update 1.4

hello lovelies!

i know, i know... it's the same
routine over and over. i've been
neglecting the blog-- again! but i
promise to you that the next few posts
will be worth it! and now that i'm
not too tied down with other obligations,
i should be able to pack this blog with entries!
wahoooo!

i'll share some honeymoon tidbits with you,
chris and i went to thailand!

i'll also share step-by-step wedding
planning tips and how-to decorations that i've
handmade to make our day unique and perfect!
and there will be wedding pictures shared!

there's plenty more to come... stay tuned!

p.s. i've finished my first year back at school!
yes, i did sign up for more classes next semester!
go me!

windmill place cards [wedding diy]

there's something about these
windmills that i absolutely adore.
i originally saw them in a martha
stewart wedding magazine and fell in
love, ever since then, and knew i
wanted to incorporate them into the
theme of the wedding.

something i came up with is place cards!
here's how you can make some yourself:

depending on how big you want
them, cut a square equal on all
sides. i wanted them to be tiny. as
shown in the picture below:
[i also precut tons of the paper so i'm
more efficient when making them].

i also hand cut these little
banner like pieces to be able to put
the guests' names on them.

here's the end result after hot
glue gunning the banner piece to the windmill.
all that's left is the guests' names to write!

maybe i like them because they're so simple
yet, look so intricate and sophisticated.
i hope everyone likes them as much as me!

[i'll post the windmill tutorial as promised soon!]

2 months until the wedding!

my my, has time just flown!
the wedding is a little less than
two months away now! ahhh!
i'm feeling so many emotions!
scared, happy, nervous, anxious, excited.
you name it, i'm probably feeling it.

chris and i already had our
bachelor/bachelorette parties.
so at least now that's
squared away!
one less thing checked off our lists! phew!

now we're in the red zone. everything
needs to be done! and i can't think
straight because i feel like there
really isn't too much time left!

i know, i know. it'll be fine. i'm just
feeling really anxious!
*deep breaths, candy, deep breaths!*

hang in there with me and these short
posts. i promise that they'll get better!
i'm just so busy!
i feel like the rabbit in
alice in wonderland jumping around
and saying, 'i'm late, i'm late, i'm late'
except i'm bouncing off the walls saying,
'no time, no time, no time!' lol

event of the month [june]

this is going to be a quick post.
i'm sorry i haven't been around it's
just the wedding is getting
closer and i have tons of work i still
need to do! i promise i'll keep up, soon!
anyway...

for chris and i's event of the month
for june. we went to the spa for
massages. we chose the east village day spa
because chris' sister gave me a gift
card to that spa on christmas and i figured i
would and should use it.

i wasn't too impressed with the massage.
the masseuse asked where my target problem
areas were and i said my lower back. but she
focused heavily on my neck and it did not
feel good at all.

also, the light really bugged me.
i understand that we also went in the
early afternoon, but the room chris and i
were in wasn't dark at all. the sunlight was
bursting into the room and i didn't
rally like that too much.

i'm not sure i will return to that spa.
i will give that everyone was friendly, though.

until next time! see you then!

owl goody bags [baby shower diy]

my sister is having a baby one
month before chris and i's wedding!
i can't believe it! a baby niece! :)
i'm so excited, she's the first girl grandbaby!

although, i was not planning to contribute
too much to the baby shower, for obvious
reasons. (i'm getting married and have a ton
of my own things and planning to do!)

when i heard about her theme being
'owl-y' i knew i had to make
these owl goody bags i saw online. my
inner crafty self betrayed me! i just couldn't
turn away! but i figured
i could take a break from planning the
wedding for these adorable bags!

here's my tutorial:

i used:
12x12 paper
a candle and a water bottle lid for tracing
brown paper lunch bags
scissors
glue sticks

first i typed 'owl goodie bags' into google
to get an idea. i saw some faaaaancy
baggies! i made my baggies simple since i'm
on borrowed time!

then, i took some white paper and traced a
circle with the bottom of a candle for the
whites of the owls eyes.



next, i used a water bottle cap to
trace the owls pupils. as you can see
in the next picture the small black
circles are what i've cut, i traced on
the back of it so i could see it better!



then comes the owls cute little tummies!
i just found a petal template online and
traced it onto the backs of the printed paper.



the finishing touch is the owl's beak.
this was fairly easy to cut, just
make a diamond shape but elongate one end of it.



and here's the finished product!
i did want to add eyebrows or something
to make it appear more like an owl but some
of the ones i saw on the google search
looked a bit too mean, i thought these
were perfect for a baby shower!



i was a little upset that the glue
didn't stick the paper onto the bag well,
but i just put the bags under some
books and it seems to have worked!

event of the month [may]

for chris and i's event of the month
we first started the day going to
the downtown farmer's market and
then walked to the civic center
to watch a show called cirque mechanics
we couldn't take pictures in there, so
you can visit www.cirquemechanics.com to
see pictures of the show.

it was like a lower grade cirque du soleil.
with acrobatics and trampolines and
what not. more geared toward children
with some humorous parts here and there,
it was a good show. it was
only an hour long which kind
of sucked, but again it was a kids show.

the highlight for me was the guy
in the huge circular hamster wheel
looking thingy. some of the things he
was able to do with that wheel was amazing!

all in all, it was a good show.
something to only go see one time.

learning [in more ways than one]

a few weeks ago i completed my first
semester back to school in about
six or seven years. yeah, yeah, i
know... finally. it took me long enough.

i was fresh out of high school and accepted into
isu the following summer, it all happened too fast.
i took a 'break' from school because
i didn't feel like i was really ready for it.
in actuality, i probably never will be.
but, i thought about things and said to
myself, 'get your sh!t together!'
i thought that maybe, just maybe, going this
past semester would make me change my mind.
nope. i still feel the same way i did the
first time around. i. don't. want. to. go.

i didn't do as well as i hoped i would. an
a, b, and c isn't bad, but i wanted more.
i expected more from myself. but at least i didn't fail.

it's bad but i already want to give up. part
of me wants to keep fighting but the other
part is telling me that's it's a waste of
money and time. school isn't hard or anything
i just don't have that same fight in me anymore.
it's so hard to explain. everything is always
so complicated it seems.

event of the month [april]

this idea for event of the month
was kind of spur of the moment. given
chris said there wasn't too much going
on in the month of april.

we went to a life action graphic novel
show that voice actors, sound effects,
and a crazy pianist were acting out
the slides of the comic book.

it was interesting to say the least. i
thought it was a bit confusing. chris thought
it was cool. of course!
i enjoyed the experience, but i wouldn't say
i would go see it again.

love takes time.

i don't understand what the rush is
with relationships these days. i get it,
i'm not there to see everything that goes down.
i've been there with the puppy love and
honeymoon phases of falling in love.
they don't say, 'love makes you do crazy things'
for nothing! But, think about it, if you really
like this person, i mean, really, really like them,
shouldn't you want that feeling to last?
all i'm seeing today is people date for about six months,
then move in together. some have babies within the year
marking the time they've been together.
i'm not against any of this, by all means it's your life.
you do you. if it works, it works and if not, tough luck.
my fiancé and i started living together at year three,
we're on year 7.5, now. i miss that feeling
before we lived together. the one where i couldn't wait to see him.
but really, what's the rush? love takes time.
just like a everything else that becomes a masterpiece,
time is of the essence, right? maybe i'm old-fashioned,
i don't know. i believe that love should be
mysterious and exciting. you shouldn't know every detail
of the timeline to their life on the first few dates.
you learn about each other as you go,
that's what a relationship is. that's what love is.

event of the month [march]

it's technically not an actual
event, but chris and i went and got massages.

since the wedding is
six months away, i figured we should
get a massage the third, six and
nine months counting down to the wedding.

this time we went to sahar's.
it's a good place to go. clean. spacious.
friendly people.
we've been to get massages there and
other places many times but...
wow, this time chris and i were so
sore from it! the lady massaging me was
working a little too hard on the kinks!

over all, i was relaxed. that's all i wanted.

6 months until the wedding!

actually it's a bit less than 6 months!
omg! i feel like there's so much to do still!

at least chris and i have the major
things done like, the ceremony site,
the reception site, photographer, my dress,
and the officiant.

but everyone who knows me knows that i
fuss over the tiniest details. i know
that nothing is going to be 100 percent
perfect but it's worth striving for! lol!

i'm still working on the centerpieces and the
smaller details of everything. as
i've said before, it's the little things
like the details, that mean so much.
like a personal touch of chris and i's relationship.

card/money box [wedding diy]

i wanted a really nice card/money box
and all the ones on etsy were expensive
and some weren't even big enough.

of course i decided to make my own!
you didn't even have to ask!

i started with a medium cardboard box.
i didn't want to buy white wrapping
paper, so i found some christmas paper
and used the back side of it and wrapped the box.




next i punched holes in the top for the windmills
and made a slit for the cards.


here's the making of the windmills.
[i can do a separate tutorial for that.]




i used my cricut to cut these letters


this is the ribbon mesh i wrapped around the box


here's the final product:


i love it and it matches the wedding's theme!

mid-semester

time is flying by. i guess that is what
happens when you're busy.

mid-terms were last week. this is my first
semester back at school in 5-6 years
and mid-terms already happened! oh man!
school is halfway over!

so far, my grades are:
statistics: c
medical terminology: b+
psychology: c-

i know, i know, not that great. but
when there's hardly time... it's hard
to put in time to really study.

all in all...
i can't believe how much time i've wasted,
not going back... lesson learned. now
i have to juggle full time work with school.
whereas before i didn't work at all.

catch my breath

wow, have i been so busy! school,
work, wedding planning and working out!
i'm trying hard not to neglect this blog too,
but i can't seem to balance everything out.
i mean, where does blogging fit in
all the chaos? so when you haven't heard
from me for awhile... i'm sorry, really!

i have such a full plate now!
it's overwhelming in a good way! i like
to be a busy little beebee every now and then.

sometimes, when i think about all of the things on
my to do list and sort them out individually, i
feel fine and i think i can handle it.
it's when i see the item as a whole, i start
to feel a little stressed. it's a mystery as to
why my brain thinks and processes that way. :/

maybe it's because i feel like i can't catch my
breath. i wake up, go to work, come home,
do homework, eat dinner, workout, take a
shower, then it's already time for bed and
start the routine over the next morning.
i feel like i have no time for chris, either. :[

i'm doing the best i can, i get a little too
high strung sometimes, i know. the first step is
admitting it, right?

event of the month [february]

this months event was supposed to
be a justin timberlake concert. queue
the sad music because chris and i
didn't end up going. the concert was in
chicago over president's day weekend.
i couldn't attend because i started a new job.
i told chris to go without me, but he didn't want to.
oh well. [the concert was more for him than me, anyway.]

well, we ended up going to the
'largest craft show' at the iowa state fair.
it was on a whim. we both actually enjoyed
ourselves, it was nice because we didn't really
spend too much. we couldn't take pictures though
because no photography was allowed.

it was mostly home decor kind of things.
i picked up a dog collar and a
headband from sammy's booth.

future

my future is still very unclear.
no, i did not choose for it to be that
way. it kind of really just happened.

i'm slowly working towards getting to that
point... where you know and everything clicks
and it just works. it's a long journey,
that's for sure.

whoever said it wasn't easy wasn't lying.

i feel so guilty, because my fiance
chris, he has big dreams too.
and i feel like i'm holding him back
from the things he wants in life. :[
and it's really all my fault.

i'm doing the best that i can. i went back to
school, i'm still a temp... which sucks...
i want a real job already!

i feel stuck. i need guidance and answers.
i don't know. i'm lost.

is this normal for a 25 year old?

update 1.3

this post will just be a quick update
of what's currently going on.

i don't know if i have mentioned it
yet but i did start school again in january.

i start a new job tomorrow. eek!

our wedding is a little more than 7 months away.
i still have tons of stuff to buy and make for it.

project bling is now called frostbite.
[isn't that so cute!]

chris and i have a food tasting this week
for the wedding.

i don't know how i'm seriously going to
have time for anything. i get stressed
just thinking about it!

deep breaths!

photo booth props [wedding diy]

last year, chris and i went to two
bridal shows and i noticed that photo booths
were getting quite popular. i really liked
the idea of using it as a guestbook, too.

the guests get to keep a strip and also
put one in the guestbook with a message, how
adorable is that!

i noticed that there are fun props to use for
the pictures. i looked up a few on etsy and some
are really nice and the price ranges are
reasonable. knowing me, i like to make things
on my own. so, here are a few steps for
making your own photo booth props.

you will need:
-wooden dowels [i purchased a 50 pack for $3.00 on ebay]!
-multiple colors of cardstock
-pencil for tracing
-scissors
-tape or glue

the first thing to do is search google for
'photo booth prop templates.' there are many
options to chose from, just pick the ones you like.

next, i traced the pattern on to the cardstock
and cut them out. [you can also just print any
template out that you like and cut them that way,
i wanted some of my ties and bow ties to have
funky patterns, so i cut and traced on fun paper, too].

then stick them on the dowels!
here are some pictures:





this project was inexpensive and quick!
[and i saved some money by creating them myself]!

event of the month [january]

chris and i had our event of the month
for january. [it was actually on 18 january 2014].
we went to see an iowa energy game
with bob and his wife. it's nothing like
the nba, which we love, but it was fun.
tickets were cheap and we got some pretty good seats.

here's the view:


it's too bad we lost to the fort wayne mad ants.
the score was 131-142. on the plus side,
iowa energy scored 100 points so we got
free large fries at wendys. lol.
we also got a kick out of the mascot, surge.
he was hilarious!

here's a picture of chris and i at the game:
[we didn't think to take a picture
with bob and his wife :( ]


stay tuned for february's event of the month!

back to school

here i am. about 5-6 years after i
dropped out of iowa state university,
i'm enrolled in school again. whew.

while it wasn't my greatest decision to
quit school, and while i couldn't admit that
i pretty much dropped out, i knew that i'd
always end up going back.

i believe i left school because yes, i wasn't
truthfully ready. college then, really kicked me in
my behind. i couldn't admit that then because
that wasn't how i saw it then. i was still a little kid.
i hadn't realized how childish i was that first year.

i'm trying now. i'm older now.

i'm studying at dmacc and i'm
going to try to transfer back out to isu.

part of me is saying that i'll fall right back
to where i was before. part of me is fighting to
get the years i missed back. part of me is
regretful of spending so much money on school
when chris and i are getting married this year.

part of me will give it all i've got even if i fail.
i'm trying for all a's and b's.
but a c won't upset me, i tried and that counts.

project bling #64

what a great way to kick off the year!
a new project bling for your viewing pleasure!

here it is:
hello kitty funko pop
the starchild - kiss edition

these four photos show the original figurine
before i modified anything.



you can see that i've started the bow,
the star on her eye and part of her face.


alternate views of the side and top her head.


the front of her face is finished and
the chest part is almost done.




the back of hello kitty's head was the hardest
part for me to want to work on. it was such a big
blank space, i got so bored!


the back of her head finished!!!!!
[this was such a victory for me!] plus,
more of her suit done.


more of her back and her cute little button tail!


here she is all finished!



this project took approximately 18-19
hours all together, give or take. sometimes
i forgot to turn off the timer. :]

stay tuned for my next project!
until then, see you soon!