Friday, March 26

Little things



Photo by Me


I feel caught up in life sometimes that I forget to think about the little things. Happy Spring!

Wednesday, March 24

Paint

We're in the process of buying this home for us to live in for 1 1/2 years (maybe more?) and we really want to be able to sell it when we're finished with it.
Well, my 'nesting' mind can't help but think about color combinations. I really want something that's going to look amazing, however, something that will be liked by everyone (so it sells!). Right now, all of the walls are off-white and the carpet is teal (believe me, it's the first thing that's going to go!!). It's not very big, so I don't want to get a TON of colors in the house, however, more than just your standard browns and tans.


I found this really interesting article on the psychology of color. Here's a general overview:

Red- increases blood pressure and respiration rate. Red also makes you loose track of time and increases appetite.
Orange- warm, welcoming and vital. Orange is cheerful and tends to improve appetite.
Yellow- increases metabolism and people tend to get more upset. Buttery yellows tend to be less aggravating.
Green- very natural and is considered a healing color. The popularity will last a long time, except for muddy greens and yellowy greens.
Blue- favored by all, it relaxes, soothes, and calms. Blue improves productivity and is considered to be clean.
Purple- the color or kings, it promotes mystery and spirituality.
Pink- decreases anger (it was even used in a prison to attempt to soothe prisoners!)
Browns- security, credibility and reassurance. It is also soothing and comforting.
Grey- enhances creativity. Grey is a favored executive color and works well as a neutral.

At this point, I really wanted to paint the kitchen yellow because I thought it was a happy, cheer-y color, but now I just don't know. We are planning on having beige carpet installed after we're finished with painting. I'm so excited about painting, I feel like everything else is being forgotten about (including some big even that happens in June!)...

If you wanted to read the whole article, here's a link!

Monday, March 22

Blessings

Unless you know me personally, you would have no idea that I lost my job a little more than a month ago. It was just a series of unfortunate events, and I knew it was going to come one of these days. Well, after a huge hassle with everything wedding related and such, I came to the conclusion that I needed to find a job asap. So, this past week, I got not one, but TWO calls on job offers! HORAY!

Also, FH and I do not live together yet. We both still live at the parent's houses, it just saves money and works for us (both of our parent's are awesome and don't treat us like two year olds). Anyways, so on top of wedding and honeymoon planning (did any of you girls get lucky enough to have FH plan the honeymoon?) we had to figure out where we wanted to live. After looking at all the options, we decided to go with some apartments that we both liked. It was about 600 a month after all utility bills (which isn't bad...). Well, this last week, we were blessed once again with this very unique option. Ry's parent's own and run several mobile home parks around our area. When we were weighing our options, they advised us not to buy a mobile home because it would be difficult to sell it in this economy. But, it just so happens that in the park Ry's mom runs, the 'on-call' night manager could not do the job anymore, so they needed someone to step in. The perk about being an on-call night manager is free lot rent. And, it just so happens that one of Ry's dad's friends has a home that he bought super cheap (he just paid off what the people owned on it from the bank) and put a little bit of money into it to make it more sellable in the same park that needs an on call manager. Do you see where I'm going with this? Ry's dad's friend is selling us the home for what he bought it for and what he put into it, which is 50% off. And we're going to be getting free lot rent, since Ry would have no problem doing the on call position (it's more for just a show anyways, and if something does happen, he would have to call his dad to fix it since his dad owns the park). If we take the price of the home plus utilities plus insurance for the first year, it's going to cost us a grand total of 400 a month! After that first year, all we'll have to pay is the utilities and the insurance, less than 1,000 a year! And, we should be able to sell it again for whatever we put into it (it could just a fresh coat of paint and new carpet) when we are finished with it. So, it has the potential to have free rent (except utilities and insurance) our first few years of marriage.  Are we BLESSED or what? :)


                                    


                                    

All images from Kentland Home Sales (Source)

This situation just fits us so much better than an apartment. I'll be able to paint the walls and make it look so cute and new. It doesn't look that great now, but you just wait until I get a paint brush and a garden shovel in my hands! I'm so excited for this opportunity with Ryan. So look out for photos, I will be posting many before and afters coming soon (since we're allowed to start the process as soon as we would like to!)!!

Bathroom Baskets

As wedding planning has continued, all of you wonderful bloggers keep stretching my imagination to what can be DIY'd and make my day more special and unique (details and my personality are best friends). I ran across this wonderful blogger's blog and this post about bathroom baskets! I might have to steal this idea...it's so freakin cute!

Check it out!

Friday, March 19

Honeymoon Revealed!

So, I've kept you guys waiting long enough. And to tell you honestly, I've another surprise after this one....But that will have to wait for another day.

Buhdoop, Yes. It is in the Caribbean. But not just in the Caribbean, it's in the Bahamas.
Ryan and I wanted a non-tourist trap for our honeymoon. We really wanted somewhere where we could run away for a week.
But, I still wanted to do the kayaking, snorkeling, yummy dinners, ect...



We have found the perfect situation. The above photos are from the island of Eleuthera...

...where we have rented a house! The island is 110 miles long, and generally about 2 miles across. It's teeny tiny, but we love it.

The house we're renting is right in the middle of Eleuthera in North Palmetto Point. The house is two bedrooms, complete with kitchen and bathrooms (also outdoor showers!). It's so beautiful and located on private beaches with pink sand.


It has two kayaks, snorkel gear, lots of books, beach chairs, coolers, and bikes.


                         
All sorts of fun places to explore like the above "Preacher's Cave" and "Queen's Bath" below...

                        

The best part is the beaches, beaches and more deserted beaches.


Seriously guys, I cannot explain to you how excited I am. This view awaits everyday:

                    

Eight days, Seven nights all with my new hubby. 

The website is here...check it out, but have a tissue ready because you're going to drool!

Tuesday, March 16

Honeymoon



                            Source                                                                               Source


Updates to come!!


Here's a hint:



                                             

Giveaway

The alternative wife has a sweet giveaway....CHECK IT OUT!

Monday, March 15

I've got a fever...

....and the only prescription is more cowbell!

Just Kidding.

I've heard that most brides (new wives) get baby fever a few months after the wedding. However, I have a feeling (with the combination of my age and schooling) that I'm going to get puppy fever!






AHHH!!! How cute?!?

This is really the dog that I want, though:

                                                   
It's a papillon dog, also known as a 'butterfly' dog due to it's ears. 





Seriously, how could you turn down that face? 
In my research that I've conducted (sites like wikipedia and dog breed info) it's a really great dog. It's small enough for apartment living and it isn't yappy ( I really don't like small yappy dogs).  They still can be taken on five mile walks and they're not possessive of their owners. The reason that I think I really want one is because about a year ago, we went to a friend of a friend's house and they had a little papillon.  I fell in love. L-O-V-E. Yes, this will be my 'fever'. 

Thursday, March 4

The dress

My one blogging friend and very great real life friend of mine has a very good blog (a non-wedding related one, which I think it's good to remember that real life happens even though I'm planning a wedding...haha). He's trying to start his own websites and he's one of the most ambitious people I know. If you're interested in checking it out, his blog is Nicholas Wyma and if you're ever in my hometown of Grand Rapids, Mi, feel free to check out drink specials and night life at NightlifeGR.com and things to do (entertainment, restaurants, shops) and other events for Grand Rapids at LocalGR.com.  Nick actively reads my blog and I've been wanting to post this for awhile, and have been very unsure of how to. So, this is what I'm going to do.


Nicholas Wyma. IF you decided to proceed you are entering the silence zone in which you will not tell Ryan anything that you see here after.













Okay, girlies. Here is my WEDDING DRESS!

It's silk...I love the shine, and it's really lightweight. 

Without flash so you can really see the details in the bodice.

Back view with the bustle. I love this bustle. 

Side view with the bustle up...I love my earring in this photo...BLING!

My train

With one of the parasols that I bought for myself and the girls

What do you think?


So, story time.

I have bought a dress that I liked, but it wasn't my dream. I bought it because I felt rushed to find the perfect dress, so that when I found one I liked, it was 'the one'. However, I don't believe in 'the one'. Just like with everything else, I think that there are many things out there that could make me happy. Anyways, the first dress that I bought came into the store and since it's a corset back, it doesn't need extensive alterations. I tried it on and didn't like it. It wasn't the shape, but the material and the beading. I really really just don't like beading on my wedding dress. I really like it on other people's and I had first thought it was beautiful, but it ended up that I didn't like it on me. 
So the great search for a new wedding dress began. I found websites where brides could sell their used wedding gowns, and found a few I really liked. I knew what kind of shape I wanted and what neckline. I found this one and after contacting the girl who owned it, found out that it was bought and altered and bustled, and she had the exact same situation as I did. She didn't love it. Unfortunately, I just lost my deposit, while she lost a few thousand.  She decided to sell it to me on a trial basis and I counted the days until it would arrive. The day it came, I was so so excited, but more relieved than anything that it fit. The girl I had bought it from had already had it altered and I am 1 1/2 inches taller than she is, and, truth is, she is one size smaller than me too. Yes, you read that right. I bought this dress knowing it was a size too small. I was hoping, like I said before, that since it was a corset back, it wouldn't matter too much. And until I got it, I was so worried that it wasn't going to fit.

But, it looks like I had nothing to worry about.