Friday!

1.

My work has decided that instead of 5 eight hour days a week, we're going to 4 ten days a week so everyone gets a day off every week! It's a trial period during June, but I'm really hoping it works out! I'm going to love not having to work Mondays!

2

We're headed to the happiest place on earth tomorrow... CHURCH CAMP! :) I don't get to stay all week this year, and I'm really devastated, but I get to go Saturday, Sunday, and I get to stay Monday!!

(church camp 2013)

3.

I'm still on an eBay selling roll. I've gotten rid of a hand-me-down knife block, my Nook that I no longer use, and a few pairs of shoes!! Ballin'!!

4.

OldNavy is having an awesome sale this week! We snagged Jackson 2 pairs of shorts and 2 pairs of pants for under $50!!

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5.

Remember the choreographed dance I mentioned as part of the wedding I was in a couple of weeks ago? It was posted via social media, and I had to share!! hahaha.

Who Said?

Growing up, I heard a lot in school about the "American Dream". Marriage, high paying jobs, house with the white picket fence and a wrap-around porch, dogs and kids filling the yard, family around the grill on Fourth of July, driving a minivan to cart our football team of a family to practice and school, rocking chairs and sweet tea and firefly catching. The list could go on forever.  

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  Who decided that was the American Dream, though? Who sat down and made the list that set the bar for our lives?   Why are these things so important? Are you successful if you don't have them when it's all said and done?   Being a newlywed and making out our future plan, I realize how constricting the American Dream can be.  Sure, I would love to have all of the things listed. I hope to have a vanload of kids and dogs to fill the yard, to enjoy sweet tea on our porch swing with my husband, to have that beautiful fence, but at what point does striving to reach this goal become unhealthy? At what point do you stop reaching for that image that has been pounded into your head and start enjoying your life for what it is now?   If you've been around these parts for any time at all, you'll know we struggle with being content. We're so excited and eager for what's to come that enjoying the here and now is difficult because we're so far from obtaining the tangible things that the American Dream brings.  Just yesterday, I found a house I could not live without, and my dad reminded me that it's not just a mortgage, it's taxes and insurance and down payments. Needless to say, my heart is broken. I think I have really found the source for my inability to be content. I was looking back through some coursework from high school, and in one English class, we spent eighteen weeks (half of a 36 week semester... two whole semester quarters) talking about the American Dream and how to get there. Why was it so imperative to spend so much time teaching us about it when some of us may never obtain it?  I graduated with a class of 150 people. I guarantee that teacher that 1/8 of the class of 2010 may never have that picket fence.   That brings me to this question... Does my generation tweak the American Dream to be what we need it to be or do we all feel like we're constantly in this race to make it to that end goal? (via)   I look at our future plan and it makes me think a lot about our lives and wonder if we'll ever reach that fenced in, multi acre end goal.   We'll be in an apartment for a while... one bedroom for now, and two bedroom soon. We'll be in the two bedroom until we're done paying off debt, while we save for a down payment, and even after we have kid(s) probably.  What's wrong with that? My dad says to be careful making that plan because once we have a child, he/she will eat through that down payment savings and we won't ever make it to a house.   Why not? Why does that seem impossible? Am I just hopelessly dreaming that this plan will work? Does it really matter if we ever get the house?   Why isn't the dream just to be.... happy? Why isn't that enough? As much as I itch and fight to get out of that apartment, I am so happy with our life. I love sharing it with friends, coming home and being with my husband daily, sharing life with our church family.   All of that brings me to this. Last Friday, I was smacked between the eyes with a song. It's not new, but it was new to me. Enjoy.....

  

Our Wedding: Redo's

After attending a wedding post-Hinners wedding, I have a bunch of things I'd do all over again for our wedding. 

1. Having a first look with Jackson and one with my daddy - I wouldn't give these moments up for anything. Looking back, they were two of my top five moments of the day. I was able to decompress and get rid of my jitters with Jackson and I was able to have a sweet moment, just me and my daddy before I was swept away as a bride.  
2. My dress - My dress was one of my favorite parts of my wedding. It took me two trips to David's Bridal and a breakdown with an awful consultant to find the dress. The second I put it on, I knew it was mine.
3. My venue - I loved having our wedding at our church. It was the church Jackson grew up in, the church both of us were baptized in, the church family that had poured into our relationship from the beginning, and the church that we will someday raise our own family. It just made sense.
   

    
4. My reception - Everything about our reception was a dream come true (minus the fact that we couldn't dance).  From the Christmas light, gossamer canopy to the dessert bar to the cake, everything was perfect.
5. The budget - I wasn't given a budget to begin with, I was just very conscious about how much we spent. Our wedding, total, was $7,000 (give or take a few dollars). We had everything we'd ever dreamed of, and that was simply enough. We didn't have to go to ridiculously measures to have the wedding of our dreams.
6. My maids and men - having each of these people in our wedding made our wedding what it was. Each of them brought something special to our day, and we wouldn't have had it any other way.
   
7. My bridal party attire - We used Men's Warehouse for our tuxes. They were a grey, Calvin Klein suit and pant, white shirt, navy vest and bowtie and pocket square. Jackson wore a grey vest with a white bowtie. They all had Happy Socks! :) Our girls wore Mori Lee style 181 in Navy. :) It was flattering on all of them!!
8. My flowers - I may have mentioned before that my flowers were artificial. I put together all of the bouquets and boutonnieres: groomsmen, fathers (I forgot our officiant.. oops), bridesmaids, mothers, grandmothers, and our Kroger florist where my mom works put together my bouquet... all ten pounds of it. :) We went to Joann's and spent $160 on flowers for 21 people (including my huge) bouquet. I bought every pink peony, white hydrangea, white rose, and baby's breath in Nashville. We also used artificial flowers in our centerpieces for our reception.
9.  Having Heath marry us - Our officiate is the associate minister at our church. He was the youth minister when I started attending church at Jackson Park, and for Jackson three years before that.  He has seen our ups and downs, breakups, fights, and our best moments.  I wouldn't have had anyone else marry us for the world.
10.  Hiring a videographer and photographer we knew well - It seems like it is a "duh" thing to hire both the videographer and a photographer, but it was even better having people we knew and trusted in these areas.  Our videographer is a member at our church and does videography for a living. Our photographer was a life-long family friend that I have known all my life. He has taken pictures of my sister and I growing up, so it made sense to hire him. Hiring people we knew also enabled us to use the money saved elsewhere. We only paid $200 for our videos (rehearsal, ceremony, and reception) and our photography was free.
11. My Groom (cheese alert) - I wouild not have traded marrying Jackson for any of the first ten things listed.  :) At the end of the day, we were married and thats what mattered. 



Memorial Day Weekend!

Our weekend was packed full of friends, family and fun.   Friday we both worked and then came home for snuggles and relaxing after a long week. I did, however, find a 4-leaf clover. :) 

  Saturday, we woke up so early. We enjoyed coffee in bed before getting up to go to the Rennaissance Festival an hour away.

It was a lot of fun, but it was hot. I ended up with a terrible headache and nausea and had to miss a graduation party for my high school best friend! I was so bummed.

Sunday, we woke up and went to church. Jackson changed his brakes, I napped, we went to evening service, and played volleyball for hours!! It was so much fun!!   Monday, we woke up and decided to break in our wedding gifted waffle maker for breakfast. :)   We spent the day helping Jackson's brother's girlfriend move out of her apartment because she's moving to Hawaii with him.  We spent the evening by the pool. :)   I wouldn't have traded this long, busy weekend for anything, and I was so thankful to get to spend time with my husband after being so busy for weeks!!  

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

Happy Friday, all, and hopefully happy long weekend for everyone, too! I hope you've had a great week. This week has seemed to fly compared to last week!   1. This week I've been an eBay selling machine! I sold the bridesmaid dress I wore in Brittney's wedding last Saturday for $5 less than I paid for it, I sold my Chacos that were way too small, and I sold two pairs of random brand heels for which I paid $2 each.     2. I found our favorite coffee in VUE cups for our Keurig on Amazon!! Finally! We've been out for a while, but the only places they sell VUE cups are BedBath&Beyond and Amazon.

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  3.  After I had a not so good experience curling my hair for Brittney's wedding, so after a week of debating, I finally settled on an updo for Taylor's wedding in June! 

4. I broke down and went for my first pedicure since we got married. ew, I know. It was so great, though. Yay for pretty piggies for the pool that opens today!! 5. Tomorrow, we will be venturing to Arrington, Tennessee to go to the Renaissance Festival. I haven't been since I was eleven, but from what I remember, it's the bomb dot com. It's jousting weekend, so this should be awesome.

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Comparison and Contentment

  Something I think we've been struggling with lately is comparing ourselves to our other newlywed friends.  It's human nature, it's normal, and I know we're not alone.   Comparison is everywhere.   We are constantly comparing ourselves to people at work, and depending on where they stand, we measure whether or not we are successful.    We measure ourselves based on what others have that we don't. We're in a one bedroom apartment, but our two newlywed couple best friends have a two bedroom and a house! We assume we're lacking because we don't have what they have.   We hear others talking about their $100k+ salaries and feel like we're not good enough because we don't make near that much.   What we forget, though, is this: we have jobs. we have a home. we make enough.   It's so easy to get bogged down in this rat race that is American culture. It's so easy to lose sight of how blessed we are to have the little things we have. There are families who are striving for what we have.   Contentment and appreciation: that's the goal.  

Our Wedding: The Dress

I had always grown up knowing I wanted to look like a princess on my wedding day. As I got older, though, and times changed, the "princess" look had a million different meanings to a million different people. For some, it was a sexy fitted dress, for others it was a ball gown. I got engaged on December 23, 2012 and first went shopping for dresses January 4, 2013. I went and tried on all kinds of dresses.... Mermaid, A-Line, Ball Gown, Tea Length. I didn't fall in love with any of them.   I made a list of requirements for the next time we would go dress shopping... Ball-Gown Blingy Belt Fluffy white (I was not a fan of ivory at all) Sweetheart neckline Zipper less than $500 (I had planned to pay for it all myself)   The next time I went to David's Bridal was with my mother.  We looked through, picked dresses we knew we wanted to try. I had been looking online and found this dress that I was convinced was it. My consultant pulled dresses too like this trumpet style dress, this sheath style dress, and another awful material dress that made me look pregnant.    I broke down in tears because I was scared I wasn't going to find the dress.  She asked me for my list of requirements, and I gave it to her. She looked at my mom and told her she had the perfect dress and asked my mom to follow her. I told my mom not to bring it back if it was over budget because I was not going to fall in love with a dress I couldn't afford (I watched enough SYTTD to know how that feels!)   She brought back this dress. I put it on and sobbed. It was the perfect dress.... my beautiful princess gown that I had always dreamed of. And it was my size - meant to be!!  

I looked at the price tag - $950?!???!?! I sat in the floor and cried. I couldn't believe this was my dress and it was too expensive. The girl came over and told us it was on sale for $800 that week. Wow... only $150 off?! Still too expensive. So My mother and I made the deal that I would pay half and she would pay half. so I left with my dress.   Fast forward to six weeks before the wedding. It had been hanging in the closet waiting to be pranced around in. Between the purchase of the dress and this pre-wedding mark, I had my gallbladder removed. I was unaware of the side effect of gaining weight in strange places (i.e. chest and ribs). I put my dress on and it was nowhere near zipping. I lost my mind. just lost it. How could this have happened??!   Luckily, my best friend had started working at a bridal store and knew a miracle-working seamstress. She let out every part of my dress, moved the beaded waist band, constructed a bow for the back, and viola! It fit! She worked a miracle two weeks before my wedding!! Plus it added a special one-of-a-kind flare to the dress!   You can see the back detail in these first-look pictures:

 

My Best Friend's Wedding

Our weekend was wedding wedding wedding, and I'm glad it turned out so well.   Friday, I woke up early and rushed clothes to the dry cleaner on the way to work. The rehearsal was at 6pm an hour away from where any of us lived, I got off work at 4, and had to get gas and the dry cleaning.  I was frazzled on Friday night, to say the least. It was freezing at the farm. I mean like low 40's, and none of us had planned for that kind of freeze. We spent the evening putting together bouquets, hanging things, and practicing our choreographed dance.   Saturday, I woke up early to shower and throw my hair up in hot rollers. I met one of my great friends, LouEllen, at her house and we left for Portland. Halfway there, the bride calls and asks if we could stop for garters because her mom didn't have time to make hers. So we had to turn around and run to Bridal Warehouse to grab a garter set.  When we finally got to the farm, it was 11am and we needed to get on hair and makeup.  Brittney got her hair done, then the bridesmaids. LouEllen did her makeup, then mine, then everyone else's. Then we played the waiting game for 2:30. Brittney did her first look with her daddy, then with Jared, and then we did pictures. Her photographer was a doll. She was so sweet and so funny!   Here's a photo dump of what others have posted. :) The canvases I painted for her wedding. :)  

 
The faces of our men regarding the choreographed dance...