Stumbled Upon.

Disclaimer: This is not wedding related.

Now that we have that past us, I would like to share some new blogs I stumbled upon. Anyone who knows me knows that I have a drive for creativity. I love everything art related-food (yes, i am considering it an art-related topic), photography, jewelry design, scrapbooking, graphic and interior design, and the list goes on. Anyone who knows me, also knows that I have about ten different ambitions I intend on doing in my lifetime. If you ask me, I am very much right-brained. As for the first blog, I am in LOVE, LOVE with: This Young House. A 27 year old couple restored an amazing old house into something that I just do not have words to describe. If you have some time, take a look around their website. I was basically drooling while going through their house tour. (Still trying to find a word to describe what I think but am stumped.) Not only is this house in VA (I want to live there SO bad!), but it sits on a size of land that Bryan and I are determined to find when we build our first house together! It even looks a little like the house we dream about. (We did happen to find our dream home on our way to the Irish bar in Weston over the weekend. Hopefully, next time we go by it, we can snap a few photos!) I promise you, if you hop on over to this site, you will not be disappointed! (A glimpse of the adorable house below. It is breathtaking inside.)















The next two blogs are so fun! The first one is Absolutely Beautiful Things. Being a gal who loves vintage and modern, this interior designer in Australia combines both styles to create masterpieces. Do hop on over and check out her fun finds. The second blog is about possibly my most favorite interest: food. This woman is a genius. Joy the Baker has the most delicious things on her site to make! Bryan and I tried one of her recipes out this weekend. Some delicious herb oven-baked potato fries! I cannot even begin to tell you how YUMMY this easy, blissful food was to make! I could have eaten the whole pan. Who am I kidding, I would have eaten the whole pan if I didn't have to share with Bryan.

I hope you all enjoyed some of my new finds today! Pictures from our awesome Fourth of July weekend will be following shortly this week. Stay tuned. Love.

Happy Fourth of July!

Three day weekend. Say that again with me. Three day weekend. I love saying those words. They are simply bliss. Next say with me: beer, BBQ, fireworks, pool, no work, and summertime. Yes, all these words are the epitome of summer and 4th of July. This is one of Bryan and I's favorite holidays. Especially Bryan. Why you ask? Oh no reason except it is the one time in a year he can buy a TON of fireworks and electrical tape to create his infamous "Sparkler Bombs." Note to friends and family: please keep at least 10 feet distance from these "Sparkler Bombs." I got the chance to watch my lovely, I mean manly, handsome (now) fiance become overly excited about these creations of his (more so than when he watches his car shows) last summer at his uncle's 4th of July party. Pictures will coming soon from our KC fun-filled weekend!

I hope everyone has a safe, fun, and Happy Fourth of July weekend! Don't forget to sport some red, white, and blue for the awesome country we live in! Love.

Exciting!

Happy Thursday or shall I say One-Day-Until-The-Weekend! This weekend will be my one weekend at home, and I cannot be more excited. (Although, Bryan will be in StL with all his pledge brothers celebrating the last night of one his pledge brothers being a bachelor, so I will miss him dearly.) This weekend is extra special b/c it's my roommate's birthday! Sounds like we are going to have a good time.

Since I blogged last, a lot has happened. First of all, my kick butt fiance sent me a lovely surprise last Friday. I blogged about this last Thursday, but Friday was one year until our wedding-exactly. Much to my surprise, with packing and moving to a new building, I literally forgot about Friday even though I blogged about it Thursday. (This does not happen often.) However, Bryan came over to my apartment for some dinner before heading to StL, and kept asking me about a surprise at work. All who know me, know I watch Friends (TV show) to a sick level, which in translation is ALL the time. I was so focused on the episode when Joey finds out about Monica and Chandler that I wasn't listening to Bryan. Poor guy. After the show was done, he continued to ask about a surprise. I kept thinking surprise at work was another word for layoffs. Don't ask. I kept saying no. He looked a little disappointed. I asked why. He told me he had sent me lilies at work since it was one year exact until our wedding day. (OH MY GOSH. Sweetest man ever.) Now you can all imagine how I am feeling and thinking. I felt happy, floored, shocked, and almost in tears (it doesn't take a lot ladies and gentlemen). However, I was thinking, how did I let that slip my mind today of all days! I told him how that day was my last day at that building since I was going to the new building Monday. We tried to go after we ate dinner to see if they got delivered. They never did. On Monday, I got them, with the SWEETEST card. Seriously, how did I get so lucky?! Anyways, here they are below. I love them, and they smell like bliss at my desk!






















Onto the weekend. Emily and CJ got married! Congrats!!! Their wedding was gorgeous being at the Larimore Plantation in StL. The details were quite lovely. The wedding party was stunning! The company was wonderful! Emily made a breathtaking bride and CJ just looked like the happiest man to be marrying the breathtaking bride. So cute. She was teary-eyed the whole ceremony, which shows you how much it meant to her. Even though I was sitting in the back, I could see CJ just smiling and reassuring her it's ok. Too cute. Actually, it was my favorite part of the whole wedding. Their parents were just beaming with happiness as well! I loved both their moms. They were NOT afraid to start showing their moves with all of us girls. My other favorite part was watching Bryan dance like a stud even though he is in the process of his knee healing (he is doing awesome by the way!). I love LOVE going to weddings with him. He makes his own fun, never is afraid of what others think or of a good time, and just dances the night away! I just could not stop smiling the whole night. Too fun. Now for the pictures!






























































We only have ONE reception and ONE more wedding left this summer. We have ONE more after this summer in October of some VERY special friends of ours. It is extra special because it is Bryan's best friend from home, Zach. He is the best man, and I am one of the bridesmaids. I can't wait for their wedding! We actually get to see them over the 4th of July weekend; we're heading to the lake for that weekend, which is going to a nice change from KC and StL. Plus, who doesn't love three day weekends!

Last but not least, I had to blog about this. For last night's date night, Bryan and I went to see the movie Up! Yes, it is a kid movie. However, I can't remember the last time I have laughed so much at a kid movie. It was cute, witty, hilarious, sweet, sad, and an all around WONDERFUL movie. I highly recommend it to anyone especially if you have kids or are a kid deep down inside (like Bryan and I!). I want to see it again. I should get going as I have blogged a book today. Hope everyone is staying cool in the HOT HOT HOT Midwest weather this week!

My New Favorite Blog.

Yes, you call me the blogging queen today! I wasn't kidding when I said I had a lot to share. So, I stumbled upon my new favorite blog. This woman has it ALL! She's spent years being a city gal in LA, fell in love with a cattle rancher, and now lives in the middle of nowhere all the while loving her new lifestyle! Not only is this woman a country gal now, but she blogs about my two favorite things: yummy and healthy recipes (found a handful of recipes I want to try with Bryan that are simple!) and photography! (Side note: I am taking a hobby into furthering my photography and graphic design skills while saving for a SLR camera-it's my creative outlet! If you all know me, I am not one to be bored.) She states she is not a professional photographer, but she bought a SLR camera, didn't know how to use it, learned, and now has tutorials up about using SLR cameras and how to orient around Photoshop and Lightroom! Maybe I won't have to take any Photoshop classes! I am truly excited about reading through her blog! Check her blog out if you are interested in either cooking or photography!

Also, I stumbled across 2 Excited Nests's blog where two sisters blog about their married lives. It's really cute! (That is where I found Pioneer Woman's blog.) She just got surprised by her so-called frugal husband (as she states) with a Canon Rebel Xsi (the same one I have my eyes on!) and has been learning from Pioneer Woman's website about both cooking healthy recipes and taking pictures. Through her wedding planning process, she did a lot of DIY (do-it-yourself) projects. While I don't want to go out and purchase a Gocco printer, I am leaving it up to my handy dandy printer at home or Kinkos to do some of the printing for some of the things I have or am designing. She did give a few great ideas that I plan on having a variation of at our wedding (if Bryan agrees). One of them was creating your own wedding website through iWeb if you own a Mac computer. I am beyond excited to go home and try this program out!

I love the fact that I can spend my free nights now learning and messing around on Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop, CoralPaint, and iWeb thanks to a lady I work with (she gave me all the programs for free which are worth an absurd amount of money!). Soon enough, I will be a proud owner of a SLR Canon Rebel! I cannot wait to bring it with me to upcoming weddings, holidays, family events, scenery, our honeymoon (ahh!), or just a Sunday afternoon with Bryan to snap and learn how to use something that captures some beautiful images! Seeing that I have a TON of ambitions and dreams, I hope one day I can own my own photography/album making business! Until then, I can dream about it! A friend at work told me she took a class in her MBA program where they told her to take what you love and make it your career. She did just that. Apart from working at Kiewit Power Engineers, she and her sister started a photography business! They have been only going for a year, and low and behold, are incredibly successful!

I will leave you all with this quote-my favorite one: "In dreams and in love, there are no impossibilities."

Love.

Too Cute For Words.

I have been slacking on writing, but today I had lots to tell and post. For this post, my title pretty much sums up the pictures! Side note: I DVRed "Wedding Day" on TNT this week, and got to watch it yesterday before date night with Bryan. I know since I am getting married, I am wrapped up in watching and reading wedding shows and blogs. But, this show, being the season premiere, had a knot in my throat and tears in my eyes the last half of the show because of their remarkable story. She was in a bad car wreck, didn't know if she would live, was handicapped and unable to walk, and with God working miracles, healed her, and she had the wedding of her dreams all the while being able to walk down the isle! When it was over, I had that warm and happy feeling inside. Not to mention, they had the BIGGEST candy bar I have seen! It made my heart beat a bit faster just looking at how delicious it was! I am addicted, and can't wait until next week! Check out the happy couple and their AWESOME candy bar (pictures courtesy of TNT's Wedding Day show)!

As for the pictures, check them out! (The first is from Twig and Thistle, the next four from Snippet and Ink's blog and the quote is from Design Crush's blog.) Everyone who knows me, knows I have a MAJOR sweet tooth (the reason why we couldn't pass up on having a wedding cake!). If we ever renew our vows and have an outdoor wedding ceremony and/or reception, have birthday parties, and/or for a Saturday BBQ, I want to make these cute burgers (made of cupcakes and brownies) and fries (made of sugar cookies) below. The snow cone picture makes me think summer, carnivals, county fairs, and baseball games, which all are places I absolutely LOVE being especially with my honey! The other pictures are all ones that make me smile and feel happy inside especially the one with the guy holding the "Applause" sign and the expression on his face! The picture of the quote is the best way to end a week and go into a weekend! (Another side note: We are moving buildings at my work, and I am in the first move. Hence, why I made the "366 Days To Go" and this post today!) Love.

366 Days To Go!

Can you believe it? 6 months ago from tomorrow, I was engaged to my best friend and future hubby! Crazy. I am more excited that we are entering into the one year mark. I hear it goes pretty fast once that comes around. I know how it goes; it's summer, and before you know it the leaves are changing, there is snow on the ground, flowers are blooming, showers and parties are being thrown, last minute planning is happening, and Bryan and I are the Lindseys or like our friends call us in KC, "the Ls'! Especially as we have been attending weddings since May, we keep getting the comments, "Before you know it, it will be you two tying the knot!"

I haven't written in awhile about what has been going on with us aside from the weddings that keep occurring one after another. A lot has been happening. First of all, I decided to postpone my plans on getting my master's in Education until later on down the road. Bryan and I are really trying to focus on being financially stable and saving for a nice down payment on a home when we move home to StL in the near future. We both realized it was a good decision to first take care of our finances and being settled in our lives, and then think about sending me back to school to further my education. I am not giving up on the fact that I don't want to become a teacher. I will someday down the road. Since I had been engaged and started school, I had not made any time to actually enjoy being engaged. There are a lot of things I wanted to do myself but didn't know if I had the time for it. Well, not only will I get to do enjoy being engaged to the most AMAZING man, but I will get to focus on some of the stuff I would rather do myself b/c I enjoy it!

Apart from planning a wedding, I have decided to take up some hobbies that I either miss or truly enjoy and expand on them! Once the crazy summer passes, I plan on, also, becoming a volunteer for Make-A-Wish. It will be my way of helping kids out if I can't teach quite yet. I am truly excited about these opportunities I have and plan on taking full advantage of the free time I have!

As far as wedding planning, we have so much done! So far, we can check off: ceremony and reception site, photographer (so excited for Kelly!), DJ, my wedding band, church and priest for our Catholic ceremony, florist and ceremony decorator, bakery for the wedding cake, and hopefully a videographer. My mom and dad plan on taking care of the dresses and outfits for Bryan and I for our ceremony (I have given them some ideas!), invitations (gave them ideas and wording for this as well), and some misc items in India when they go in October! They are getting excited about it although it will make for a BUSY trip! But, I am so grateful they are able to do this for Bryan and I! The other stuff like the programs, menu cards, guest book, favors, and gifts for bridesmaids and parents are all in the works or done but are left to be unveiled until June 19, 2010! I can't wait to get more educated in some of the graphic design programs and a program like Paint Pro for Mac I downloaded for a trial to use on DIY wedding projects. All in all, everything is coming together and Bryan and I are both enjoying planning the little details!

I just can't believe at this time next year, we will be getting ready for a rehearsal dinner on this day and be Mr. and Mrs. Lindsey the next day! I can't wait! Love.

Congrats Michelle and Adam!

Let the wedding season begin! This weekend Bryan and I attended Michelle and Adam's wedding, which was an absolute blast! We got to see a ton of people from college! Probably one of my most favorite part of the wedding day was the ceremony. I would describe it as sweet, fun, funny, and emotional. Not to mention, Bryan and I sat in the balcony, which gave me the opportunity to take some neat pictures. Only if I had a better zoom on my camera! One day. My next favorite part beside seeing some of my best gals were the cupcakes. Yes, I ate more than one...can you blame me?! They were the best cupcakes I have had! Here are some of my favorite pictures from the weekend. (Next weekend is Emily and CJ's wedding, which you can bet I will be posting some pictures of! I wasn't kidding when I said wedding season has begun!) Love.