september!

happy first day of september!*

and can we take a moment to realize that
it's september?!

where did summer go??

we're moving!

happy monday, loves!

i started my morning with a laaaaarge cup of iced coffee.... it's going to be a very busy week! so, as mentioned in my last post, we were starting to look for a house in the suburbs to rent, instead of living in an apartment in the city. well, this weekend we went and looked at a house, loved it, and now.... it's official! we're moving!! into this adorable house!

it all happened so fast! first, we posted our apartment on craigslist and within a day we had over 50 emails of people that were interested in renting it! and we were all worried that no one would want it. so we showed it to one person yesterday morning and they took it! so easy! so once that was squared away, we officially accepted this house to move into NEXT WEEK! hence why i said it's going to be a very busy week!

we have to pack up our entire apartment this week (we have a lot of stuff) by friday, because we are going to visit lee and jess in dc this weekend! so while i'm at work during the day, brett is home right now packing away... and i will be joining him as soon as i get home from work! it's a lot to pack, but we can do it in 4 days! {cross your fingers}

it's going to be a lot to do, getting out of the old apartment and into the new house, but we are so excited! there are so many things we are looking forward to! so here's to a crazy, hectic, but great week!

hope you all had wonderful weekends!!*

we're hooooooome!

hi friends!*

it's been a while! how are you all? we are officially home from our honeymoon... i didn't want it to end; we had such an amazing time! california is so beautiful. i took over 1,000 pictures! it was a picture perfect 11 days of bliss with my husband. i couldn't have ask for anything better. but it was bittersweet. i didn't want it to end, but at the same time i was ready to get home and get settled into our lives as newlyweds! (don't worry, i plan on doing a separate post about our honeymoon, with some pictures!)

during all the planning of the wedding and honeymoon, my life was craziness and i wasn't able to update my blog much... so i have lots of updates! my husband, brett is an engineer and has been looking for a good career position for the past couple months. he had a really great interview right before we left for our honeymoon & they said they'd be in touch the week after (while we were on our honeymoon). well, we never heard anything while away, so he was losing hope. but just yesterday the company called annnnd..... he got the job!!!!! i am soo proud of him and so happy! finally all his hard work has paid off! and now that we know where brett is working, we can finally move out of our apartment in the city and get a house in the suburbs! i am beyond excited about that! everything is falling into place perfectly and i couldn't be happier. :)

that's the big news of the moment, but there are lots of things i'm looking forward to:
~brett's new job
~moving out of the city & into a house in the suburbs!
~decorating & coordinating & organizing our new place
~finally unpacking all our shower & wedding gifts
~visiting lee & jess labor day weekend
~the start of pitt football season (we got season tickets this year!)
~many upcoming concerts: widespread panic, robert randolph, the black crowes, the wood brothers... to name a few
~fall: pretty trees, pumpkin patches, pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin beer, apple cider,breezy but nice weather, fall clothes & toms...

i am loving summer (it's still my favorite season), but i am getting very excited for fall! especially because we are hopefully moving into a place that i will actually be able to put pumpkins outside and decorate for the holidays!

so much goodness coming up, i can hardly contain myself! here's to getting back into the swing of things and more frequent blog posts.

have an amazing weekend, everyone!

ps - check out my 365 in year 25 blog - it's been updated!!

HONEYMOON BOUND!!

this past week has been a complete whirlwind... our wedding was the best day of my life (so far). i can't believe after over a year of planning, it's now over. it's bittersweet. my current emotion is a mix of happy (ok reaaaaally happy!!!) and sad: happy because our wedding was perfect and we have the most amazing family and friends, but sad because it's all over and we may never have all of those people in one room together again. it was a really, really special day. i want to relive it over and over and over and over again. it was just simply perfect.

i am in such a happy place in my life right now. i've had a permanent smile on my face since last friday. i just can't get over how blessed i am to have the most amazing family, friends, and husband. everything is exactly how it should be and we are exactly where we should be in our lives. life is just very, very good. and sometimes i just stop and think about everything, and just smile even more. i am just really, really happy. and i think this feeling is going to last the rest of my life... :)

so the wedding was on saturday, august 7th and we are leaving for our honeymoon this saturday, august 14th! i can't believe we will have been married a week already at that point! last week at this time, i was running around doing errands and icing cupcakes and making favors! but nonetheless, i am SO excited for our honeymoon! i mentioned it before, but we are going to CALIFORNIA! i am beyond excited! i've never been west past ohio, so this is big stuff for me! and i haven't been on a plane since i was about 3 years old, so i am even more excited!! i think we get a window seat!!

we are flying into san francisco, then renting a car and doing a little california roadtrip! we'll be gone for 11 days, 10 nights. i cannot wait!! throughout our roadtrip, we will head to: sausalito, sonoma/napa valley, yosemite/sequoia/kings canyon, pismo beach, santa cruz, and san francisco! i am just so excited!

i hope to maybe do a blog post from our honeymoon at some point, but who knows if that will really happen. :) but regardless, i will definitely tell you all about it once we get back!!

"all you need is love"
:)

WE'RE MARRIED!

i know it's been a while,

but i've been busy...

GETTING MARRIED!!

august 7, 2010

best day of my life

thus far

:)

{all photography by the AMAZING heather neckers}

just a quick hello

just popping in real quick to say hello!

i have been soooooo busy!
the wedding is only 11 days away
and we're all running around like crazy!
i haven't had much time to post anything except my 365 project photos lately...
i just haven't had any time to sit down and write a real post
so sorry guys!

once august 7th rolls by,
i promise to be back to regular posts!
i'm just trying to enjoy every moment of these next couple weeks :)

p.s.
i.am.so.excited!

can't wait to tell you all about my wedding day!!!
love you guys! :)

birthdays, birthdays!

happy friday!*

(i love starting a blog post with that)

last night was so much fun!
my family (we missed you lee & jess!) went out to dinner for brett and my aunt's birthdays
since they are 1 day apart (july 14th & 15th).

there were about 25 of us all together!
they even gave us our own room to eat in...
they must have known we are LOUD!

{dogfish head cake my mom made brett!!}

{brett happened to be wearing a dogfish head shirt that night!}




it was so fun!

oh! and look what my 16 year old sister, brita made for brett & i!!!

isn't she talented?!!!!

sigh, i love my family.
:)

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!!

(oh and ps - check out my 365 in year 25 blog project, weee!)

dan & breanne's wedding

so i compeltely forgot to blog about our friends' wedding!

4th of july weekend, brett & i were in our good friends' dan & breanne's wedding!
it was a blast!
the weather was perfect
and everyone had so much fun
we are so happy for you guys!

{the newlyweds - breanne & dan}

{first dance}

{brett & i dancing}

{our bridal party outfits!}

{at the end of the night, things got a little interesting...}

{i have no idea where we even found this manican!}

{they broke her...}

{dan & breanne's car the morning after the wedding}

so from the entire day of events,
somehow i only manage to take a couple pictures of actual wedding stuff...
the rest (like 20 photos) are of people with the naked manican!
needless to say, it was a great day!

congrats to dan & breanne!
(who just got back from their honeymoon in cape cod... ou la la!)

next up, US! :) :)

happy birthday babe!!!

happy 26th birthday to my...
amazing
wonderful
loving
fantastic
hilarious
creative
outgoing
spontaneous
sweet
fiancé
BRETT!

i love you, babe!
can't wait to celebrate tonight!
:)

snapshots from the weekend...

i know, i know...

i've been terrible keeping up with my blog this month! july is crazy. we are so super busy, gearing up for the wedding and just summer activities in general. so much to do - but definitely all fun stuff! so no complaining!

we had an awesome weekend at edinboro lake at the heher's cottage...
here are some snapshots from a weekend well spent
relaxing,
cruising,
loving the scenery...


and how stinkin' cute is our nephew bradley...


great weekend!
how was your weekend?!*

happy july!

happy july!*
i cannot believe it's already july!
~now it officially feels like summer~

funny though, because it was the chilliest morning today out of all the mornings in june
go figure!

things i'm looking forward to in july:

*dan & breanne's wedding
*fireworks
*brett's 26th birthday
*my bachelorette party
*gov't mule concert
*a few days off work
*hair appointment
*sun, sun, sun
*counting down the days to my wedding!

it's gonna be a good month :)

what are you looking forward to in july??

findley lake weekend getaway

oh monday... why are you here already?

i had such a wonderful weekend!
a couple months ago, brett & i won a weekend getaway from our wedding photographer, heather neckers! so this past weekend was spend at findley lake & it was so wonderful.

we stayed at this adorable little cottage from friday to sunday.

"the bally lough"

{front}

{back}

{little lake in the backyard}

{can't beat a hammock}

{brett grillin' up some dinner}

{pretty lake!}

{best part of the cottage}
{we called this the 'drive through window'}
{it went from the bathroom to the living room!}
{"one toothbrush with toothpaste, please!"}

friday was spend just relaxing at the cottage. i had to work, so we didn't get there until around 6:30. we took full advantage of the grill and hammock and fire pit and the little lake, just relaxing and taking in the views. we may or may not have consumed an entire bottle of champagne and entire bottle of red wine throughout the course of the night...

saturday was jam-packed full of fun activities we had planned! we started off the day with some quick coffee & bagels, then headed out to panama rocks. brett has been there before, but this was my first time and it was awesome! basically, you hike around a 1 mile trail, but there are huge rocks and boulders and caves that you can climb through. it was so awesome.


after panama rocks (which we spend a good 3 hours at), we headed to lake chautauqua for lunch. we ended up eating at a little café called mindy's place. after lunch, we head to southern tier brewery! they have a bar right in the brewery, so we hung out there drinking, until the brewery tour started at 4pm.

{this was their awesome bar}

{enjoying some brews on the outside patio}

{the brewery tour & our tour guide}
{i can't remember his name!}

after the tour, we hung around the brewery a bit longer to have another beer. then we headed back to the cottage (with a quick stop at walmart).

{this is what happens when i stay in the car while brett runs into walmart...}

when we got back to the cottage, we made some dinner & hung out inside. there was a graduation party going on next door, so we didn't really want to interrupt by being outside and all up in their bussssiness. the day was so jam-packed that we accidentally took a nap from about 8:30pm - 11:00pm... oops! we woke up to the sound of the neighbors putting off ridiculously loud and obnoxious fireworks. but oh well, it's his party and he can cry if he wants to...

determined to not make the entire night a waste, we headed out to a bar called pine junction (after the recommendation from heather!). oh my goodness, this place was something else! basically, it's a bar out in the middle of nowhere, with tons of land, barns, and huge bonfires. we saw all kinds of walks of life there, but they were all having a great time! there was a band playing covers of everything from blink 182 to michael jackson to tool. it was quite entertaining! we stayed till about 1:00am, then decided to head back to the cottage (to consume way too much cheese and crackers and then pass out...).

sunday was check-out day, so we pack up our stuff and headed to the blue heron inn for breakfast. included in our weekend getaway, was a free breakfast for 2 here! it was right on the water of findley lake and the food was delicious! i had the belgium waffle and brett had some kind of cajun eggs. yummm!

after breakfast, we walked around the lake a bit, then hopped in the car to head home. i commented on how pretty all the flowers were on the sides of the road as we were driving home, and suddenly, brett's pulling over the car, jumping out, and next thing i know i have a nice little bouquet of flowers!! i just love him. :)

all in all, we had a great little weekend getaway!
thank you heather & destiny for giving us this opportunity!
it was a much needed break from all the crazy wedding planning!

now, onward with the week....
dan & breanne's wedding is this weekend!!*