The Grand Exit

So you may recall that how we left the church after the wedding was an important decision for me.  Unfortunately, the Vespa idea didn't work out, and now that I actually own a scooter myself (!!), although not a Vespa, I am very glad my first ride did not involve a wedding dress.  Despite its being important, figuring it out got pushed back until we were actually in Michigan a few days before the wedding.  One of the groomsmen just so happened to receive a red Mustang as his rental car, so problem solved. :)

Photos taken by our photographer, Cara Spinniken

Saying I Do - The Ceremony in Photos

  

We adapted the children's book I Like You Because to read to each other, because we are both silly.

Instead of a unity candle, we did a cord of three strands ceremony

  

  

Vote for Me! (Pretty please...)

So it turns out that all I had to do was write a blog post, and immediately after, our apartment goes up on Apartment Therapy!  You can vote for me here.

In case you missed them the first time around, here are the first two apartments I entered in Small Cool (I move a lot):

2011:  http://community.apartmenttherapy.com/contests/smallcool/2011/entries/996
2009:  http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/small-cool-2009-16-81767

Come On In!

So you may be wondering why there are no pictures anywhere of our house.  Well, let's just say it's a been quite a process to merge two households and design styles, but I think we're just about there.  After a garage sale and weekly trips to goodwill for a good while, we're finally able to feel comfortable and the house is just about there.  A couple of weekends ago I took some photos for the Apartment Therapy Small Cool contest, but they're being slow in posting our house, so I'll give you a preview here:

Our living room.  The vast majority of my furniture either got sold or moved to the cabin when I moved in, so most of this was already there.  Hubby's couch was an old over-stuffed leather couch which had seen better days, so when I saw the full-sized couch version of my old beloved loveseat on craigslist, I jumped on it.  The shoe cabinet by the front door is a life-saver, and the product of one of the most frustrating Ikea trips ever.

The dining room/other side of the living room.  I wasn't a fan of the chairs that went with Hubby's dining table, so we sold them at the garage sale.  We then went for a good 4 months or so without any dining chairs, so these were a welcome craigslist purchase as well.  The shelves were also a product of the Ikea trip, and replaced the bookshelves from my old living room, which just didn't work well in this house.  These were one of our many projects, as they required a sanding, two coats of stain (which involved multiple trips to Home Depot to get the right color), and two coats of polyurethane. 

The kitchen.  It's still a bit of a work-in-progress, which is why the other side is not shown. :)

Moving upstairs, to the bedroom.  We've tried, and been mostly successful, at keeping non-sleeping and clothing related things out of the bedroom, which has been really nice.  I wasn't a fan of Hubby's bed, which originally had a footboard, and really took over the space.  Hubby had the idea of cutting off the footboard, and it made a huge difference.  The shelves by the window are the shorter matching version of the ones by the dining table.

The office / frog room.  Prior to us getting married, Hubby made custom shelves that go around 3 walls of the frog room.  It's typically quite a mess, as this is where all the random project stuff ends up, so there isn't a picture of that just yet. :)  This is the fourth wall, which is my crafting corner.

So there you have it, our first home together.  What do you think?  Any suggestions?

Cadbury Toad?

Shirley the toad got a special Easter surprise this year - unfortunately Cadbury eggs don't come in bug-flavor, so she just had fun checking it out and didn't get to taste it.

Getting Ready For the Big Day

Ok kids, I'm back by popular demand!  I just wanted to see how much you all missed me. :)  So I'm a little behind on the whole getting wedding photos up (just passed the six month mark!), but here goes:

I know I still owe you all a final post about the dress, but here is what is technically dress #2, if I remember correctly.  Dress #1 got vetoed as being too simple, and got returned to Bloomingdales.  I wanted to return dress #2 as well (see all the beads and lace?  not what I was thinking I would end up with.), but real wedding dresses are harder to return.  Dress #3 is coming up, and dress #4 is currently still in a box on my craft shelves, about 3/4 of the way done. :)

I made the flower and veil two days before the wedding.  Nothing like leaving all the details until the very end. :)

5 minutes to go time - gotta make sure the lipstick is good!  

All of the photos were taken by our wonderful photographer, Cara Spinniken.