Wednesday Wedding Update

We have a bridal party!  Everyone has been asked, with the exception of a few groomsmen and ushers. About a month ago, we bought Aaron's niece and nephews little presents and asked them to be our flower girl and ring bearers.  Thankfully, they agreed!  Aaron is almost finished asking his groomsmen and ushers and I am done asking my bridesmaids so a check mark can be added to my list!

When trying to come up with a neat way to ask my bridesmaids to be in the wedding, I sat on Pinterest for hours and googled unique ideas without any luck.  Then one day the idea just came to me!  I had a Shutterfly coupon and I knew they made puzzles out of pictures and I LOVE puzzles.  So, I grabbed my Scrabble tiles (I also LOVE Scrabble) and ventured out to my parent's backyard to find the perfect background for my question.  I found a brown-eyed Susan, which looked enough like a sunflower, so I used it as well.  Below is the result!

Here is the original picture I took.  I used my engagement ring as the "o" in "you."

I also made one for my maid of honor!

I apologize for my poor photography skills, but here is the puzzle put together!

Once the puzzles arrived in the mail, I gathered the supplies to wrap them.  The picture of the puzzle was on the lid of the box, so I knew I needed to cover it because the ideas was they had to put together the puzzle to see the mesage.  I bought some brown paper, jute, tags, and sunflower stickers and voila!

The final product!

I was so happy they all said yes!  Once I was finished asking everyone, I realized I should have timed each of them to see who took the longest!

There is still a lot to get done, but we're getting there.  A couple of weeks ago, I went with my future mother-in-law a to try cake flavors at a bakery in Seneca, Kansas called The Miller's Daughter.  We are going with multiple cupcake flavors and they were all so delicious!  We also got our engagement pictures done and we're just waiting on the disc!  In the meantime, here is a link if you would like to look at them.  The photographer is a family friend and I would recommend him to anyone!

Happy Turkey Day tomorrow!  I've got the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade set to record, mini pumpkin pies in the oven, and my Thanksgiving scrub top ready to wear tomorrow at work!

Frigid Weekend Tales

Frigid, freezing, frozen, cold, hypothermic, chilly, frosty, numb, gelid.  All of these words and many more could be used to describe how we spent our Saturday tailgating for and attending the K-State game.  I'm not entirely sure what the actual high was, but it could not have been more than 25 degrees and to top that cozy temperature off, there was a lovely breeze.  Bless Aaron's heart for putting up with me that day because I was not the happiest of campers.  You see, I had worked the night before, gotten home at 12:40 and woke up at 7:00 to make myself presentable.  Due to the weather, my outfit was far from a fashion statement.  So, not only did he have his hands full with me being freezing (my favorite statement is "I'm cold" when it's 60 degrees so imagine me in 20 degree weather), I was a teensy bit tired as well.  We still ended up having a good time and it was a very good game despite their loss to Oklahoma (a state I hate strongly dislike).

Eric Stonestreet was at the game on Saturday.  Excuse my poor paparazzi skills but he is the one in the black jacket and purple hat standing to the left of the cameraman.

When we left the game, we met up with Aaron's aunt, uncle, and cousins for dinner at a local bar and grill. My stomach had never been so happy to have chicken fingers and french fries-I was starving!  After dinner, we headed back to Topeka to see Catching Fire.  We had every intention of going to the 7:00 or 7:30 showing, but when we got there at 6:35, the earliest showing that hadn't sold out was at 9:00.  The movie was SO good and stayed fairly true to the book.  I'm not sure I can wait for movie number three!

On Sunday, I drove to Topeka to meet my mom, aunt, grandma, and my aunt's mom for the CASA Home for the Holidays Tour.  Residents of Topeka open up their homes to be decorated by local designers for the holidays and then the homes are available for touring.  The tickets are reasonably priced and the money goes to a great local cause.  We had an excellent time and it was a great way to get everyone in the holiday spirit!  The rest of our Sunday was spent doing some Christmas shopping.  Hope you all had a great weekend and are preparing your stomachs for the Thanksgiving feast that will be here in a few short days!

Countdown to Christmas

As I write this post, there are 35 days, 10 hours, 40 minutes, and 10..9..8..7 seconds until Christmas! Christmas is my absolute favorite holiday and I cannot believe it is just around the corner.  I got my decorations out yesterday and while they are minimal (due to us just starting out on our own) they make our little home seem more cheerful and festive.   While decorating I alternated listening to my Michael Buble Christmas CD and my Frank Sinatra Christmas CD while burning my Pumpkin Apple and Spice scented candles from Bath and Body Works (I truly believe their candles smell the best!).  It was a wonderful afternoon.

As for my shopping, I am no where near finished and it's making me a little anxious.  I have a few gifts purchased and a lot of packages on the way, but there are many names on my list that I have not been able to put a little check mark next to yet.  I have, however, completed a list of a few things I wouldn't mind receiving for Christmas.  Some of these ideas are specific to me, but others may be something you want to add to your list!

My Christmas List

1. This handbag!  I love the color and the look of it and I love Fossil products because they are good quality and generally not near as pricey as other brands.

2. Urban Decay Naked 2 Eyeshadow Palette-I have a few friends who have this and I think it has the perfect selection of neutral shades!

3. The Pioneer Woman's A Year of Holidays Cookbook-I think nearly every recipe I have made for dinner in our new house has been a Pioneer Woman recipe.  I have both of her other cookbooks and love them!

4. Hue Ultra Wide Waist Band Leggings-If you don't read pinteresttoldmeto.blogspot.com you need to start RIGHT NOW!  I don't know the author personally but she is hilarious and keeps you up to date on the latest sales and amazing products.  Anyways, she recommends this leggings and I love a good pair of leggings to lounge around in!

5. Victoria's Secret Dreamer Flannel Pajamas-Ladies and gentlemen they come in tall sizes!  For those of us with long legs this is a dream come true.   Plus, I think they're cute and I love all the fun patterns but the one below is my favorite!

6.  Bath and Body Works Candles-They smell delicious!  I think my favorite scents are Pumpkin Apple, Spice, and Leaves but I just saw Cinnamon Caramel Swirl online and I'm sure it is divine as well!  Also, they frequently have them for 2/$22-bargain!

7. Divergent, Insurgent, and Allegiant by Veronica Roth- A few of my friends have read this series and I cannot wait to get my hands on it.  I love me a good book series!

8. Real Simple Magazine Subscription- This magazine makes me happy.  You should read it!

9. Thomas Kinkade Disney Dreams Beauty and the Beast Puzzle-This combines two of my favorite things: Beauty and the Beast and puzzles.  I would love whoever bought me this forever and ever and ever!

10. Celine Dion's new CD-I'll get this little known fact about myself out there.  I am a huge Celine Dion fan.  I desperately want to go to Vegas to see her show!  In the meantime, I will sit in my house and blast her music through my speakers.

I love Christmas!  Starting in December, I plan on having 25 Days of Christmas posts sharing my Christmas favorites, gift ideas, crafts, food, and who knows what else.   I CAN'T WAIT!

P.S.-For those of you rolling your eyes and saying "it's not even Thanksgiving yet,"  I say to you I don't give a hoot!  I love Christmas and I am going to make it as long as I possibly can.  That is all.

Halloween Fail

If you recall my post last week, I had every intention of indulging in a few of my favorites yesterday to celebrate All Hallows Eve.  Well, a few things went awry and my Halloween night was not near what I had planned.

This past weekend we moved into our new house and we are still not completely unpacked; the complete lack of organization is quite disturbing to me.   As it turned out, we could not get our cable hooked up until today.  My immediate thought when I was told this was there goes watching Hocus Pocus, but my sweet fiance suggested we go buy the movie.  So, we had a shopping trip yesterday in Kansas City and Topeka and went to Target and Wal-mart--they both let me down.  I could not find a SINGLE copy of Hocus Pocus. I got discouraged and said we should just go home so we were there in time for trick-or-treaters and find another scary movie to watch.

Now, we finally decided on watching What Lies Beneath (pretty spooky) and I was in the process of making dinner and dessert anxiously awaiting the sound of our doorbell.  After we had eaten and I noticed it was nearing 8 o'clock, I became very very sad.  Not one trick-or-treater came to our house!

So, it was not quite the Halloween I had hoped for, but I did get to drink my apple cider, cuddle on the couch with the man and my eyes half covered by a blanket, and eat a tasty treat.  However, I opted for the homemade apple dumplings I had made earlier rather than candy corn (I may have opened my box earlier this week and eaten it...oops!).  Hope everyone stayed safe, warm and got lots of candy last night and if you need more come to my house--there is a whole bowl full.