Light Bright!

Sunday when we got back into town, Joe and I stopped at Target and headed straight for their Christmas sale. If we were going to get any sort of lights for the reception, now would be the time. And we did. We cleared out their white christmas lights and went home with 11 boxes, 2200 light bulbs, and who knows how many feet. I think it's safe to assume have plenty of lights. Plus, you can't beat getting $120 worth of lights for $60! Next Christmas our house will probably look like this...

Wishing everyone a safe and Happy New Year! I am SO EXCITED for 2011!!!

Happy Birthday Joe!

The Birthday Boy!

Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday dear Joe, Happy Birthday to You! My soon-to-be husband is turning the big 2-5 today and I'm so excited for him! I've been leaving him little surprises - note on his car, a "Happy Birthday" sign and wrapped presents for when he comes home after work, finished his cake, probably send him a few more texts today:) I love celebrating birthdays so hopefully he doesn't mind my enthusiasm! I made dinner reservations for us at an Italian restaurant nearby and I can't wait to see the look on his face when he opens his gifts.



Joe and his two sisters, Jenna & Kate



Since he doesn't read this blog, at least that's what he tells me, I'll let you in on what I got him. He loves trying new beers and particularly beers that aren't mainstream like Mich Light or the ones you see during commercials. Plus, he's been wanting to make his own beer for a while now. His coworker is really into it and ever since we started making the wine for the wedding, his desire to make it has gone from "that would be fun" to "I really, really want to do this!" 

Seeing that I would never pick out the right kits/accessories he needs/wants and after searching around for a bit, I found a Mr. Beer Kit at Sears that I figured he could try out. It's nothing fancy but after reading some of the reviews, it looks like the perfect "first time brewer" kit. I also got him a book, "The Complete Joy of Home Brewing", that looks like a must have when it comes to starting this new hobby. Unfortunately the book won't come in the mail until tomorrow but he'll just have two days to open gifts instead of one. 

Now I would like to make a toast, here's to turning 25! May this year bring you happiness and lots of laughter, many memories and special moments. I love you Joe, to another 25+ wonderful years:)

Christmas 2010

Bentleyville

In the words of my late great grandfather, "Well, it's over!" Christmas has come and gone but thankfully I now have time to actually sit and be still. Joe and I were all over the place visiting both of our families so by the end of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day I was more than ready to crawl into bed and rest my exhausted body. This was actually the first year I was able to be with Joe's family for the holidays too since last year we had a big snow storm that kept us from seeing each other. The Sheleruds' & Wallis' are amazing and I am one lucky girl to be a part of their family! Now we're gearing up for New Year's and hopefully the snow/ice storm that's on its way changes direction!

Sadie got me a travel book for Vancouver, Victoria, Vancouver Island and a few other places in Canada that we can use for our Honeymoon! I've already been reading about different places and travel trips and it's making me that much more excited for our trip! And one of the best parts is that whales are frequently seen in the area:) Ha...I love whales.

But anyway, Christmas was amazing being surrounded by our families. We are truly blessed to have every individual in our lives and I am so excited for all that's to come in 2011! It's going to be a very, very good year!

I spoke to soon

Here I was yesterday complaining about how it was so hard to find letters and every time I did they didn't have the right letters we needed, yada yada yada. Literally 10 minutes after I posted that I found these letters!

I found them online at Kohl's and they were on sale too! I ordered a "J", "&" and a "S". They are made out of metal, brown in color, and stand about 6" high. I'm excited and Joe liked them too!! Unfortunately it means I may have one less wedding project to do but who are we kidding, I haven't done any yet anyways.

On a more Christmasy note, Joe and I are headed back home after work tonight! Last night we, I, started and finished wrapping our gifts while watching Christmas Vacation. I even put up a few Christmas decorations around the house. We are taking this year "off" with Christmas and are saving next year as our full blown Winter Wonderland Spectacular, tree & decorations galore, since it will be our first Christmas as husband and wife:) Yippee!!

Merry Christmas and blessings to you all!

Santa is coming!!!

Two more days until the holiday festivities start!! My attempt to wrap presents last night did not go so well. But tonight will be the night... and it kind of has too:) I have no other options.

Now on the wedding front, I may have found a project to tackle. And my inspiration comes from this picture.

Finding letters is a harder task than you would think. And when I do find something I like they don't have any of the letters I need or they are terribly expensive. S's are very popular apparently. However, I did find this DIY site where they actually made these letters. See Here. I think I could handle this self project without any glitches (possibly) and even have some fun while doing it.

Can I go back?



To here? I feel like I've been scrambling for time ever since we started our drive home on Sunday. When we pulled up to the house the plows had come through over the weekend and we had to once again park on the road and get the snow blower going before we could pull in. Then it snowed again all day yesterday making for a lovely long ride home and I pulled in just in time to shovel our walkway before our friends game over to watch the not so good Vikings game. Umph.

I'm hoping tonight when Joe and I wrap our Christmas gifts for our families, I'll finally have the "It's Christmas!" feeling. My favorite holiday kind of got away from me this year and we didn't have time to get a tree or put up holiday decorations. However, I am determined to spread holiday cheer even if it's starting five days before Christmas!

On the wedding front, scanning pictures did not go very well yesterday. The scanner I was going to use scanned the pictures very dark so I need to work on a plan B. Also, I'm waiting until after the holidays to buckle down on some projects. Major things to do are: get suits for the guys, find a musician, get any rental supplies we may need and invites!

Ahhhh.....

I'd like to introduce to you my view from this past weekend. Isn't it glorious!? 

Joe and I spent Thursday - Sunday up north to get away for a little R & R. We ate tons of food, went for a snowshoe hike, spent a day at Lutsen, and hours in the outdoor hot tub. Thankfully I am still in one piece and have no broken bones from our ski day! Joe was a pro on the slopes and he enjoyed his black diamond runs while I watched from the bottom:)

Our rule for the weekend: relax and NO WEDDING TALK! It was so nice to get away from our busy lives and enjoy one another's company and lose track of time which we successfully did.

Now back to Monday.

Since I'm officially done with school until January, today I'm going to start scanning in pictures from mine and Joe's childhood for our slide show! I love looking back at old pictures and seeing where we've been to where we are now. Joe has some great pictures of his comb over he he:) He was such a cutie! This should be a fun wedding project!!

If we do the sand thing...

Yesterday I shared the idea of using sand instead of a unity candle to represent mine and Joe's coming together as one. When you think about it, it's kind of a cheesy, lovey dovey tradition, but I'm a sucker for being cheesy so I love it! Anywho, I came across this picture and started to think... 

I read this blog, Young House Love, and it's about a young couple sharing their home improvement projects, DIY ideas, and whatever else their working on around the house. But they had this post around Thanksgiving called Thanks Glassing that pretty much is a DIY version of this picture! Of course they didn't sandblast the jar like the one pictured but instead used Armour Etch to paint on their word of choice. We could put J + S or the wedding date or whatever else we wanted it to say so that way it wouldn't be a plain old glass jar filled with sand. Kinda cool.

Tonight I'm taking my LAST FINAL of the semester and I am so ready to be done! Joe and I are taking the next two days off of work and spending a long weekend up at Bluefin Bay to celebrate our end to writing papers and taking exams...at least for a few weeks. If we get snowed in, oh well. I'll be sleeping in, relaxing with my new book, and enjoying the views of Lake Superior. Oh it sounds glorious:) Is it 5:30 yet so I can go home?!

One down, one to go!

I am so close to freedom I can, well taste it! Last night I had my big Anatomy final and I found out this morning I got a 92%!!! This whopping 92% will more than likely confirm my final grade as an "A". I usually don't share my little successes but I'm making this an exception since I've been studying my rear end off for this thing:) Now, one more final Wednesday night and I'm free! Free at last:)

This past weekend Joe and I got out of town before the snowstorm that left 17 inches came through. Sunday was interesting coming home though. We were back home for our 7th (or maybe 8th? - can't seem to remember:) wedding which is thankfully our last wedding of 2010. This was our first wedding, however, with tacos as the big wedding feast. Yum.

It was also the first time I had seen (besides in pictures) the bride and groom mix sand to symbolize their coming together as one instead of the traditional unity candle. They also had rocks in the bottom of their jar which represented the foundation of their love, their lives together and of course, yours truly, Jesus. I have always wanted to use a candle but I'm afraid it might blow out in the wind since we're having the ceremony outside. So the sand idea is growing on me.....

so many things to do...

This is my last full week of school.
A week from this Wednesday I'll be done with the semester.
Finals are here!
Christmas is right around the corner and I'll be gone every weekend doing fun things until New Year's Eve. With that in mind...
I'm going to be "taking a break" from posting ideas, stories to share, etc until I'm done with school.
Hope you don't mind.
I need two eyes on the books:)

But I will tell you one more story that happened over the weekend that I'm sure neither Joe or I will ever forget:)

We've had an issue with mice this fall/winter. It hasn't been fun trying to hunt these little rodents down and they're getting smart. Smart as in moving our glue traps or eating the peanut butter off the traps - pretty much laughing at our attempts to say "sayonara little mice!" And the worst part about it is that we don't know how these little buggers are getting in!! After we got our second one we thought we were done with them but then a third one made its grand entrance about three weeks ago.

Well on Friday night before we left to meet up with our friends for some bowling, I noticed there was mouse poop in our kitchen sink and on the counters! First off, GROSS and second, how in the heck did they get up there?! I quickly washed it out and planned on cleaning it up first thing when we got back home. A few hours later we got back and I went straight for the cleaning supplies to wipe up the little mess. Joe grabbed a snap trap from downstairs to get it ready again and we went to work.

While we were threading a chunk of sausage (pest control guy from my work suggested raw bacon but we only had sausage:) we heard the toaster move, like it was popping up some toast. We both looked over, saw nothing, and then we heard it again. THAT LITTLE MOUSE WAS IN OUR TOASTER!!! It was sticking its head out probably looking for a quick getaway. I couldn't believe it! I literally started running in circles around our kitchen trying to think of what to do. We grabbed a garbage bag and gently moved the toaster toward the bag. Slowly, and with precision, Joe threw the bag over the toaster and slid it all, mouse and toaster, into the bag.

At first I wasn't sure if we got it in there. Even though we didn't see it run some other direction, it wasn't making any noise in the bag. We finished setting the trap (I had my eyes on the bag) and put it downstairs in case we have any more. Joe opened up the bag for me so I could see with my own two eyes that we got him and sure enough you could see it moving around in the toaster. And to think I just used the toaster a few days ago. sigh. While I was walking it out to the garbage, I told him to tell his friends not to come into my house anymore and threw it in the trash.

The next morning after our huge snowfall we were able to see some mouse tracks along the side of our house. The house is old, so where the foundation meets the driveway are a couple spaces that I could fit my glove into. I stuffed every space I could find with steel wool to see if that will help keep them from coming in. Next spring/summer calls for some pretty heavy mouse-proofing of our house. Oh the joys of life. 

Ok..another change in plans

When I first started diving into planning details for our big day I really liked the idea of using galvanized buckets filled with flowers from the farmer's market. See Here. I was going to use these to line the aisle and then take them to use as centerpieces for ten of our tables and finally found some at a local store in town and purchased three of them. The more I thought about it, the more I started second guessing my decision (which I tend to do that a lot = bad when wedding planning is all about making decisions.) My concern is that if we put flowers in these, when guests are sitting at the table trying to have conversation with their table buddies they won't be able to see over the buckets.

I've been trying to come up with something different for ten of our tables and when Joe and I went into an antique store I saw one of these....

What could be more appropriate at a barn wedding than old barn lanterns! Here's my idea: have one lantern on the table with maybe a quart size mason jar filled with a flowers and some small votive candles surrounding them - Oh and two blue bottles of our wine. I love the simplicity and look of them.

I emailed my grandma yesterday and she said my grandpa had three of them with the glass missing and are rusty and dirty. Perfect:) Hopefully we can find a few more that people have them lying around that we could borrow! So that's my new idea.

On another note, two years ago tonight Joe asked me to be his girlfriend. Who knew it would lead to all this wedding planning but I consider it the best thing that has ever happened to me! I am so lucky to have Joe in my life and to share it with someone who makes me so incredibly happy:)

Happy Two Years Joe!!

My version of a DIY cake stand....

I'm so excited about this idea that I'm sure (seeing by the pictures I have to share today) has been done a lot but hey...that's okay. We're just recycling ideas here people! My mom has picked up about five or six of these jars to fill with cookies and sweets and also mini cheesecakes to replace the usual cake after our pig roast for dessert. For the cheesecakes I wanted to find white square cake stands to set in between all the jars but have had some trouble even finding a fun cake stand, let alone a white cake stand. Nonetheless, my wide array of wedding blogs that I look at every day must have known what I wanted because I found my new inspiration.



Ta-da!



Well this is part of the idea. I love the wood blocks used to make the stands sit at different heights and I see these white sqaure plates

around a lot too. So...bada bing bada boom I'm going to put these white plates on top of the wood blocks - I'm thinking Birch. 

Pictures from the Bridemaid's Day...Finally

Here they are like I promised. Only I have three pictures to share. ha.

I need to work on taking more pictures like I used to again....



Look! We have pockets!



Modeling the dress:)



My wonderful Bridesmaids
(From left to right: Kate, Jenna, Me, Sadie, Andrea, & Mel)

We are Wine Bottles!!

If you haven't seen this YouTube video yet Kittens Inspired By Kittens you'll know where my title for this post came from. When Joe was sent this video from his sister, Kate, I felt as if we hit a gold mine. I still laugh every time I watch it.

On Thursday morning, Joe and I made the trek home for Thanksgiving and made our rounds through the families. We stuffed our bellies at my grandparents and then headed off to his grandparents, where actually both sets of  his grandparents were, for dessert. My grandparents cooking never fails me - it is the absolute best.

Instead of shopping on Black Friday, we went in to bottle our first two batches of wine and even got to try a little of what we made. It was delicious! Here are a couple photos from the event.



Corking the bottles



Filling them up!



While we were bottling our 60 bottles of wine, we taste tested a few more kinds for our last three batches to make. We ended up starting a more traditional red wine, a Raspberry White Zin, and a Mango Mint which you think would taste terrible but it was actually quite good. Our red wine is one of their all juice kits which means you add very little water to it and eventually add wood chips to give it a "I've been sitting in a wood barrel" type taste.



Joe massaging the bag to get all the sediments mixed up that have settled while sitting



After Christmas we'll be able to bottle the rest of what we started on Friday, then we'll be all set to go for the wine portion of our beverages. It's been fun learning how to make wine and doing something a little unique for our wedding. The rest of the weekend was filled with lots of family time, catching up with friends, and finalizing our family guest list. (Which is probably one of the hardest things to do, especially when you know you can't invite everyone you would like too.) As long as Joe and I have the family and friends that are most important to us, that is what matters most in the end.

I have three weeks left of my semester then I'll be able to start working on our slide show. I can't wait to look through old pictures of us growing up - Joe was such a cutie.

236 days to go!!

Thanksgiving Goodness Coming Our Way!!

Last year during this delicious holiday we were in Sydney, Australia missing out on the best meal of the year. So even with the winter storm we have brewing up our way, I am determined to make it home in time to dish up the first plate. Joe and I are going to wait out the "worst" of it tonight and head back tomorrow morning and I am so excited for some extra family time.



This was my Thanksgiving last year



I keep meaning to put up a couple of pictures from Saturday and as soon as I remember I will! I have a great picture of Kate modeling the winning dress:) On Friday while everyone is out in the chaos of shopping, Joe and I will be bottling our first two batches of wine! I'll be taking pictures to share with you so be on the look out for those. Hopefully I'm not as bad at putting them up as I am with the bridesmaid dress pictures. We'll probably start the last three batches too so they can start aging to perfection for the big day.

Which by the way is only a mere eight months away from yesterday! It finally dawned on me last night when I was laying in bed. EIGHT MONTHS! According to my check list I need to finalize the guest list (which I'm not looking forward too) and start thinking about invitations, wording, etc. What I call the fun stuff!!

Happy Thanksgiving! May your bellies be filled with oh so good stuff!

Bridesmaid Dress Shopping = Success!!

I have the best bridesmaids [aka sisters] a girl could ask for. I'm serious. They are absolutely the most amazing ladies EVER! As you know, Saturday was the big dress hunt and it was also the first time my sisters would be meeting Joe's sisters. Our first appointment was at the same place I got my dress and they had tons of dresses to sift through. They threw us into one dressing room and let us roam the shop. The girls quickly began their search and I stepped back with my mom and Joe's mom and watched them act like they had known each other for a long time. It was awesome how quickly everyone gelled together.

They pulled about eight or nine dresses to start with and designated Sadie to be the model since there was only one room for them to all try the dresses on. Soon my sister Andrea followed her into the dressing room, and before you know it, Joe's sister Jenna was in there too. As dresses started to come out of the dressing room everyone said their opinion and moved on to the next. At one point all five ladies were in the dressing room trying on a few more we hadn't seen yet and all of a sudden you could hear them say, "Oh yes, this is the one!" As Jenna came out with it on, everyone agreed that this was going to be the bridesmaid dress! We were literally there for a half hour and all the ladies, plus the moms and myself loved the dress! And I did have a moment where my heart got really happy and excited:)

I still can't get over how fast we found a dress that everyone loved. Plus, we are able to get it in Navy Blue! And I mean a true navy color:) After they ordered the dresses, we headed out to grab some lunch and talk some more. Joe finished his final around the same time and met us as well. We probably sat at the restaurant for a hour and a half and laughed the whole time. Joe and I kept talking the whole day about how great it was that our families got along so well! We are truly blessed to have two amazing families that act as one big family. Our wedding is going to be awesome between Joe's family, my family and our friends. Whoo!!

So I'm sure you are wondering what these dresses look like. I don't have the pictures on my computer yet from Saturday (I'll upload them as soon as I can) but I did find it online. Oh and picture it in Navy:)

Bridesmaid Dress Shopping!!

The post I wrote on Monday about being excited for today to come seems so long ago. This week surely dragged on a little too long but it doesn't matter anymore because it's FRIDAY! Yesterday I did a face lift on the 'ol blog and added "My Blog List" of all the blogs I look at everyday for inspiration (see bottom right hand side.) Just a few of my favorites:)

Now onward to the good stuff... tomorrow is the big Bridesmaid Dress Shopping Extravaganza! I'm so excited to see all my wonderful bridesmaids and hopefully find the dresses they'll be wearing! It also means so much to me that they took time out of their weekends to come and travel to be here tomorrow. Love it! I'm sure it will be a fun day!



Running around like a mad woman!

You know how we were able to go in with Jenna & Drew and buy the place settings for both of our weddings and ultimately save some cash? Well, the same plates Joe's cousin bought for her wedding are on sale this week at Target! I was surprised they even had them again seeing that they are holiday plates. If we can get these plates, all of our dinnerware will be matching!

So how hard can it be to run to one of the millions of Targets we have around the area and pick up the four dozen we need? In case you were wondering, it's tough!! Last night I went to two stores and was on my way to a third when Joe called to tell me they didn't have them either. Oh the teamwork:) Although he did say he felt weird calling and asking them if they had plates. haha. What a trooper.

We went to/called a total of FIVE stores last night and everyone had the same answer, "Sorry, it seems we are all out of stock at the moment." And then we tried ordering them online. Turns out even though the plates come to $40 it will cost us $60 in shipping alone making it a grand total of $108 with tax. Yuck. 

My soon-to-be new sister, Jenna, works for Target out in Wisconsin. She is heading to three big stores today and is going to keep an eye out for us. Hopefully she can find some but if not, I'll just have to stalk Target a little closer until we get these, apparently diamond-encrusted plates, since they're so hard to get them into your cart.  

Welcome!!

Isn't this cute?! I wonder where we could put it....

hmmm... maybe above the gift table?

Monday, Monday

Another week starting up and I can't wait for this upcoming weekend already:) Bridesmaid dress shopping with my ladies!! Once I have the color of the dresses...look out craft projects! But I guess I have to get through the week first.

Last Thursday I went in and picked up my dress! It looked perfect and to top it off, I only have to get it hemmed and put a bussel in for alterations:) I consider myself lucky that not a lot of work has to be done on the dress. Plus, the lady at the shop is also making a veil for me - one that is simple and compliments the detail on the dress. Now I just need some pretty jewelry and shoes and I'm good to go!

Joe and I also picked up a Bocce Ball game to add to our game area for the reception, picked up the last dozen glasses we needed, and saw an ad for the same plates we need to get to make our set complete. (They were holiday plates so I wasn't sure if we'd find the same ones.) I know getting the rest of our glasses and plates is more exciting to me but it's another thing we have done for the big day!

My goal...

Pretty dress right? Wrong. I'm looking at her arms. Those toned, good looking arms. What does this mean? Joe and I have been pumping the iron so I can have pipes just like her come this July 23rd.

I've never had arm muscle and if it's in there you have never be able to tell. Now, I'm not working out all of a sudden because of the wedding. I've actually been doing it for awhile. And gasp, I even like it! I feel great after shedding some sweat and feeling sore the next day. Joe and I are always trying to do something outside whether it'd be running, biking, playing tennis or frisbee or anything else we may want to try. In fact, last night we went out around 8:45 to play frisbee because it was 64 degrees outside! Man, was that a lot of fun!

Bottom line, I have 254 days to get those arms:)

Yahoo!

Before I get into studying again for this weeks quizzes I wanted to let you know....

that my dress came in!!

It's here!!

Whoo-hoo!

It only took a week to come in and I was originally expecting at least a month or so. Now, my next battle is to figure where I'm going to keep it safe until the big day. Can't wait to see it again....

Today is MUCH better...

From Monday to Wednesday this week, I was crammed into textbooks as I had five quizzes/tests to do in those three days. Yesterday, all my brain wanted to do was shut down. I finished up some notes cards for Anatomy but other than that, all I did was stare. I didn't even want to surf the web, or look at wedding stuff...nothing seemed so desirable that it was the only thing I wanted or needed to do at that very moment. I tried writing something to post on here but I couldn't even think of what I wanted to share with you! So after doing nothing really productive and going on a date with Joe to a somewhat fancy, organic-like restaurant last night, I feel a little more refreshed today. Thank goodness.

It's the eve of deer opener and I'm making the terrible decision to drive home tonight. Let's hope I can make it up in under three hours! But I promise I have a good reason for making the drive. As family tradition, the ladies in the family start making Christmas cookies while the boys are out hunting. Since I'm not planning on going home again next weekend when the majority of the ladies can make it out, my Mom, Sadie and I are headed out to my Grandparent's to start baking away! To get me in the mood, I've been dabbling in Christmas music and it sure gets me excited for our first snowfall! (At least I waited until November to publicly announce that:)

Joe will be hunting with his Dad at his grandparents house until Tuesday but we'll be able to enjoy a few hours of the weekend together for his other Grandpa's 75th birthday party on Sunday! Oh and we should be getting our "real" guestbook today with the correct date on it! :)

Sweet Treat Idea

For dessert, Joe and I have decided to forego the usual cake for our guests and replace it with homemade cookies, a little candy, and lots of mini cheesecakes! Yummy. My mom has graciously been picking up these cute jars everytime she runs to the store and I think the next step will be deciding what to fill them up with! I came across this idea, mini lunch bags with a cute stamp on them, to use as a "to go" container. If you're too full to have something after dinner, then you can grab a bag, fill it with some goodies and save it for your midnight snack!

The search is FINALLY OVER!!!

I went to the bridal shop in Stillwater with my sister Mel Saturday morning and tried a few dresses on. I knew going into the store that they would be more expensive than the other shops I've searched through and lo and behold, I didn't find much in my price range. The ones that were, the material on them made me sound like a walking wind jacket. My favorite dress was a nice $3000 so I decided to pass on that one:) Although, I didn't find "the one" at this place, I knew the one I found last Monday was going to be my dress!

When I got back into town, I drove straight over and put in my order! When the gal was plugging it into the computer, she popped her head up and said, "Wow. I've never seen that before. Your dress is going to be discontinued." Thankfully, I am still able to get the dress but if I would have waited much longer my search very well may have been back on. Praise God on that one because dress hunting is stressful!

There was also a flower/feathery clip that I had tried on with the dress and unfortunately they no longer had it but told me the lady who makes them was over across the street in their other house. I met with her, showed her the picture, and filled out a form to have her custom make me one of my own. As I was standing in line to pay, she came down the stairs with the flower in hand saying she found it tucked back in a corner! Whoo!!

I am so excited that I found my dress! I have a WEDDING DRESS!! Me! A pretty white dress!! And I have an amazing husband-to-be that started it all:) It's hard to believe that in a little under nine months I'll be walking toward the love of my life in that dress, ready to start the next chapter in our lives.... sigh*

Ideas for Details

As you all know if you've been reading this, I love DETAILS! I love them! They add so much to the overal personality of the wedding and I'm so excited we've slowly been able to start on them. We just received some stencils we ordered for our signs we want to make. Joe is really excited about these! Remember?

Just need to find some weathered wood. And I've been thinking more about the gift table, especially for the cards. I instantly fell in love with this idea before...

which still may very well be a contender. But lately, I've been feeling a little more vintage. I'm looking for the "old stuff". Check out these ideas I've found...



Old suitcase with the cute CARDS sign




Love this!



Or even an old drawer!

Grandparents, we may be coming to search your treasures! 



Guest Book = Check!

This past weekend I decided to start tackling the guest book. We knew we wanted something else besides the normal book with lines for signatures and after throwing out the idea of making a scrapbook myself we decided on this - a photo guest book! I have started to see many of these take place of the traditional guest book and I love the idea of adding a bit of a personal touch to it, as well as leaving room for your guests to write their own words of wisdom to the newlyweds.

There are many websites out there to help you get started such as Shutterfly but after searching around I found Picaboo. I loved the look of these books and their prices are pretty reasonable to Shutterfly. So after spending a few hours picking the right pictures and looking through it over again and again to make sure it was perfect we sent our order in! The next morning as I was sending the link to my Mom I came to the heart sinking realization that the date said 2010 and NOT 2011!! I quickly called to see if we could get this changed but unfortunately it was already in production. Ugh. If it's not fixable, thankfully Picaboo offered us 50% to make our changes and order a new book.

I'm sure this will not be the only mishap that will happen in planning for the day so we'll just have to break out a laugh or two when we cross these kind of moments :)

Second time's a charm...

So last night I went back to the bridal shop with my good friend Kelly. It was great to have a new set of eyes looking through those dresses again. And this time the place was a lot more relaxed and inviting. As we were waiting, we were able to look at what I thought were the "expensive dresses" since there was a big sign saying Kleinfield Collection. Little did we know that it was actually where they put all their sample sale dresses!!! I couldn't believe it! They were cheap AND I may have found "the dress" in the sale rack! (It's basically were the style and simplicity of dresses I was looking for was kept.)

I kept going back and forth between the two I found on Friday and the one I found that night. To be honest, I could go with all three and being a person who can't make decisions, I still couldn't make up my mind. I do have one more appointment for Saturday but if I can't find one that is better...my dress search may finally be over. Thank goodness!!

Update on the dress search....

Well Friday was the big dress hunting day. My sister Sadie, Mom, and Grandma came down to help me in the search and I soon realized that MEA weekend is NOT the weekend to go dress shopping. My first appointment was at 10:30 when the shop opened but the placed was already packed with a ton of brides and their entourages doing the same thing I came to do. To be honest, it was overwhelming, a tad stressful and very exhausting. There are two dresses I have my eye on and tonight I'm heading back with my good friend, Kelly to get her opinion and maybe sift through everything one more time. Hopefully there will be a lot less people!

After we grabbed lunched and regrouped we headed to the second place. It was such a different atmosphere and a lot more calming. I wish I could say I found my dress there but I came out empty handed. The lady at the shop however did recommend me to another bridal shop so I'm headed there on Saturday. Oh - the never ending search!

I keep thinking I'm suppose to have this "this is THE ONE" moment and so far I'm coming up short. I've found dresses that I really like...but am I suppose to feel more? I just want a simple dress and about 85-90% of the dresses have too much beading/bedazzle and are all ruched (definition: A ruffle or pleat of lace, muslin, or other fine fabric used for trimming women's garments.) Yep...not a fan! Don't get me wrong, the dresses are very pretty but I'm just not that kind of girl. I didn't think I'd be so picky! Who would have thought trying to find a simple dress would be this hard?! It's a little frustrating but know I will find my dress. (Feels good to vent a little:)

Sadie, my Mom, and Grandma were awesome to have around. I'm glad I was able to experience it with them. It meant a lot to have them there. Thanks ladies:)

Tomorrow...

I'm looking for the whitest dress I will ever wear. I'm going wedding dress shopping!!!

Will it be this one?



Or something like this?



Maybe this one?



Who knows but I'm really excited:) I'll let you know if I find "the one"!!

can i have this too?!

I know it's not necessary. No one would even know you had it unless they were helping you get ready. Or saw a picture of it that the photographer took. But I really want one of these. This is why I love the little "details" of weddings....



Of course mine would say mrs. shelerud:)



Things are starting to accumulate...

This past weekend I was home again for Kristy's (soon-to-be) cousin for her baby shower. Her and her husband Bryn are expecting a little girl this December, Sadie Joy! How cute:)

But before Sunday came, my Mom and I ran some pre-wedding errands. We went up to Sam's Club and got the rest of the silverware we needed plus checked out the mini cheesecakes! Yum:) Then we went over to Target and picked up two dozen glasses. Still need 32 but we're getting there! Later that night my Mom and I played around with some mason jars figuring how we'd put them on the tables and how many more we'll need. And then yesterday I made hair appointments for the wedding day! Things are slowly coming together!!

Still thinking of Plan B for the water pitchers on the tables...any suggestions?



Oh for Fun!

Before Monday gets rolling I thought I'd share with you something I have been working on. I still need to add things as we approach the big day but for now it's a good start.

Everyone, meet our wedding website!

http://www.theknot.com/ourwedding/SarahMicke&JoeShelerud

I'll add more details as we figure things out but take a look around!

PS. Joe and I were grocery shopping at Target last night and I found GLASS MILK JUGS! They were so pretty, so fun...and then I came to the bitter realization that the opening on those things will make putting ice in them a nightmare. Ugh. Moving on to plan B - whatever that is....

feeling sappy...

I'm a sucker for wedding videos.

There are so many talented videographers out there who create these gorgeous videos of the wedding day - and every moment of it.

I watched this one today and when the groom first saw his bride, oh! a tear! Yes, I shed a tear:) I couldn't help but imagine what that moment is going to be like for Joe and I. The moment when we first see each other and know that what we're doing that day is where we are suppose to be. Together. With each other from that day forward.

I can't wait!

P.S. I've been working on something special...
 Check back Monday!

Well...seven months ago this whole wedding planning thing started! That's right. I remember dates of important events, non-important events and everything in between. Seven months ago Joe proposed to me and what a lovely, life changing day that was:) And here we are...in the midst of all wedding chaos that is good!!!

Yesterday I found a potential salon to get our hair done at which a friend of mine recommended and it's near by the hotels. And I also made our reservation at the hotel for our wedding night! Here we come fireplace/jacuzzi suite! Also, with a king size bed that I will be able to crash in after a long night of dancing!

Things are starting to come together:)

Remember...

The days of getting your milk delivered to your house?! Well, let me rephrase that. I don't either because that never happened with my family but I love those old glass milk jugs.

And I was thinking the other day. How great would it be to use these as our water pitchers for the tables! So simply and beautiful. (Am I taking this "barn" theme too far?! :) Anyway, it's my new project but so far, I've had little luck. I need a TON of them, like 72, and they are hard to find and when you do...expensive. If only I had a milk man....

It's about time...

As my lovely Grandmother pointed out to me yesterday when I was back home for the weekend, I've been slacking a bit too much on the 'ol blog. Sorry Mic! I'll try and do better:)

I was back home for my sister Sadie's (the MOH) confirmation and she picked me to stand up there with her as her sponsor. How sweet:)



We didn't plan on matching:)



Although her confirmation was the main reason for going home, I did do a few other "wedding related" things. On Saturday morning my mom and I went to the wine place to "rack" our wine. Basically we took it out of the bucket we started it in and transferred it into a huge glass jug and added a few more ingredients to it. Like for example, less sulfate - a preservative that causes the "headaches" you get in the morning from enjoying your wine too much. I'm sure some people will be able to test this theory out at our wedding. It was actually a long process but in November we can start bottling our first batch! And to make it even more exciting they had these beautiful blue bottles that they are going to set aside for us to use which will go great with the navy/yellow colors!

The second thing I was able to do was try on my first few very white dresses! We didn't set up an appointment and it was more on the fly decision but Sadie wanted to show me her Snoball dress at the shop and they happened to have wedding dresses there as well. I didn't find my dream dress just yet, but have an idea of what I like and don't like. Narrowing it down! I do have a picture of it...but shouldn't put it up - just in case:)

Big News!

Yesterday Joe and I met with our possibly caterer for a food tasting and... (drumroll please) We have our CATERER! And it feels so great to have another "big item" crossed off our list! What are we having you ask? Well, we're doing something a little different and a lot of fun... we're having a Pig Roast! Joe brought up the idea a while back and we have decided to do it! Plus, we're getting the food for over 300 people at half the cost we were planning on (extra bonus!). I am getting so excited for the big day!! And now we have food to go with it:)

After our appointment with the caterer we headed out to the town where the hotels for our guests are. The two places are just down the road from each other and the town is so cute! Joe and I are planning on going on a date in the town to scope it out a bit more. Next we headed to the barn which is about 20 minutes from the hotels. We realized again how much we love that barn!

Isn't it perfect?! We walked around more outside and then met with a gentleman to take a peak inside again. We were able to ask a ton of questions and he gave us some helpful pointers as well to help start planning the details of our decorating! We took around the farm and headed to the lake that it's on just enjoyed the lovely fall day. 



Sheep right next to the Volleyball net!

  

View where the ceremony will take place



Met this cow on our way to the lake



On the dock looking up at the barn




Soon to be Bride & Groom :) with windy hair ha!



Ah the memories....

The beginning of October brings back a lot of memories for me. It was 2 years ago this weekend that I first saw Joe again since the days of high school at our friends Melissa, Makenzie & Anna's Birthday Party. He came out to celebrate with a group of us and I'm so glad he did! As I said before, I really didn't take "interest" in him that night but soon after it all began:) I can't believe its already been 2 years and now we're planning our wedding!

Speaking of wedding planning, Joe and I took Monday off to have our taste testing with the caterer! I hope it tastes good:) If our taste buds like what they see we are booking the caterer! Then after we are driving out to the Barn to take more pictures of the inside/outside so we can start thinking of lighting, decor, and more fun stuff! I'm excited to see our place again! And to have a long weekend:)

Another big cost we were able to trim down a lot was for our dinnerware. At the Barn we can either use compostable plates/silverware/cups (which are not very pretty) or china and the caterer charges $5 per setting! With the number of guests we are planning on having we figured it would cost us around $1600 just to have people eat off a real plate! This past August when Joe's cousing Kallie got married, they actually bought all their place settings and Jenna  bought them from her since they're having their reception at the same place. So... bada bing bada boom we're sharing the dinnerware with them, along with having to buy a handful more place settings to reach our guest total and it's only going to cost us around $400! Thank you Jesus!

I'll let you know how Monday goes!

Wine & Dine

This past Friday Joe and I had the day off for our friends Anna & Eric's wedding (which was just lovely by the way). Before we headed back home we stopped by our possible caterer on the way out! We asked questions and feel like they could very well be our caterer! We're going to set up a time to go and have lunch with them to taste the food. (Definitely a bonus when it comes to planning a wedding - food tasting!)

When we arrived back home we still had time before the wedding so we went to Hidden View Winery in town. One of my old babysitters, Mandi, was working (her parents now own the store) so she got us started tasting some of the wines they have. The have your typical whites and reds, but they have this other kind called Breezins which have more of a fruity flavor. Let me tell you, they taste like juice, not wine. Before we walked out of the store, we had started two wine kits and in a couple weeks we have to go back and rack our wine - whatever that means. Once it ages for a bit we will be bottling it all and Mandi is going to be making us some labels as well! Such a neat experience. And could easily become a new hobby with the 150 bottles we plan on making!

Anna and Eric's wedding was beautiful. Although the weather wasn't on its best behavior, they definitely knew how to celebrate! The reception was held in this amazing old building in Duluth and we danced until the last song played. I wish them nothing but the best in life. They are a great couple and I'm so happy for them! Congrats Anna & Eric!

10 MONTHS!

We have 10 months to go and there is so much to do! I'm feeling giddy today:) Maybe because the fact that today is my "Friday" too. My friend Anna is getting married tomorrow so I'm taking the day off and before Joe and I head home, we will be meeting our possible caterer in the morning! To add to all the wedding goodness, if we have time before the wedding (if not, before we head back home) we're going to talk with a winery about making our own wine for the wedding too! Lots of wedding stuff going on!

So great:)

To top off all the sweet things, Joe booked our Honeymoon plane tickets, car rental and one place we're staying for sure, if not more. And where are we going you ask????

British Columbia, CANADA!



Tofino, BC



Joe has found some amazing places to stay on the west coast of BC. First, we'll stay at a private cabin along Jordan River for a couple days, then drive up north a little more to Tofino, BC and spend a couple days there. Next, drive to Vancouver and see the city and head back to Seattle to fly home (in a nut shell). We didn't want to go someplace tropical since we're getting married in July, it's already hot at home, and we'd be possibly going somewhere during hurricane season. So we'll save that for the winter when we can't stand the cold, cold temps.

I am so excited for this trip! The first half we'll be secluded, on the ocean, and to add even more jaw dropping activies - whales will be in the area! I love whales:) It will be nice to get away and just relax! The honeymoon - probably one of the best parts of getting married! Besides starting one of the greatest adventures in life with your best friend:)

Happy 10 Months To Go!!!