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*