August 30th, 2018

So we wanted two tables for the back wall in the dining room and for beneath the TV in the living room, but instead of going out and buying some Mike went and made some...he still continues to amaze and impress me on the daily with his talents!

August 26th, 2018

Today we finished up painting another wall and also started to decorate the dining room! We’ve had this plan to make a kind of collage of all kinds of older photos and antique items.

So far, we hung up photos of all of our grandparents in the adorable window-frame we got from my Auntie Renee and Uncle Bob at our Bridal BBQ. 😊 In the "happily ever after" frame (which was a gift from Jess from our BBQ!), we plan to hang a photo from Mike’s parents’ wedding, a photo from my parents’ wedding, and an upcoming photo from our wedding. Right now it has filer photos, but it’s going to look so cute!!

The two picture frames came from that antique shop we visited while in Wisconsin. We covered the back of one with some fabric (inside content to be determined), while the other we plan to leave open and hang some baby photos of Mike & I in!

We plan to add more still, but this is certainly a great start! I cannot wait to see how it turns out in the end. I so love decorating our home together! 💕

August 25th, 2018

FoamGlow 5k with the ( l i g h t ) of my life! 🧡💚💡 My shin splints were acting up pretty badly during our run, but we still finished with a great time and had tons of fun! 😄

August 24th, 2018

Mike gave the boys their "groomsman boxes" tonight during Zack’s 20th birthday celebrations! He was SO excited back in December that he rather abruptly asked them all to be in our wedding party during our engagement party...without any cute gifts to go alongside the request. 😂 But the gifts finally came. 😉 We couldn’t think of three other people we’d rather have by our sides on our big day! Love all of these guys right there!! 🖤

August 21st, 2018

"It seems to me, we have a lot of story left to tell." —Walt Disney ºoº

So Disney discontinued their "just engaged" and "just married" buttons awhile back, instead creating a general "happily ever after" button to emcompass all relationship-type things. However, being the diehard Disney geek that I am, I just had to get my hands on one! Thankfully, I found a vintage Disney shop online that sells discontinued items from the parks! They just so happened to have a handful of "just engaged" pins left, so I ordered one for us to add to our collection! 💕

August 20th, 2018

My sweet little cousin has slept with her elephant every night since she got it from us.

August 19th, 2018

 

August 18th, 2018 *

All of the decorations were beautifully prepared and assembled by my amazing parents, aunt, and brothers. The colors are our wedding colors (purple & gold). My spectacular aunt also prepared an adorable fruit arrangement (in addition to all of the delicious pastries she made)! My wonderful co-maid of honor Jess arranged all of the stunning flower centerpieces! My incredibly thoughtful dad had the canvas on the mantle printed and customized with one of my all-time favorite lyrics. The scrumptious food was catered by one of my favorite authentic Italian places in town: Mama D’s. Everything turned out so lovely and had that fairytale-feel. I am so thankful for all of the generous people in our lives who made our party so special! ☺️💕

First off we have the absolutely AMAZING sweets table, prepared 100% by my amazing Auntie Jan! She baked heart-shaped sugar cookies, brownies, Oreo cream smears, cake pops, and a beautiful sheet cake.

My lovely Godmother Auntie Renee prepared my favorite cupcakes.

My gorgeous friend Fran brought the CUTEST cookies ever from the bakery she works at! Wedding, Disney, and dinosaur-themed cookies...could it really get any better? 😍

Today during the party we officially got our ring bearer! We asked Mike’s cousin Kolten to be apart of our big day and he said yes! We couldn’t have picked anyone more perfect and we are so excited to have this handsome little man helping to make our wedding day even more special! ♥️💍🎩

And we have our flower girl too! When we asked my sweet cousin Aria to be our flower girl she dropped her gifts, stared at us open-mouthed, and then gave us the biggest hugs ever. We are so excited to have this beautiful little girl joining in the celebrations! ♥️💐👗

We also asked both of our aunts to "help us tie the knot" and do the readings during our ceremony! My Auntie Jan and Mike’s Aunt Mary have been two of the most loving, supportive people of us since day one. They continue to shower us with love and constantly remind us how excited they are for November 10th! We are so thankful for them both and are thrilled that they said yes!! ♥️💒

Thankful for an amazingly generous, supportive, & loving family. 💜💛💜💛

August 17th, 2018

Charlie and I are SO EXCITED for the party tomorrow!! 🤩🤩🤩

August 14th, 2018

More goodies came today! This time it was the custom water bottles I got for our ring bearer and flower girl...can't wait to ask them at the BBQ on Saturday!!

August 13th, 2018

The custom-made stuffed elephant for our flower girl arrived today and it's so stinkin' cute!!!

August 12th, 2018

We had a ton of fun checking out The Office-themed pop-up bar today! This bar downtown called Replay changes the theme of the bar every few months. When we heard they were paying homeage to the wonderful workplace of Michael Scott we knew we had to go! We went with my dad, Jon, & Jess. After having a blast playing arcade games and checking out all the cool props and scenery, we headed to a place near Jon and Jess's condo for tacos...and let me just say: YUM!

August 11th, 2018

Matt & Ryan asked me to design a logo for their new business ARL2V (All Roads Lead To Victory). It's a customized hockey jersey store of some sort they are starting! Here's my initial sketch, plus the actual logo digitalized. :)

August 10th, 2018

I helped co-host the fiesta-themed party Charlotte threw for the college age IBC group! Mike helped me create a photobooth area where everyone got to take photos together! :)

August 8th, 2018

We went and picked up my custom wedding band today! It turned out absolutely stunning!!

August 7th, 2018

So my mom asked me to return a book to CoD for my brother last week and I said yes, thinking nothing of it. I ended up going yesterday evening after work, and since then I just cannot stop thinking about it. 

When I pulled up to that building yesterday I immediately got super nostalgic. I was inside for maybe five minutes tops, but just that short walk through a few of the hallways to the bookstore brought back so many memories. 

Have you ever visited a place from your childhood, or that you used to go to all the time but no longer do? Isn’t it so interesting what things you remember just by seeing, hearing, or smelling something? 

What I find interesting is that this school, of all places, is the place that got me feeling so nostalgic and sentimental. I have visited other places from my childhood before and never felt so reminiscent. I realized as I was strolling back out to my car in the parking lot, that the reason I was so attached to CoD and the memories associated with it is because that’s where I met Mike. 

If I never went to that school, I never would’ve met my soon-to-be husband. I never would’ve shared in all those laughs, or formed such an amazing friendship (that later set the foundation for a beautiful relationship). I don’t remember CoD for the teachers or the classrooms or the lessons taught, I remember it for the wonderful man that I met and had so much fun with all those years. The only reason I enjoyed going to school in the first place was because I got to see Mike each day. I had never had such a genuine friend before. He honestly made those few years in that building worthwhile. 

One day, long from now, if one of my children ever end up deciding to go to CoD for college (keeping in mind that hopefully the place will still be up and running), I know I for certain will get misty again as I stroll through those halls with my child as they begin their new journey there as well.

August 6th, 2018

Our kitchen is nearly finished! All that remains is to paint and add in the crown molding!

August 4th, 2018

Introducing my two newest accessories, which I’m already completely obsessed with!! 😍

August 3rd, 2018

Dad, Jax, and Charlie came over for fishing and a movie this evening! :)

August 2nd, 2018

Our granite was installed today! Look at how pretty it is!! It's so glossy it's reflective!