Wedding Weekend!

Hello lovelies! Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend!! I know I sure did! A great deal of wedding planning took place today between myself and some of my favorite girls. The planning started with plenty of lively discussion on Thursday and Friday, followed by bridesmaids dress shopping with my MOH on Saturday afternoon. We were determined to find at least a couple of dresses that were decent, as well as narrow down color options. We were successful! I definitely have decided that I'm firm on having shorter dresses, preferably something in a Satin/Cotton blend. I think it's soft, but doesn't look pretentious or too wedding-ish. I'm leaning towards bridesmaids dresses in a champagne hue with orange accents, which I think would look nice standing next to groomsmen in black tuxes with orange vests. Am I crazy or would this be gorgeous? Maybe I'm just thinking it's gorgeous because it's MY wedding, but my non-bride brain is also telling me that it would look good.

I had made plans earlier this week for H (bridesmaid) and Q (coordinator) to come over, drink some wine, eat some appetizers and make flower balls that we're hanging off of shepherds hooks to line the aisle at the ceremony. I bought orange and yellow fake sunflowers a couple of weeks ago, as well as some other supplies, and I couldn't wait to get them put together and see the finished products! In preparation, I made homemade artichoke dip, as well as a new favorite appetizer of mine, Jalapeno Pinwheels!! They turned out beautiful, not to mention delicious!!

After munching on some yummy snacks and drinking some wine, we got started. With Bridesmaids playing in the background, I brought out the ingredients for this project: hot glue guns and hot glue sticks, the fabric flowers, wire clippers, 2 Styrofoam and ribbon. Using the wire cutters, we cut the blooms of the flowers off of the stems about 1/2 an inch from the base of the flower. We hot-glued the ribbon in a loop to the ball. Then, using the tip of the hot glue gun, we poked a hole in the ball and filled it with hot glue, then pushing the remaining 1/2 inch of stem still attached to a flower into the hole and pressing down while it dried for a few seconds. We repeated this process over and over, placing the flowers relatively close together until the entire ball was covered in blooms. They are gorgeous! I can't believe how simple they are!! I love the look of them, but they took more flowers tan I was expecting to complete (we made 2, these were our "practice" balls), so tomorrow I'll be going back to the craft store for more hot glue sticks, more Styrofoam balls, more ribbon and more fabric flowers. Here's the finished product:

Gorgeous, agreed? I'm totally loving them... Can't wait to make more!! :)

Curvy...

J and I got a new X-Box 360 w/ Kinect this week! We're both really excited to get games that we can both play. He wants shooter games (big surprise) and I want dancing and exercise games. This afternoon, we were setting up our profiles on the gaming system. When you're doing that, you get to make avatars (little digital characters that look however you want them to - most people do what we did and make them look like yourself). I watched J make his avatar, and added occasional spurts of input as he chose certain features. As I was making my avatar, I asked him to help me in return. It came time for me to choose the...ahem, "width" of my avatar, and I couldn't decide between a thinner and slightly thicker version of the avatar. He told me to choose the thicker one. I said, "Geez, I'm not that big, am I?" "You're pretty curvy babe...", he replied, telling me to switch it back to the thinner version of the avatar for a moment. "See?", he said, "your thighs are thicker than that."

Ouch.

This is something that I think only women understand. I know that he didn't mean it in a hurtful way, but my eyes are still stinging from trying to prevent my emotion from spilling out of them. There is a sizable knot in my throat that I can't seem to swallow. It's no secret that I have struggled with insecurities related to my weight pretty much for the past 2-3 years. These insecurities come from a variety of reasons, and I'm perfectly aware that J loves me just the way I am, but that doesn't mean it didn't sting a little when he said that... okay, more than a little. I exercise regularly, and while I could eat healthier, I certainly eat healthier than most of the people I know, including J. So why do comments like that still dig at me? It's interesting how it takes days, sometimes weeks, to build your confidence up to a comfortable (even enjoyable?) level, and it takes about 3.5 seconds to damage it. I'm not saying that my confidence resides in J's opinion of my thighs. My ego is bruised, but my confidence is certainly not shattered. To be honest, he quickly followed up his comment about them with a compliment about how much he loves my thighs and my curves. I think that men simply do not understand or interpret certain remarks in the same way that a woman who has suffered from insecurities in the past does.

Sweet, Sweet Relaxation...

This weekend was yet another wonderful one. J and I spent the whole weekend together, and with no one else, which I thought was really great. I feel like we needed that, a chance to shut the world out and just focus on spending time with each other. I had a wardrobe make-over this weekend...inspired by my desperate need for work clothes. My work environment is an extremely casual one and for the past 4 years, I've been perfectly comfortable wearing jeans with holes in the knees and tee shirts, or shorts and tank tops, and while I may still wear those every once in a while, lately I've been feeling like my closet is completely empty. Last Thursday, I was attempting to get ready for work. Standing in front of my closet, I literally could not think of one thing that I could wear to work. I'm turning 24 in a few months, and the realization struck me that I don't have any professional clothes. No dress pants. No dress skirts. Very few dress tops. J has always been way more into professional fashion than I have, so I let him help me pick out a whole new work wardrobe! I ended up with 2 pairs of dress pants, 2 dress skirts, 6-7 dress tops, new heels, a new pea coat and some underwear accessories. I'm so excited!! I love all of the stuff I came home with, and I got it all at a deep discount, so I wasn't too sore in the pocketbook afterwards either...

Today, as the weekend was winding down, J mowed the lawn as I picked up the house a bit. Then he went to sleep before he had to go to work and I decided to make him some yummy treats to take to work and share with his fellow night-shifters. I decided to make what I am now naming Ooey-Gooey Peanut Butter Piles... So I thought I'd share the recipe with you!! :)

Ooey-Gooey Peanut Butter Piles:
1 cup corn syrup
1 cup sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 cups cheerios (you can use name-brand or generic...I used Honey Nut Cheerios)

Combine corn syrup and sugar in a large pot on the stove. Over medium heat, bring the sugar and corn syrup to a boil. Allow to boil for one minute and then remove from heat. Add peanut butter and vanilla to the corn syrup mix and stir until smooth. Add the cheerios and stir until the cereal is evenly coated. Then drop by spoonfuls on to waxed paper. Allow to cool and store in a container. Delicious and super simple!! Took me about 30 minutes!!

I highly recommend them!! A new issue that we've been having around the house is house flies! Whenever I discuss this issue with anyone else, they say "Yeah it's that time of year...". I'd never noticed that there was a "time of year" for flies. Don't get me wrong, they're not terrible, it's not like a horror movie in my house, but there's usually about 2-3 in the house every day. It's getting extremely annoying. It seems like I can't kill them before there are new ones floating around! This has apparently been a problem for other people as well because when we went to WalMart to find fly paper or fly strips, we found out that they had sold out of them earlier this week... So I got online and started googling natural ways to make fly traps at home... and here's what I found a sugar and vinegar fly trap... Here are the directions for making one...

First, take an empty plastic water bottle or soda bottle and rinse it out. You could even use larger containers (empty 2-liter bottles, empty bleach cartons, empty milk jugs, etc) if you wanted to make larger traps...

Next, use a sharp knife to cut the bottle into two pieces, making the cut just under the section of the bottle that starts to curve (usually where the top of the label is).

Next, pour about 1/2 a cup of apple cider vinegar and 1-2 teaspoons of sugar into the bottom of the bottle and swish it around until the sugar is dissolved. This will be the solution that both lures the flies into the tap (because of the sugar) and kills them (because of the vinegar).

Finally, insert the top half of the bottle, nozzle down, into the bottom portion of the bottle, creating a funnel effect. This will give the flies access to the solution, but they will not be able to get out because their instinct is to go UP, not down and THEN up. I secured the edges of the bottle together with Scotch Tape just to make it more secure, but this isn't necessary...

And voila!! Done and done! I'm hoping that this works to trap some of those little pests...

Truths for Mature Humans...

I thought I'd share some truth...

1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

3. I totally take back all of those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

4. There is a great need for a sarcasm font.

5. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. Was learning cursive really necessary?

7. MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

10. Bad decisions make good stories.

11. You'll never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to start my collection...again.

13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to.

14. "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this - ever.

15. I hate when I miss a call by the last ring, but when I immediately call back it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What did you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

16. I hate leaving my house feeling confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance then entire day. What a waste.

17. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

18. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

19. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night, more kisses begin with Coors Light than Kay.

20. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

21. Sometimes I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize that I had no idea what the hell was going on when I first saw it.

22. I would rather carry 10 over-loaded plastic bags in each hand than make 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

23. The only time I look forward to a red light is when I'm trying to finish a text.

24. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

25. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?

26. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!

27. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

28. Is it just me or do high school students get dumber and dumber every year?

29. There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you're going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

30. As a driver, I hate pedestrians. As a pedestrian, I hate drivers. But no matter the mode of transportation, I always hate bicyclists.

31. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

32. Even under ideal conditions, people have trouble locating their keys in a pocket or purse, finding their cell phone or Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'd bet my ass that everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away in 1.7 seconds, eyes closed - first time, every time.


--thanks pinterest :)

Muddy Paws...

This morning has been awful and it's only 9:37... This morning I got up and got ready for work, while J and the dog continued to sleep. By the time I was finished getting ready and gearing up to leave, the dog was full of energy and insisting on going outside. So, I let him out. He did more running than anything else, a puppy-smile spread all across his face. He was kicking up the dew from the yard and running in figure-eights, completely pleased with himself. After a little running in the yard, I let him back in. The cat was meowing constantly, sitting by the dog door that leads into our garage (where his food and litterbox are located). This usually means he's out of food... but that wouldn't make any sense because I fed him last night... I let the dog back out into the yard so I could feed the cat in peace. Upon looking at his food and water bowls, I saw puppy-nose prints in the bottom of each, telling me that the dog had eaten all of Leo's food and drank all of his water sometime during the night. I also found a little, conspicuous pile of cat litter on the floor of the garage, telling me that the dog had been snacking out of the cat box...AGAIN. Greeeeaaaatt..... 'Too bad I can't punish him after the fact...", I thought as I walked back into the house. I walked to the glass sliding door to let the dog back in and saw him digging a hole, where we had already filled a hole and treated it with this no-dig stuff from Zamzow's. I couldn't believe it!! I'd only turned my back for 2 minutes, literally!! Luckily I had caught him, not only in the act, but before he had the chance to do much damage. I immediately came storming out of the sliding door, and he immediately ran away, bouncing playfully as if to say "ha ha you'll never catch me!!" I was furious!! It seems no matter what we have tried in the past few weeks, he simply refuses to stop digging. I called him over, and when he came within arm's reach, I grabbed him by the scruff of his neck. Leading him to the hole he'd just re-dug, I attempted to swat his butt, but couldn't because he was thrashing about, screaming as if I was cutting his legs off! When I reached for him with my other hand, he snarled and tried to bite me!! Shocked, I released my grip and he immediately bounced away, tail wagging, tongue lolling!! I hadn't been hurting him at all, he was just trying to get out of trouble!!!! "YOU LITTLE SHIT!!", I yelled in my mind. I was so angry, my cheeks were getting hot. All four of his paws were covered in mud (thanks to the morning dew and the digging), and now I was between a rock and a hard place. He was muddy, but I was all dressed for work (not exactly dog-washing clothes). If I let him in, he'd track mud in with him, but I had to leave for work and he had just proven to me that he couldn't be trusted outside, and I couldn't put him in the kennel because he would cry and whine which would prevent J from sleeping after the night-shift he'd just worked. So, I let him in, muddy paws and all, telling myself I would sweep, mop and vacuum when I got home from work, since I don't work late tonight. I gathered my things for work as he followed me around the house, prancing and panting and smiling, only irritating me further. As I was walking to my car, I walked in front of the front window, where I saw Huck standing on top of the couch looking back at me, muddy paws and all. "F***ing awesome...", I muttered to myself. What a great start to my day.

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue...

Last week, my great friend Q introduced me to my new favorite website (so favorite that it officially outranked Facebook for a week!!). This website is Pinterest.com. It's a virtual idea board. People from all over the world make their own, sharing things that they've found on the internet that they don't want to forget or find useful or beautiful, and then you can copy things onto your own board!! I have recipes of all types, inspiration for life, fashion, my wedding, and crafty ideas for the house and the holidays! I've already used a couple of the recipes I've found on there!! It's such a great website, and the best part is that you can organize the ideas that you put up by making multiple "boards". I'm officially addicted to this website, and recommend that everyone try it.

My mom and my grandma came to visit me this weekend from eastern Idaho. They arrived Saturday evening, and on Sunday morning J and I took them out to the winery where we are having our wedding. They absolutely loved it!! Afterwards, J went home and they came with me to go wedding dress shopping. I'd been once before, and found a couple that I liked (one in particular), but I really wanted to try more on before making an official decision. I tried on about 10 dresses, and then tried on the ones I'd tried on already once more. I kept coming back to the dress that I especially liked the first time that I went shopping. It's an absolutely gorgeous dress, and it's different than what everyone is expecting me to wear. I kept putting it back on and back on and back on and comparing all of the other dresses to it. And finally, there came a moment when wearing the dress when I realized three very important things: 1) I had no desire to take this dress off, 2) I had no interest in looking at other dresses, and 3) I could absolutely envision myself marrying J in this dress and looking positively ravishing in the process! It was then that I announced to my mom, grandma and my dress consultant, "This is it, this is the one!!" I was so happy I could've cried. At that time, the dress consultant came over to me holding a small golden bell. She said that every time a bride finds her dress, she gets to ring the bell. I rang it, and everyone clapped. Reliving that moment in my memory makes me smile and gives me butterflies... :)

In addition to the dress, we got a veil, a headpiece, a slip and my bra/corset to go with the dress. I am a vision of everything bridal when I wear the set, and I love it!! I feel so special in the dress!!! After we got home, mom and grandma headed home and J left for work. I invited my bridesmaid, H, over to watch a movie, bake cookies, and help me take my dress to my mother-in-law's house for safe-keeping and hiding from J's curious, peeking eyes. :) When H and I got to my MIL's house, I decided to try on the entire ensemble for her. She was so excited and absolutely loved it! She then offered me a very special, very old piece of family heirloom jewelry to wear as my "something borrowed". It's a string of opals and crystals, and looks like it was made to match my dress! So I officially have my something old (my great-grandmother's gold bracelet from England that was a gift from her sisters), my something new (my wedding dress) and my something borrowed (my MIL's necklace). All I need now is my something blue. I have a couple ideas for this. One is a sixpence painted blue, kept in my shoe, in Irish tradition. Another is a blue garter (cute, but not entirely original). And another idea is to have our wedding date stitched into the lining of my wedding dress over my heart. I can't decide which I'll do, so maybe I'll just do all of it!! :)

Labor Day...

This weekend was truly awesome, and not just because it was extra-long! It was the perfect combination of productivity and relaxation. On Friday, J and I helped another couple that we're close with move into their first home. It was so much fun seeing how excited they were and watching two people we love hit such a great place in their lives! It was interesting to see it from the viewpoint of someone who just got done going through all of that. Really, really cool! :)

Saturday I was bound and determined to get our garage in order. Since the move (almost a month ago, now!) our garage has just been stacked up with stuff that didn't really have a place. So, on Saturday, I requested an early wake-up and we got moving in really good time. We went to J's mom's house and picked up some 2"x4"'s and some shelving wood that she had been saving for us. Then we went back home and got started building some shelves. We used these awesome bracket things that we found at Lowe's... One set (which includes 6 brackets) makes a 72" shelving unit (with three shelves, 24" deep). They're HUGE! We made three sets, two of which we connected together by the top shelves with extra wood, and spanned the width of J's toolbox, creating a module effect - very cool! We hung spare shelf wood next to the door into the house for my cleaning and other smaller house stuff. Our garage is definitely looking more organized and like we envisioned! Yay for no more mess!! J is such a great fiance that he even missed the entire first half of the first BSU game of the season just to finish the shelves because I'd been dying to get them done for 2 weeks. Have a mentioned lately that he's awesome??? :)

Sunday we puttered around the house... J mowed the lawn and I did the dishes and laundry. He left for work around 4:00, and I finished cleaning up the house, packed my bags and left with Huck for Arco around 4:45. I arrived in Arco at my grandparent's house around 8:00, just in time for a rib dinner. I had made the trip to Arco to see the three generations of women in my family - my mom, my grandma, and my great-grandma. I get to see my mom and grandma much more frequently than I get to see my great-grandma (in fact, they'll be coming down to go wedding dress shopping with me this weekend), so I wanted to make sure that I made time to see my great-grandmother, better known as Grandma Whit. She is 88 years old and is convinced that she won't be alive by this time next year (to be fair, she's been saying that for about 12 years now). Even though she is strong and in relatively good health, the idea of not seeing her for a long time in case something does happen really upsets me. While I was there with her, I took that opportunity to ask her questions that I've never asked her before. Grandma Whit is an amazing woman. She has experienced so much life! She was born and raised as Thomasina Madden in Belfast, Ireland. On Valentine's Day, 1944, she met Virgil Whitworth outside a movie theatre. She had been going to the show with some of her girlfriends, and he was an American soldier with a pass to come into the city for the day. She was 21 years old. They were married in early September, 1944. They'd known each other for less than 7 months!! Then he was shipped away for TWO YEARS. When he was released, she moved all the way to Idaho to be with him, where they had 6 children. My great-grandfather died when I was about 2 years old, but I'm told by everyone that ever knew him what a great man he was. I'm sorry that I never got to meet him. So while I had my Grandma Whit there, I asked her about him. I asked her what it was like when they met, what he said to her, how he proposed. I asked her if she'd had any other boyfriends (she had three, and described them in awesome detail), and asked her who her best girlfriend was. I asked her about her favorite memories from Ireland and her happiest memories from Idaho. We laughed and laughed together, and I marveled in the opportunity to connect with her on a new, deeper level and appreciate her from a woman's standpoint, rather than a child's.

It was a really, really great experience. I know that I'll remember it forever, and I'm so glad that I took the opportunity to spend that time with her, and make those memories with her.