Savannah!

Our honeymoon was awesome. The end.

 JUST KIDDING!

I have so much that I want to share but here's the catch....I'm trying to type on an iPad. Me. A total keyboard freak. I really need real buttons. No joke. It took me long enough to learn to deal without a mouse when I upgraded to a laptop. Jeesh...and I'm the techie of the household.

So here's the deal. I'll do the best I can and when I'm at my wits end and cursing at this fancy piece of technology, I'll say goodnight.

The first question people ask us when they hear we went to Savannah is "why?"

The reason is simple. History and sightseeing. We didn't want to spend a week just laying on a beach getting drunk...(we're saving that for the future). We wanted something fun, charming and relaxing all in one. We most definitely got it. There was more history than we could even imagine. And there's nothing more relaxing than walking around the squares talking and having fun with your best friend. As much as I enjoyed this trip it is hard to put it into words. So I'm going to share what I thought was the best part of all....the sights.

Be prepared, I took hundreds. Really. I'll do my best to limit myself to the good ones.

(I've already switched to my laptop....who the heck knows how to upload photo's to a blog from an iPad??)

Paula Dean's restaurant. We had fried chicken and spicy greens. But
most of all, I liked the building.

The courthouse. Pretty Impressive.

Love all the brick buildings.

Gigantic barges were a norm.

Just pretty. Old

One of the many cool fountains that were in the city squares.

Fort Pulaski. So much history. Can you imagine this
being a drawbridge?

I could still sense the cannons and soldiers
that once called this place home.

Cannon holes from the day that the fort was seized.
In those days this fort was considered indestructible.

It took 30 hours to conquer Fort Pulaski.

One very old blue door. The architecture
was absolutely incredible.

Forsyth Park.
(Tony wouldn't let me jump the fence to run through the pool. :)

An old house that we were able to walk through.
It's actually an antique store but I loved the house!

Anyone read Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil?
This is the Mercer House where the murder happened.

Winter in Georgia? A photoshoot took place.
If I heard correctly, I heard it was for Vogue.
I want to know if anyone's seen it??

 Stone walls, stair and buildings were everywhere.

More old architecture. Who knew I liked architecture so much?

Atmosphere in the old house we got to walk through.

Long staircase. I wonder how many
people have walked up and down those stairs
and used that banister to steady themselves.
Slaves? Maids? Madams? Town folk?

A monument in Forsyth Park.

Color in Forsyth Park.

Savannah also had a Victorian era. The homes and
colors are beautiful and breathtaking.

Colorful

Colonial Cemetery. It used to be one of the largest
cemetery's. It's now a smaller "park" which means
the city of Savannah is built on thousands of bodies.

The haunted house in daylight. This is the one that
has had mulitple owners but no one has lived there
since 1973. It was built on top of the slaves
"grave yard", a pit where all the slaves were thrown
when they were dead or thought to be dead.

Because General Sherman and his troops knocked over numerous headstones
during the civil war, many of the stones no longer match with the graves.
To honor these people the headstones (that were not broken)
were mounted to a brick wall. The impact is powerful.

One of the signers of the Deceleration of Independence.

Many of the deceased were taken from this world
by Yellow fever. I'll let you Google that. It's grotesque.

Married at 11 years old.

The most photographed Victorian house in Savannah.

My favorite place we saw. Wormsloe Plantation.

Remains of the original "plantation" at Wormsloe.
It is said that the builder, Noble Jones, was
a founder of Georgia.

I did get to dip my feet in one fountain!

Another fountain in a square. 

Tybee Island lighthouse. It was rebuilt 4 times.
The original was built by Noble Jones of Wormsloe.

In the ocean!

Posing at Tybee beach. There was a sign that said to stay off the rocks.
I'm such a rebel.

The last day was spent on the beach. What
a beautiful day it was and gorgeous surroundings.

I hope you enjoyed some of my photo's. Due to my blog having some technical issues I wasn't able to share any of this with you until today! But woo hoo! It seems to be working with no errors tonight! I have so many more photo's but I'll end with these today. Maybe some others will sneak into some of my future posts. I cannot believe that it's been a month since our honeymoon already. How time flies when you're crazy busy with a new job and finally decorating a home....and of course having fun!

Have a great night everyone! See you all soon!

New Name + New House

Hello friends!
I cannot believe where the year has gone! I started this blog with the intention of filling everyone in on all my wedding planning and new adventures up until the big day and found out between all the DIY projects I did for the wedding, working at a bridal salon, working horses part time and moving into a new house.....THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO TIME FOR BLOGGING....OR HAVING A LIFE. My life was pretty much eat, sleep (poorly), work, plan....repeat.

So rather than going on and on about the whole summer and boring you to death by putting it in one long blog, I'll make it simple....

WE BOUGHT A NEW HOUSE IN THE COUNTRY(ONE MONTH BEFORE THE WEDDING) !!!

and

I'M NOW A MRS!!!!

(and I didn't kill hurt anyone during the process...)

So, now that I will actually have some time on my hands, I'll see about sharing some of the wedding projects I did for the wedding while I'm waiting for the "big" wedding photo reveal! (I do believe I'm just as excited about seeing our photo's as I was for the big day!)

Also, I FINALLY have time to start decorating our home and doing all the DIY projects I've had on the back burner. Today I got to do my first one and I'm really excited that it turned out!

When we moved into our home, the old lady that lived here left us a wooden cabinet that she personally made. It's been holding an assortment of random pieces that were unpacked and stored for lack of a better place to put things. It's really a neat piece but it definitely needed some updating. I'm still thinking about staining or painting it but even my husband thinks it looks much better.

After about an hour at JoAnn Fabrics picking out just the right shade of green fabric with just the right pattern, cardboard and $14.00 later, I was determined to tackle this project today. No more excuses. Including, putting off cleaning the bathroom. Sorry husband.

It's a time consuming but easy DIY!

A) Measure the shelf openings
B) Cut cardboard to size
C) Cut fabric
D) Wrap fabric around cardboard, pull tight and glue
E) Insert finished backdrop into shelves

BEFORE

AFTER

I used a green fabric with small white polka dots to add some texture.

I'm thrilled with how it turned out!

No Satellite T.V......

Hello my blogger friends!!! It's been eons since I've last been on here. There have been so many things going on in this crazy life that my blog has been neglected.

Well, amazing what having no T.V will do to my "Friday" night.

For those of you not from the area, we have just been pounded by snow, sleet and rain. Imagine, a thunderstorm in January! I have a feeling our little satellite is covered in a mound of wet packed snow. (That should just magically disappear or it's going to be a long day off tomorrow!)

So since Tony has decided bed is better than watching our T.V search for a signal, I thought I would take a few minutes to update everyone my latest happenings.

A) I started a new job. I am now a wedding consultant at David's Bridal. How appropriate, right??? Now that I know how exciting it is to become engaged and how fun the wedding planning is, I can relate to these women. It's been the most rewarding and fun job I've ever had....well....maybe second to "playing" with gorgeous horses all day!  I cannot even tell you how enjoyable it has been being busy. To not notice when you haven't taken a break or eaten my 1st or 4th snack of the day? That's almost a glorious feeling. It beats watching the clock ticking! Not to mention the great group of girls that I work with. I have fun no matter what I'm doing.  Now I just have to get used to the weekend hours... and the fact that I will probably never wear heels again...

B) Wedding planning is in full swing! I've been working on checking things off of my list. We have our dessert finally figured out!! (after only 3 or 4 short months of deciding and researching...) I started on my ceremony decorations, I have a hotel picked out and we have our after party bar! (we have to be out of our venue by 11:30.....and this bride isn't going to bed early on the best day ever!)  :) Things are really starting to feel real. However, while this time of year I'm normally all about bringing on spring and warm weather, I have to say...SLOW DOWN!! I'm NOT ready! I have WAY TO MUCH TO DO!!! So for the rest of you, this is probably a good omen because I have the worst luck in the world and never get my way! :)

Well, my T.V has been searching for a signal for the last half hour. I'm pretty sure that this means I should just go to bed and get my beauty sleep. I'll be better at staying in touch, keeping you all up to date on my wedding progress and I'll be sure to share my stories as a B.C! Trust me, I already have some good ones!

Good night everyone and stay warm!

Tiz the Season

Once again I've neglected my blog. I'm still slightly baffled that Thanksgiving has come and gone and Christmas is in full swing. 

We went and cut down our tree this past weekend. It was 50+ degrees which is completely out of character for Wisconsin in December. It was hard to believe we were tree "hunting" with no snow, the wiener dog didn't need a sweater, and I had a vest on instead of a coat. Although...it's totally my kind of winter. You'll hear no complaining from me!

After spending all of Sunday afternoon decorating the tree and Monday night decorating the house, I'm finally able to sit and enjoy all the lights, candles and pine smell.

Here are some pictures I took of some of my decor. I'm still hoping to get the basement decorated a bit as well. Although Tony's already telling me it's a lot like Santa's workshop in here... :)

A close up of our pretty tree.

I was so proud of how this picture turned out. And then I realized
I had forgot to put a couple items away. Woops.

Twinkling snowman and a flicker candle
that smells the room up like pine. Love it!

My DIY chalk board tin (made from a tin plate from Goodwill).

My new shelf in the dining room.
Perfect for decorating.

My new favorite piece. I get something from the
gift shop where we cut down our tree every year.

I'd love to see your tree or Christmas decoration photos! Have a great rest of the week!

Better Late Than Never (my #1 moment)

Sorry I left you all hanging yesterday. It was indeed my birthday and my first day as a 30 year old and I just wasn't in the mood for blogging. The morning was a teeny bit rough (we celebrated Saturday night) but I did what every birthday girl should do....ate chocolate cake for breakfast. Cake makes everything better. (Note: being 30 doesn't make your nutritional decisions any smarter. Glad to know I haven't grown up too much...)

Even though we celebrated the night before (with friends, shots, family, shots, dancing, shots and more shots)...I wasn't ready to return to a normal schedule quite yet. Rather than stay home and relax from the most crazy, drunken night of my life fun and exciting night, Tony wanted to take me shopping. Twist my arm...

So I got ready for an afternoon out and it was just one of those days that even wearing glittery underwear made me feel special. It's not like anyone knew I was wearing them..."Hello I'm the birthday girl and I'm wearing sparkly underwear!" but that's just how I roll. Anything to make myself feel extra special. (And don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about.) I made sure to rock my bling jeans for another day and I made certain to walk a little taller. I don't know what it is but I just love birthdays. And honestly, I'm kinda proud that I'm 30. Or maybe it was the fact that I'm pretty sure there was still alcohol in my system the next day. (Thank you to all my dear friends for buying me alllll. those. shots.) Whatever the reason was, I had a super great day and it definitely felt like MY day. :)

Now for my favorite memory in my 20's....(I'll bet you can all guess this one!)

Favorite Moment #1

Being proposed to by the person you want to spend the rest of your life with and who's your best friend.

At the rate we were going (he used the ENTIRE 5 year plan...fyi. Meaning by the time we get married we will have been together just about 5 years) and all the excuses that man used I was convinced he would never ask. I thought that he really had no idea if I was the one.

I was a little suspicious when he asked me to book a weekend up North as soon as I could. I mean...he doesn't decide what we are doing the coming weekend. But I didn't dwell on it and figured he just wanted us to be able to get away for a little while. Looking back I can see that there were actually numerous little hints but I was just convinced I was reading too much into things. You know...doing what 98% of the female population does.

He took me to Bond Falls, Michigan and we had a good old fashioned picnic, even using my Grandmother's picnic basket. He said he thought he wasn't feeling well and didn't know why he had the shakes. After lunch we were walking towards the waterfalls and I took his hand. Leave it to me to kill the moment and pick on him for his hands being sweaty. This is Mr. Smooth we are talking about here. I don't think he got sweaty hands when we first started dating. But it was also 80 degrees so I didn't think too much of it. I was just hoping that he wasn't getting sick!

As soon as we got to the waterfalls he left me briefly while I was snapping pictures with my camera. Next thing I know, he's on his knee and asking me to marry him. I was speechless. So speechless that I forgot to answer and had him briefly thinking I was going to say no. However, he had nothing to fear. He's my best friend, my partner in crime and the one I want to grow old with. After finally answering him and slipping a gorgeous ring on my finger we had a fantastic rest of the day. It was a day I will never forget and a night I have a hard time remembering. I know that we celebrated like rock starts. (I take it back...that may have been my most crazy night ever. I'm pretty sure we tried to drink every drop of alcohol all in one night.)

The whole weekend was absolutely amazing. We hiked, did a little tourist shopping, relaxed at the cabin, enjoyed some ice cream and had an awesome steak dinner. I can't wait for us to go back and relive it all again (except I won't make him sweat about popping the question) :)

I can't wait to marry this man and see what the next few years bring us!

The Second Best Thing

One more day!

I have a really busy day today so sadly I'm going to have to keep this post on the short side. I just realized that if I don't do this now I won't get to do it later! So onward....

Favorite Memory #2

Meeting the love of my life.

Right around the time that we met I had had enough of dating and men. Men think we are difficult??? Ha! They can be just as bad with drama as women.  I was 26 and I finally admitted to myself that maybe I was meant to be single a while longer. And I decided I was fine with that. I would have my dog and horses and cats instead....

This is where I tell you that the phrase "it happens when you stop looking" is 100% dead on.

Here is the story of how we met.

I'm the luckiest girl to be able to have Tony in my life. We have had our ups and downs just like everyone else but he has been my best friend through it all and I wouldn't trade him for Ryan Reynolds anything....(we'll keep Ryan in the running....JUST KIDDING babe!!!)

We are like peanut butter and jelly.....we were made for each other. :)

In fact...we've been together exactly 3 years and 7 months as  of today!

Dating 3 months

3 years later and stronger together than ever.