Another Saturday

Went garage saling again today - and got another great wrought iron piece.  It almost looks like a pot bellied stove on a stand.  $1.
Simply for household I got a glass decanter and a green glass bottle $2.50.
We didn't do a ton of looking around for sales because we got up pretty late this morning.  Most of the money I got out of the ATM I spent on lunch (Hideaway Pizza).

Now for a debate.  These are both DIY Pomanders (in leu of spending more money on floral arrangements) to use on chairs at the end of the aisles at the ceremony.  I'm not sure which I like better or if I like them just the same.  The tissue paper ones obviously look...fuller, I guess; but does that make them look BETTER necessarily?  They probably cost right at about the same amount, so thats not really an issue.  Finding silver tissue paper would be a lot easier than finding silver fabric though.  If I go through with the lantern idea for centerpieces, I think I'd like to use the tissue ones and make like "half balls" (ha!) and put them in the bottom where the tea light out to go.  Thoughts?

fabric pomanders

tissue paper pomanders

Speaking of centerpieces - I think I'd like to just really switch it up.  Like some tables have the wrought iron, some tables have vases with fake flowers floating in water....spice things up a bit.  As long as everything else on the tables are uniform (plates, napkins, silverware, glasses, etc) I think that would work.

As promised, here is the link to my pinterest wedding board...
http://pinterest.com/madelenegail/wedding/
I really really need to get to cleaning if I want to get started on these DIY projects any time soon, I'd like to have the house in total order first.

Back To Blogging, Part II

Well, it was almost a year ago that I wrote that I was going to start blogging again.  Then things got crazy like they always do and I lost site of it.  I'm working hard on managing my time better - so hopefully this won't be the last post for 2011.

Matthew and I set a date.  Yes, like an actual date.  September 8, 2012.  This is the perfect date.  It is on the 8th (like my birthday, my mom's birthday, my grandma's birthday, my dad's birthday and my parent's anniversary), and this 8th happens to be a Saturday.  Then venue we want is Tres Suenos vineyard in Luther, OK.  This statement comes with a caveat - we haven't actually visited the place yet, asked if it can hold 150-200 guests or booked it yet.  It's all in the works though.  The price is right - just about $1300, and hopefully sometime in August we could put down a deposit.  We could surely swing the entire amount, but I'd hope they'd only ask for half in advance at the most.

A lot of the wedding will have to be DIY on such a tight budget, but I am optimistic.  I have a coworker who does photography on the side and seems to be willing to trade my artistic prowess (restoring old furniture/painting) for hers.  So, there's at least $1000 I can put toward something else.  The guest list is on the way and I'm hoping that with as 438 days to go (still, it's going to go fast) I can maybe learn calligraphy - or just use my own awesome handwriting :) - and not worry too much about specially printed invitations.  Just get some basic, but stylish, invitations from a national, online printing company, and then personalize them to my taste and not have to pay someone else to address them for me.  Postage is actually the thing that worries me the most about the invitations, so I think I'll make a point to buy a book of forever stamps each month, just in case the price of stamps happens to go up between now and then. I have some great ideas for centerpieces and have already started working on them a little bit.  I bought some lanterns (with stands) at a garage sale this weekend.  They need to be cleaned up a bit, but once they are - I think that they will make cute centerpieces (and not really require a bunch of florals to go with them - maybe just put one bloom where a tea light ought to go).  I will post before and after pictures as they come.  Obviously I won't be able to find 20 matching lanterns with stands - so I'm looking for random and unique alternatives.  I have one lantern/type/object, that wouldn't work with a stand but might be tall enough to stand on it's own.  I also have two small round lantern things that would look great on stands, but no stands.  So I'll keep scouring garage sales and ebay for a great deal on objects like these, restore them and make them everything that I want them to be!

Every little bit helps and if anyone knows someone with a wedding related skill that would be willing to help out (no matter how early before the wedding) it's all appreciated.  Every little place that we are able to save a few dollars means that we can invite more of the wonderful people who have impacted our lives so much to share in our special day - the more the merrier.

I also started a pinboard on pinterest.com that I hope you take a look at.  I will merge some of the pictures on to here at some point so that there won't be much need to clicking back and forth but for now, here is the link
http://pinterest.com/madelenegail/wedding/
It has a variety of things, from dresses - bridal and bridesmaid - to favors, color schemes, DIY ideas and more.

It's late now, and of course I have to be up for work in the morning, but am having trouble sleeping.  Hopefully that will become part of my newly organized life - that I can get to bed at a decent hour.  It remains to be seen.

Back to Blogging

Now that we have internet at the house - I'll actually have a bit of time to look at wedding stuff and consider more things to post here.  I'm doubting that anyone will still view it since I haven't posted in awhile - but hopefully people have been checking back in every now and then.  

I'm really loving the orange and grey/silver scheme - the more I think about it.  I had considered an emerald green color (from a shirt that I have) with silver, but...those are Slytherin colors - and I can't abide that. :)

We've been doing well in our new house - and we have both started back to school this month.  Things will be busy for awhile, but thats probably of the best.  Both of us have lots of studying to do and plenty of regular job-work to go along with it.  We're hoping that his work schedule becomes a bit easier - less late nights, more morning scheduling.  My schedule at work is regulated enough, but its very nice to have a bit of prompting to crack open my books.

As far as the wedding goes - I've been thinking a lot about chinese paper lanterns - and even purchased some black wire tea light holders that look like globes (or paper lanterns).  If I can find enough of them for centerpieces, I plan to spray paint them silver, and place orange candles inside them - possibly even place flower petals in the bottom of the cage which is away from the flame of the candle.  I'll do a trial run when I get some time and see how all of it goes.  

With halloween coming up maybe I'll be able to get some nice orange trinkets on sale - at the very least I should be able to find the shades I want when fall begins to dwindle into winter.  

Back to work for now - really on-to work, as at 2 my "shift" begins.  Hopefully after homework tonight I can do some more tinkering on theknot.com!

It's Been Awhile

It's been 2 weeks since I was able to write, but not much is going on. We still don't have internet at the house and I feel weird looking at wedding stuff sitting inside Panera.
Matthew is enjoying his job at Home Depot, he's doing a lot of lifting which he seems to be enjoying.
I still don't have a job yet, but have been working on that all morning.
We're going to start planning an engagement party soon - so keep an eye and ear out for that.
I have to go get Matthew for some lunch, sorry this was short, I just seem busy for someone who is unemployed. :)

Moving On

     Things are going really well at the new house so far.  No internet quite yet, but we'll get there once we figure out who has the cheapest DSL.  We also don't have all the furniture set up quite yet, but I'm hoping that we can finish all that this weekend, maybe after we buy some new carpet for the master bedroom. 
     Other than that we need to get all the pictures and things up on the wall, but I have a feeling that Matthew worked on that today. 
     Finals are done.  Yay.  That means that I'm done with OSU.  Although, I'm a bit intimidated by my schedule for next semester at OU.  So far I'm enrolled in
    Physics for Engineering and Science Majors
                 Discussion for Physics
     Organic Chemistry
     Physical Chemistry
                  Lab for Physical Chemistry
     Online Intermediate French
It's only 14 hours, but it will be tough - so I gave myself a pep talk yesterday.

I'm hoping that loading myself up for the next 2.5 semesters, it will give me a bit of an easier time trying to finalize plans for the wedding during my last semester.  Thats the plan anyways.

Hoping to start planning some kind of engagement party sometime soon, maybe once we get out house put together we can just have one over there.  Guest list will have to stay pretty small, but thats alright.
If it wasn't TOO hot outside when we had it; we could have half of it outside, half inside, and I think we could have enough room for everyone.

...We'll see...

Today is the Day

It's after midnight, which means that we get to move today.
It seems like such a minor thing, but for us - it's a pretty monumental occasion.  For us, it's not just moving...it's moving into a house.  We may not be buying it, or even thinking of buying it, but it's certainly a step up from our 700 sq. ft. duplex.  It also means a great deal to our children (the pups).  They've had it kind of rough here.  We were hard pressed to find time to be able to put them in the "yard" we have because it was so poorly built, they seemed to have no trouble getting out of it.  For me, it will be the first time I've had a garage since I was in the 6th grade; and the garage is for our cars.  None of my cars have ever seen the inside of a garage.  It seems small, but to us it isn't.  Sure, it's been stressful trying to get everything lined up in the short amount of time we were given, but it also forced us (well, me) to make a decision to make the move.  I've been really uncertain about moving to Oklahoma City, and it's something that I'm doing for US, rather than for ME.  And that is a pretty big deal.
I finally have all the laundry done, and 98% of our things are in boxes or tubs.  It's a weird feeling to look around the place we've called home for the last 13 months and it be relatively empty.  I only hope that tomorrow goes as smoothly as possible and there are no major hitches.

I feel exhausted from all the packing and scrubbing; and I know that I've worked so hard that my body is exhausted and I desperately need a shower.  Though I wish I didn't need to take one since I worked so hard cleaning the tub.

I wish I had more time to do wedding stuff, there just never seems to be time anymore with the move and trying to find a job.  Any extra time I have on the internet I spend looking for an opening to send in my resume.  I've had 4 interviews so far and have another one on Monday, but thats it really.  The one I was hoping to get doesn't seem to look so good at the moment, though I thought I hit it off really well with the man who interviewed me.  ...  Oh well, there will be other jobs, and eventually someone will offer me a job.  Until then, maybe I can finagle a few days off between finishing my current job and starting a new one.  I know that I could use a few days to rest - with no school, no work, and nothing to do but be lazy.  Probably something we all could use a little more of.

Once we get settled, I'll get back to the interesting wedding stuff.  I promise.
But for now it's time to get in the shower.  So for now, goodbye - until later today.

Quick Update

I don't have a ton of time, cuz I have to run off to an interview here in just a minute;
BUT WE'RE MOVING TOMORROW.

I'm sure I won't be able to sleep tonight from excitement.  We will probably finish up our packing tonight and then just blankets and toiletries in the morning.  The U-Haul is booked, my one Friday class is canceled :), and everything seems to be falling into place. As long as Chris doesn't show up at 7am, I think we'll be on the right track. :)

Hopefully everyone can come stay with us sometime soon (not all at once of course!). ;)

Have a great weekend!!