My Bridal Shower

     So. It happened. My shower came and went.  It goes so fast!  I am SO SO thankful to everyone that came out and for everything we received.  I am well aware that not everyone in this world gets to experience things like this! I'm very VERY lucky.  The cake was made by one of my dearest friends and bridesmaid Julie- she is full of talent and it by far was the most amazing cake I have ever seen! The decorations were based on (if it's not obvious enough) the mad hatter tea party.  I am a huge fan of Alice in Wonderland and always have been.  I prefer the cartoon to the more recent movies but hey, both versions make me pretty damn happy.  

     Thanks so my Sister, my Mom, Linda, Stefanie, Kristin, Brook and Julie for all that they did for the shower.  It was my dream come true and everything I could have ever asked for. Like I said, I'm pretty damn lucky! 

    2016 has been amazing so far! I don't want to jinx myself but I started a new job, I'm getting married, we are going to Iceland for our honeymoon, I started writing a book and the Twenty One Pilots concert is TOMORROW! I have been waiting for FOREVERRRR!  The only thing that could make it better is if I could find some time to learn my ukulele and do some more photography. I miss it so much!  

     The wedding is basically three months away and it's time to kick it into high gear and a lot of things have to be put on hold- mostly hobbies and home improvements but I'm sure it will all be worth it!

Here are some of my favorite photos. Thanks to Kristin for taking a lot of them! It was hard to take photos while everything was going on! 

My mom made the most beautiful favors:

Getting ready: 

 THE CAKE: 

My beautiful flower from Brook, Thank you babe!: 

 Lost in Shanland: 

 FAMILY: 

  Details: 

 Sister:

My sister got me engraved fork and cake knife set: SO SPECIAL!

Brian bringing me daisies, my favorite flower...

 Our date: 

Thanks for stopping by to take a look! I am going to try to post one more time today.  I know I'm not writing a lot and I wish I write more but I will once things settle down. 

Hi There Life... oh and I'm a little blonder these days...

     Well, I'm 33. 

33.

Ah. Gosh. I never thought it would come this fast. Didn't I just turn 26??? ... Hmmm.

     I have a new job, our wedding is four months away and my bridal shower is this weekend.  I've been trying to write a book on the side, which is hard to find time for and  I'm trying to exercise on a regular basis. 
     I just had my first wedding dress fitting this past week which went better than I thought it would.  I don't know what it is about having to have someone pin the dress as tight as they can to you but I just don't like standing there with strangers and then find myself debating on how I look and at the same time being my own worst critic.  I ended up having a lot of fun though.  The guy that waited on me was the sweetest, most sincere, kind person ever.  So that was a huge plus and he made me feel so relaxed about it all.  

     

      There is so much in life to be grateful for...even my pain in the ass pups, whom I love to no end.  I am doing so much wedding planning, honeymoon planning and daily planning that the blog has been on the back burner as always.  I wish I didn't make such a process out of things or I could write more.  

  I just wanted to hop on and make a quick post and to share some of my photos from my family's get together this past weekend.  It was so nice to have everyone out to celebrate.  <3 I'm one LUCKY girl.  

Oh. and my new job considers your Birthday a Holiday and I got it as a Paid Day Off!!!! Pinch me!!!

 
Dingo #1

 So Brian got me a case for my ukulele which I am so excited about (I mean, come on, Roses and Skulls!) and Jack and Zero! He knows me so well and is so thoughtful.  But - BUT.... He also had got me twenty one pilot tickets when they went on sale as a Birthday gift and that is coming up June 1st and I CAN'T WAITTTT!!! I can not wait!!!!!!!!!!!

and flowers... sent to work... daisies- which are my favs... Thank you babe xo (this was Thursday, the day before my b-day, since I was not in the office that Friday.)

Lavender from my boss and daisies from the man<3

One of my walks, LOVED this photo!

 We have been doing a lot of work on our home.  It still needs much more but we have come a long way so far and we are so proud of it! xo

 My magnet. 

My life. My Family. <3

The Martin's! My soon to be Mother-in-law, Father-in-law and Brother-in-law!

 Raspberry jelly, because I have a problem with my love of raspberries... Thank you seester. 

 My bridal shower dress- again, thank you seester!

 The CUTEST owl hot plate that I saw at my friend Nikkis and she got me one since I LOVED it so much. She got me the best smelling candle and a book to hide all of my secrets in ;) 

My soon to be sister-in- law & brother-in - law got me a diffuser and essential oils which I LOVE!

 ICELAND WATERPROOF BOOTS, thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Martin (Soon to be Mom and Dad<3).. THANK YOUUUU! These will get so much use! 

 Dingo #2

I'm by no means trying to brag about what I received or anything, I just wanted to share my Birthday with you.  I am a lucky girl and I have an amazing family and amazing friends.  There are so many people in this world that do not get the things that we do.  We are very lucky where we live and I realize this.

  The fact that I spent the day with my friends and family was the most important thing to me.  I love them all to the moon and back. 

30.

   


     I'm glad to say that at the end of this week, my fiance will join me in the "30's".  I can't believe we are in our 30's.  Where did our 20's go?!  Who have we become? I still don't know.  We are still finding this out and still finding ourselves.  I realize now, that this is okay.  I'm just glad that we are in all of this together.  Life can be rough but I'm excited to start new chapters with him.  My love.  
      Brian and his family really go all out for Birthdays so I decided we were going to film a short (turned out to be a half an hour)video for him and play it on his Birthday so everyone could watch like a movie premiere.  We all talked this over and decided to make it a surprise party and since we will be playing a movie and he loves movies, it will be...MOVIE THEMED!  We told him that it was going to be his granddad's b-day party since his birthday wasn't until the following weekend.  I was so excited! We all were!  His sister Stefanie and her husband, Mike did all the decorating and a lot of the food! We had a nacho and hot dog bar and she even make soft pretzels!  It was so cute- she should be a professional party planner!  Everyone really pitched in and it was SO MUCH FUN!  
      It was also SO HARD TO KEEP IT FROM HIM! Luckily he plays games... a lot. I was able to edit while he played or I stayed up late to edit when he went to bed.  He never caught on!  We all (his family and my family and our friends) video taped ourselves answering questions about Brian, what our favorite memory of him was, what word comes to our minds when we think of him and so on.  IT TURNED OUT SO FREAKING CUTE!  We had a slideshow of all photos at the end of the video and even a blooper reel.  I put in new videos of him kayaking and it was really really special.  Of course, the day of the party- some of the sound didn't work on the video and we couldn't hear some of the answers, which really bummed me out.  I later found out that my point and shoot camera only played through the right speaker when editing the voice and whatever tv we were playing the movie on, didn't have the right speaker working so we lost the voices.  I thought I edited it wrong and I came home and put in the DVD and the back up flash drive and both worked fine!  Oh well- I uploaded it and everyone can watch it whenever they want now!  I really think he got so emotional over it and he will now have this to treasure for a long time!   YAY! 

This was his surprise! : ( I know he doesn't look it, but he was 50 shades of red)

     Before Brian's b-day party, we also celebrated his mom, Linda's b-day!  We went over for dinner and had a really nice time together.  I love that Brian and I are so close to our families.  It is so IMPORTANT to have that in your life!  Well onto the photos now that I have been rambling! 

Stefanie made this sign for the showing!

 Brian and his BFF, Matt!

 SERIOUSLY- LOOK HOW CREATIVE!

Mike

Corey ( who helped a bunch with filming and presenting the show)

Kristin and Stefanie- they both did so much!

Nikki and Matt- our dear friends! They are amazing people! So glad to have them in our lives!

Birthday cake shots! Stef set these up and they were YUM!

Linda made him a b-day cake!

LOVE HIM.

After the showing of his film.  I would post it on here but it is personal.  I hope you understand.

Family!

Family

My favorite one!

 My Polaroid.  I love having these!

Of course, my baby, had to stick him in.  He hasn't been feeling too well after getting over a staph infection that I think came back after antibiotics and steroids.  I just noticed it again today and will be calling the vet in the morning to see when I can get him down there again. I feel so bad.

I had to throw this in there- My hero!  His old Navy photos!  We came across some when I was scanning them in for the video!

Linda's Birthday Earlier this month!

So cute!

I am learning the ukulele! I am learning the song I posted on the top of this post first.  I am half way through!

Here's to 2016!