Our 10th Anniversary

So believe it or not, I’ve been with the soon-to-be husband for 10 years today. I really can't believe that much time has passed. But when you start dating someone your sophomore year of high school, that will happen.    


 


We’ve gone through both good and bad times. We both lost people close to us and learn to lean on each other for support. We learned to live with each other's good and bad habits. I feel like our relationship has always been strong, and as move into this next chapter of our lives to together, it will only grow stronger.

I count myself lucky to have found the person I’m going to spend the rest of my life with on my very first try. If everyone was that lucky, this world would be filled with a lot more love. I feel so lucky that our relationship has last longer than most marriages.

With all the said, I really just want to express how happy I am that I have found the perfect person to share my life with.  Sam- you are a great man, great boyfriend, soon-to-be husband, and someday you’ll be a great father.  I love you!

Indecisive Bride - Engagement Photos

Originally when Sam and I got engaged, I figured we would skip out on doing engagement photos. Considering we have been dating for 10 years (well our 10 year anniversary is tomorrow), we have tons of photos of us. Also, I wasn't willing to pay to have someone take some "pretty" photos of us that we may only use for a "save the date" or "thank you" note. However, we did get engagement photos taken. It was included in our wedding photo package, so I figure why not take advantage of the "free" photo session.

Keeping in mind these are our "engagement photos", I had us wear the same outfits we wore the night we got engaged. Lucky for us, the weather was really nice because Sam was in shorts and I was wearing a dress.

So I got the online proofs back and I have to pick one picture to use for our "Web Invitation Cards". These are cards the photographer provides to our guest the night of the wedding telling them where they can view the photos from our wedding.

This is where my indecision comes into play, I'm not sure what photo I like the best. However, I got it down to 4 choices. This is where you come in- help me pick the picture for our "web invites".

1. Go to our photographer web site: www.eivans.com
2. Click on the "Bridal Login" link
3. Enter my blog email: ssdarke@yahoo.com 
4. Enter the password they gave me: stacy

The four photos I'm down to and can't pick from are either: 16, 28, 53, or 67


Which photo do you like best?

Thanks for your help!

5 Week Countdown

With only 35 days left till the wedding, I don't think it has really hit me yet how much still needs to get done. This maybe a good thing because I'm still feeling very calm. However, this is because I know I have a great support team who is willing to help out with anything I need.

Here are a few things that have gotten check off the list in the last few weeks...

• Wedding dress is altered and is ready to go
• Got engagement photos taken
• Found someone to do our hair for the wedding (for a really reasonable price)
• Started sending/ handing out the Michigan reception invitations
• The majority of my "thank you" notes have been sent out from the shower
• Sent in our photography time line for the wedding day

Things that still need to be done...

• Finish making all the wedding centerpieces
• Buy the wedding favors
• Buy bridesmaids, groomsmen, flower girl, ring barrier, and parent gifts
• Find wedding transportation (this is just an extra expense I'm really not sure about) 
• Buy wedding rings (again extra expense I'm not sure about- long story)
• Choose ceremony readings and music
• Making wedding ceremony programs

So, I will have plenty to keep me busy for the next 5 weeks. However, I think it all should come together pretty smoothly. (I hopefully those aren't my famous last words.)

Wish me luck!

What would be a good gift for a flower girl and ring barrier? How about our parents gifts?

Wedding Centerpieces Part II

So I have made a little more head way on what my centerpieces for my wedding are going to look like. In my first post about my wedding centerpieces, you got to see the centerpiece that is already done and you also got to see what vases I have to work with.

I was really sure what to do with this vase

but this is what I came up with....

What I like a about this centerpiece is that it is very simple but it will work well for a Halloween weekend wedding. I'm also thinking about adding purple gel beads in the vase so I all three color are represented.

This picture will give you an idea of how tall this centerpiece really is.

Sitting on the table in my mom dining room it almost touches the ceiling. I love centerpieces that different heights, so this will be the tallest centerpiece at my wedding.

I also found something to do the "Eiffel tower" vase, but that will be for another post.

In other wedding news: Sam and I got our engagement photos taken on Tuesday. We really lucked out when it came to the weather. It was warm enough for me to wear a dress and Sam to wear shorts. We ended up wearing the same outfits we wore the day we got engaged. It only seem fitting because these are our engagement pictures.

Domestic Sunday

I not sure what got into me today, but I've been go, go, go all day and it's only the afternoon.

For starters I got up early enough to go to church. That hasn't happen in a long time, but it was nice to go. I even ran into one of Sam's cousins there. After church, I stopped by the banquet hall to put in another deposit for the wedding reception. Then I went to the store to pick up for some food for lunch and dinner. On the menu- tacos for lunch and chili for dinner.

I love to make chili in the fall and winter because it's so easy to make. Also it's a pretty filling meal.  Here is what went into my chili.

 
- 1 pound of ground beef
- 1 can of tomatoes and chilies
- 1 can of tomato paste
- 1 can of tomato soup
- 1 can of kidney beans
- 1 can of chili beans
- 1 packet of chili seasoning

On top of making lunch and dinner, I also made some muffins.

I have put my new crock-pot, muffin pan and the muffin mix  (all which I received at my wedding shower) to good use today. Now I just have to wait till Sam gets home and all this food will be history.

What is some of your favorite fall foods?

Wedding Dress Roadtrip

Last weekend was pretty crazy. (Oh by the way... Hi! Long time no blogging.) My cousin had her baby and I couldn't be happier for her and her family.

(From left to right- my mom, my mom's cousin, my (2nd) cousin plus baby on board, and me)

I have been meaning to make a trip to Michigan because my other cousin (the new mommy's younger sister) said she would do the alteration on the wedding dress. So this weekend seemed like a prefect time to do a wedding dress road trip. I got my dress altered and got to see the new baby.



I was shocked on how quick my cousin was able to make all the alterations to my dress. Granted all it really needed was the side taken in and a bushel added, but all those things are easier said then done. I really didn't know how many steps there is when it come to altering a wedding dress until my cousin showed me.

(The cousin after a long day of working on dress and undershirt)

Also while I was in Michigan, I got to spend a little time with my grandma and uncle. I figure if I made the long trip might as well get the most out of it.

All and all it was a great weekend. Plus I get to check another thing off the wedding to do list. We are only a month and half a way... time is really moving fast. 

My Labor Day Weekend

I have to say now that I have a full time job, I really do appreciate a three day weekend. When I was only working part-time, I always had a 3 or 4 day weekend; however back then a long weekend to me just meant I hadn't achieved my goal of getting a full time job. But now, it is just a special treat I get every so often.

I tried to keep my weekend pretty low key while spending some time with friends and family. 

Friday night, I when out with my mom and one of her friends for food and cocktails.

I got a chocolate cake martini which was really good. Plus, I got to try out my new camera that I got as a gift at my wedding shower.

I also got to spend some time with my bridal party and other friends in the last few nights as well.

It's nice to just to be able to hang out with old friends and catch up. Most of the talk was wedding related, but I guess that is to be expected when two of us in our group of friends are engaged.

I've also been busy with writing up all my thank you notes.

All of these are already done, and I still have at 20+ more to go. So, I hope to have all of them in the mail by the end of the week. Once these are out of the way, I can really start focusing on finishing all the other details of the wedding.

Question: How did you spend your holiday weekend?

Wedding Centerpieces

With only 55 days left till the wedding, we are officially at crunch time. All the things that are left to do, really need to start getting done. This includes my DYI wedding centerpieces. I really want to get as much done in the next few weeks as I can, that way I'm not completely stress out right before the wedding.

Awhile ago, I wrote about my plans for my wedding shower centerpieces; however, I didn't end up making those for the shower because Sam's mom bought her own. So, I'm making sure that I get some use out of the vases I bought. With that said, I have already gone ahead and made one of my wedding centerpieces with them. (How I made these will come in a later post.)

The colors I'm using for my wedding are black, purple, and silver. So these have a little bit of all my colors in this one centerpiece. 

I really like how these turned out, but I love when there a few different types of centerpieces at a wedding. Also, I love when there is a mix of different heights between the centerpieces as while. So now my challenge is to try to get all my centerpieces (I think I'll be having 4 to 5 different centerpieces throughout the room) to look like they "go" together.

For my wedding shower gift my mom bought me 3 other types of vases to use for my centerpieces. So here are the other vases I'll be working with....

My mom bought 6 of each of these vases. Plus, I still have 12 of the vases I bought for my shower giving me 30 centerpiece (if needed).

Currently, I have ideas for the first two vases but the "fish bowl" is the where I'm having a hard time figuring out what I'm going to do with it. I know I'll figure something out. I just hope I get an idea here in the next week or so because time is starting to run out.

Question: Did you/ would you try to make your own centerpieces? 

Busy Bee with Wedding Activites

Hi everyone! What a crazy few weeks. Here's a quick recap of what has gone down.

Ended both my part time jobs.
Started a new job.
Had our wedding tasting.
Had our wedding shower.
Started teaching my first class ever.
Went shopping for my DIY centerpieces. (To be talked about soon.)
Order my wedding veil. (Sorry, you'll have to wait till the wedding to see what I picked)
Started writing my thank you notes.
Made our final wedding menu selections.

I'm sorry I've been slacking on my posts but I haven't forgotten about you.

I'm excited for the holiday weekend. I hope with the 3 day weekend I can get caught up with all my loose ends that need to be tied up and get into a regular routine again. (which includes posting more often and reading more blogs)

Have a great weekend and blog to you soon!