disney wedding gowns

my freshman year of college we learned that there was a line of Disney wedding gown out, and there was a store an hour away that had them.  My friends and I hatched a plan that we would never live down! 

Fake ring on hand we came up with an elaborate story of my engagement and our wedding details.  I would like to add that I was not dating anyone, nor was I even friends with my now Hubby at the time (that came a couple months later).


The idea was I had just gotten engaged, and I took my best friend (maid of honor) and my cousin (ok- he was really just a good friend that thought it would be fun).  We were not getting married for another year and 8 months or so, thus I had a lot of time, but we really wanted to start looking for the dress.  We also decided to lie about our ages... even though I still look like I am 16!  It was so much fun!

And now the Fall 2007 line

Belle- my favorite Princess

Ariel- I liked this one the best, if I were getting married, I would have chosen this one!

At this point I was getting  WAY too into it!  my friends were concered

and this was for brian- he liked it- I hated it!

and on the way back, I sat staring at my fake ring.. i loved it!  I loved the idea of it!

 

 

 

 

 

A month later I swore off men, and decided I would be content if I never got married!  A month later I met my best friend, and 2 months later, we were dating, 3 months after that things were serious, and 4 months later we were engaged- yeah, that's how that went down!

a royal tea party- continued

Alright, I am here to share a few more ideas

After watching the wedding, or highlights of it at least- maybe you would like to steal a few of these ideas for your own home!   Here is my share of ideas I have pulled off the web to create the Royal Wedding Tea Party

my inspiration for the invites

quiche!  Super easy recipe here

adorable petit fours found here (found it on a blog first, I wish I could find it again!)

I am hanging this sign ^ on the bathroom door!  found here

would love to make this!  (but berries are expensive!) found here(super easy)

would also love to make these!  also by better croker

PB&J cookies!  This goes to fellow blogger Kels.  So easy, 4 ingredients!

again- a long lost blog- but great bunting idea (using a potato as the stamp!)

I am using this image to put inside picture coasters to pass out to girls as favors (I have 50 extra from my wedding!)

and lastly just to comemorate the event- the real invite ;)

most wonderful husband competition

I win.  NO really, mine is the best!  Just try to beat what he did yesterday!

I had my second in a row 10+ hour day at work (as a nanny).  Hubby had a day off!  He works so hard for us that I appreciate when he rests on his days off as they are so few and far between.  However, he doesn't know how to just rest on his days off any more.  He decided he would do some cleaning since our messy house drives him crazy to help me out for the party on saturday(he forgot about it).  I thought he most pick up a few things, or do the dishes (both of them)- but never in my wildest dreams would i expect what I came home to.

• everything I needed from the store, done
• downstairs vacuumed
• kitchen mopped
• entryway mopped
• bathrooms mopped
• dishes done and put away
• trash out
• dining room table cleared and cleaned
• couch cushions fluffed
• living room dusted and polished
• stairs vacuumed (with the good vacuum- the one that is too heavy for me to carry up the stairs)
• scrubbed all the toilets/sinks/shower
• dusted/ polished the bedroom
• put all clothes away
• emptied the bathroom trash cans
• put away all of my hair stuff that I had left out on the bathroom counter (as well as his shaving things)
• vacuumed the entire upstairs, no inch left uncovered
• cleaned the downstairs carpet
• bills paid
• rent paid

and now for the big stuff

• reorganized my cabinets so that everything fits and makes more sense
• cleaned out and reorganized the refrigerator
• cleaned out and reorganized our pantry
• cleaned out and reorganized our massive downstairs catch all closet
• organized a place for all of our ' i need this all the time' stuff
• a bouquet of two dozen roses (garden and premium)-- I never get flowers!  So exciting!

 and now they one i didn't think possible

• he cleaned the den.  
• dusted
• polished
• reorganized
• vacuumed

That room has been a catch all since we moved it.  It have never been cleaned and has about 3 pieces of furniture too many!  It is a mess, always has been, always will be... until now!

It's still nothing to photograph, but it's clean!  And I am in shock!  Especially because I know that most of that junk in there is my teaching and crafting crap!

Seriously, try to beat me, I have the best husband in the world!  To celebrate his work I took him to Outback and we had streaks for dinner (what a treat!)

What has your love done for you that really knocked your off your feet?

wedding preparations for the royals!

Tomorrow is the big day, but the day after is our big day!  My small group is having a royal wedding watch party on saturday afternoon.  The invitations have gone out... and I forgot to take a picture of them!  Ugh! 

On Tuesday night (when our group meets) we went to Cheesecake factory.  We were excited to all be together as a few have been missing the past couple of weeks.  We also learned that our friend got married!  They eloped over the weekend!  I think it sounds marvelous (I wanted to elope, but no one else thought it was a good idea).  I also passed out the 'wedding invites' and everyone got very excited!  I didn't realize how much we do just through e-mail or facebook.  To get a fancy paper invitation was a big deal! 

I am at work, my camera is at home- so you will have to stop by for other pictures- but I will share some details with you all.

Tea Party Menu

• variety of tea with honey, sugar, cream
• pink champagne
• coffee
• quiche
• scones
• chicken-salad on croissants
• cucumber sandwiches
• little cake bites

I will be hosting 11 ladies in their 20s and 1 adorable preschool boy.  For us ladies we know how to have a good time, but the challenge now is to make sure Caleb has a great time!

Ideas of activities

• Watch the wedding coverage- duh!  
• Decorate paper crowns 
• play with my puppy (what little boy doesn't love playing ball with a puppy!)
• make a king's armor our of foil?
• have a basket of books to read

Ok- I am short on ideas for the little guy- I have no kids, and thus no kid stuff in my house!  What should we do?

photo link up

black and white link up

This photo was taken in the greek isles January 2009.  I tweaked it today for the link up.  

original untouched photo below it.

april 26th, mistaken identity

5 years ago on April 26th, the Taylor University family suffered a great loss.  A serious crash killed 4 students and one staff member.   I remember being in High school and learning on the news that a tragedy had struck the university I was on my way too.  I was already a part of the family.  I saw the 1800 college students gather together at the chapel, holding each other up, praying.  I saw pictures of the horrifying crash on the interstate I drove on at least once a month.  The semi that was slip apart, the guard rail in pieces, the remains of the van strewn all over. 

At Taylor everyone is family.  The intentional community builds this.  While I attended there I had the opportunity to meet the parents of the students who died.  They were so loving and welcoming.  I was a part of each memorial ceremony and was able to learn from the families.

Weeks later, one survivor was coming out of her coma.  It was discovered that she was not the daughter the parents thought she was.  She was in fact someone else's daughter.  A daughter they thought they had buried weeks before.  A boyfriend who was planning on proposing ended up paying his last respects.  Then he, and her family, learned that it was their daughter that was alive and being taken care of by the family of the girl they buried.

The remarkable story of what these families went through was shared with the world in the book Mistaken Identity.  I finally read it on the plane on my honeymoon.  I couldn't read it while seeing Whitney around campus.  It made me cry, it made me laugh, and it made me sing with joy.  If you are looking for a good read, and inspiring read.  Check it out, and share it.

 

Amazon

For more information check out these news articles

USAToday

Mlive

Squidoo  (includes where the families are today)

IndyChannel (details from 2006)

Tail Waggin' Tuesday

time to link up with C-Mae!

Where does your furbaby sleep?
  My pup doesn't sleep often.  He will sleep when he is crated, and in the morning he sits on my lap on on the couch next to me while I blog and watch the today show.  He is alseep here right now.  However, I don't have any recent sleeping pictures.  You will have to survive on 7 week old sleeping pictures.  Enjoy!

 

find more with CMae

new do

It was traumatic, but i did it... I went to a salon and got a hair cut!  Here is the look: before and after

 

I am happy with the results

Easter!!!

I am so happy that it is finally here!  I have a new shirt to wear, a new hairdo to show off (hopefully I will want to show it off... before and after photos are coming), puppy has a fresh haircut, and most importantly I GET TO SEE MY FAMILY!

Moving 2 hours away was a big deal for my mother when she got married.  I got married, and moved two hours from my parents, another 2 hours from the rest of the family.  I am so excited to see everyone (including the 3 pregos!)

I have a big family, and we are all very close.  Easter is a fun gathering for us.   My youngest cousin is 2, the oldest is 27.  My oldest uncle is 48, the youngest aunt is 28.  My family is huge.  There are about 40 of us that get together (of course, not everyone can make it- the 40 is the average number in attendance).  To get everyone in the door at some point my grandparents go all out to include everyone.

On Easter we remember Jesus as he made the way possible "No one can get to the Father except through me".  With grandpa being a pastor, this is not something we talk about lightly.  But we also have a tone of fun and games.  After a huge feast (with tons of sweets) we sit around and catch up with one another.  Of course we have kids of all ages, and it wouldn't be an Easter gathering without and egg hunt!!

My grandparents stuff about 100-150 plastic eggs with a couple pieces of candy (like 3 jelly beans, or m&ms).  They also fill a couple with a few nickles, and one is filled with a 10 or a 20 (depending on how the year has been with the crops of course).  The hunt is on and there is a limit to how many eggs each person can get- but we are all after the money egg!  The hunt does not end until each egg is accounted for!  After it's over we all sit down on the porch, grandma passes our little brown paper bags, and we empty our eggs into them.  It is a wonderful tradition that I hope we never get too old for!

the kids

the adults- hard core running!  The couple in blue tops on the left- that's hubby and I (we teamed up)

  Enjoy your Easter, and your Family!!!

Earth Day

LearnVest is my friend, and today they can be yours too as they are sharing

Green Fashion Freebies and Discounts

We all want to do what we can to be kind to the earth (more fun tips on that at B Kind 2 Earth).  However, being Eco-Chic is expensive!  LearnVest is helping us out with that by giving us a few names of econo-chic designers, as well as some sweet deals!  Hop over and check them out!

In other earth day news:

Take in plastic bags into a Disney store to score a FREE TOTE! 

Take a travel mug (or stay in the shop, and drink in china cups) for FREE COFFEE OR TEA at Starbucks!  

Lowes is giving away FREE TREES!  (don't know the details, head to lowes)

celebrate momma

I am on the search for a wonderful hand made mother's day gift- two in fact!  I love to buy handmade, recylced, and/or upcyled.  So i went to Etsy todo some shopping, and here are a few of the gems I found! (PS- all are under 20 bucks!)

This might be it for my momma- but there is one better

I think this may be great for my MIL

This is so presh!  However, as an only child, not sure how cute it would be- opps, lost the store site!  Head to Esty and type in Mom keychain copper, I bet you'll find it!

Momma and I have always said this, She would cry!

super cute, and would be fitting coming from the new couple that we are!

This is my favorite, I am pretty sure I am getting this for my momma- but i thought I would let you in on the fun too

a royal tea party

Many of you commented on my 'lack of friends' post (and thank you for that,  it was nice to hear a response when feeling lonely.)  I also was challenged by many to step a little further out and try a little harder to be more intentional about friendships- so here I go!

Last night at small group we were told to bring our calendars to plan some summer adventures together.  I almost purposefully forgot mine, but I took it.  I actually got excited about a lake trip that I have no idea if I will be able to make or not, but it is on the calendar!  I also made a few plans for when the hubby goes to Maine to visit his brother (a rock climbing, hiking adventure!  No idea how I will be in shape enough for it, but I'm going to try).  And the other thing that was planned was...

A royal wedding watching party.  We all confessed that we wanted to see it- but none of us can be up at 4am to watch it!  Our solution- DVR until Saturday!  We decided to have a little tea party and watch it together.  Some how I ended up being the hostess!  Everyone is bring food and such, but it's going to be at my tiny house!  I have no idea how I will fit 11 women in our living room....

this was the week we moved in... pre-puppy

we do have a nice tv for the viewing.... had to be sure it was set up pre-world cup!

But we will have fun!

So I am really taking this to the next level, as it is the first time I have hosted anything- and we are going all out.  I will be sharing my cute wedding decor as it is made.. but here is a glimpse of the start of it..

sorry details left off... 11 is already more than enough!

which dog food?

Hubby and I were recently informed of how harmful the dog food we have be buying is to our little fur baby!

Purina= not such a great brand when it comes to bentiful and puppychow, They are full of fillers.  No good for the pup.  But what is?

We need something that we can get at the grocery store, and something that will not require us to get a loan!  (ie, around per 15 lbs bag would be do able, but would prefer less). 

So calling all bloggers- What do you feed your fur baby?  What do you know about different brands?  good ones, ones to stay away from?  We need help to feed this little guy well!

hair

I was really wanting some curly hair one night- so i threw in the rollers for a couple of hours to see what I could get.

I got the front part here pretty curly, but not what I was wanting

so I pulled in back and bobby-pined the entire thing in random curls/spirls

throw in a hand made headband and the look worked great! (add some hairspray for the all day hold)

Tail Waggin' Tuesday

Today's topic: Bling Bling

Well I have a pretty srappy little boy- so he's not so much about the bling.

On his collar (that he wears for fashion and, so that I can hear him around the house) he has his ID tag, and rabbies tag, he's chipped, but he ate that tag (as he has tried to do with the others, he's a chewer). 

his collar now is plain black, we got it 2 days before getting him at 7 weeks old.  We thought it would only last a year.  It's holding up well, but what we really want to get him is...

 or

We are huge Red Sox fans and he is named after a Sox.  We decided before we got him that all of our dogs would be named after Sox players.

When around town he is sportin' a Kong harness.  It is just like this one, except muddy from all of his playing and swimming!  It's very durable, and reflective!  I would reccomend it (and you can get it at petsmart).