Week 2, In the Books

Don't worry, I will not be posting every single week with this kind of stuff because there's no way I'll have that much to talk about. That, and I don't want to be redundant.

However, this week was extremely productive! Worked four days and made some massive progress with the wedding...WE HAVE A DATE!

October 3rd, 2015

Has a nice look to it. We booked the venue and put $1000 down payment on it on Saturday. It is beeeeautiful. You just walk in and there's a whole different level of professionalism to it. We knew within ten minutes that this was it. It only solidified our thoughts when the date we wanted lined up with the floor we wanted. Hopefully no regrets!

Today we asked our flower girl to stand up in the wedding. She's only a year and a half old and not talking much yet, but her mom said yes. 

This week's to-do list?

Work Monday and Tuesday 

Call for drug test for second job

Cancel our reservation for first reception hall

Book the church

Consider lining up musician

Hang out with 2 or 3 friends and ask the second biggest question of this process

Loving every minute :)

Dirty Little (Shopping) Secret

Well would you look at that? Alyssa works for 3 days at her first big girl job and on her day off goes shopping. Imagine that!

But no, seriously, I'm so pumped about my buys today. If you're female and local, I highly implore you to check out Discovery Clothing. You kind of have to have a somewhat slimmer body type, but they do have things for everyone. 

Living in a part of the states where it gets crazy cold 9 months out of the year, you can never have enough sweaters. This guy is a size small and is still huge on me; which I love to pair with leggings. $15

Speaking of leggings, the ones I'm wearing in this picture? They're fleece lined. It's almost like someone finally realized that it gets cold here! $6

Ah the hi-low dress. I didn't own any of these until today! Cute and flirty, I thought this would be nice for spring time. Plus, it was on clearance. $8

Okay, I'm not going to lie...I am OBSESSED with this dress. I mean come on, it's long sleeved! Plus I love the Aztec pattern and have for ages. Basically it feels like I'm wearing an oversized t-shirt that actually fits my body. It's glorious. $10

And finally, the boots. If you're anything like me, you like variety in your wardrobe. I can never keep wearing one thing for more than 4 years or so. Of course, there are always some exceptions. But I finally wore a hole in my black boots so now they leak snow through the toes. Time for a new pair! But instead of going and finding a pair for $100, go to Discovery! (Free advertising anyone?) Mind you, they will be a little cheaper made and will likely not last more than a few years. But they're very very cute, and comfortable. $17

My apologies for the awful mirror selfies btw ;)

Week 1, Complete

Well I've officially been an engaged woman for just a touch over one week. And let me tell you, it's already been a ride. My fiance is now a proud homeowner. We visited our first venue today and liked it very much...however, availability is quite slim. I'm keeping my hopes up for our second visit next weekend. I start my job tomorrow and am excited to see how it goes (and to make some money finally).

I am going to be an anxious wreck until I set a date for the wedding. Once that's done, the fun can really begin. Tomorrow I call the church, look into getting my ring resized, and pray that things start to line up.

Engaged!!!

It doesn't seem real to me, but I'm ENGAGED! I can hardly believe it! The number of people that have been happy for me is staggering. I feel so overwhelmingly blessed and thrilled and just amazed. :)

Luke and I have been together for 3 2/3 years, with our anniversary of dating in December. But because of the house purchase and such, I'm really glad that we're taking this next step together too. He seems so excited about it all!

However, the day itself was typical us; there's always an adventure involved. 

We're on our way to a nearby state park and we get to an intersection when his truck starts to putter...putter...out. We coast to a stop at the side of the road. It's completely dead. Of course, I have absolutely no idea of what's coming so I thought that his level of bummed was a little silly, but understandable. So we thankfully aren't too far from his house and make the 2.8 (according to my phone) mile hike back home. In the steamy sun, might I add. 

We eventually get back there and get my car, heading back to the park. It was there, down in a little hidden opening in the trees on the lake, that he got down on one knee with sailboats and waves in the background. It was romantic and adorable and perfect. I, of course, bawled like a baby and had to take a solid half hour before I could hike again. 

He told me that he asked my dad's permission and my dad was really excited about it. He told me about how he shopped around while I was on vacation and finally found the perfect ring. I had no idea, no input, no hints given about what I liked.  

I don't know about all of you, but I think he has impeccable taste!

Well at this point I'm on cloud nine. Even the next few hours couldn't get me down. 

We go jump his truck on the way home and get it two blocks from his house before it dies again. No luck on the second jump attempt. We pushed it down the road so it was out of the way, went back to the house, got a different battery, it didn't work, tried another battery, got the truck back home, and finally got around to going out to eat, sweaty, greasy and all. 

On the plus side, we went to Olive Garden for supper and were gifted a $20 bottle of Roscato from Italy. It's the little things that make a day fabulous. We were together, we laughed, we didn't get hurt. And now we have a story to tell. 

I'm so in love and so ready to get married to my best friend. 

Cactus

I am totally a little kid about this, but I got a cactus last night! Courtesy of my favorite man in the world :)

Today was transplant day. Poor fella was root bound so I put him in a cute lavender pot courtesy of my grandmother. 

Let's just call me a new mother. I've never had a cactus before. According to my other grandmother, the best soil for a cactus is a mixture of potting soil and sand, with a 2:1 ratio respectively. She's had cacti my entire life, so I absolutely believe her. And despite instinct, the cacti do not need much water AT ALL. I found one website that says most only need to be watered once a month. 

Should be an adventure, but now my Bonsai tree has a friend!

Cousins

I had a great time babysitting for my cousins last night. It's been a long time since I've seen kids their age acting like kids should: being creative and using their imaginations. They put on an entire fair with a fashion show at the end. And they're 10 and younger. It was fabulous. 

However, my favorite part of the evening was when the girls started giggling and whispering to each other after we finished eating supper. I asked what they were talking about and they just huddled together and kept gigging. They wouldn't tell me anything. After some more hushed conversation and a very well-concealed note was written, they came into the room where I was waiting for them, passed me a folded piece of paper, and bolted from the room as fast as they could. This is what the note said. 

After I sent this photo to Luke, his response was "Well, now I have to come :P). And so he did. 

Gotta love kids :)

Recipe: Apple Crisp

All my life, I was your stereotypical girl. I LOVED chocolate. I wouldn't ever eat any kind of fruity dessert because I always preferred whatever had the most chocolate involved. 

My tastes have changed. 

This apple crisp recipe has no special origin that I am aware of, but my mom has made it sporadically for years. Roughly a year or two ago she made it and I sampled it and I fell in love. We've had it, well, let's just say a lot since then. 

Super simple, I made it for the bridal shower last week. 

Ingredients

1 C flour

1 C sugar

1 C brown sugar

1 C oatmeal

1 stick of butter

1 tsp cinnamon

6-8 apples (McIntosh are best for baking)

First, chop up and peel all of the apples. This is by far the single most tedious task of this recipe. 

I prefer to use the corer to save time and then peeled them using a knife. 

Note: Even if your knife isn't very sharp, like mine was supposed to be, be careful not to shave off the outermost layer of your thumb skin. 

Slice the apples the long way so they're nice and thin to bake better. 

Be sure to Pam the bottom of your pan well so the apples don't stick. Layer them pretty thick, maybe 2 or 3 slices wide. 

Then, soften your butter and mix the remaining ingredients together. 

I tend to use my hands to make sure all of the sugar and butter is mixed together. It might not be perfect; it's supposed to be kind of clumpy. 

Spread the sugar mix evenly on top of the apples and bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes. 

Recommended: Serve warm with either cool whip or vanilla ice cream. :)

Fixer-Upper

Yesterday was the beginning of the biggest rummage sale of the summer, hosted at a nearby church. So where else would I be?

We picked up a few little trinkets, but overall, I was a touch disappointed by our haul this year.

However! There are two snags that I consider a total success. The second one I'll share when I have before and after shots...it's a bit of a long-term project. But this fella I fixed up last night. 

 This is an old bean crock. In an antique store, these run for around $10-20, depending on their condition. I got this for $6 because there's a very small chip on the cover. 

Plus, when I got home, I discovered that the cover really doesn't fit on the jar very well. I could tell immediately that it would drive me nuts. (I want to use this as a cookie jar). So I debated on a way to fix it so the cover would fit snugly, not slip, and not nick up the jar either. 

My ingenious idea, if I do say so myself?

Hot glue. 

I rimmed the cover with a nice thick circle of glue and let it dry. While generally hot glue drives me nuts because of it's insane dimensions and hairy tails, this was a great little fix-it. The cover now fits on without slipping around or clanking!