Happy Halloween!

Halloween has always been a special day for me. First of all, I like LOVE Fall! I remember and have been told stories many times about how I would beg Mom to put the Halloween and Fall decorations out as early as September. I think what I like about it is how excited the kids get and the fun costumes and candy...it also signifies that Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner, and that is exciting!! :)

Have a safe and Happy Halloween everyone!

Phone Photo Friday #2!

I just received this message this morning and had to post it. It definitely made me smile. This is my Mom at work today...sweet job, huh? She teaches pre-k kids and today is their Halloween Costume Parade around the school. Mom and the other teachers are the Seven Dwarfs. I'd like to formally introduce you to Sleepy:

I think the costumes are so creative and I know the kids will love it. How fun to have your teachers dress up with you?!

*I'd like you to note that she is in capris, and a short sleeve shirt in FL, while I in IN am wearing leather knee boots, jeans, and a wool sweater. The change in climates is crazy!

Phone Photo Friday!! :)

I thought I would do a Phone Photo Friday for just this one time...until I have more fun phone photos to share with you all :) Most of the pictures on my phone are random wedding things that I saw in magazines or at bridal shops and snapped pictures of for inspiration and ideas, but I do had a few cute ones worth sharing too! Take a look:

Hunter A.K.A. Baby Brother got his license while I was in Florida the week before the wedding. He did such a great job on his test and was clearly stoked about it!

This is Mom getting a makeup trial done right before the wedding. We were at the mall and all she wanted was lip stick...I left the get her ring cleaned and when I came back she had a full face of makeup on!

Mom's dog Bristol knows he basically runs the house, and this dog LOVES laying on laundry. Clearly he made himself at home in my suitcase once I returned from Hawaii with The Mr. ! 

Beautiful roses The Mr. surprised me with at the salon while I was getting my hair done for the wedding. Job well done babe, Love you! 

This is Hunter at his 16th birthday party where Mom & Dad suprised him with a shiney red pick-ip truck :) That is the face of a HAPPY 15 year old folks!

This is my neice Hadley and their new puppy Reggie. They are SO cute!

Well, that's all she wrote :) We hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and we will post more next week! Until then...goodbye!!



It'sThursday!

Well, I broke down and went to the doctors yesterday. I had been so strong about not going to the doctors about this cold/flu/whatever it is for almost a week, but after my boss told me he thought I needed to go this morning...I made the call. Well, several calls actually. Since I do not have a family care physician in Indiana, I had to find one that could see me today. My wonderful friend, and co-worker Alicia referred me to her family care physician who will now be mine! I was surprised at how easy it was to schedule the appointment, and how clean the office was! It was a much differentexperience than going to my doctors in Florida.

On a side note: The girl at the counter who checked me in for my appointment also just got married on 10.2.10 so we had some fun things to talk about!

A diagnosis was made and I left the doctors office with three prescriptions in hand. That's right, 3! Hopefully in a day or so I will be back to my normal self and have enough energy to start our wedding scrapbook!

Preparing for winter...brrr

I have been doing some preparation shopping for winter in Indiana. I know it is going to be cold, I just don't know how cold yet! I was wearing a sweater last week and someone said I was in for it in January if I was already wearing sweaters in October. Their comment is probably true! So I started thinking I need to prepare for this! Hello shopping time :)

A couple weekends ago, The Mr. and I went shopping in Fort Wayne and he made some purchases at Eddie Bauer. They were so kind as to give us their Christmas Catalog with our purchase. My shopping started there :) I knew that I needed a new winter coat for the cold winter ahead...I have decided to retire my ski jacket that I bough at Burlington in high school (yay!). I looked at every coat and jacket and read all the reviews prior to making my selection...the final decision was made and has been ordered. I cannot wait for my Eddie Bauer: Slope Side Down Parka to be in my hands and see it in person! *I ordered it in silver/gray. Can a girl fall in love with a jacket? I think so!

Something else caught my eye in their catalog and is going to be my next purchase. Eddie Bauer has this Eddie Bauer: Down Ice Scraper Mitt so I won't be standing in the parking lot of our apartment complex scraping my windows with my credit card. Woohoo! AND they come in like 10 different colors and designs. How perfect is that!?!?

Basically, I have a new found love for all things Eddie Bauer and I am feeling more prepared for the cold Indiana winter. Next shopping obstacle is finding new jeans that I actually like and some boots. Should be fun :) More posts to come!



Weekend Wrap Up

If asked to wrap last weekend up in one word, I would have to choose great no...GREAT. Even though I have been sick for almost a week now, that did not stop me and The Mr. from having a wonderful weekend together. We really do enjoy the time we get to spend together...even if it is while I am shopping for clothes at Kohl's or him for tools at Lowe's :)

Friday night we were going to try and make it is Culver's, which just opened near our apartment. For you FL folks, Culver's is a fast food place with TONS of options and...frozen custard yummyness. Well, since Culver's had just opened on Monday it was packed with cars and we decided we would just go somewhere else less crowded. We headed to Somkin' Charlie's BBQ to satisfy my craving for southern BBQ. *Disclaimer-nothing up here compares to southern BBQ, Bono's, Woody's, Sonny's, or MoJo's; however so far Smokin' Charlie's is as close as it gets so I will take it :) After dinner we went to Kohl's and planned on going to Lowe's as well. I will admit that I shopped for too long in Kohl's and when we were done Lowe's had already closed. The Mr. was disappointed and I felt horrible for stealing his shopping opportunity. What could make this situation better? I think a carmel apple milk shake from Steak n Shake will do the trick!! :) * If you have not had one of these, I promise you that you need to. It is amazing and perfect...Fall in a cup=love! After getting The Mr. his milkshake we headed back to the apartment for some much loved episodes of Friends.

Saturday morning we did some errands we needed to do around town and then headed to Lowe's. We had some gift cards to spend and enjoyed every minute of it! We got a new shower head and The Mr. got some tools too, so he was happy. We went home and installed the beautiful shower head which makes it much easier for me to get ready in the morning and wash the tub/shower. I much appreciate the gift cards that allowed up to purchase it and my wonderful husband who installed it ever so quickly! Thanks hun!

Sunday we went to a new church a a neighboring town to ours. It was a UMC church...not sure if it will be our church home but everyone was super friendly and that means a lot! We plan on going back again when our friends who attend there will be there. We might try someplace else this upcoming weekend though, we will let you know!

The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing and doing some laundry. I actually lost count of how many Friends episodes we watched total and how many movies. Although, we did catch 'While You Were Sleeping' while doing laundry at my brother and sister in laws house which I thoroughly enjoyed *we do not have cable at our apartment, and The Mr. enjoyed catching some SportsCenter and football highlights...the Colts did not play yesterday, so there were no good games to watch.

It really was a relaxing and enjoyable weekend. I woke up on Monday feeling a little bit better, hoping that each day is like that!

What are you looking forward to?

I will be honest, I was slightly concerned that after the wedding I would not have anything else to look forward to. The biggest day of my life would have already passed...so what would be left after that? Well...the answer is LOTS of things! Life is not just about one day, or one event, so of course there is more to look forward to. I am happily awaiting soon experiencing these things with my hubs:

1. Thanksgiving in IN. I am excited about the fall colors and the crisp air. We do not have Thanksgiving plans yet, but whatever they are it will be delicious I am sure. AND The Mr. will not be exhausted from driving 16 hours straight like last year!

2. CHRISTMAS! I LOVE Christmas; the food, the smells, the decorations, the crazy people shopping, the candles...everything. I cannot wait to decorate our little apartment and make it as jolly as possible. Plus this is a special Christmas, our first Christmas as a married couple :)

3. Seeing my family in Florida. The Mr. and I are traveling down to FL for Christmas and of course I am excited to see everyone again. I am so glad that I will be there for all the Christmas traditions like, Aunt E's Christmas Eve party and Christmas morning at Gram's. Christmas is important to me, and I love the time spent with family!

4. While I am NOT looking forward to digging my car out of the snow, or anything similar to that; I am looking forward to seeing snow fall. I have seen snow falling twice, but nothing that left everything white. In my mind I am going to go to sleep and then wake up to a winter wonderland one morning, just like in the movies. I realize it probably will not happen like that, but until then...let me dream!

5. I am looking forward to furnishing our spare bedroom. Right now, the only thing it is a desk, a dresser and a bookshelf. I am hoping to get a nice bed so we can have guests stay over! (hint, hint Florida family and friends)

I am such a planner that I could sit here for hours and list things that I am excited about and/or looking forward to. Life is so much more than one day, or one event! Leave a comment and tell me what you are looking forward to!

Edits from Dawn :)

Our lovely photographer Dawn has been flooding my email inbox with photo edits from the wedding and they are GREAT. I get so excited each time I check my email! Sadly, all the photos I requested will be edited though and I will no longer have exciting photo emails...it is all good though! Here is what she has been sending me:









I LOVE these and Mom and I are both SO happy that she and her boyfriend/awesome editing assistant were able to open Dad's eyes in the one of us prior to walking down the isle. We were both so disappointed that he had his eyes closed, although no one could blame him since there were flashes EVERYWHERE! These are all I have...until she emailed me more, and there will be another blog post then I am sure!

Farewell until next time :)

Blog Changes!

The blog is currently undergoing some changes folks, so let me know what you think! I want it to be esthetically pleasing and easy to read so leave me some feedback and comments :) Hope everyone has a WONDERFUL weekend!

ick!

As I am typing this post I have no inspiration for the direction it may take. So, it will be short and sweet!

After getting my flu shot on Tuesday at Biomet, I have felt very, very icky. I have gotten a flu shot every year since being diagnosed with diabetes, so that makes 13 years and I have never had a reaction like this. Perhaps my immune system was already in a weakened state from all the hussle and bussel of moving, starting a new job, the wedding, the honeymoon and settling into our apartment together. Hopefully the vitamins I am pumping into my body and the Tylenol Flu will knock this little bug out of me soon. Until then, I plan on taking it easy at home. I see a Friends marathon in my future!

What do you have planned this weekend? Whatever it is, I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Thoughts for Thursday!

Happy Thursday! This post really has no meaning or direction, it is just what the title says: Thought for Thursday!

1. It has been a cold week so far in IN, and I very thankful for sweaters and scarfs!

2. Indiana is beautiful in the fall, the colors are so bright. It is defiantly not like anything I have been used to in Florida!

3. I love my husband!! It is a joy to see him everyday and spend time together. I really enjoy our quality time :)

4. We have some neighbors...well, kinda. The people that live below us, do not like us. I have a plant on the balcony and when it was watered last weekend some water spilled over onto their balcony. The man then proceeded to come outside swearing at me. Stephen suggested we pray for them, which I know is the right thing to do...

5. 10 days until Halloween!

6. We mostly have settled into our apartment. That means the chaos that was wedding gifts is under control.

7. The apartment is feeling more and more like home, but it still has not hit me that I am married. I am married :)

8. Pictures that I ordered from the wedding photographer came in yesterday, so now I get to start working on the album and scrapbook. Those who know me know how excited I am for this! I cannot wait to have the masterpiece completed!!!

And with that, I close this post :) Hope everyone has a great Thursday and a fantastic Friday!

We are featured!!

That's right folks, our wedding has been featured on the Etsy site :) Our photographer Dawn, ordered these signs and was so creative in using them for pictures. I really love the pictures on the back of the truck too, so perfect!!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/51912641/wedding-signsmr-and-mrs-bride-and-groom

Hawaii and LOTS of pictures!

Okay people, I am sure you thought I would come home and saw Hawaii was horrible...I am going to disappoint you. Hawaii was AMAZING! We had a wonderful time and it was SO nice to spend a week with just each other. We even left our cell phones at the hotel several times, until we realized we should probably keep one with us for Google Mapping and other purposes. Of course I have TONS of pictures to share with all our friends and families. The following pictures only highlight our trip:

These palm tress are actually located on the property of Coco Palms Resort on Kauai, which is closed down. The hotel captivated me and I have been researching its history since returning home. That is another post for another day!
Stephen and I got upgraded to a convert able Mustang while in Hawaii. I so enjoyed getting my suntan on while crusin' down the road!
This church was in a book about Kauai I got prior to the trip and I knew I wanted to see it. It is beautiful, and 175 years old!
Aww, aren't we cute as newlyweds?!?! I LOVE HIM!
All of the beaches were gorgeous! This was the first one we stopped at on the side of the road, and I seriously could have stayed there for the entire trip. It was breathtaking and so quiet!
You know us...documenting everything :) Pictures on the beach!
This is the view from the Kilauea Lighthouse lookout...pictures do NOT do it justice, it was so beautiful!
This view of the Kilauea Lighthouse is amazing. The sound when you are standing there is also awesome!
There are lots and lots of waterfalls on Kauai, and they are all beautiful. This is at the Waimea Falls overlook.
Isn't it beautiful? It took a while driving up a dead end road to see it, but I think it was worth it! The road actually dead ends right here at the fall!
This is the beginning of our luau experience. Stephen was pretty stoaked to eat as much food as possible...which he did!
On the Smith Family property after being le'id...now we get to ride a train and see all the pretty flowers and landscaping. YAY!
Allow me to introduce you to the Waimea Canyon, otherwise known as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. Even though it was cloudy when we made it up there, it was still beautiful. The colors in the rock and lines were incredible. We also bought some pineapple from a man with a cooler and it was DELICIOUS! Oh, and I forgot to mention that it is in the 60s up here! Brr!
The sun was trying to break through, so we snapped a picture together while you could see some blue sky. It really was incredible!
This is called the "Spouting Dragon". The Hawaiian called it that because of the sound it makes when a wave is coming, it really does sound like an angry dragon...but really it is just a blow hole created by lava rocks.
We drove to Poipu Beach after seeing the Canyon and Dragon to watch the sunset, and it was BEAUTIFUL!
I had a hard time picking one sunset picture to post because I have like 20, no kidding! I just kept snapping pictures :)
This is the beginning of our kayak adventure on the river. Has Emily ever kayaked before?...NO
After an hour of kayaking, we beached our kayaks and started hiking to "Secret Falls". The hike path runs along the river for the most past and took us about 35 minutes. At the end the path opened up to lava rocks and a 120ft waterfall. It was amazing!
Eating some granola to keep that blood sugar up after swimming in the waterfall with my hubby. The water was SO cold, much colder than the springs I have swam in!
We enjoyed lounging at the hotel pool too! The Westin has a great pool that I had to swim in :) I also read some of my book (Charlie St. Cloud) and watched Stephen swim. We enjoyed our time there!
We may be adults, but we are still kids at heart. This is only one of our silly pictures taken on the trip. I love us!
Can you believe the view we had from our room? If we looked to the left, we could see mountains and the golf course; if we looked the right, we could see palm trees and the ocean!
Goodbye beautiful island of Kauai...until we meet again!