Friday, December 30, 2011

Plans for a New Year...

Quickly before I get into the New Year, I realized that I forgot to re-cap Christmas...we had a great weekend with our family. Saturday my parents came up to stay with us, and we went to the 11pm service at our church, then woke up Sunday to open presents and had our traditional family meal, lasagna. After that, we went to see Jake's family and had their traditional meal at his Aunt Teri's house for dinner. Jake loves his new golf clubs that I got him, my parents got him a golf bag, and my brother got him a matching golf accessory set. All in Georgia black & red, of course :) Jake wanted to get me a piece of jewelry to have and always remember our first married Christmas together, and got me a beautiful pair of diamond earrings!



Well, 2011 went by in a flash! I can't believe how much has happened over the past 12 months. A lot of first-time experiences for us--buying a home, getting married, going on our first big vacation (honeymoon), buying a new car, getting a new dog, remodeling our kitchen, getting a new job...also, for the first time, Jake's company now has its very own warehouse! I am so proud of him.


So, what is in store for next year? Learning how to file taxes as a married couple & our vacation to Las Vegas in May! I have also decided to start drawing more, and I went out last night and got some great deals on the makings for my new art corner. I am really excited and I have already got my first couple projects in mind...



What makes it better is that I got everything on sale! The storage tower is from Ross, and I got it 25% off because the feet aren't level (something my hubby can fix very easily). The easel is a French sketch-box style that can fold up and be portable, and has a center drawer for storage. I got it from Hobby Lobby, and I used their 40% off coupon this week to get it for $59 instead of $99. I also got a new sketchbook for 30% off. The canson drawing pads were B1G1 Free at Michael's, where I also picked up some packs of drawing pencils and charcoals for 40% off. The drawing board I already had from my freshman year at Winthrop. Now, I just need to find a stool and clip-on light. I also want to get some wall shelves or something to decorate that corner.


We are going to have fun this weekend! We are driving down to Mount Pleasant tonight for a late Christmas celebration with my grandfather, and then coming back up to Rock Hill tomorrow for New Years/Jake's 24th birthday festivities. We also have off work on Monday so it will be another nice long weekend!


Happy New Year :)

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Holy cow!!

It has been ridiculously long since my last blog, sorry for that! So, what is new since October? I have started a new job and settled in really nicely. I love my bosses and coworkers, and it is so amazing to be working in a positive, happy environment. I have also really enjoyed not working on Saturdays and being able to enjoy my weekends and more time with Jake and friends.

The kitchen is also finished and looks great. We still need to patch the walls from where the backsplash laminate was pulled off, and put up a tiled backsplash. I am not in a hurry to get that done, although it will make it look more complete. I think I just got burnt out because even when I wasn't working on Saturdays I was still so busy and always had something to do. I like not planning out every moment of my weekend and just hanging out.

A little celebration this week, our adorable Kona is one year old. I can't believe how little he was when we first got him. Such a cutie, even though he is so mischievous. It's funny that I talk about him and Reece so much like they are my children, but they are! At least until a few years from now...but let's not rush that!!!

We have a half day of work tomorrow and are off on Monday for Christmas. I Am really looking forward to this weekend and getting to see all of our family for the holidays. We are going to the midnight service at our church on Saturday evening, and having Christmas lunch with my parents. Then we are going to jakes moms house to do gifts with the before going out to his aunt Teri's for Christmas dinner.

Jake got a deal on promotional tickets for the Charlotte Bobcats so we are going to four of their games this season. Two of them happen to be next week, Monday and Wednesday. The others aren't until sometime in February.

Well, enough for now, can't wait to update later this weekend after we see what Santa brings ;)


Sunday, October 16, 2011

Kiss the Cook :)

So...A lot has been accomplished with our kitchen remodel...The cabinets have been ordered and should be coming in this week! They are going to be installed Halloween weekend (hopefully) and the granite should go in the week after that. I am still trying to figure out the design and materials for the backsplash.

Here is a peek:

Cabinetry Style, Crimson Shaker


New kitchen faucet, love this! The one we have now is terrible.
Delta 16971-SD-DST
We are not going to use the soap dispenser or the base plate, it will just be the faucet straight on the countertop. At work we used the single-hole faucets all the time and it is such a nice, clean look on granite countertops. It is also a pull-out sprayer style which is going to be very nice!


Our Granite...Love this! The picture doesn't do it justice...


I am so excited because Jake and I did not think that we would be able to get everything done before Thanksgiving, but it is looking like we will :) We are hoping to host some family holiday gatherings so it will be nice to have the extra counter space with the peninsula we are adding.


I will post more updates as the project goes on.


For other updates...We had a really fun Oktoberfest get-together this weekend and it was so nice to get to see our friends from out of town. The food was great too! I had some help from my mom and our friend, April, and we ended up with a lot of really yummy stuff! I can't wait for Winthrop's homecoming weekend when everyone is coming back into town.

I have this week off as I am transitioning between my old and new job, and it is going to be FANTASTIC to get so much done and have a chance to relax for once.

We also had a meeting at church tonight to become official members of the church. We have been going there since shortly after we moved into our house at the end of January and are excited to be an official part of the church, even though we feel like we are already.


I will leave you with some pictures of the cuties...













Sunday, October 9, 2011

Okay, Finally an Update!

Soo much to update on, where to begin.....

Sunday School:
I can't remember if I ever wrote about how Jake and I teach the 3-4yr old Sunday school class at our church, but we do. We started in August, and the kids are so sweet. They are so innocent and happy. We have really been enjoying it.


Mom & Dad's 30th Anniversary Trip:
We are sending my parents to CAPE COD! It is somewhere that we always remembered them wanting to visit but have never had the chance. I can't wait for them to be able to take the trip, for the big honeymoon trip that they were never able to take 30 years ago. I don't think they will ever quite know how much I admire them, and the way that they have been such a testament to their vows. They definitely deserve this :) They are staying at a very cute B&B in the mid-cape, the Captain Kelley House.


Kitchen Remodel:
I am hoping to go in the morning to finalize our cabinet choice for the kitchen. I am really hoping that these are the solution we have been looking for, because I would hate to have to go back to square 1. Once I have the cabinets chosen and a door sample, I need to visit the slab yard to choose our granite counters. I am excited that we are getting closer! We didn't think that we would be able to have it done before Thanksgiving, but the cabinets do not have a long lead time so it may be able to happen after all!


Work:
I GOT A NEW JOB!! I am so excited about all of the new possibilities and having a much more normal schedule. I am really looking forward to the change of pace, not working Saturdays, attending industry events and networking, and getting back into Commercial. I can't wait to start in a couple of weeks.


Fall Plans:
With my weekends opening up, I am packing my schedule full! I can't wait for haunted houses, Halloween, visiting friends, Winthrop Homecoming, going to a Georgia game, Thanksgiving, Black Friday shopping, the Lady Antebellum concert, etc!


That is all for now, goodnight!



Thursday, October 6, 2011

Fall :)

I know every post recently is about how much I love fall, but I just am so excited about it.  I think having our house to decorate has fueled this a little bit more than usual.  It just makes me smile every day seeing our cute Halloween decorations when I leave the house. 

I am also excited because we are nearing our kitchen remodel.  I found some cabinets at a local company in Rock Hill that I need to go see in person.  They seem great though, solid wood construction, dark stain, Shaker style, which is exactly what we are looking for.  We decided to get granite instead of quartz because our kitchen is going to be just a little too big for one quartz slab and I don't want to add the cost of a second slab. 

Lots of stuff going on right now that I will hopefully be able to update you on by the end of the weekend :) for now, I will leave you a couple pictures of my stud muffins...



Sunday, October 2, 2011

My Favorite month of the Year!

So many wonderful things to look forward to during the month of October :)

--Cool Fall weather
--Cute Scarves
--Holiday decorations
--Reece's birthday (he is officially older than us in dog years now)
--Apple Cider
--Dad's birthday (Today!)
--Jake & My dating anniversary (5 years)
--MY birthday
--Halloween, one of my favorite holidays!




Sunday, September 25, 2011

Decor Fun

Here are some updates for the holiday decorations at our house:

Fall tablescape in our Dining Room

The close-up...The ivory candle holders are from our wedding reception, and the rest I found for $6 or less on sale at Hobby Lobby :)

Decoration on our stair rail, not quite finished with it yet. It needs some more accents.

Halloween Decorations



On another note, we had a scary night tonight. Reece started having a seizure while playing with Kona earlier, so we rushed him to the emergency vet. On the way there, he had another seizure in the car. It was so scary, he was so afraid and he was shaking, his muscles tensing up and convulsing. After the second seizure he pretty much went back to normal. He was wagging his tail, acting energetic like nothing ever happened. We still had him examined and the verdict is 97% sure it's Epilepsy. The doctor said he could start having seizures once a month, or may never have another one again. She said it's nothing to worry about until it's once a month and he would need medication. I think Kona was more affected by it than Reece was. He was so upset, not to mention the usual separation anxiety. While it was happening he kept trying to kiss Reece, and wouldn't leave his side once we got back home. Now he is passed out on the floor in the man cave, all the worrying took a lot out of him.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Amazing!

...is pretty much how I feel! Why, you ask? Well...our house had become pitifully empty of anything to eat, and we needed lots of toiletries too, so I went grocery shopping last night. It had been far too long since I had made a good couponing run, and it felt awesome last night when I got home. Jake said, "So how much did you save this time?" I wasn't quite sure, so we went searching through all of the bags to find the receipts. Here it goes:

BiLo:
Hamburger Buns
(4) Rice a Roni
(3)Pasta Roni
Cookie Mix
Angel Hair Pasta
Linguini Pasta
Butter Grits
Cheese Grits
Raisin Bran Cereal
Corn Pops Cereal
Saltine Crackers
(3) Campbell's Tomato Soup
(2) Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup
Beef-a-roni
Ravioli
Apple Cinnamon Tea
BBQ Sauce
Tortilla Chips
Parmesan Cheese
(2) Mac & Cheese
Salsa
Wisk Laundry Detergent
All Laundry Detergent
Deodorant
Crest Toothpaste
Layers Biscuits
(2) Pork BBQ
(2) Frozen Shrimp bags

Price Before Savings/Coupons: $122.01
Price After Savings/Coupons: $74.69
FuelPerks: -$0.10/gallon
Total, I bought 40 items here, so that is an average of less than $2 an item :)


Harris Teeter:
(2) Better Crocker Brownie Mix
Bisquick Mix
(3) Kleenex Tissues
Febreeze Candle
Dawn Dish Detergent
(4) Pringles
Tide Stain Release
Downy Fabric Softener
(2) M&M's
(2) X14 Toilet Bowl Cleaner
Pledge Dust Wipes
(2) Glade Scented Oil Refill Packs
(2) Brown Sugar
Pam Cooking Spray
Just 6 Dog Treats
Chocolate Chips
Wisk Laundry Detergent
(2) Xtra Laundry Detergent
Biore Face wash
Herbal Essence Shampoo
Cooking Light magazine
1lb Ground Beef
1lb Ground Chicken
Boneless Chicken Breasts
Pork Chops
Ice Cream
Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls
Crescent Rolls
(2) 4-pack YoCrunch Yogurt
1 Dozen Eggs
1/2 Gal Milk
Advil Congestion Relief

Price Before Savings/Coupons: $177.44
Price After Savings/Coupons: $127.71


So, I spent around $200, and I saved $100. I haven't had a good trip like this in a very long time. Plus, it feels awesome actually having a pantry and refrigerator stuffed full of items!

Aside from the couponing, we had such a nice, relaxing weekend. We had a low-key night in on Friday, Jake played some softball and we stayed in at night on Saturday, and yesterday after church we went to Jeremy & April's to watch some movies. My grocery trip was last night. We have also gotten to watch lots of Grey's Anatomy this weekend. We love this show, plus it has a special place in our hearts since it is the reason that we started hanging out 5 years ago :) Time flies...


Monday, September 12, 2011

Falling for Fall!

I LOVE Fall :) I can not wait for the temperature to drop down a little bit more into the 60-70's. I can't believe that we are already at the middle of September, where has the year gone?! When I was at Michael's last weekend I picked up a few Halloween decorations because they were having a good sale. I decided that this afternoon was a wonderful time to put them out! Here are some pictures:


We need to get some more decorations to accompany these guys...they look a little lonely.


Love this cute, colorful witch :) I can't decide if we should get rid of the bird-bath that was left here by the previous owner, any thoughts? If we get rid of it I feel like we need to put something else there, sculpture or bush or something.


That's all for now. I'm sick with a sinus infection so I'm trying to relax!

Friday, September 2, 2011

Working for the Weekend

Gotta love classic rock...unfortunately unlike many others, I do have to work on this holiday weekend.  However, I am looking forward to next weekend when I have Saturday off.  We are going to Charleston to see my aunt who is going back to India, where she lives doing mission work.  She was back here for the summer to take some classes, which was great because she was able to be at my wedding!

Next Sunday will also be fun because I am headed to Florence for a friends baby shower.  I have not been to Florence in SUCH a long time.  Probably 4 years, from what I can remember.  It will be so nice to see the town and how it has grown.  My mom and I are going up early to have lunch at Redbone Alley, one of my favorite restaurants.   On Sunday we are also revealing the location of my parents' 30th anniversary trip, so it will be an exciting weekend!

Also, I felt the urge to do something crafty today.  I was out window shopping in Pier 1, and all of the fall holiday stuff was out and so cute!!  If only Pier 1 wasn't so expensive, I would have bought everything!  Instead, I left with a $6 purchase of handsoap with a cute Autumn scent for our powder room :) I went next door to Michael's craft store and decided to make my own decorations.  While looking at all of the Fall items, I was starting to worry that something in the typical Orange and golden tones would be misunderstood for some SITG of Clemson decoration from far away.  Well, if you know my husband you know that this would definitely not be acceptable.  So, while brainstorming I thought about the excitement of this weekend, and decided to make a college football wreath.  Here is the final product, Go Dawgs!!


Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Be Our Guest!

Here is the before and after of our guest bathroom.  Small changes of the paint color and more useful storage.  I am so happy with the result!  I just need to find some artwork to add a little touch and it will be done :)

This was more of a budget project, quick DIY fix.  Behr paint, $22 for a quart which ended up being just enough for this smaller size bathroom.  Paint supplies $10.  The storage piece is actually a wrought iron wall planter, but I saw its unique design would be the perfect way to make the storage feel lighter while giving us some linen shelving, $49.



Friday, August 19, 2011

Making it Official

I'm finally getting to make it official and become a Walden this morning!  I'm standing in line as we speak at the Social Security office and they open in 20 minutes.  I'm hoping that this doesn't take too long, but I'm second in line so it should be okay.  I'm excited because I got a notification that the wedding photo I had blown up onto a canvas is out on the truck for delivery today.  I'm a little nervous because I don't want it to get messed up in the heat all day, but maybe it will be delivered by the time I'm done at this office.  Wishful thinking, Haha. 

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

House a Home



I am loving my new car! I ended up getting the Kia Soul "!" model, in the metallic black ("Shadow") color. It is really cool because the metallic in it is actually red. I got a heck of a deal! We definitely went at the right time. It has upgraded hounds-tooth interior and a sunroof, which is awesome. In the past I have not really been a 'driving with the windows down' kind of girl, I mean let's be honest that doesn't work well with long hair. However, the sunroof adds a new dynamic and I love it. It is so nice and relaxing to ride around town. It's also got bluetooth which is a feature I am surprised that I use so much. I hate the bluetooth ear pieces and have always thought it was weird, but the car version is really nice to be hands-free even though I probably look weird talking to myself.

So, as I have mentioned before, Jake and I have pretty much been very slack with decorating our house since we have moved in. We didn't have as much time as we would have liked to get things ready before we moved in. Lately I have really been wanting to do more with the house. I would love to paint the bathrooms, and put up framed mirrors instead of the builder mirror sheets. We also need to get up lots of artwork, and I am hoping to slowly but surely do that.

The other big project that Jake and I want to do is to remodel our kitchen. You would think that since it is what I do for a living, this would be easy. To an extent it is, however it really challenging to find good premade cabinets. I do not deal with premade cabinets at work, and ones that I have found at Lowe's and Home Depot really do not impress me. Here is something similar to the look we are going for:

We have a similar kitchen layout and coloring. We have the glass slider on the right wall, and door to the garage where this one is. Instead of an island, we have a peninsula that we are going to add coming off of the left wall. Our flooring is light laminate hardwood like this, and we want some sort of dark (not necessarily cherry) cabinets. The countertops are going to be light/medium tone quartz, and a light onyx backsplash (these were easy to choose from work!).

The new Martha Stewart line at Home Depot has some really nice character to it, and it is so new that they do not have any kitchen displays, only the sample boards. From reading reviews online, as much as these cabinets have in design details, they lack in structural integrity and quality. They are already more expensive than they should be just because they have the MS name, and they are built standard with 3/8" particle board instead of 3/4" plywood (which you have to pay even more to upgrade to). There are also horror stories of everything coming in wrong or damaged, and taking forever to replace. Lots of extra time to deal with other people's mistakes is something that I do not have, working 6 days a week. After lots of research, a new store called Cabinets To Go is opening up in 2 weeks in Charlotte and I think that is seeming like the most promising thing so far. Of course, that could change when I go there and see the quality of their products, but from the information on their website I am keeping my fingers crossed! Jake wants to get this remodel done sooner rather than later to get all of the wedding gifts that we have piled up in the dining room into the additional kitchen storage, and I am not complaining! We are just hoping to keep a good budget so that we can still do the back patio this fall. I love being an interior designer, and feel so blessed that we will get great discounts to allow us to get these projects completed.

Aside from that, we are looking forward to a fun night tomorrow going to Thirsty Thursday at the Charlotte Knights stadium. We are going with some friends from church, and I am using a voucher that I bought off of Living Social a few weeks ago :) I haven't been able to do a whole lot of couponing lately but at least I am still on the lookout for bargains! We bought the "Voucher for 2 field box tickets and one appetizer from the Budweiser Brewhouse from Charlotte Knights" for $15, a 59% savings. www.LivingSocial.com


Goodnight!


Friday, July 29, 2011

Life Lately

Another week nearly over.  This week it really is a true Friday for me because I have tomorrow off!  Super shocker, I know.  It was great though because that way I can ride to Columbia tonight with my Dad and it doesn't waste gas making my mom drive up here tomorrow.  I am getting a new car this weekend which is very exciting!  I have never driven a new car, since being the baby of the family I got the pass-downs when someone else upgraded.  It is going to be a KIA Soul, but I'm not sure which color I will end up with.  There are a few colors Jake and I like so we will see what is available on the lot and which we can get the best deal on. 

I have been pretty proud of myself at work lately.  There are always going to be things you don't like about your job, but the little accomplishments make it worth while.  We have had several builders and architects come in to our showroom lately and I have done a really great job meeting with them.  Not to compliment myself, but it is such a great feeling when you know you nailed a client meeting and you can feel their complete trust and confidence in you and your vision.  It also makes me feel so proud of how much I have learned over the past year and a half in the "real world." To have 40-50yr old architects put their complete confidence in me and ask for my advise is awesome.  Things like that make everything else worthwhile.

Friday, July 15, 2011

Friday!

Thank the Lord another weekend is here.  Technically, anyway, since I still have work tomorrow but Saturdays go by a little quicker.  I have not written on here in a while, so for a quick update we have been busy working, deciding on a new car for me to get, had a lot of fun Tuesday night at our church group dinner, and are really looking forward to a low key, relaxing weekend! 

I was trying to tidy up a few things last night while doing laundry, and decided to hang a mirror that we got as a wedding gift at the bottom of our stairs.  Iris helped :)

I am also pretty excited about seeing the LAST Harry Potter movie tonight.  I grew out of the books after the 4th one, but shortly thereafter the movies started coming out and I really enjoy those.  Jake is really looking forward to it because he read all if the books and is a little obsessed.  I'm hoping it lives up to his expectations since it is the final one.

Also, I decided to switch it up a bit with this layout.  I'm not a big purple person so I don't know how long this will last.

That's all for now!



Wednesday, June 29, 2011

My Little Friend

Last night, after the rain storm, I was letting Reece and Kona out one last time before bed and a cute little tree frog was stuck to the sliding door right about eye level! I think he was a tree frog anyway, he was about 2.5" tall and brown. I said a prayer for the little guy before I opened the door because if he got scared from the door moving and jumped off, I think Kona would have tried to have a bit too much fun with him. Luckily, he hung on tight and stayed there. Well, this morning he wasn't there anymore, and when I closed the door after letting the dogs out the blinds moved. I freak out a little bit because of course I am thinking some huge bug has gotten inside. Well you guessed it, my little tree frog was sitting at the door and jumped inside when I opened it. I did a creative maneuver with a plastic bag to get him back outside to freedom, and I am hoping he finds a safe place to live before Kona finds him.

On another note, I got the deal of the century at Michael's on Sunday. I needed a large canvas for our dining room painting, and had a 40%off coupon that started Sunday so I was waiting patiently all weekend to be able to use it. Well, my mom and I went and the gallery wrap canvases (the 1.5" wrap) were just marked 50% off! I ended up getting my large canvas and some more for our bedroom since I also had a 15%off total purchase coupon. Total, I got $210 worth of canvases 65%off, used a $25 Visa gift card wedding present, and ended up paying $45. It was wonderful :)

I am very much looking forward to the holiday weekend and all of its fun festivities! I still have to work on Saturday, but I'm hoping to maybe get to leave early and get in some pool time!

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Weekend!

Almost the weekend for me, just have to make it through the usual 6hr Saturday work day.  I am looking forward to getting lots of rest & relaxation in this weekend.  Writing wedding Thank-you's, pool time, reading my new book, cleaning, and working on my painting.  It seems like this is the first weekend in about 3 months that I do not really have anything to do (other than work).  It is very nice, and it makes my weekends seem longer I think. 

Jake and I are looking for a new car for me so that he can use my current car for his day to day work, which will save him a lot on gas.  He will still have his truck for times when he needs to haul stuff.  We are looking to get a 30+mpg car for me, so that I will also save a ton of money.  My car has good highway mileage, but in town it is not great at all.  I use the same amount of gas running errands in one afternoon that I use driving to Columbia to see my parents.  I'm excited, hopefully I will have something in the next couple of weeks.  I found several good options last night for Jake to check out.

That's all for now, bye!

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Inspired!

I love our house, and when we moved in we got some new furniture and accessories to decorate but did not spend time hanging a bunch of things up on the walls. Unfortunately, the hanging of pictures and photos was put on the back burner due to busy work schedules and wedding planning, so our walls are still pretty darn bare! Well, now that wedding planning craziness is over I have a little bit of free time and I have gotten really inspired for some paintings that I want to do. I am torn between doing this idea in our master bedroom, or for our dining room. I think I am leaning towards the dining room. I need to make a trip to Michael's to get some supplies, which I will hopefully be able to do this weekend so that I can get it done and post some pictures of the finished product!

I am also super excited about what my brother and I are planning for my parent's 30th wedding anniversary next year. When they got married, they were only able to do a day trip for their honeymoon since they were having to pay for everything on their own. We want to send them on a vacation to get the honeymoon they never had. It's our way to show them how much we appreciate all they have done for us over the years, and for the times they went without so that we got everything we wanted. They know that we are sending them somewhere but do not know the location, which is a huge surprise being revealed to them this year on their anniversary in September. They have no idea, so it's fun to hear them(or mostly my Mom) guess :) I am bursting at the seams trying to keep this secret because we are having so much fun planning the trip and the "reveal" for them. I just have to stick it out 3 more months! Stay Tuned! haha

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Mr. & Mrs.

We're Married!

And it has been over a week now...crazy how fast things go by. We had an amazing honeymoon, and now it's back to the daily grind...work, work, work. We have been having fun getting all of our new things set up in the house and using some of our new small appliances (Jake's favorite is my new Sweet Tea maker). The dogs are definitely glad we are back! Kona, who is usually a pretty energetic guy, has been a sleepy ball of fur lately. I think he is so relieved that we are home and worn out from being upset while we were gone.


It's only Tuesday and I am already worn out. My first day back to work yesterday was an 11hr day, NOT fun to say the least. Things are really busy right now because we are moving from our current showroom location to a new, much larger one. It needs some significant renovating before we move in and start daily operations there on Sept. 1st. I am hoping that the rest of the week I get to leave at least close to on time at 6pm.

That's all for now!

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Nearly-weds!

Time has been moving along very quickly and we are only 3 days away!!!! So exciting. Today was my first day off from work and I am so thankful that I took off these 3 days before the wedding. It was such a productive day! I woke up early this morning, did a little bit of housework, went and applied for our marriage license, then came back home to get ready to make our wedding favors. I got to see my family who is in town visiting this week before the wedding :) They were such a help and we even got a lot done for putting together the wedding programs and wrapping the wedding party gifts. I am so excited about how everything is coming together, it makes me want to post pictures but I want to keep it all a surprise!! I also had my first ever manicure and pedicure tonight with Iris and Eden, and it was so nice to sit and relax after such a long, busy day!

Another busy day of running errands tomorrow. Going to pick up a few things, bring my ring to get soldered together with my wedding bands, pick up my dress from being steamed and bring it out to the wedding site, meet with our DJ, pick up the rings, and celebrating my brother's birthday with our family while we are all together!


Tuesday, May 24, 2011

WOW!!!!!!!!!!

Time is flying by! It's like I turned around and the wedding is all of a sudden coming up so fast! I'm excited but getting a little nervous--not to be getting married, just nervous about the planning and that everything for the wedding day will go smoothly! It's so nice that we do not have to worry about things like buying a house or moving on top of planning and our honeymoon. I'm glad that we will really be able to enjoy everything, especially a very well deserved vacation for both of us work-aholics. But seriously--it is almost here! I can't believe that this weekend is almost JUNE.

We have had lots of excitement recently. Jake had a very fun Bachelor party two weekends ago, and I had a wonderful Bachelorette party this past weekend. I also had my Bridal Shower on Sunday, and it was so nice to see friends and family that I haven't seen in months! I am also so excited that some of our friends are moving back into the area so that they will be closer and we will get to see them more :) We have also been very blessed that Jake has gotten TONS of calls for work lately and he is being kept quite busy. It is a little bit stressful for him to be able to find enough workers, and having all of this going on around our wedding/honeymoon, but it's a wonderful problem to have!

The wedding checklist is getting pretty small, and I have my dress back after the alterations finished! It was a bit of a headache--I apparently picked a difficult dress type to alter and it took 2 months--but the final result is perfect and I can't wait for everyone to see it!

Time for bed, and I promise that I will at some point start to be better about updating more!

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

One Month!!

Exactly one month from today we will be married! Stacey Marie Walden is starting to have a very nice ring to it :) I am so excited because I'm finally getting to see the little details coming together bit by bit. As an update, our cake topper came in the mail and I am completely obsessed with it. Check out Lynn's Little Creations on Etsy to see her stuff--she is fantastic! It was worth every penny of $85.00. This was definitely one of the only splurges that I made but it is the perfect keepsake that we will have for years to come! We have also made some decisions for ceremony and reception decorations. I have a few things to get for that, but at least we have it 90% figured out.

We have also been working on finalizing our Honeymoon :) How beautiful does this look??



We are so excited! Right now we are trying to figure out all of the places we want to go so that we can buy some tickets in advance online, since we can save money that way. I also can't wait for this Saturday because I get to go try on my wedding dress at what is hopefully my final fitting and bring it home!!

Aside from that, we have picked out our wedding rings and are looking forward to our bachelor/bachelorette parties this weekend and next.

That is all for now, I have to get back to planning!



Friday, April 29, 2011

Busy, Busy, Busy!

We have been so busy lately, I have not had any time to get on here! As an update, our Easter plans were a success! For the most part anyway...we were a little bummed we did not get to go to the sunrise service at church on Easter. We had planned to, and set our alarms, but when we woke up it looked like it was going to rain, I couldn't find the doplar radar channel because Comporium changed all the numbers around on us, and the pups were up playing and being loud all night so we did not get good sleep. With the combination of all of that, we decided we probably needed that extra hour and a half of sleep. After the regular Easter service, our waffle brunch was a very good success and I think it would be fun to continue that tradition. Later in the day we had a really nice time at Sam & Teri's at the big kid Easter egg hunt (Jake and I got about $23 dollars combined--going into the Honeymoon fund! haha), dinner, and getting to meet little Brody Scott Munsey for the first time :o)

Aside from that, wedding plans are coming along nicely! I ordered our cake topper today which I am so excited about! I really like plain wedding cakes so ours is pretty simple, but I wanted a really fun topper for it. I saw the final design and it has exceeded my expectations...and with me being an artist and perfectionist that really says something! My Bridal shower invitations and our Rehearsal Dinner invitations have come in and turned out very cute. We are starting our premarital counseling this weekend, and hopefully going to get to see/hang out/rehearse with our wedding singers on Sunday. It will be so good to see them and I am also very excited to hear them together!

On another note--the new Charandas has opened up and Jake and I are probably a little too excited about that. We were there opening day for dinner. Yes, obsessed. The design of it is so cute, and has some more character than the other one. Loren was also up here visiting and got to go with us. I'm so happy that I have gotten to see some of my girls lately, I miss them all so much!

I have had no time for couponing lately but hopefully I will have some time soon.

Time for bed! April and Jeremy's wedding is tomorrow and I am so excited for them!

Goodnight!

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

HoneyBee

I am completely obsessed with Blake Shelton's new song "Honeybee". I've always liked him as a singer and this song is so cute. It's also very true, that your partner is your complement and will balance you. They have the qualities that you need or you may lack. That is probably the nearlywed in me talking, but seriously :)

Also, I forgot to update you that I did a trial run for my wedding hairstyle on Saturday and I think I have it about 99% figured out. I'm very excited! I didn't want anything too fancy or too casual and I think I have found the perfect balance.

So, I went to Walmart and Food Lion tonight and did not really have any great savings, but total I saved $17.84 and spent $47.56. I am going to Food Lion tomorrow for all of the great Easter deals, as well as BiLo which I have some good coupons for, so I'm hoping for better results then! I'll update you on how it goes.

I'm really looking forward to this weekend. We are going to the sunrise service for church on Sunday, which is being held on Lake Wylie which should be beautiful. Jake's family is also going to come with us to church, along with some friends so it will be great to have everyone together! After church we are having an Easter Brunch at our house with lots of waffles, fruit, casseroles, and a few desserts yum :)

Goodnight!


Sunday, April 17, 2011

Weekend Update

I've been trying to figure out what type of wedding ring I want this weekend. It is hard, there are so many options! It's also very weird to look down at my hand when I am used to just seeing my engagement ring, and then seeing another ring with it. Everything I tried on yesterday seemed "too much" because it made my ring look so much bigger than I am used to. Jake and I are going to go pick out our rings next week, so hopefully I will figure it out between now and then!

I'm also looking forward to my brother visiting us this week, and Easter weekend! It's going to be a very busy but fun week.

Also, an update on the wedding--I did the individual section of our premarital counselling yesterday, and Jake has to do is individual section now. Once we have that completed, it will give our Pastor the key points to discuss with us about our relationship.

Okay and lastly before I get to bed, look how cute little one was today:


Thursday, April 14, 2011

Bedtime!

Hello Everyone! I should actually be getting to sleep right now, but I have been busy working on wedding planning all night and I've been meaning to post an update on here! So, quickly--I've been getting all of my lists finalized...Bridal Shower, Rehearsal Dinner, and trying to get the last few addresses that we have not gotten thus far for the invitations. I also started on the guest book, and I have gotten a few more packages in the mail for the favors and my wedding jewelry.

We also met with the Pastor from our church tonight and had a really nice dinner. We went to Old Towne Bistro and the food was great, but we were not aware that it was Italian night--which included some LOUD live opera music. Yes, seriously! The guy was very talented, but it was just very unexpected. Over dinner we talked about wanting to become official members of the church once we are married, and also asked him to be the one to marry us. He agreed, and we are both very excited! It really means a lot to us to be married by someone who has a certain significance to us, and it is also another thing that makes us feel closer to the church. I'm also really looking forward to the premarital counselling, it is something that I've always thought to be very important. My parents have been married for almost 30 years, and they have had struggles just like anyone else, but they have always been a great example to me showing that relationships and successful marriages take love and effort. Premarital counselling will be a great way to get more insight and advice for when our struggles come up in the future and we can be strong together to work through them.

Well, now it is very far past my bedtime, so I'll have to come back to this later.

Goodnight :)

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Worn Out!

This weekend has flown by! I am so worn out, but it was a lot of fun. Ryan & Jenn's wedding was beautiful yesterday, and I'm so glad that the rain and terrible weather held off in Charleston for them! It's definitely one of my worries with having an outdoor wedding, but we have the tent for back up if we need to. I also got to see my brother last night for a little bit, which was great :) He is back from Afghanistan and is on leave right now. This morning I came back home, and after church Jake and I met up with Shanti and Derrick for lunch. We went to help them pick up their new lawn mower from Sears and got to see little Reina's nursery now that they have more of her furniture and decorations put up!

Heading to bed early tonight! I'm excited for tomorrow because our cake topper is being made so I'm excited to see the photos! Jake also has a softball game which will be fun for him since they have had some time off due to weather.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Happy :)

I am very happy today! Why, you ask? Because I have had a very productive week with getting things checked off of the wedding list, AND I had some very good deals today. We will start with those:

From RiteAid...

Kellogs Apple Jacks
(2) Special K Strawberry
(2) M&M Peanut Easter Candy 12.6oz bag
Chex Mix Party Blend
Chex Mix Cheddar Blend
Halls Strawberry Cough Drops
Halls Honey Lemon Cough Drops
(2) Secret Women's Deodorant Gel
Secret Women's Deodorant Invisible Solid
(2) Olay Complete Body Wash 12oz
Olay Complete All-Day Moisturizing Lotion
Scope Mouthwash 750mL
Pantene Shampoo 12.6oz
Pantene Conditioner 12.6oz
(2) Dial Complete Hand Soap

Subtotal before Savings & Coupons $94.54
Total amount paid $49.67
& I got 30 Wellness+ points for my next visit!

From BiLo Grocery...
(2) Quaker Chewy Granola Bars
(2) Purex Laundry Detergent 32 loads
Stain & Odor Remover
(2) Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
Hillshire Farms Honey Ham
Hillshire Farms Thin Sliced Rotisserie Chicken
Hillshire Farms Turkey
(2) Southern Home Cooked Tail-off Shrimp 100ct

Subtotal before Savings & Coupons $67.75
Total amount paid $46.11
& I now have 15cents per gallon for fuel perks.


So, on the wedding planning front...I ordered some beads off of Etsy that I am going to use to make my earrings, which I am very excited about. I make a lot of my own jewelry and it's always exciting to see the ideas become reality! Also, I bought the glass jars and lids for the wedding favors...that's all the detail I am giving about them until much closer to the wedding :) I thought it was pretty cool that the jar company is from Lancaster, PA--pretty close to where we used to live and my Dad used to work there. Funny how little things like that happen. I also ordered the envelopes for our wedding guest book, which is going to look sort of like this, but of course I'm putting my own spin on it:


I saw this in a magazine and thought that it was a really cute idea. I think it could be fun to bring it with us on our honeymoon and either read the notes on the plane or at some point on our trip.

That's all for now, my computer battery is about to die.




Sunday, April 3, 2011

Change of Plans

Well, my plans for the weekend did not go quite as I had planned. We were not able to do any landscaping because we realized Saturday morning that our neighborhood Architectural Review committee requires landscaping to be approved first. We are not changing around any of the landscaping beds, just the plants, but we did not want to chance it in case it would still need to be approved. Plus, my dad had some minor surgery this past week so he would not have been able to help with any digging or carrying plants, so it seemed like the best option was to wait a few weeks. We did get the new plants and layouts figured out though, so it will be ready for a weekend in May when we can get it done.

We were very productive this weekend though! We got the ribbon tied on all of the wedding invitations and got the address labels and maps printed. Now, everything is ready and my mom is going to stuff the envelopes and mail everything out this week :) There are still a handful of addresses I need to get from Jake but other than that we are good to go. It's another thing to check off of the list, which feels great!

Jake and I went to church this morning and each week we feel more and more at home there. When we figured out where we were buying a home we looked around for Presbyterian churches nearby and found this one, and three weeks ago we started trying it. After the first weekend we knew that we both really liked it. It is a smaller church and you can tell that the members are a very close church family. There are various age groups, and we are one of the youngest couples there, but we felt so at home and welcomed. We also went to a Bible study for the "young adult" age group on Tuesday night. It was the first night that they started up a Bible study for our age group, but I think that it has a lot of potential and opportunity. We are going to meet every two weeks, so our next gathering is April 12th.

I finally got ink for my printer so I can start to really get into couponing. Hopefully now that I can print the online coupons we will start to have some more extreme savings! I was a little bit disappointed with the sales this week, since it wasn't really anything that we needed. I did go to Harris Teeter tonight for a couple of things, though:

(2) Tostitos Restaurant Style Salsa
Soft Tortilla Shells
Swedish Fish Easter Candy (donation for our church Easter egg hunt)
(2) Kleenex Ultra Tissue
Klondike Originals
Klondike Reeses

Total before Savings/Coupons: $27.83
Total Paid: $15.00

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Landscaping & Such


Say hello to our silly puppies. The bigger Kona gets, the closer the two of them get. Reece is going to have some issues once Kona finally gets bigger than him, but for now he gets to play the big man of the house. When they stand side by side, Reece's back is only about 5 inches taller than Kona's, which is going to prove Jake's theory that Kona is going to be one very tall, crazy dog.

As an update--we had two very successful showers this past weekend. April & Jeremy's wedding shower started off slow because of the rain but once everyone arrived we had so much fun and they ended up with lots of good stuff for their life together :)

Also, I can now tell you that the "lunch" I was going last Sunday was actually a surprise baby shower for my friend and former classmate, Shanti. Her and her husband have been blessed with a baby girl who will be making her appearance into the world near the end of July. They are beyond excited and it was so nice to get our interior design gang together to celebrate with her! It was also at the Cheesecake Factory which was, like always, AMAZING!

I am looking forward to this weekend. My parents are coming up and we are going to get the wedding invitations address and work on landscaping our yard. We are going to plant lots of pretty new bushes and possibly a few flowers. One day, at our next house, I am hoping to be able to do some more extensive landscaping and outdoor planning, a la something like these:



A girl can dream :)

I will post pictures of our new look on Sunday!

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Our Life in a Blog

Hello Everyone,

I thought I would give this a try. Jake and I have a Humzoo account which we thought would be fun to do and liked how you can add movies and stuff to it, but right now since we don't have kids or anything we have nothing interesting to put on there. I like the setup of this better so I think I'll stick with it for now.

So, we have been getting SO much done lately for wedding planning. I am feeling a little overwhelmed with how busy our schedule is and how much there is to do, but the fun parts help to even out my stress and I'm enjoying this planning process :) I've been ordering a lot of items from different artists and craftsmen on the internet, and it's so exciting to see the items when they arrive! Plus, I love getting packages all the time!

I have been trying to get into couponing so that we can save some money, plus it's a fun little challenge. I had one of my first couponing excursions tonight and I have to say I'm pretty happy with the result. It's not a crazy awesome deal like a lot that I read about, but since we had a lot to buy and saved a good bit of money, I'm happy with the result. I went to BiLo and RiteAid:

Betty Crocker Cake Mix
Betty Crocker Frosting
Hershey Kisses Caramel
Hershey Kisses Cherry Cordials
Reeses Minis
Special K-Chocolate Delight
Special K-Cinnamon Pecan
Special K-Strawberry
Potato Chips
BBQ Potato Chips
Dinner Mints (2)
Gain Liquid Detergent
Scott Paper Towels 6 pack
Scott Toilet Tissue 12 pack
Paper Plates (2)
Sargento Shredded Cheese Mexican Mix
Sargento Shredded Cheese Italian Mix
Ground Sausage 1 lbs
Fresh Strawberries 2 lbs
Fresh Green Grapes 1.92 lbs
Subtotal before Savings/Coupons: $91.48
Total after Savings/Coupons: $59.63
And I also earned 10 cents per gallon for Fuel Perks, which is awesome because one of the gas stations near our house just started participating in that!

Mountain Dew 12 pack
Diet Mountain Dew 12 pack
Pepsi 12 pack (2)
Betty Crocker Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix
Tresemme Curling Shampoo 32 oz
Tresemme Curling Conditioner 32 oz
Subtotal before Savings/Coupons: $34.96
Total after Savings/Coupons: $17.61


Well, that's all for now--got to get some rest for work in the morning. We are throwing a wedding shower for our friends tomorrow evening which should be lots of fun, and on Sunday afternoon I'm going to lunch with a couple friends at the Cheesecake Factory-YUM!