Woohoo!

I've gotten a lot done for the wedding lately!

• I bought most of the decorations for the centerpieces
• I also started buying some of the decorations for the mantlepieces (there are 3 fireplaces that I need to decorate!)
• I got all the materials to make a card box together - I'm excited because Dan asked to help with a craft so we can do it together! 

Card box supplies!

This is from pinterest - my inspiration :) 

• I got the decorations for the table that Dan and I are sitting at as well
• I researched songs for our first dance, the song I'll be walking in on, and the song the bridal party will be walking in - pretty sure I know which ones but I have to finalize with Dan first 
• I looked into possible rehearsal dinner locations - turns out they are more affordable than I thought. I found a cool restaurant nearby that has yummy food (I've been there before which helps) and that's BYOB which will help us save a bit.  I'm waiting to hear back from them about whether or not they do pre-fixed menus for big parties.
• I contacted my hair/makeup lady to book the makeup and hair trial for me
• I started cutting the wine bottles for our centerpieces.  I finally figured out how to do it well! It didn't work well with the darker colored bottles, but I only need the clear ones for the tables anyways, so that's ok! I used the scoring tool I got on Amazon to make a light score on the bottom of the bottle.  Then I dipped it in boiling hot water and then right into cold water with lots of ice.  I repeated the dipping about four times and the bottle just popped right off! The scoring tool came with a glass polishing paper so I used that to sand down the edges, but it looked really clean cut! 

And aside from the wedding, Dan and I went and got our tree on Saturday! We also managed to put all the Fall decorations away, take out all the Christmas decorations out, and rake all the leaves on our deck! Awesome!

'Tis the season!

I hope everyone had a great Turkey Day! :)

Upkeep

So I've been trying some different things as far as my beauty routine/regimin goes leading up to the wedding:

*I tried the murad facial that's special for acne prone skin from massage envy, hoping that it would be something that I could do a few times before the wedding. I was so relaxed and it felt great. But my skin broke out SO bad! It took me two weeks to get my skin back to normal after. I have had a couple break outs after a facial before, but nothing like that! Never again! (Ironic isn't it? A facial that is made for acne prone skin- my freakin luck)

*I bought the Mia 2 Clarisonic facial cleansing brush. I use it every day and sometimes even twice a day! It's wonderful. I have been using the sensitive brush head. I had a coupon to sephora and purchased the deep pore brush head today so we shall see how that goes. The Mia cleans really well and is waterproof so I can take it in the shower which is nice. I like using different cleansers with it to switch it up. While at sephora today I got the philosophy cleanser called purity which has wonderful reviews. So I'm hoping it'll work well in combination with the Mia. 

*i started nutrisystem. I can't remember if I blogged about it yet or not. In a nutshell: I have found my favorite foods that are delicious, it helps me budget my monthly food costs, and it's dummy proof! I am scared of the scale (I'm trying to be better about it now) so I can't give you an exact answer of how much I have lost but I know it's at least 8 pounds in the past month or so, and I have noticed the difference in how my clothing has been fitting. So I'm happy with that for now. 

*I have not made it to the gym as much as I want to...with work, grad school, thirty one, and wedding stuff, I just haven't found a good balance of time to fit it in. But I'm posting this as I'm on the cybex at the gym right now :) so I guess I'm slowly getting better! 

I'm really hoping these habits last longer than the wedding, of course. I had started the legwork for a lot of them before I was even engaged, but of course the wedding gave me a little push. 

I have a fair amount of updates for my wedding to-dos that I will save for another post. 

Have a great night!

Minions!!

I was a minion from Despicable Me today at school - the kids LOVED it.


:)

Happy Halloween!

Money Woes

Warning - Whining Ahead...

I LOVE my job.  I get to help shape America's future and touch the lives of many children.  I make kids laugh while learning, I help sharpen their reading skills, and I teach them how to problem solve in math, as well as in life.  I work SO hard at my job and it has never been a forty hour a week kind of job.  I constantly take grading home after work and spend hours on the weekends working on report card comments and planning.  I often go in early and stay late.  I do this all, despite the lack of a noticeable raise or full support from the parents.

But sometimes it's hard not to get frustrated with the pay! Once I get my graduate degree in two years, I'll see the biggest pay raise possible in the next several years - before taxes it'll be around $5,000 to $6,000 more a year.  I know that that's still better than some get and I'm not looking for a pity vote here, but I just want to scream sometimes!

It boggles my mind that I have been in this job for five years and I currently only make $3,000 more a year than I did my first year of teaching!! And that's BEFORE taxes.  It makes it really hard to hear friends and family talk about raises of $8,000 or $10,000 raises or bonuses that are even more than that.

I do get an income from Thirty-One, but it's not steady and I can't depend on it.  With my current bills, the random car bills that I've had lately (Tires = $900 ugh!), and graduate school, I'm seriously struggling.  Not to mention the wedding costs!

I feel like I have a personality disorder when it comes to my finances.  Some days I think to myself, "Hey, it's cool.  I'm not like the average American struggling with tens of thousands in debt, and I pay all of my bills on time.  So it's ok."  But then other days I feel like a total failure when I think of the fact that I literally don't have a savings and I have to keep using my credit card to pay for wedding stuff.  I hate having a balance at all on my credit cards, and I know it's not the end of the world, and you only get married once, blah blah...BUT it still bothers me.

So I'm trying my hardest to get more Thirty-One parties, but I don't want to be too pushy about it or too sales-y by asking friends and family to host.  I can't force people to have parties!

I still babysit once a week, but that's only $40 at a time.  So it doesn't go very far at all.  Lately, it hasn't been consistent either.  I just broke down and applied for some tutoring jobs online.  For the past three years my school system gave me a tutoring job twice a week that helped me, but the budget wasn't there for it this year.  So I'm hoping I can find some other ones on my own. We shall see.

Not to get too religious here, but I know things happen for a reason and that I'm being looked after.  I know that I have people around me who care and who are willing to help when needed (and who already have - I know I have the best friends and family!).  I pray and thank God multiple times a day for the blessings I have.

But sometimes I just want to get paid more for what I already do and love, instead of trying to find other odd jobs to pick up the pieces!

More things off the ol' list

It's been a while - I have been so busy with grad. work and school! But somehow I have still managed to get some wedding stuff done!

Recently accomplished:

• I ordered invitations, RSVP cards, envelopes, and matching address labels from Vistaprint - With the two groupons I had, I saved $112! Woohoo!
• I chose and ordered something for my hair (can't be specific - Dan doesn't want to know anything about what I'll look like)
• Chose bridal jewelry and got them! My sister, brother, and brother's girlfriend got my necklace and earrings for me as my birthday gift! YAY!
• Finished the website!
• Just about finished all of the separate contact lists - one for the wedding with separate lines for each person, one for households, and one for the shower.  I still need to make a bachelorette one soon.

Need to do soon-ish:

• Figure out if/how we're doing a rehearsal dinner
• Go through ceremony options with Dan and our pastor
• Go shopping soon with my sister/mom to find what they're wearing for the wedding
• Book the honeymoon flight - I have it picked out! We just have to sit down and actually do it
• Order the rest of the bridal party gifts

Woo!

More checks on the To-Do!

So the Save the Date Magnets came in the mail SUPER fast!  I sent them out the next day and have already gotten messages from friends and family saying that they got them.  I tried to hand out as many as I could, to help save some money.  

So that's a big thing off the list!

I also blocked 15 rooms off at the Hilton Hotel that is close to the venue.  We even get a shuttle bus! Awesome! 

The next big things I need to do/figure out:

• If I want to get a Suite room at the hotel to have more room for my bridesmaids/I to get ready
• Book the room Dan and I will stay in on our wedding night
• Figure out the honeymoon - there may or may not be some changes
• Order the invitations
• Cupcake Tasting - This weekend!! Can't wait!
• Menu Tasting - Sometime in November 
• Plan out the ceremony with Dan and Pastor Ken

I put together the scoring tool so Dan and I will also get to practice cutting some wine bottles soon! Woo-hoo!

In other news, one of my best friends just found out she's having a baby girl! Yessss!! Bring on the colorful tu-tus and hair bows! SWEET! 

Engagement Photos: A Peek

Here's a sneak peek at some of our engagement photos from this past weekend :)

I didn't add all of them.  I will add more later.  But so far, which one if your fav?

Guess what tomorrow is?!

First day of school with my new class!

Just like every year, I have mixed feelings.  Relief to have a "normal" schedule again, sadness that the Summer weather is over and my chance to take mid-day naps, excitement for Fall flavored drinks like my precious pumpkin spice latte, and overall being overwhelmed with knowing how busy I'm about to become again.

Thankfully this Summer has given me a lot of time to get a TON of wedding stuff done so I don't have a lot of crazy stuff to do this Fall for it.  So that's good.

Things that I have left to do in the next couple months:

• Find/Set-up hotel block and set-up shuttle bus 
• Edit/piece together the ceremony readings and passages with Dan and pastor Ken
• Play around with wine bottles to see what I like for the centerpieces
• Figure out the whole centerpiece look
• Send out save the dates after choosing which engagement photo I want to use for it (the photos are this upcoming Saturday!)
• Figure out if we are doing a rehearsal dinner...and if so, how/what we are doing for it
• Go to the tasting party in November to make decisions about our menu
• Finish the BBB registry
• Buy jewelry for wedding (I just chose it today!)

Anywho... have a good night! Wish me luck with the kiddos tomorrow! :)

*Shout out to the ladies who have helped me a lot lately with wedding stuff! You know who you are! :)

I got the dress!

Just ordered my dress! YAY!

So they told the dressmaker my height so that it can come perfectly for my size! Since I'm wearing flats, the hope is that we won't have to alter much at all except for the bustle! 

Sweet!

I also just officially booked my hair and make-up girl! (and just in time too, because she had another inquiry about my date!)

Yay!

DIY

So Dan and I are going to get all DIY up in here! Woo!

I found this great tutorial on how to cut a glass bottle cleanly and without a saw! Boom! Safe and easy!

This is the tutorial: http://makezine.com/2010/03/08/how-to-cut-a-wine-bottle-in-30-seco/
This is the glass scoring tool I bought on Amazon for $19: http://www.amazon.com/Generation-Green-g2-Bottle-Cutter/dp/B004ZRV3AU/ref=sr_1_1?s=power-hand-tools&ie=UTF8&qid=1377051614&sr=1-1 

This is why we want to cut wine bottles...

So I want to try it with a clear bottle and also a black/really dark one and see which one I like better.  Since my colors are gray and purple and the table clothes will be gray, I'm thinking it might look cool to  get a purple candle to go inside of a clear bottle.  We are going to do some testers so we shall see! :)

I'm excited! My ideas for the centerpieces are finally coming together.

I had a meeting with the venue event planner today and it went really well.  She seemed surprised (and a tad bit judge-y) at some of my answers regarding traditions that everyone does that we're not (i.e. garter toss, place cards, and cutting the cake).  Oh well, lady! It's my wedding! I'll do what I want!

So here are major to-do list items we have crossed off recently:

• Find an officiant - We found a WONDERFUL one! We love him!! BONUS: He's an elementary band director! This is great because Dan and I met in band! It's fate!
• Create a wedding website - Done! (I won't publish until we finish both registries).
• Finish Honeyfund registry - Done!
• Find dress - I GOT MY DRESS!! Wooohooo!! It's perfect and I didn't want to take it off! Yay!

Next to-do items:

• Finish BBB registry - we are purposely keeping this small to encourage people to go to the honeyfund registry instead.  We have been living together for two years and we really don't want more house items.  We would rather have an amazing trip together!
• Get hotel block and talk to hotel about room for me, bridesmaids and bridesman to get ready in.
• Take Engagement Photos - We are doing this in the next two or three weeks in Ellicott City. 
• Send out Save the Dates.
• Start DIY projects - wine bottles and chalkboards.
• Talk with a travel agent about honeymoon/shop around for deals

School started this week for staff.  Students come back next week.  I'm glad that I have the major vendor decisions taken care of for the wedding since I won't have a lot of extra time to do that during the school year.

:) Peace out!

Woohoo!!

I lost an inch in my waist and a half inch on each thigh!! Woohoo!!

I've been working really hard with my personal trainer and on my own and I'm actually seeing some results! Hallelujah!

Stoked!

I've realized how much I use "awesome," "excited," and "super" in my speech/writing.  I tell my students all the time to broaden their vocabulary, so I thought I would!

Hence the title..

Courtesy of Urban Dictionary - Thought this was fitting :)

So before I chose stoked, I had excited in mind and when I went to find a picture from Google, I loved the combination of them all!  So I took a screen shot instead. 

Haha I love this!
*note - I know the little girl in red is in there twice, but that's ok.  She's just REALLY excited.

So anyways, I'm stoked/excited/thrilled/pumped/happy* BECAUSE
We booked 2 photographers and a Dj last night!! 

Thanks to a fantastic recommendation from my future sis-in-law (shout-out to E! woo woo!) we found The Pros, a company that hosts several services including photo, video, dj, and photobooths.  Score! Their prices are absolutely unbelievably cheap, their reviews are are off the charts, and they had a showcase last night that included demonstration of services/products with prizes.  Sounds too good to be true, right? So far I'm really impressed.  I got TWO photographers (the main one has won awards for the State and is the best in the company!) and a Dj who told me she would make sure everyone left with a smile on our day! She was the only dj to have us do the cupid shuffle last night! She actually got us up and moving and she was hilarious! Perfect!

Ok so I need to go to bed and don't want to write too much more, but here are the major things left:

*Rings - haven't thought much about these yet
*Officiant - working on it 
*Dress Shopping - scheduled!
*Tasting - choosing menu 
*Tasting - choosing cupcake flavors -- MMmmm
*Engagement Photos - working on it! 


:) Have a great night/morning! Happy Weekend!


*Ok, just one more screen shot of urban dictionary - when I looked up happy. Bah ha!

How To Remove a Gel Manicure

So I love getting gel manicures but I think it's silly to go back to a salon to have them remove it for you, if you're not planning on getting another one right away.

So I have perfected a great way to take them off without peeling off a layer of your nail.  I basically figured out what the salon people do and found out how to do it at home.

Here goes.

You'll need: Nail polish remover (I prefer 100% pure acetone because it works faster), nail file, cuticle pusher, squares of aluminum foil, and cotton pads or squares

So here's what my nails looked like around week 3...clearly have grown out a bit.  I could probably keep them a bit longer, but my hair and clothes have been getting caught on them when the edges start coming up and it drives me nuts. So, time to go!

I hate it when the corners are like this! They lift up and get caught on EVERYTHING!

1. Cut the cotton pads into small squares that are big enough to cover more than just your fingernail if it were placed right on top of it.

2. Soak a small cotton pad with nail polish remover.  Then wring it a little bit so that it's not soaking wet.  Place it right on top of your fingernail.  You want to make sure your whole fingernail is covered. The reason I use small squares instead of wrapping the cotton around my whole finger tip is because the nail polish remover can seriously dry out your skin and it's not comfortable.

3. Grab a foil square and place it right on top of the cotton pad.  Wrap it around and fold on the top of your finger so it's nice and tight.  Make sure it's really close to your finger and that there aren't any holes in between. 

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for the rest of your fingers on that hand.  I have not been able to do this for both hands at once because it's hard to use your hands when they're all foiled up! So I do it one hand at a time.  If you're able to do both at once, go for it!

5. I usually go watch tv or something while I wait.  I usually wait about ten minutes or so.  You'll know it's done when it looks like this when the foil comes off...

6. Use the cuticle pusher to scrape off the gel starting from the bed of your nail moving towards the end of your nail to get everything off.  

7. Use the nail polish remover and wipe off your nail one last time. 

8. Do this with your other hand.

9. I always finish by putting on two coats of nail strengthener since it's easy for them to become weak because of the nail polish remover.

Ta-da! You're done! 

Work it out!

So working with my personal trainer is AWESOME! She's really tough and I get a great workout every time.  Plus she's been coming up with a plan for me so that when I'm not with her, I know exactly what to do at home or at the gym.

So to give you an idea, last time I was with her I did a 5 minute walk warm-up on the treadmill.  Then I did circuits of a bunch of exercises. One was doing squats jumping up and down with one leg going onto one of those half ball things... see picture below to see an idea of what I mean. 

Then I also did stuff with the TRX straps she has hanging from her ceiling (I'm always afraid I'm going to yank her ceiling out, but she assures me that it's attached very securely).

See below pictures for what I did with that.

I pulled myself up like this - I REALLY felt it in my arms for the next couple days.

This was kind-of cool too...very controlled and slow movement.  My arms were shaking!

Then I did some lower ab roll outs with the yoga ball too.

I'm sure there was more, but I can't remember since that was last Thursday!  But anyways she does it similar to Jillian Michaels... 3 exercises in a rotation and then 3 new exercises in a rotation. There's always stretching afterwards and I always work up a great sweat!

Here's what she had me do tonight: 30 minutes on the treadmill at the gym.  I did 5 minutes of warm-up at 3.2 mph. (I always put it on the incline of 1.0 because I've read that treadmills are usually below the ground level at 0.0 so it's better to put it at 1.0 to be leveled out).  Then for 20 minutes I would sprint for 30 seconds (for me this is between 5.8 - 6.0 mph) and then have one recovery minute of walking (for me - 3.4 or 3.5).  I did this for the 20 minutes and then ended with 5 minutes of cool-down at 3.2.  It was really interesting to do it this way! I love intervals but I've never done such small ones! It made the 30 minutes go by really fast! 

Then when I got home I had to do burpees, push-ups, and squats with a dumbbell! See below for my workout to-do list (yes, I crossed them off as I did it so I felt good about it! ha, such a nerd).  (NOTE: I HATE burpees! They suck so bad!)

dell = Dumbbell.  Yeah, I'm not sure why I did that. Let's go with it.

Anyways, I've been working really hard and I really hope that I can see some great results!  Last Summer was the heaviest for me, and since then I have lost 12 pounds.  I'm hoping to get to my happy weight of fitting my clothes well and still having curves (I found this weight when I got off of the birth control pills for a bit - I wish my uterus didn't suck without them every month, otherwise I could just do that and lose the weight!).  To get to that happy weight I would need to lose another 16 pounds.  I think it's doable! I'm hoping that working with Abby can give me some great motivation and some new ideas.

I've read and heard that it takes 21 days to form a habit.  This will be my first week where I will have my two days with Abby and then three-four days of her workouts on my own. (the past two weeks have been hard to schedule because of schedule conflicts for both of us)  I'm excited to see where this will take me! 

:)

Wooooohooo!

Ok, so this will be fast but I'm just SO excited!

So I'm trying really hard to meet a HUGE business* incentive for Thirty-One (a $1,300 amex giftcard that I could use for my wedding! Um, hello! That would be a HUGE help!)

Well, I decided to host an online auction with a bunch of items that I don't need anymore for my display.  It was a great success!  With everything sold, I will be getting $178! Woo! So with that, and some cash I had from my party the other day with some display items, I can put it in as my own party which means I'll get the hostess benefits (at least $25 to spend in addition to the $200 I'll have to put towards replacing the display items with newer prints and all)!  AND it'll go towards my goal! BAM!

So here is where I am with my goal...

Between April and August I need to sell $15,000 in sales to get a $1,300 AmEx gift card.  So far, I have earned a $100 best buy gift card.  But I haven't redeemed it yet, because I'd rather wait until AmEx.  I am about $600 in sales away from earning the second incentive which would be a $500 best buy gift card, which would put me at $600 in rewards so far.  

So as it stands now, I'm about $600 away from having $10,000 in sales between April and August, and $5,600 away from having $15,000.

So if I break it down, I need to try my best to have at least $2,800 in sales in both July and August to meet my goal.  Normally, this would be fine because lately my sales have been around $3,000. However, the Summer months, especially July are really tough to get sales because everyone is away on vacation or they don't want to spend money since they are spending it at the beach.  So I'm trying a bunch of creative ways to earn my goal.

Here are my ideas to get more sales in July and August:

• Have an online auction - Did this! Success!
• Do another lotto game - the last one I did was successful, but time consuming.  But it gives me a $75 order and a lucky winner a great prize! - Thinking about doing this next week
• Send out coupons to past hostesses/customers 
• Reach out to my hostesses from last year to see if they want to host again - maybe offer them an incentive?
• Email all of my customers with a daily deal calendar and be honest with them about what I'm trying to earn for my wedding - I did this yesterday and I've already gotten three responses! Yay!!
• Try to focus on getting more online/catalog parties going if house parties aren't an option.
• Have a fundraiser for my school PTA in August (I wouldn't get much commission for this, but I would get the personal volume credit which means it could still count towards my goal).  - I have already talked to my principal about this, and she seems on board! We shall see!
• Reach out to my fellow direct sales friends and maybe do a swap? I host for them and they host for me? 

Anyways, as you can see, I am very motivated and determined! I just hope it pays off! If I end up with the best buy gift card for $600 that's totally fine because I can get a computer which I have needed for a long time.  And obviously, I'll still get the commissions which is going towards the wedding. But MAN! I really want that amex card! 

Do you have any ideas about how to get more parties this Summer? Maybe I could try and emphasize early holiday shopping!  Skip the store lines, and shop online with me! Hmmm....I'm on fire! :) Haha.

Amen.

*Despite being a teacher and working with spelling and grammar on a daily basis, I cannot for the life of me spell business correctly on the first try! EVER! Ha. Old habits die hard, eh?

Wedding To-Do Lists

First let's start off with what I have gotten done, so that I won't feel as overwhelmed! I have gotten some things out of the way, which is good.  I'm not anywhere close to being completely planned, but hey! It's a start.

Done:

• Chose bridal party - I have 7 and he has 4; we have a ring bearer and a flower girl.  We are trying to figure out a way to incorporate Codden (our dog) but we're not sure yet.
• Chose wedding colors - shades of purple and gray
• Chose venue for reception and ceremony - Overhills Mansion
• We discussed our budget together (we = Dan and I)
• Chose our photographer for our engagement photos (My co-worker offered his services for free! Woo!)
• Started researching and contacting possible vendors for flowers, hair/make-up, and photography
• Set a maximum guest list number - 100 
• Set up excel for guest list with contact information
• Created a Wedding binder
• Started looking at wedding dresses online to get an idea
• Started thinking about what the reception decor would look like
• Researched some bakeries in the area for cupcakes

I would like to get these things done within the next couple weeks:

• Finalize the guest list with Dan
• Finish adding the contact information to the guest list in excel
• Meet with a possible florist about pricing
• Find some more possible photographers and set a budget for photography
• Finalize the centerpiece design
• Finalize who is doing the cupcakes/put a deposit down
• Find invitations/save the dates that I like and set a budget for that

In the next month or two:

• Go wedding dress shopping ... oh god! I am not looking forward to seeing what size I would be right now.  I've been losing weight lately so I should be at least a little smaller by then but we shall see. I know it's weird but as much as I love to be around people I'm a little apprehensive to have a ton of girls/moms with me too.  Call me crazy but I also kind-of want my dress to be a bit of a surprise for everyone.  I don't want it to be passed around via cell phone before the big day so that everyone knows what it looks like. Maybe I can be stealthy and take one or two friends and then just tell everyone else the shape of it? Let them know I want it to be a surprise...?
• Get color swatches for my bridesmaids so they can keep their eye out for possible dresses in those colors.

I have a lot to do, but I also feel like I'm getting a lot done.  Other than major decisions, Dan is pretty awesome about leaving most of the planning to me.  Because I'm neurotic and need opinions I ask him about everything anyways, but he always says ok to it all anyways.  :) He trusts me.  Not to get too mushy, but the other day he said something along the lines of 'I'm just glad I get you. Everything else doesn't really matter.'  So sweet...and so true! At the end of the day, it's a celebration of deciding to be together forever and having some fun while doing so.

The mother of all insulting comments for a woman to hear...

"Hey Ms. Strunk! You look like you're pregnant!"

Womp, womp, womp.

aghhhhhhh

Ok...one, I was slouching and shouldn't have been so my tummy is pushed out.  Two, this is coming from a six year old.  Three, she doesn't know anything.

But, still!

Yikes!


It's ironic because I had a training with my personal trainer scheduled today anyways! Ha! 

(P.S. I signed up with a personal trainer - one that I used years ago.  And before you get all I-can't-believe-you're-going-all-crazy-for-the-wedding I planned on doing this, this Summer BEFORE I got engaged! So there! I finally have a little bit of money to put towards this so I'm excited to go full out! We are meeting twice a week and she's telling me what to do on days that I don't see her! I am so excited. Today was awesome and I'm sore already but I'm excited for the results that I should get)

Have you ever gotten a comment like that, where it makes you feel awful?! From a kid? I love how brutally honest kids are, but MAN! Gimme a break!

Will you be my...

So thanks to Pinterest, I combined two great ideas into one so that I could creatively ask my girls/guy to be with my on my special day.  So I wrote "I've got the guy by I need my girls" in our wedding colors of gray and purple and printed it out on cardstock.  Then I had a picture of me holding a framed chalkboard asking if they would be my _______.  I had to take three different pictures because I had three different titles.  I have two matrons of honor, one bridesman, and four bridesmaids. Whew! The one where I am standing on the brick was taken by my neighbor!  I ran down the street and asked him to take a picture really quick and we had a mini-photo shoot.  The photo that I ended up choosing, which is below, is the result of him going to his second floor window and looking down on me with the camera.  
Cute! The other two pictures were taken outside at school by my teammate.

This is what it looked like when they got the envelope either in person or in the mail.

 

And of course I had to change the last one a little to fit for Rocco! :) 

Everyone responded differently, which I love because everyone has very different personalities, so it was very fitting that they all responded in a unique way from each other.

• I'm pretty sure Erin squealed and said yes before she even finished opening the envelope! 
• Rocco forgot to message me his answer until I asked him about it, but to be fair he got in between traveling the world :)
• Katie said she might cry and gave me a big squeeze
• Beth and Dawn both said "Awww, of course!" right away  
• Jen called back and said it was the most creative way she's every been asked to be a bridesmaid! (Score!) 
• My sister Caitee sent a text photo back of her holding a sign responding back to my sign :) 

I'm so glad all of my people can be with me for such an exciting time! :)

Wedding Link Up!

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I love link ups and saw this one on Erin’s page, and thought it’d be fun to fill it out as a fiancée and soon-ish to-be wife! 

So my wedding to Dan…has not happened yet! We just got engaged on May 5^th so we are still in the beginning stages of planning.

Here’s our history in bulleted list form: 

• We met in band in 9^th grade when I was 13 and he was 14. We dated “long-term” for three months! (When you’re that age, three months is a long time! Ha)
• We stayed friends throughout high school and always had an on-going flirtation.
• We “talked” and kind-of hung out/causally dated during Senior Week and a little bit into college. (Does anyone remember when people used to use the term ‘talking’ when referring to dating or flirting but not officially? What was up with that?!)  That didn’t last long though since he was away at Virginia Tech and I was home going to HCC.
•  We re-connected one Summer while he was home from college.  It also happened to be right after I had just broken up with my boyfriend of almost three years and he had broken up with his long-time girlfriend as well.  Hmm, fate? ;)
•  We started dating that Fall after I came and visited him at Virginia Tech.  We had a long-distance relationship for about a year and a half.  Then when he graduated he was home for two months before being offered a job in Virginia Beach.  So then he went there for another year or so and we continued the long-distance relationship.
• He finally got a job back up here and we moved in together.
• Five and a half years after we re-connected he proposed to me while walking underneath the Natural Bridge in Virgina.

So the details: 

Date: Saturday, April 12, 2014   

Location - Overhills Mansion in Catonsville – We are going to have an outdoor ceremony in a garden-like area and the reception will be inside a large room with wooden floors and a fireplace.  I like to think of it as your rich neighbor’s living room…it’s large but has a homey feeling to it.

Bridal Party – We went back and forth on this one.  We changed our minds about having a bridal party at all.  So now I have 7 and he has 4.  One thing we are keeping is that the bridal party will not be standing with us.  They will still enter before us, but they will go and sit in the front rows instead of standing by us.  We liked the idea of the ceremony being more about the two of us and not making the groomsmen and bridesmaids feel like eyes are on them too.

Colors—Shades of purple and gray

First Dance—We have not chosen this yet, but as of now Dan has more ideas than I do! J

Honeymoon—The only thing that we have figured out at this point is that we would like it to be a tropical type of place that is warm.  Other than that, we have not figured out the details. 

What Would I Change? Ask me next April!

If you’re interested in seeing my wedding board on Pinterest, go here:

http://pinterest.com/msstrunk/awesome-wedding-ideas/

Keep in mind I have been pinning ideas for my wedding for the past year or so even before I was engaged, so not all of those ideas are actually being used for my wedding! 

Ladies and gentleman, we have a venue!

Overhills Mansion in Catonsville :) 

The pictures don't do it justice...it's SO pretty in person! It's huge! There are TWO outdoor deck areas, a garden area, a wrap around porch out back, huge dining/dancing room, room for buffet/food, a separate bar area, fireplaces, and it has such a comfortable feel to it! It literally had everything on our must-have list, and more! Woohoo!