Our Wedding {The Cakes}

Jan 31, 2013

Probably one of the highlights of our wedding (at least to me) was our cake table.
Josh and I both had the hardest time trying to choose just one cake flavor, so we figured we would just choose them all!
My grandmother and two aunts are terribly talented when it comes to cooking, and they so graciously offered to help us out by providing most of our cakes!
We had a total of 8 flavors, 3 of each cake:
margarita cake
strawberry cake
red velvet cake
peach cake
german chocolate cake
pound cake
caramel cake (made by Joan Almond)
king cake (from Julie Anne's Bakery in Shreveport)
Another thing I really wanted to incorporate into the reception was cake pulls.
It is an old birthday/wedding tradition to insert charms into cakes, allowing each girl to grab the ribbon and pull one out.
Every charm came with a card that tells the charms meaning, like "you will be the next to kiss your prince charming" or "your future is filled with world travels"and things like that.
I actually bought the charms on Etsy (coming up in a later blog post) but I'm sure it wouldn't be too challenging to make them yourself.
As parting favors for our guests, we had an assortment of cake pops provided by SugarBeeSweets of Ft. Worth.
These cake pops were part of our package from winning the Texas Wedding Guide's engagement photo contest last fall.
Even though I wasn't able to eat a cake pop in time (because they mysteriously all disappeared into peoples stomachs before the reception was over) I heard they were incredible!

Honeymoonin' Iceland: The countryside

Jan 30, 2013

While in Iceland, we did our fair share of driving.
We didn't get to drive as far as we initially planned, due to the icy conditions and our miniature car, but we saw some of the best views the southern coast had to offer.
I was especially thrilled because I got to get up close and personal with some wild Icelandic horses.
The whitecaps in the distance was actually a large glacier.
We found an old dormant volcano, also!
At one point, we accidentally drove north instead of south, and got caught in some crazy coastal winds that had to be nearly 100 mph.
I could barely stand outside of the car.
I have yet to experience a more scenic country!

A little blogger announcement

Jan 29, 2013

I feel like these days (especially in the blog world) everyone is either getting married or pregnant, so this post may not be too exciting to the readers, but stick around for another second, it's well worth your time.
I just found out that one of my all time favorite bloggers (and the blogger I had my first blogger date with!) is pregnant. 
Wahoo, a baby.
I know this experience is a long way away for Josh and I, but after reading her post about the day she found out was pregnant had me excited for the day that we decide we are ready.
I've always been in love with Morgan's style of writing, and the way she articulates all of her thoughts and emotions from that one day that changed their lives simply blew my mind.
I couldn't stop smiling for her and Andrew.
I asked her if she would mind me sharing this post with my readers (because I love it so much!) and she sweetly allowed me, so y'all go visit her blog here and send her some love!
Morgan's Disclaimer: I wrote this post assuming my very small audience was predominately female, and therefore comfortable with words like tampon. Apologies to the men folk.

No, we were not trying. (Isn't that always the first question?) But ok, fine, we were not not-trying-very-hard. So while it was certainly a surprise, I cannot say it was a mystery. I was not prepared though - there was no charting, no preemptive increase in vitamins or folic acid, and my alcohol consumption that month ran par for the course. Admittedly, babies had been something I sometimes had the courage to ask Andrew for after a late night over drinks... There was in fact a real silent stirring, it had been there for a little while, but I couldn't bring myself to seriously verbalize the desire. I was still figuring out if it made any sense and if I was confident enough to bring it up in the bright sunshine of sobriety. I kept a running list of pros and cons in my mind.. but basically it was a decision I could not make, and didn't have to. A baby fits into our life perfectly, and so Life should have it.

The last week of October came and I woke up every morning with what felt like bad menstrual cramps. I was so certain it was PMS I made Andrew stop at the grocery on the way to work for a new box of tampons. Needless to say, that box still sits unopened in our linen closet.

That Friday -October 26- I had the day off. I was home alone, doing laundry. All day long I felt like I was going to start, but then...nothing. It had been that way the entire week. I thought I might be a few days late, but I wasn't really sure. I had only been off of the pill for a couple of cycles and figured my body was still getting back into the natural swing of things. I felt silly even considering a pregnancy test when all my PMS signs were so obviously apparent, but I was frustrated. My body was not making sense to me. Around 2 in the afternoon I Googled something like "pregnant and period cramps". It took three different forums to convince me that cramping definitely still happens when you are pregnant. Gasp!

What do I do? Should I wait until Andrew gets home from work? Should I tell him I want to take a test? Is this a conversation we can have via text message? Should I just take it and not tell him - it is probably going to be negative and there is no need in worrying or exciting him over nothing. Should I wait another hour or so? I really feel like my period will start any minute now.

I waited about 20 minutes and then went to pee on the stick. I was so nervous about doing it right (...all you have to do is pee, you really cannot mess it up); I read the instructions a few times first. I counted to 5 and then capped it, set it on the ground, and averted my eyes. I would leave it there on the bathroom floor for the prescribed 3 minutes and then come back in and check.

Oh! but maybe just a quick look before I leave it. Yup, the first pink line is obviously there. Good, at least we know the test is working. But what is that really faint line next to it.  My eyes are just confused because the bathroom light is off and the sun is not that bright...

But I couldn't leave the room without being absolutely sure that second line was just my imagination! 15 seconds later, the second line was as dark and blatant as the first...and two lines definitely means PREGNANT (I double-checked that a couple of times).

So, I just sat there in the bathroom floor. Just me and my TWO(?!) pink lines... and a baby? realizing I was not alone was half parts creepy, half parts sweet, mostly surreal. I didn't cry. For some reason I always imagined I would cry. But there was no rush of emotions, no overwhelming feelings. I was just stunned. Not really excited, not really scared, not really upset. Just shocked. A full range of thoughts started flying --

"What have we done?" "Did we want this?"
"Finally I get to have a little Andrew to hang out with all day!"
"Is this real?"
"Oh shit, I drank a lot of beer this month."
"This kid is going to have such an awesome smile!"
"...Is it going to 'stick'?"
Please stick.
Please, stick.

I didn't text or talk to Andrew at all for the rest of the afternoon. I didn't want to tell him over the phone, and I couldn't have a conversation with him without telling him. I just spent a few hours with my little secret, wondering if I could communicate with the growing bundle of genes and love telepathically. (I still think this should work!)

Around 6pm I started getting ready for Andrew. I put way too much thought into my outfit for the evening - I was very concerned with looking beautiful and sexy and glowing but certainly NOT pregnant, for the big moment when I tell my husband for the first time that I AM pregnant. I picked a green dress because it is my only green dress, and I wanted to make my eyes look greener. I wore high heels. I put on lip gloss. At 6:45 I greeted him at the door. silent and grinning like a goofball.

How was your day?
::WHY am I so nervous?!::
Got any funny work stories for me?
I didn't cook because I thought we should go out for dinner tonight.
Want to change clothes?
Want to rest on the couch first?
Ok I'll lay on the couch with you. In my dress and heels. 
Let's just relax in the silence for a minute after your long day at work.
...
...
...
(whispering and choking on nerves) "I'm pregnant."
Andrew (eyes immediately pop open): "Right now?"
Me: "Uh huh."

Then only smiles, all around, and no thought of how ridiculous his only question was.

I took a second test the next day, just to be sure.
And despite years of Andrew insisting that all of his offspring would ALL, always, ONLY be boys.... it took about 5 whole days for him to change his mind completely.
I told y'all she was a good writer! Now go check out her blog to see some more of her awesome posts and send that precious mama and her little baby some love!
P.S. Morgan's blog was called A City for Two, so she had to do a little blog makeover after this announcement

Our honeymoon recap video!

Jan 28, 2013

Happy Monday guys!
Last Friday I finally completed a honeymoon recap video using some clips we filmed while in Iceland (after three long days of labor) but since I posted it to YouTube there were some technical probs.
I re-posted it to vimeo (not sure why I didn't do this in the first place) and everything seems to be working perfectly! 
Enjoy :)

Friday's Letters

Jan 25, 2013

Dear roommies:
Y'all melt my heart.
Dear Ron Paul:
I get to hear you speak this weekend and I am rather pumped about it.
What I am not pumped about is how Josh convinced me to sit through an entire Saturday of lectures on the economy and politics, all while wearing business casual.
On. A. Saturday.

Dear Local Natives:
I'm pretty thankful your new album streamed for free on iTunes this week.
Life of the broke and unemployed.

Dear obedience:
Why is it that we can train Charlie to do yoga on command, but after 2.5 years he still won't heel?
Dear Kelle Hampton:
I never knew I could cry so many tears.
There are truly no words for how incredible this story is.

Dear Michelle:
Your love for fantastic music makes me love you more, and that rare JV find makes me wanna put on my boots.

Dear Readers:
I know you are probably super sick of hearing all about our trip to Iceland, but I've been working on a video for the last three days (what else do I have to do in all my spare time?) using some video clips I took while there and you need to watch it because it is pretty awesome.
#runonsentence
If that doesn't convince you, then just know that it's synchronized to the beat of an Of Monsters and Men song.

Photobucket

Our Wedding {The Groomsmen}

Jan 24, 2013

Choosing the outfits for the groomsmen was a bit tough.
I knew I wanted to avoid the whole renting a tux thing.
Not that there is anything wrong with renting tuxes, I just feel like some people see weddings as a huge inconvenience, and spending over $100 on something you wear for a few hours and then return is just weird to me. 
. . . and do you know how much boys sweat at weddings?
They might as well sweat in their own clothes.
Anyways, I gave Josh some options like vests, bow ties, suspenders, sports coat, etc.
 . . . mainly because if crap was gonna be given about the cheesiness of what the guys wore, then I wanted it all directed at Josh, so the decision therefore was his to make.
I think Josh made a pretty darn good decision.
Josh gave each of the groomsmen their suspenders and ties, along with a mini bottle of liquor as their groomsmen gift.
We bought Josh's vest as well as the suspenders at H&M for $7 each! 
For the discount we used those $5 off cards they give out if you spend a certain amount of money, thanks to my shopaholic friends on our Chicago trip last summer.
The ties came from Ties.com and ranged from about $15-$20 each.
. . . and the 'staches were a requirement according to Josh, at least for the ones capable of mustaching.
The only minor detail that didn't come together was Josh's socks, which I noticed during our first look.
I don't think smartwools qualify as dress socks.
Anyways, the men looked as handsome as ever, and they definitely made the day enjoyable!
The best man did his best man duties well.
The guys weren't too into taking serious pictures.
The groomsmen were most definitely the life of the party.
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