to it! Monday my mom, Abbie (sister), and possibly Beth (my cousin) are going dress shopping. I can't wait! I already have found a dress that I love so this process might not be that difficult! If only the church would call us back so we could get that item out of the way! So much to do! Okay, now it is really time for bed! God bless! <3

PS: My sister introduced me to this adorable shirt that she found at Forever 21. I caved and bought one like hers. I must admit, it was love at first sight! It's kind of hard to recognize the detail in this picture, but it was worth every penny :) I suggest you run and pick one up as well before they're all gone. The cashier said they were selling fast!