Just some more photos of my babies :)  I am so lucky!

Haha Josh and Aaron, having a good time!












And the Christmas sugar cookies that I made!

My LOVE

I am so lucky! I am with such an amazing guy.  He is my best friend, my better half, my soul mate. <3

Over four years ago now, Josh asked me to be his girlfriend and twelve months ago, he asked me to be his wife.  May 28th, 2011 we start the next chapter of our lives together.


Hehe just feeling mushy tonight I guess...


I LOVE YOU JOSH!

Back in wedding mode!

Okay so its been a long time since I have posted anything!

General updates... don't include a whole lot, lol.  We got to go to Arizona on vacation and that was pretty awesome!  We stayed in the Phoenix area but one day we did make the trip up to the Grand Canyon, which was AMAZING!!  It was great to go someplace new and have a week off of work but by the time we came back all my stress that I had left behind hit me tenfold.  Thankfully we scraped by and made it through the rest of November and we are now stress free! :)  The barbershop that I work at is still pretty slow, which is starting to irk me.  I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that we just are not getting any busier... but what can ya do? At least I still get to go to a job I love everyday!

Now... wedding updates!
The past couple of months I have been taking a break from wedding planning but now I'm back and ready to go! Last weekend Josh and I went out shopping and got a bunch of stuff for the wedding!  He bought me everything we needed for our centerpieces and the votives that will be used for decorations and for favors. We also got the wine box that we need for our ceremony and its perfect!  He bought the flower girl baskets and the rose petals to go in them and the isle runner.  He also ordered our cake topper and the gifts for our groomsmen and ordered our save-the-dates so they will be sent out as soon as we get them in!  I feel like we have gotten so much accomplished in a very short time but it feels so good to be making headway again.  Tonight I put together all of our centerpieces and the flower girl baskets.  It was a fun project and I was happy to have something to work on again!

Flower Girls!

Yay!  We added two flower girls to our wedding!!  I'm so excited because originally we weren't going to have a flower girl but when my wonderful fiancee added another guy to his side it worked out that I could have my two nieces be adorable little flower girls!  My two girls are Noelle (who is 5 and my brother Brennan's daughter) and Ella (who is 2 and my brother Tim's daughter). Hehe I keep joking that if I were to ever have a daughter that I would have to name her Isabelle or Stella!!
It is so funny because they look almost like sisters and they are not even blood related.  The first picture is of them back in May when Noelle came to Michigan for a visit.. I love those two!!

The second picture is of the two dresses that I'm torn between for them to wear.  My wedding gown has a beaded bodice with a big tulle skirt so I found these two mini versions but now I can't decide.  I think that the one of the left has beading on it and then sequins in the skirt, which is exactly what my dress has so that would be cool but the right one I could put a black sash on it so she would match with my bridesmaids.  Decisions Decisions!!

I can't get over how cool it is for me to have my two nieces as flower girls.  I am just envisioning how my pictures with them will look and I'm excited that they will both have a change to be a flower girl at least once in their lives.

New groomsman!

We added another groomsman to our bridal party today!  This is Josh's friend Roy.  This will make our bridal party uneven but I think it will be okay.. :)

To be honest.. I am going crazy about my guest list.  I just want to have my cake and eat it too.  Ideally I would love to have a small intimate ceremony with just immediate family and our closest friends and then have my entire guest list of 140 come to the reception.  I know that this is unrealistic but I think I am just going to keep my mind of that for the rest of the night so I can stop stressing ;)

Lots-O-Updates

Ok so I have been very lazy lately and haven't been posting.  Since the last time I posted I got my puppies groomed.  They are so freaking adorable and poofy now, I love it!  We also got our engagement photos done and just got them back today.  Our photographer is amazing and they turned out great.

Even though I have taken tons of pictures of my puppies and we now have a bundle of pictures of us, I had to post this one of me.  This was taken in 2006 or 2007 I think and it made me giggle when I found it on my long lost myspace so I had to share.

Nothing

Today has been my day of nothing. :-D  Yesterday I was productive so I figured today could be my day to be lazy, and oh boy was I!  I spend almost my entire day on my couch and it was wonderful.  I really needed some time to just relax and recharge and today definitely gave me that.  I was kind of productive with my time today though.  I picked up a new hobby and have started crocheting.  I learned when I was younger but never had the patience to finish anything and this morning I finally completed my first crocheted blanket!!  Its not a full sized afghan but I'm proud of myself none the less.  I made my friend Kaitlyn a crib blanket for her baby so it measures out to about 36 x 54.  It seems pretty huge to me so we'll see I guess.   After finishing her blanket I was so excited that I started another one, haha.  This is my first time working with a different pattern but I think it is turning out pretty well, however this one might be a little too small hahaha!  Its going to be just a small baby throw I think. :)

The completed crib blanket is on the left and the beginning to my new one is on the right.

Oh Happy Days!

This is what I woke up to this morning.  Keep in mind that this picture is not staged and Chewie does this on his own.  I could not stop laughing when I saw him all wrapped up, fast asleep, with his tongue hanging out!  He has been doing this more and more lately.  Anytime that I am under the covers he feels the need to do the same thing.  He will just nudge and fuss until he can get himself under the covers or I pick them up and let him in.

Today was my day off so I actually got to sleep in, Hooray! I am really proud of myself because I was actually rather productive today.  After I got up I cleaned up our apartment, got around, and almost finished crocheting my blanket.  When Josh got home from work we went to Helzburg to get his finger sized for his wedding band and ended up buying it today!  We had to send it our for sizing but we will have it soon.  After that we went to Michael's to get test supplies for our centerpieces and went to Target just for fun. :-D -------->

Kira just hanging out.. standing on my knees. :-D

I have the next two days off, YAY! However I was a slacker yesterday and forgot to post so here's my picture that I should have been put up.

Julie & Julia

I don't know if anyone else has seen the movie Julie & Julia but I watched it tonight and it inspired me!  I thought to myself that it would be such a great idea to do a blog with a theme like that so I picked up the computer and logged on and BAM!... nothing.

The past couple of days I have been pretty much dead to the world.  I go thought the motions of everyday life but I do not go above and beyond.  Yesterday and today I have gotten up, gone to work, barley made it  though my work day, came home, and sat on the couch. Thats it, no cleaning, no laundry, no taking the dogs for a walk, I don't even feel like my brain is fully working.  Most of the time I dread doing those things but it makes me feel good to be productive and on days like today and yesterday I just feel useless and annoyed with myself. 

Hopefully tomorrow I can start being a normal human again and if not then perhaps my two days off this weekend will help. :-/ 

I guess I'm going to be a slacker today and not post a picture but at least I got a post up :)

September!

The first picture is looking out my back door.  Only the first day of September and the weather has already started to cool off and the leave are starting to change.  It's kind of  a bitter-sweet feeling, knowing that fall is coming.  Fall is my favorite time of year but I know that after fall comes winter and I am definitely not ready for all the snow! The second picture I took when the dogs and I were finishing up our walk tonight.  It just amazes me how different the sky can look within the same day.  All day it was dark and dreary and then tonight, boom, amazing!!

This picture was just too cute to not share, haha!

Cootie-Catcher!

Monica and I made a cootie-catcher today at work... Yea, we rock!

LML

I Love My Life! I don't deny that there are times when I feel stressed or overwhelmed with life but I believe that it is those times that make me realize how luck I truly am.

I started my new project last night! I decided to take up crocheting as my new hobby. I figured I needed something new to keep my hands busy while I had down time instead of obsessing over the wedding like I have been doing.  I started this with some yarn that I had from a couple of years ago so I am really hoping that I can find more of the same when I run out.

Hooray!

I'm pretty sure that I had the BEST day ever!  This morning I got to sleep in, then I went with my mom and we ordered my dress and got my under garments and my veil!! It feels so real now that I have ordered my dress!  After my mom and I were done I got to hang out with my friend Ashley. We went bridesmaids dress shopping and found out that half of Kalamazoo shuts down on Sundays, lol. This evening I got to see Kaitlyn!! It was so nice to see her, it feels like its been so long since we have gotten to hang out.

On a side note, I have an amazing fiancee! He is the best guy in the world and he is so good to me! I can't believe that I am lucky enough to spend the rest of my life with him!

My picture for today is of Chewie and I playing fetch, or more so of me trying to get the ball from him so we can do so. ;)

One Of Those Days

I can already tell that today is going to be one of those days. :-P  I set my alarm last night thinking that I didn't have to be to work until 10 and then when it went off this morning I thought I had to be there at 9 so I jumped up and rushed to get around.  I got downstairs and double checked my schedule and of course I didn't have to be in until 10 so I am up and around for nothing, lol.

On the plus side, today is Saturday so it should be a good day at work.  Also I think I may have figured out what I want for my centerpieces and favors for the wedding!!!  I'm really hoping that my idea isn't too casual but I will find out after I do test run!

Picture later? I think so!!

Picture Journey

Haha... I was trying to get a nice picture of us at dinner...

Tonight we went to buds bar for dinner with Josh's mom Laurie and so I asked her to take picture for us so I could use it as my picture for today.  This was our journey trying to get that picture. :)

Poor Finger

Today has been a pretty basic boring day. :-/  I got up, went to work, came home, ate dinner and watched a movie with Josh.  Today wasn't a bad day but nothing exciting really happened to make it something special. I suppose a relaxing, average day every now and then isn't so bad.   I did however catch my finger pretty bad today while I was at work, it was a gusher, lol.  I am a little bit bummed about cutting my finger though, we were hoping to do engagement photos soon but now I have to wait for my finger to heal so my pictures won't look bad.  I was going to post a picture of my poor finger but my phone/computer are having some technical difficulties tonight. :(  Maybe I'll actually come up with a good picture for tomorrow!!

Goodnight everyone!

C - is for Chewie!

C - is for Chewie! and his tennis ball that never leaves his mouth. My silly dog sat on my lap for a least a half hour like this, haha!

I have to say that today has been one of the most productive days that I have had in a long time. It was supposed to be my day off today but I still got up at a reasonable time, cleaned and vacuumed my apartment and got most of my laundry done. Then I finally went to sit down and have some lunch and my boss called me and asked me to cover her shift.  I was totally bummed but I still agreed and went to work.  It turned out to be a fantastic day!! I stayed steady for most the night and made some good money, HOORAY! After work I got to go home and hang out with my wonderful fiancee for the rest of the night!!

Cute Customers

Today when I was at work I had a dad and son come in for hair cuts.  This was the first time that the little boy had ever had his hair cut in a shop instead of by his mom and he was autistic so the dad was worried about how he would react.
The poor thing must have been really tired because he ended up falling asleep while I was cutting his hair, HAHA! It was so cute and the dad had to hold his head up so I could finish cutting his hair.  When I finished with his cut he was still passed out so we set him up in one of the other chairs and covered him up with one of the capes.  It was so adorable and the dad let me take a picture but I didn't want to post it online so I'll post some of my inspiration pictures for my wedding bouquets and our cake. :)

My bouquet will be similar to the first one.  It will have white calla lilies and white and red roses in it. There will be a little bit of greenery mixed in with it and the stems will be held together with white and black ribbon.  The second bouquet is similar to what my girls will be carrying.  Their's will probably have longer stems and a smaller bow but will be pretty close to the picture I think.  We are having cupcakes instead of a cake for our wedding.  The cupcakes will be yellow and chocolate cake with buttercream frosting.  They will have black and silver cupcake liners like in the picture but the frosting will have more detail to it and not the little hearts on them.  Also, we will have the small cake on top for us to cut and eat but it will just be decorated instead of having a cake topper I think.

Hanging at Home :)

So I have to start off my post today with a little vent.  I worked a 3-9 shift today at the barbershop. I was slow, almost dead, until about 7:30 tonight and then boom! steady.  Why is it that customers feel the need to go home, eat dinner, sit around for a while and then half an hour before close decide that they have to get a haircut tonight?  It seems like the past three nights that I have closed I have had three people come in at 8:30, all wanting a haircut that takes 30 mins.  

Any who... tonight after work I went home and picked up Josh and Nick and we went to Subway (it was 45 mins before they closed so I'm only slightly a hypocrite, lol).  My pictures are of Nick tonight because I'm pretty sure this was the first time anyone sat at our table since we have lived at our apartment. The second picture I just had to put up here because Kira somehow climbed up on his shoulder on her own. Haha!

Have a great night everyone!

Cheeseburgers, Yum!

I actually made dinner tonight! Haha, it doesn't happen very often. Even though our dinner tonight didn't require much actual "cooking" I'm still proud and it looked pretty so its my picture for today.  Not to toot my own horn... but it was pretty fricken delicious! I tried really hard but I could only eat one of the cheeseburgers and about half of the tater-tots, lol.

Bridesmaids Dress Shopping

Today megan and I went bridesmaids dress shopping to get some ideas, this was our favorite dress from the day.  Its a charmeuse dress which is a shimmery satin I guess and it would be in black instead of this beautiful teal color. Now I just have to decide if my sister could wear satin and have it match well with this dress or if there is a way to add straps to this one.. hmm..  

Goodbye Spiders

Its official.  Buying Raid Bug Barrier tomorrow is at the top of my priority list!  We have had spiders crawling around outside our apartment like there is no tomorrow and I'm freaking out that they are going to find a way to get inside, I'm not okay with that. Ughhh I get that creepy crawly feeling just thinking about it!!

Sign Day.. a day late

Ok so I guess technically yesterday was "sign day" but I had not seen this yet...

A few days ago we drove past this guys house.  He had a sign on one of his trees that said "Free" and in his yard he had some junk and a crappy trailer.

Now when we drove by today this giant sign was out. It says "My trailer was NOT free return ASAP".   Josh was the only one who saw it and just started cracking up so a little while later we drove by again so I could see it and take a picture.  Of course I didn't get a good picture so we drove around the block to take another picture, and I missed again... so we turned around and turned back around and Josh slowed way down so I could snap a shot.  The guy ended up coming out into his yard because apparently he noticed us creeping by three times... needless to say we sped away!!

Our wedding guest book!

Yesterday I got the guestbook for out wedding! There I was, just walking around Meijer, and all of a sudden the scrapbooks parted and there it was, duh duh duh DUHHHH! 

I'm really excited that I found this one. Its kind of hard to tell from the pictures but it splits in the middle and the two sides open up.  Our wedding colors are black and white so it will match perfectly and I can already see in my head how it will turn out.  My plan is to put one or two of our favorite engagement pictures on the first couple pages and let people sign and write around them and then after the wedding I will scrapbook a lot of our wedding pictures into it and then probably just add some photo insert pages to put the rest of our photos in.  OMG I'm so excited! Haha, it feels good to get something else actually done for the wedding!

P.S. Yes... I did have to stand on a chair to get this picture, lol.

Oh What a Beautiful Day

Today after I got home from work I decided to take the puppies for a walk. I've been stressed and they have been hyper so it was time!  It was a gorgeous day out today and I'm glad that I got to get outside and enjoy it. The sky was amazing because you could see the different levels of clouds so I included it in my picture for the day.  Even though there were a few clouds it didn't stop the sun from shining down on us and apparently my puppies got hot because every time we walked by some shade they would just stop and lay down, haha!

After our walk tonight I got to go get some stuff to make my wedding binder! It feels so good to have it back and not all soggy.  While I was at meijer shopping I found this super cute scrapbook that I bought for us to use as our guest book for the wedding.

Hopefully my day off tomorrow will be a productive day.  The plan is to meet my friend and fellow bride Ashley at David's Bridal so we can check out the bridesmaids dresses that they have and then hopefully I can head up to our reception hall and get a few of my questions answered.

Happy Birthday MOM!

Today is my mom's birthday! Happy Birthday mom!  We did not celebrate today but we are going to go out on Wednesday so I will probably put a picture up then.

My completely unrelated picture is of my two puppies begging me to play ball with them while I was getting ready this morning.  Chewie is very talented at dropping the ball so it will roll right up to my foot, its his way of hinting that I should throw the ball. Haha!

Dinner for Schmucks

Tonight we are going to go see Dinner for Schmucks! YAY!

I'm super excited to go see this movie tonight with Josh, his mom Laurie, his sister Megan, and Megan's friend.  I had a crappy day at work so I'm ready to just go out and have a good time.

The Venue

This is our wedding venue!! Ok so I stole the pictures offline but it looks so pretty and I had to share!

Wilson

This summer we got to have Wilson be part of our family.  Wilson is Josh's mom's puppy but we got to steal for for some time on and off over the past two months.  Last night we had to send him home to be with his other family. :) This means no more cuddling on the couch, hectic walks with three dogs, or all playing together and doing tricks for treats.  :( We had a lot of fun with him while we was here and put him through a mini doggy-boot camp. When we got Wilson for the first time in the beginning of the summer he was a rather plump puppy but after lots of walks and play time he is now a good weight for his size.  Having three dogs has been pretty crazy and a lot of work but it was totally worth it to have him here for a while.  I'll miss him a whole bunch now that he's gone but to be honest its nice to be back to only two crazy puppies instead of three!