{planning a wedding}

Please read: I started writing this post back in November. It was really difficult to write, and ended up never publishing it. Planning a wedding is really personal, and truly depends on how you and your partner work best. We're big planners {if you couldn't tell} so this is how the process worked for us. I think it's time to share this with y'all!

Quotelife Photography

I don't talk about this much, mostly because I want it to be a huge surprise for everyone coming! Perhaps you are reading this as a bridesmaid, a mother of the bride, or the actual bride. We are about halfway through the planning process, and enjoying it!

I started planning by using The Knot checklist! I love that I can check off things that I have done, or won't do. Everything is timed by when they should be done too. I find that a lot of the items on the checklist are expected to be done early, but I am doing my best to do them even earlier. So, I can change the due date in case I know we won't be able to do it in January, and we should work on it in December. I can also add additional items to the checklist when needed. This makes future me very happy, because I know that next spring is going to be tricky since it's busy season for most accountants and I'll also still be in school.

I ended up making a big excel spreadsheet, so I could see all of my options in front of me and keep track of all my 'to do's' and all of my future appointments. This really doesn't work for everyone, I understand! Just think about how you plan best, and work off of that.

Please don't get overwhelmed!!!  This can definitely be a fun process, even if there are times when you are doing it alone! There are times where I've had to ask for help from a bridesmaid, or give my sweetheart a "honey do" list. Just smile and take a deep breathe. In the end-it's all about saying "I do." No one is going to ask why your linens didn't go with the theme of your cake or why all the different colors of blue didn't match. If you think they will, you're sure you want them to be there....right?

For us, if anything is too difficult then we just walk the other direction. If a DJ won't call me back, I don't worry about it. If a makeup artist isn't responding, then I don't worry about it! If it isn't meant to be, it isn't meant to be. 

After all, you and your sweetheart are a match made in heaven. You and your vendors should be too. It is truly that simple. If you can't trust your vendor, or have that funny knot in your stomach-walk away! This is so important, because the day of the wedding you don't want to have doubt in the back of your mind. You're going to be busy soaking in every second of your special day.

You have to decide what is most important to you. Is it money? Then list them by price, and go with the cheapest. Is it the most experience with your vision of a modern, fantastic wedding? Then ask for their portfolio! You should feel comfortable that they understand what you want, or else you're going to be very worried before the event!

Here's an example. Deciding on a DJ was one of the hardest decisions. We narrowed it down to three:

• The first DJ we met with was the owner of his own business and would be our DJ the day of the event. He was a really nice, owned his own business for many years, and also the cheapest. 
• The second was also the owner of his own business for many years and would be our DJ the day of the event, but also the most expensive and a little overly confident. 
• The third had us meet with one of the owners, but didn't meet us in a local shop or location. We drove out to their office, but they had us listen to music we liked. But we didn't get to meet our DJ for the wedding. At this point I really couldn't make a decision so we ended up meeting them again, but requested that we meet with our actual DJ for the day. This time we connected perfectly, and the price was just right!

I'm so excited for all of the future wives out there, being married has been so exciting for me! Being bonded to the person you love, and that loves you more than anything in the world, is the most incredible feeling.

Best of luck!

{how does your garden grow?}

{I wrote this blog post a week ago, and already I need to write an update!}

This year our garden is much bigger than all the previous years!
And finally, it looks like we are going have an overload of vegetables.


I am so excited that I can finally eat at least half of a raw cucumber, without needing to put something on it or just stopping. That's a bit of a break through for me. While I spend a lot of time on this garden, and dreaming of all the vegetables that we'll get to eat....I often don't end up eating them. This year, I've really been coaching myself to eat what we get. No mini tomatoes have made it inside the house, I just love snacking on them!

So, what's growing:

• One watermelon plant (with a watermelon!!)
• Two cucumber plants
• Four okra plants (small this year, looks like they are probably over crowded)
• Four large tomato plants
• Five onions
• Two mini tomato plants
• One bell pepper plant (that seems very unhappy, but not much I can do now)

I also put two marigolds in the garden this time, in between the tomatoes. I think it's helping the tomatoes and with our overwhelming mosquito population, which means now I can water the garden with only 10 mosquito bites rather than 20. Still ridiculous, but I'm trying to get rid of them without always spraying myself with bug repellent. Not working...totally open to suggestions! 

oops, look like I need to weed...

I noticed a few slugs on the cucumbers, and some beetles eating the okra leaves. Keeping an eye on them, but really don't want to do anything if I don't have to! Fingers crossed all the green tomatoes {there are a TON} don't all go red at once! Tomatoes for breakfast seems like a stretch for me. 

xx

{belieze it-beach}

We haven't seen wedding photos just yet, but I cant wait so here's a little bit about Belize & some of what we did. 

The second part of our journey was the Ambergris Caye. It was beautiful, just like the photos you'd imagine to see in a travel magazine. Except we really didn't take too many photos, we were too busy actually enjoying ourselves! 

We had an awesome time snorkeling for the first time ever. As newbies, we didn't take photos. But everyone else on the trip did, and it was mildly entertaining watching them swim like fish to catch the best photo. My husband says the sunburn on my back looked like a pirate's face, ha! I'll keep the evidence to myself though, I don't want you to remember me like that.

early, early morning sunrise

I spent a lot of time in the water, while mountain man preferred to see the view from under a coconut tree. My Dad gave me the appreciation to “touch the ocean every day” when we’re at the beach. I gladly did so, despite how ridiculously sun burnt I kept getting. 

While it didn't dampen our spirits at all, we both got a touch of the travelers sickness. Nausea, etc. killed our appetites, so I can’t really attest to the food. Although we did enjoy some really great El Salvadorian food with our neighboring honeymooners out in the “city.” (It took ten minutes to walk around the main part of the city, but I suppose it is still a city.) We also enjoyed some delicious, authentically native chocolate milk/shake too! 

On the way back to the international airport, I got to sit in the copilot seat!! Check out this view! & I'm glad the nausea definitely went away for this part of the trip. The seat belt is like a spider strapping you in, and of course the pilot asked me to not touch anything. Really? I don't want to die either buddy, promise. :)

If you’re looking for a vacation with adventure and relaxation, it exists! It’s in Belize.

{belieze it-rainforest}

We haven't seen wedding photos just yet, but I can't wait so here's a little bit about Belize & some of what we did. 

 We had such a wonderful time on our honeymoon. Belize is a beautiful country. It was mountain man's (MM) first time out of the country, and I think it was the perfect choice. We chose Belize for a few simple reasons: 1. you can explore the rainforest and the beach 2. they speak english and 3. it's not europe, which I've explored a lot as a kid.

First things first, I got a pretty awful cold after the wedding. Even though I was never stressed the day of the wedding, my immune system finally had it. Fair enough, I kind of ignored it and just dealt with it along the way. The worst part was any nausea, particularly on a plane.

When we landed, we hit the road. They don't use stop signs or stoplights, so they use speed bumps instead I literally mean we hit the road. It felt like there was one every mile or so, making for a long two hour ride. So...I took a nap. Naturally.

We arrive at our little casita in the Cayo district, and my new husband (eek!!) immediately fell asleep on the hammock on our little porch and I fell asleep face down on the bed. After we slept, we promptly ordered a margarita pizza that we will never forget. It.was.that.amazing. Of course, we ordered dinner right after that-traveling really take a lot out of you sometimes!

Sniffling and all, we signed up for a full day of adventure the next day. We went to the ATM cave, which is a water cave that holds some Mayan sacrifices. You cross a river three time just to get to the cave, and our car managed to lose a shock too. Classic adventure! Once we got to the cave, you're in the water either walking or swimming the entire time. There's a point where there is no light, and you only have your hat light to guide you-and that's about the point where I started to feel a little nervous. When we had to take the hats off to squeeze our heads through some rocks to keep climbing, that was probably the pinnacle of my desire to turn around. No photos are allowed, so I had to borrow this one from national geographic. Our private tour guide was amazing, he knew so much! It was so thrilling to be in there. After climbing about 30 feet high  with a real drop if you made the wrong move, we saw the dish the queen and king use for their blood letting, and some crystallized humans. We still marvel over how the Mayans went all the way into their sacred caves, with torches, to their rituals.

After crashing, we woke up to another half day of Mayan touring. Xunantunich was also breath taking, and full of mystery. The majority of the ruins aren't even excavated (or excurvated per our tour guide). Imagining how they lived was pretty eye opening, and we once again had an awesome tour guide who knew everything. (I think he may have literally known everything, he didn't even guess at answering my questions. He just knew, and could tell me why they knew certain facts, etc.) The King kept building higher and higher structures (the tallest one shown in the photo) to basically hide himself away from the people as they lost their faith in them.

The last day we relaxed, and headed out to San Pedro. No more sniffling for me! We took a short little ride, with many stops, on this small plane. I'd never been on a plane so small. Little did I know what would happen next time we were on a plane so small!!

Mr. & Mrs. K

Our wedding day was perfect. It is difficult to say how meaningful it was to us in just one simple word. Many people told me it would be a blur and that I wouldn't remember much, but I remember everything and all the details. The significance of the day was, and will never be, lost on us. It is a day we will cherish for as many years as God will give us.

We enjoyed our honeymoon in Belize too, and managed to become even closer. I'm sure I will share memories of the wedding and honeymoon soon too, but it's overwhelming to think of doing that just yet.

It's been a six month hiatus, and by reading the last post it's easy to see that we simply became too busy to update. I can declare that I graduated with my MBA! The last two classes were a challenge, but managed to get a 4.0 GPA.

Other than that, not much to tell you about the last six months. Planning a wedding and finishing school were two big life to-do list things that complimented each other really well. If I wasn't working on school, then I was procrastinating by planning the wedding. Didn't want to do wedding planning? Procrastinate and do some school work. And of course I decided we needed to finish re-painting and re-decorating the entire downstairs, but I'll share that soon enough! I'm still grateful I did a lot of wedding planning well in advance though, because we still had time for friends.

My darling husband (how fun to call him that!!) is going to be in two more weddings later this year, and we are so excited to for our friends! I also have one of my closest friends buying a house, and are hoping we will get to help or at least celebrate with her. Yet another friend just moved. See how they keep us on our toes? Such exciting times.

Somehow even school and wedding free for a week, we're managing to stay busy. I thought I would have a lot of free time, or just simply get bored. It's only been a week, but there's still so much on our life to-do list. And being a part of our friends' big moments moving forward in life is important to us too. Life has a way of always moving forward.

Feel free to subscribe or google plus follow, or whatever it is you do to stay updated on our upcoming many, many adventures!

September to October

Anne Spring, courtesy of Quotelife Photography

September

This was a month of trying to establish a good routine for our little family. My sweetheart was still gone most the week, Coco was going to daycare, and I was trying to balance work/school. I was also taking the lead on wedding planning, since we knew life would get a little hectic during the holiday season. Leaving us with really only six more months once January came around!! I spent a lot of my lunches interviewing florists, DJs, makeup artists, and hair stylists. For some things, it was really easy to make decisions. For others, like the DJ and florist, I really struggled. We also had our engagement photos taken by our wonderful photographers!

I also finally asked my bridesmaids, matron of honor, and maid of honor if they would accompany me on this journey. They've been wonderful! They picked out their dress, and I can't wait to see them! 

I also realized during September that if I wasn't careful, I was going to isolate myself from dear friends and family again. Also, it's pretty clear I am still obsessed with our dog. I've been trying to make it a point to see my friends, and not just the ones in the wedding party. I'm thankful that my sweetheart and I have done this, it has made me feel much more well balanced! 

October

This was an awesome month! Some friends and I went horse riding at the same place where we had our engagement photos from. My derriere was definitely sore for three days. I can't believe I used to do that as a kid!

My sweetheart and I also took a trip to the mountains to see some family and such. I'm really grateful we took the trip, as one of his old childhood dogs passed away. I imagine it is never easy to have a dog pass away, and I really can't imagine what it's going to be like that when I lose my first. 

There was also a bachelorette party! I was a bridesmaid, and we had a blast throwing the party. We had delicious food, drinks, and gifts, and then went into the city to dance the night away at four different hot spots! Got to love the Queen City!

FINALLY

I figured out what was wrong with Coco. After she acted a little sickly at daycare, I took her to a new vet. I love our old vet, by they were too far away! She needed some antibiotics. They helped relieve her issues temporarily, and I finally went with my gut instinct: change her diet. We had been feeding her a brand whose first couple ingredients were pretty good. After I did a loooooooooooooot of research, I found that in order to determine if it was the food causing the issue, I had to change her diet 100%. We went from chicken, to lamb and oatmeal by Blue Buffalo. 

She is in heaven. She loves her food! She has never been motivated by food, and sometimes wouldn't eat all day. We haven't had an issue in almost a month! The company has also sent me coupons! The food is expensive and she somehow has more energy, but I am so thankful that she is healthy and happy! 

So now you're just about updated. November has been a month of wedding stuff, and I am getting a little wedding'ed out. I didn't think it was possible!

courtesy of Quotelife Photography

July to August

i like mud.

July.....
August....
September...
October........

It's hard to believe I last posted on July 4th. So much has happened! I obviously can't update you on everything, but I'll try.

July

Starting in July, my sweetheart was working a couple hours away during the week & we expected that to continue until January. I was taking another really difficult class, and working from home a couple days a week to keep up with Coco who was just about six months old. I thought I could balance everything well without him there. I was so wrong. 

Unfortunately, it turns out Coco was going through pottying issues. It took me forever to figure out what the problem was, but I hadn't figured it out in July. She was consistently pooping pottying in her crate before I could get home from work. It was INCREDIBLY frustrating to clean the dog, clean the crate, clean the floor six times (I can't wait to replace this porous flooring), clean any other surface, and then clean myself. Then there was the incident where I left her out of her crate once during class...but I won't go into that. 

At the end of July, Coco turned 6 months old. We went to our last day at puppy preschool, and she had a blast! We knew she needed to stay social, and I let her try daycare for a day. She loved it! But of course, she had to get spayed before going to daycare regularly. So, Coco got spayed at the end of July. What a goober, she was HILARIOUS when she came home! 

Thanks to the Coco situation, I wasn't getting much time to study. Summer classes are usually intense for six weeks, but with holidays and my professor teaching in another country, we really only had four weeks. It doesn't help that one of my group members in the class had salmonella poisoning, as did the rest of his family. And my second group member had a hard time communicating, as a new foreign exchange student. Got to love grad school!

August

I finally finished my class, by the skin of my teeth. Thank goodness, I had a week off before starting the Fall semester!!

My parents came to visit during  my week off of school. We had a great time! They got to see our new house, meet Coco, and see the town we used to live in. We visited my sweetheart's new work too. They also helped me a lot with wedding planning. I am so lucky, i found the dress while my parents were visiting. It was only the third dress! It was the perfect moment, where I just knew that if it was that easy, it was meant to be. We also found a wonderful hotel for our visiting family to stay in. Minus a couple issues with the DMV, we had a wonderful trip. No one wanted the week to end, which is exactly how every vacation should end. 

Alas, still no improvements with Coco, although she was going to daycare a couple times a week and loving it! I was still working from home a couple times a week, and so the other days she would "romp with friends" as we say! She would come home exhausted, and I would finally do some school work. 

I also started a new job, which is more like a rotational group. I found out back in May that I'd been selected, when I got back from Brazil. It's very different and eye opening, but made our summer a bit more hectic. 

As you can see, a lot of things changed! Most for the better, and a couple complicated life a little more. It had been months since we did any updating or changes to the house, and I certainly didn't have time to cook!