Turkey Comas

Are you still in a turkey coma? Did you watch all the football games? Are you dreading eating all those leftovers? Typical after Thanksgiving questions that get some very interesting answers, I'll give you that.

We (Julia and I; her and her husband Isaac came in from San Antonio for Thanksgiving) decided to make duck instead of turkey since there were only four of us eating dinner. Brendan and I, after searching the web to find out who sells duck in the city of Houston, got it from an Asian market called 99 Ranch. It was a very...interesting experience.

Anyway, we still had plenty of leftovers despite our efforts to cook small and even after sending Isaac and Julia home with half of the leftovers, Brendan and I are still overwhelmed with enough leftover food to feed a small army. So today I bring you a recipe that may help get rid of some of that leftover poultry. And no, it isn't a sandwich or a casserole.

 

Fruity Duck Salad

 

Okay so I'm not very good at naming things, but it'll make sense in a second.

 

 

Ingredients:

Cooked, shredded duck (or other leftover poultry)

1 Avocado, diced

6 strawberries, quartered

1/2 cup baby bella mushrooms, sliced

1/2 cup blueberries

2 mandarin oranges

Spring leaf lettuce mix

 

1. Pile your plate with leafy goodness

 

2. Place mandarin orange slices around the edges of the plate

 

3. Place about a half an avocado in the center of your growing salad.

 

4. Place little piles of blueberries in three strategic locations where they won't roll off and also help your salad look fantastic.

 

5. Place strawberry slices in a smaller ring inside the orange barricade.

 

6. Sprinkle with mushrooms.

 

7. Top with shredded duck (or other assorted poultry).

 

8. Top with your favorite dressing and enjoy!

As you can so obviously tell, Brendan just loves green
leafy things

 Also, as a side note, as you can tell from the picture of Brendan, our Christmas tree has gone up!! I love Christmas and was hardly able to contain myself until the day AFTER Thanksgiving to put up our decorations. But I made it (just barely) and Friday morning, with the help of our Julia and our boys, we put up our very first Christmas tree as newlyweds. Yay us! Now to fill all that lonely space under the tree...and buy more ornaments! This thing is looking shabby!

First Christmas as newlyweds! I found this sweet little
ornament at the Nutcracker Market a while back.

 



5k's and Flowers

We've been busy the past few weeks. Life here is finally starting to settle down and even out (5 months into our marriage). With our finances now evening out we finally managed to get a kitchen table and a couch and are now taking on a project a weekend.



Run for Hope Houston

The last weekend of October we did two 5k's in two days (not a good idea if you haven't run in several months and just started back up again). The first was through our church, Houston's First Baptist, to benefit an organization called Legacy 685 that gives interest free loans and grants to families going through the adoption process. This race was timed and slightly competitive. For someone who just picked up running again a week before, we didn't do too bad. I placed 255th with an overall time of 45:37 and a 14:50/k pace. Brendan placed right behind me by about a half second and a time of 14:52/k. At the end of the race we were treated to free Chick-fil-A and ice cream while we chatted with some friends from church before running of to pick up our packets for our next race, The Color Run.

We had The Color Run the following day in a rain storm. By the time we actually started the race, the rain had reduced to a drizzle and half way through it stopped. Still, I can't say I enjoyed this Color Run as much as I enjoyed my one in Baltimore. The group of people was less enthusiastic overall, which kind of just killed the mood. We walked the whole way since we were tired from the day before, and, true my word, I got Brendan covered in pink. Because of this he literally stopped in the orange zone to try and cover the pink. But not before I got a picture. I mostly enjoyed it because it gave us time to talk as a couple about things we normally don't talk about because we don't have the time. But with 3.1 miles to walk and all the time in the world to do it, it was much easier and the conversation just flowed. That was until we hit the yellow zone and I took an eye full of yellow powder. I think I was crying that stuff out for about five minutes and then my eyes still hurt. Moral of the story-wear sunglasses or close your eyes. All-in-all it was a fun weekend and was kind of a kick starter for finally getting our life as a couple underway.



This past weekend we took on our weekly task of straightening up the apartment (since both of us work pretty much all day during the week). Our project for the weekend was our sadly neglected balcony and our miniature schnauzer who was in desperate need of being groomed. We dropped him off at his appointment at Petsmart on Wallisville (you should ask for Ana as your groomer; she did a wonderful job with Jesse) and then went over to the Lowe's next door to look for flowers. Now, I have to say, being from the East Coast, Texas weather is throwing me off. It's now November and I've maybe only been cold enough to put on a sweater twice and that was in the early morning. Once the sun comes all the way up, it's warm enough again to make you regret wearing a sweater and boots. That being said, it was really weird for me to plant flowers on the second day of November. And they aren't dying yet. Which is weird. Really, really weird (unless you're a Texan and used to these things.) We picked up a couple of orchids for the house and then some pansies, petunias, marigolds, dusty miller, and whatever that plant in the middle is (I just liked how it looked, so I got it.) We also got a hanging pot of gerbera daisies and a green lawn chair to enjoy those cooler days when you just want to sit outside and take in the weather.

Our little Jesse, all cleaned up

Halfway through transplanting them all into a rather large pot, I got a call that the dog was ready for pick up. So I finished up and went and got him. And when they brought him out, I thought he was the wrong dog! He had been so fluffy for so long that to see him all shaved and snazzed up was a weird thing for me. I think I prefer him fluffy though so next time I think we're just going to get him trimmed and the matted parts combed out. Until then he looks like a proper schnauzer and not a poodle like everyone usually thinks. Oh and his sharp little talons have finally been grinded down enough so that every time he jumps on someone, he won't be leaving a rather long, painful scratch mark.

My final feat for the weekend was making lasagna for the first time. In all the years I've been cooking (maybe 5 or 6) I have always dreaded making it. I've watched my mom and even my stepdad do it and let me tell you they must have all the patience in the world to work on it for that long. I cheated a little bit and bought the ready to cook, no need to boil noodles just because I was so afraid I would mess it up. I used a recipe my sister sent to me via email and I'm pretty sure when she was typing it up she left out some ingredients. Imagine the anxiety that caused me. But, being the savvy cook that I am I was able to salvage it through some, ahem, educated guesses and it actually turned out pretty good. I also found my new favorite way to make garlic bread-French bread cut in half, spread with butter and sprinkled with garlic powder and shredded parmesan cheese. It's so much better than the stuff you buy from the frozen aisle.

And I'll leave you for now with this-a little gif of what happens when Jesse escapes from a bath. Have a good week y'all!

The Home of the Alamo

I'm from Delaware. Born and raised. So just about everybody I've ever known is there. Including my best friend, Jaimie. Her boyfriend, Luke, joined the Navy not long before Brendan and I got married. He did his basic in Illinois and then was sent to San Antonio for his first round of school. Jaimie went to his graduation and was going to come visit us a few weeks later but decided to stay home and rest up from her trip to Illinois and instead go to San Antonio about a month later to see Luke and have us meet her there. Brendan and I were to drive up separate since he didn't get off work until 5 or so and Jaimie's flight got in at noon and she needed someone to pick her up.

The day of the trip came up faster than I expected. All of a sudden it was time to pack and get ready to go and I wasn't prepared at all. I had only managed to get the laundry and the dishes done that day and that was only a few things of many that I'd hoped to accomplish. But we gathered our things, packed up, and went to bed.

The following day, Friday, Brendan went off to work like he always did while I finished cleaning up and gathering what we needed for the trip. I was finally able to get out the door around 10am, with Jesse, a suitcase, and a bag of his things in tow.

My first stop was in Pasadena to drop Jesse off at the PetsHotel at Petsmart. It was the closest one to our house but now that I think on it I should have taken him to the one that was further, but was still on my way to San Antonio. But this branch of the hotel in particular was great and they took awesome care of Jesse while we were gone. Traffic wasn't bad as it was an uncommon time of day for people to be out driving and I had buckled the dog in the passenger's seat using a safety harness so he would stay on his side of the car and not jump in my lap. So the trip was uneventful and I dropped him off with relative ease.

Next I made a gas stop, just to top off my tank and pick up a bottle of water since I had forgotten mine on the way out the door. Then I headed back out, hoping to soon hit I-10 and drive straight on to San Antonio. But Sam Houston Tollway happened.

Anyone living in Houston and not owning an EZ tag knows exactly how this next part of the story feels. I have the GPS on my phone set to avoid tolls. There was a section of Sam Houston Tollway that was toll free and so my GPS told me to get on there. Unfortunately, I didn't look to see that it was 2 miles away and took the closest ramp onto the tollway. And then a freak out ensued. Most of the time you have to have an EZ tag to drive on this road or...well you're just in trouble with the police. Luckily for me, this one had a booth for exact change. And so I panicked, rummaging around for the $1.75 I needed to keep going. I finally managed to find it and get through but not after my fight or flight response had significantly kicked in. And then I made error number two. I didn't know it at the time but I had now entered the toll free portion of the tollway and just needed to keep going straight to get the I-10 exit. Because I still had all that adrenaline rushing, I immediately exited, thus missing the exit I needed.

But thank goodness for rerouting on GPS. I finally made it onto I-10 and then settled in for the 180 or so miles I had to stay on the road. It was then that I started noticing a problem with my car. I own a 2000 Ford Taurus I call Thor (my previous vehicle, a pick up, I had called Iron Man, so I just stuck with the Avengers theme) that has been a real trooper. He stuck with me through my last semester and bit of the one before plus drove me all the way to Texas. But, as all Fords do, he likes to give me issues. I had hit a curb at maybe around 50mph the day before when I was going to the college for an information session. I was worried at the time but when I got out and checked the car and nothing was visibly wrong, I let it go. But while I was driving I-10, the car started pulling like a hard wind was hitting it and shaking some. I called my "adoptive brother" Chris and he told it was probably just out of alignment and to rotate my tires when I got a chance to make sure. So I kept on without another thought.

I reached San Antonio around 2:30 and then went into the airport to find Jaimie. She tackled me with a long hug and then we headed back out to the car and off to McDonalds to pick up some lunch. We sat and talked for a bit about various things-her job as a CNA at a hospice care facility, her job in a pharmacy, Syria, my CNA class that I'm trying to get into, and why people use babies on commercials that have nothing to do with babies. Then we headed to the Riverfront Mall for some shopping while we waited for Luke to get off of work. The mall, however, didn't hold much appeal, so we instead headed to the base where we decided we would just wait for Luke. It was about this time that I noticed a scraping sound in the back of my car, but blew it off as something just rubbing against my tire.

We picked up Luke, after getting lost on base, and then headed to the hotel. It was small and in a shady looking area of town, but it turned out to be just fine and the "neighbors" weren't even a problem. The worst that came of it was a couple of barking dogs. We settled into the hotel, ordered pizza, and waited for Brendan.

Brendan got there around 9 or so and then we all decided to go take a walk down on the Riverwalk. We walked by the Alamo first, which is smaller than you would think, and explored the outside for a few minutes. Then we headed down to the Riverwalk. It was overly crowded, which I should have expected for a Friday night, but for some reason, I didn't. It was lined with restaurants and shops, all of which were teeming with people celebrating the beginning of the weekend. The weather was humid and hot, though not as hot as it would've been if the sun were still up. The stars were out and the sounds of the city teemed around us as we walked alongside the river. We got tired and decided to head back to the hotel. Jaimie and Luke stayed in Luke's room for a while and Brendan and I stayed in the other, watched a little TV before falling into the exhausted sleep that always comes from a long day of traveling.

Corpus Christi

The next day we drove to the beach at Corpus Christi. We were all terribly ill prepared for this. We all had bathing suits but no towels or sunscreen. Brendan and I had brought towels for showers out of habit and Jaimie and Luke took some from one of the hotel rooms. The beach at Corpus Christi wasn't all that great. I still like the beaches in Delaware better. The sand is soft and the water is cool whereas in Corpus Christi the beach is narrow, the sand is rough from shells and rocks and the water is bath water warm. But nevertheless we still enjoyed ourselves while I got thoroughly crisped from the sun along with Luke. We took a walk down to a Navy WWII carrier that was docked as a museum but didn't go inside. We then walked through some shops before deciding to head out and get some lunch. We googled the closest Chick-fil-A and stopped there for lunch. We changed and then sat and talked. Luke and I talked about working at Chick-fil-A, both being former employees. Then we just talked about whatever came to mind until we finished up and got back out on the road. That night we went out to Wal-Mart to grab some aloe vera and went to sleep nursing our burnt skin.

The following day we went to church on base with Luke and then headed out to another mall to join some Navy buddies of his for lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. Since we got there first, we hit an American Eagle, Jaimie just to look and me to find something that wouldn't hurt the burn on my shoulders quite as bad as the dress I was currently wearing. The pager called for our table so the boys left and Jaimie and I finished up and then joined them. I left them all at the table after introductions and changed before sitting down to lunch. After lunch we shopped around some more and then headed back to the hotel. It was then that we decided to take my car into a Firestone to have the scraping sound checked. At first they said it would have to wait till morning but when I told them I had to drive back to Houston in the morning, the manager came out and checked the car himself. When he came back he said my brakes had something wrong with them and he would have them inspected. So we dropped off Thor and went back to the hotel.

Jaimie helped Luke study while Brendan and I watched football and waited for news on my car. Then the call came. I had busted a drum and my car was completely out of commission. To make matters worse, all the parts stores had closed and they wouldn't be able to fix it until the following day. So Brendan made the decision to take the following day off from work and we both stayed the night. The original plan was for Brendan to go back to Houston so he could make it to work the next day and I would drive home after dropping Jaimie off at the airport in the morning. But the car troubles changed that.

We dropped Luke off at the base about half an hour after he was due back and then all just collapsed back at the hotel. We watched a couple of TV shows together before all going off to bed.

The following morning Jaimie and I got up early and I used Brendan's vehicle to drive to the airport while letting him sleep. We said our goodbyes and then went separate ways. Back at the hotel, Brendan and I got breakfast, watched a bit of NCIS, then packed up and checked out. My car was supposed to be ready by noon so we went out to eat at Paloma Blanca while we waited (they have very good enchiladas). Finally the call came and we picked up my car, got back on I-10 and finally headed home to Houston. I made my detour into Pasadena, picked up the dog, and then got stuck in rush hour traffic on the way home. Anyone whose ever driven on I-45 or I-610 knows exactly how this one goes. But when I finally made it back to the apartment, I had never been so happy to see the place that I called home in my life. There truly is no place like home.

Meet Jesse

A few weeks ago we adopted a miniature schanuzer named Jesse. He is a little handful. He's still a puppy, you see. But we love him.

Miniature schnauzers are great dogs. They mimic the personalities of those they live with. For example: I'm mostly laid back and calm. While Brendan is gone at work, Jesse is content to lay around the house. But when Brendan comes home, Jesse becomes hyper, much like Brendan.

The thing I like most about this breed though is that they dont shed...at all. Because I don't know about you but I hate dog hair all.over the place.

If you live in the greater Houston area and are looking for a dog, I reccomend you go to www.msrh.org and check out their miniature schnauzers.

Travel, Travel, Travel

After our wedding we traveled...a lot. I think we traveled more than the hobbits in Lord of the Rings (yes, I just made that reference...Brendan's nerdiness must be rubbing off).

We started off by hiking straight up to Philadelphia after the reception. We spent the night there and then, sick as dogs, got on our first flight. We landed in Toronto about two hours later, waited two hours and then boarded a plane to Halifax. After two hours of waiting (and some dinner) in Halifix, we finally boarded a tiny plane to our final destination, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.
PEI is beautiful. I recommend going at least once in your life. Just bring a good GPS and a general sense of what you want to do. We stayed at Avonlea Cottages in Cavendish and I couldn't have asked for a better place to stay. It was quiet, the cabin was clean and well furnished and the free wifi was handy since neither of us had phone service in Canada.

Lemonade from Prince Edward
Island Preserve Company

Prince Edward is made up mostly of farm land which makes attractions few and far between. We only managed to get out twice because of how sick we were. We went first to Prince Edward Island Preserve Company's restaurant. They had some of the best lemonade and quesadillas I had ever tasted. The wait staff was very friendly and it had a gorgeous view of a lake and farmland from where we sat. Plus they had plenty of adorable tea cups as well in their shop.

Cavendish Cliffs

The second place we went were the Cavendish cliffs. They felt like something out of a Greene Gables book. The wind was cool, the water a clear blue, soft green grass on bare feet, and the red dirt so characteristic to Prince Edward. We spent probably a good hour there before heading back to Charlottetown to go home.

When we finally made it back to the states, we drove down from Philadelphia back to my parent's house. We opened the wedding gifts and talked with my family before falling into an exhausted sleep. The next day we planned to start for Texas early in the morning. We ended up not leaving until after noon because of waking up late and having to pack some extra things. It is at this point that I will give you a very valuable piece of advice that we learned the hard way from our road trip. When making a cross country trip, never, ever, ever, ever book your hotel ahead of time. We booked a hotel for that night in Chattanooga beforehand, planning to leave early and make Chattanooga by 10 or 11 at night. We didn't make it there until around 2 in the morning. We hadn't taken into account having to stop for gas and meals, making our travel time for that day around 14 hours.

The following day we made our start around 10 in the morning. We were to meet up with Brendan's family and one of his friends in Birmingham, Alabama, about 2 hours from where we had stopped the night before. We met at a Cheesecake Factory, still both sick, and had lunch with them before striking out on the road again, determined to make Louisiana before stopping. We made our goal and stopped about 6 hours from our destination of Houston, Texas. We stayed the night in a La Quinta hotel and managed to have a few hours to spend on dinner and a movie before going to sleep.

The next day, after 3 days of travelling, we finally made it to Houston and Brendan's apartment. So, with our adventures traveling all over the North America, let me give you some tips from things we learned the hard way:

• Don't take a long trip to Canada when you don't feel good. Stay home and rest up
• If you're travelling out of the country, make sure to contact your wireless provider and get service for the country you're travelling to
• Plan ahead for a road trip as far as road snacks and food stops go. Makes life a little easier
• Don't book a hotel ahead of time-when you're ready to stop, simply exit the freeway and check with hotels in the area to see if they have vacancies-most of the time, they do
• When taking a road trip, agree on driving shifts ahead of time. For example, switch off at every rest stop

So now we've settled in Texas and started everyday life as newlyweds (mostly, anyway; we're about to move to another apartment). And this Yankee is trying to get used to a new life in Texas.

Post Wedding Round-up

It's been a while since I've had a post. So it's time to bring y'all up to date again (I seem to have to do this a lot, huh?).

Wedding Prep
Our wedding went off mostly without a hitch. The day before we spent somewhere around 12 hours setting up the hall that we used for the wedding. And every single decoration was diy. It helped that just about every single groomsmen was a handyman.

The groomsmen (l to r) Daniel, Tall Chris, Brian, and Isaac,
hang fluff balls.
(Photo by Mark Morgan)



Christina, Yakira, Charis, Deanna, and I worked on centerpiece
bowls.
(Photo by Mark Morgan)

 I wanna give out props to the best man, Brian, who did every single thing Sarai, my maid of honor and wedding coordinator, asked him to do. This is included putting together paper lanterns, making puff balls, hanging both of the aforementioned from the ceiling all around the hall, spending hours up on a ladder, hanging streamers and giving lots of man advice on how things should go.

The girls were great too. They helped put together centerpieces and two bridesmaids, Jaimie and Bethany, designed the flower scheme on the fence that separated the ceremony and reception areas. Brendan's family arrived the night before all the way from Rome, Georgia and spent the whole day helping with us. They helped hang things, arrange centerpieces, and make fluff balls along with going out and getting us lunch.

Jaimie and Bethany, my two closest friends from nursing school, helped me the most by helping me keep my sanity. Toward the end of the day, I was starting to lose it.

Various members of the bridal party, their spouses, and families came and went during the day.  All the groomsmen but one and the photographer all traveled up from Alabama (Brendan knew them all from his days at Auburn University in Alabama). I think all-in-all we had over 30 helpers to set up for the wedding.

In the end the finished product came out great, and not a single bit of it was done by anyone other than ourselves.



The finished product for the ceremony.
(Photo by Sarai Goldsberry)

Best Day Ever!

We went with a Tangled theme for the wedding. I personally love this movie and cannot get enough of it. It's just the kid in me. So, details that every girl loves to know.

The colors: Lavender and yellow, based off of Rapunzel's dress, the kingdom flags, and the floating lanterns.

Photo by Betsy Weldy

The Dress: Rapunzel had lots of flowers in her hair. I had them down the side of my dress and on my sleeves. It had a corset back which originally came with a white tie. We switched it out to a long yellow ribbon to symbolize Rapunzel's hair. The veil my sister Keturah and I handmade. And when I say handmade, I mean literally sitting for about a week with a needle and thread and hand sewing 8 yards of lace to a stretch of silk tulle. It was then attached to a tiara because Rapunzel was princess and every girl is a princess on her wedding day, right? All in all it was a princess cut ball gown that had a cathedral length train and ribbon, modest sleeves and neckline, and a veil reminiscent of Kate Middleton's on her marriage to Prince William (because who didn't love Kate's veil?).

Maid of Honor bouquet
(Photo by Betsy Weldy)

The flowers: The basic theme of Tangled is that this drop of sun fell from the heavens and from it grew a single flower. So we have the sun and flowers so...SUNFLOWERS! I found a bouquet via Google (which was actually really hard to do since not many people use them) and then had my local florist shop recreate various versions of it for my maid  of honor, bridesmaids, groomsmen, my handsome groom, the best man and the parents. All in all the came out great and mine in currently drying out in my apartment. I think I'm going to get some clear Christmas ornament and put the petals inside as my way of preserving it.

Photo by Betsy Weldy

The rings: My engagement ring is a pretty unique ring...and in saying that it was virtually impossible to find a wedding band for it? Solution: most jewelry shops will custom make a band for you. My engagement ring is a Tolkowsky that doesn't yet have a band made for the designer by it. And that's where Kay's Jewelers came in. It meant giving up my ring for about two months (which, if you've had it happen, you know is not an easy thing to do) but the finished product was stunning. As for Brendan, he chose a simple white gold band since he's the kind of guy that doesn't like any kind of frills.

The bridesmaid dresses: These were all handmade by my sister Keturah from a pattern called the Jamie Dress (not sure of the designer). We found some really cute swirly hearts fabric at the local fabric store. With six bridesmaids we ended up buying pretty much all of the fabric they had! The maid of honor's dress was done in a darker shade of purple with the same pattern, resembling a bit more of the kingdom flags than Rapunzel's dress. Then we got them all matching wedge sandals from Payless and these girls were gorgeous!


The gorgeous maids (l to r):
Melody, Keturah, Deanna, Caitlyn, Bethany, Jaimie, and Sarai
(Photo by Mark Morgan)

The boys: Flynn Ryder sported khakis, a blue vest, and a white button up all throughout the movie. Our boys were decked out in similar outfits. We had them buy their suits, rather than deal with a bridal boutique, from Macy's. They wore light gray vests and pants and lavender shirts to give them a Flynn Ryder feel.


The gentlemen (l to r)
Brian, Cameron, Daniel, Tall Chris, Big Chris, Zeke, and Isaac (not pictured)
(Photo by Mark Morgan)



Eliana and Sofia
(Photo by Caitlyn Maloney)

The flower girls: Their dresses were made by my mom since she makes most of their clothes anyway. These little cuties are my youngest sisters. The dresses were made from a fairytale dress pattern in lavender and yellow. Their adorable flower wreaths came from Etsy. And, to match Rapunzel, we had them walk down the aisle barefoot. All in all these little cuties stole the show.

The ring bearer: Unfortunately, I can't seem to find a picture of our adorable ring bearer, Marcus (our wedding pictures aren't in yet). But we dressed him up a yellow vest, shorts, bowtie and newsie cap paired with a white shirt and barefeet just like our little flower girls. And best of all, his pillow was none other than Rapunzel tower companion, Pascal.

Photo by Betsy Weldy

The photographer: Our photographer was Brendan's friend from college, Betsy Weldy (who is also groomsman Cameron's wife). She did a gorgeous job with the pictures that I have seen so far and I can't wait to see the rest. Cameron also took some official portraits and some reception portraits as well with his wife. I personally hate getting my picture taken and feel really awkward when posing for them. But Betsy did really well in making feel comfortable as well as posing us for some really great shotsThey were a great team and really easy and fun to work with.. They also make really great friends.

The caterer: An old friend of the family catered our wedding for us. Since the wedding was at 2:30, there was no need to order a big dinner (which, by the way, will save you a ton of money). We instead had snacks like fruits, veggies, chocolate fountain, sliders, crackers and cheese. Which all tasted amazing and I couldn't have asked for better wedding food.

Cutting the Cake
(Photo by Marinah Boyles)

The cake: Another friend of the family did the cake for us. She's been doing cakes for years and years, probably since before I was born. First off, it tasted amazing and it was a beautiful cake. I found it on Pinterest and together we worked out how to change it to make it work for our wedding. Best of all, I found a cake topper on Etsy that read "Best Day Ever" just like Rapunzel screams while swinging from a tree in the forest.

The rice toss: I added this just because I loved the "rice" that we had for the wedding. You can get it at Michael's Craft Store and if you need to make 100 little baggies of them, I suggest two bags of the stuff. But the rice we used was heart shaped, non harmful to birds, and dissolved in water, which meant, as soon as it rained, it was washed away. That meant we didn't have to try and sweep it all up after the wedding. The rain, the next time it came, went ahead and took care of that for us.

The send off
(Photo by Mark Morgan)

Our day was great (now that I look back on it). Yes, I tripped over the hem of my dress, a lot. Thankfully I had a reception dress to change into. Our ceremony started late because the pastor was late and at the official start time, not many people had showed. But I'm so thankful for all the ones that did. And at the end of the day, we were married. We were both sick at the end of the day too. We managed to catch some kind of flu bug and spent the first three weeks of married life sick. But, as our wedding vows say:

 

For richer, for poorer,

In sickness and in health

Until death do us part.

 



Photo by Betsy Weldy



My Daddy and Me
(Photo by Mark McGrath)



My family (l to r)
Back row: Dixie (neice), Katie, Hadassah, Netanya, Y'shua, Big Chris, Israel, Tony (Dad), Sarai
Front row: Yakira, Keturah, Rachel, Sofia, Eliana, Elizabeth (Mom)



The First Dance
(Photo by Mark Morgan)



Mess with us. We dare you
(Photo by Hadassah Goldsberry)




Margaret and Benjamin, my sweet little nephew, during the mother/son dance
(Photo by Mark Morgan)



Oh snap!
(Photo by Hadassah Goldsberry)



The opening prayer
(Photo by Mark Morgan)



The whole gang
(Photo by Hadassah Goldsberry)



Behold! Her ring!
(Photo by Hadassah Goldsberry)



OMG!!!
(Photo by Hadassah Goldsberry)



Sofia, the sweet little flower girl
(Photo by Caitlyn Maloney)



My lovely ladies
(Photo by Hadassah Goldsberry)



The first kiss
And yes, this was our very first kiss. We saved it for our wedding day
(Photo by Mark Morgan)

The Money Saving Bride: Tip 6

Children are part of your guest list. It's just about inevitable. So you have to keep them entertained. Here's a good, cheap, diy way to that: A free coloring book pdf file. I believe Pinterest is a wonderful invention. I found it there while scrolling through some pins one morning. But here's the basics of it.





Step 1: Download the pdf file (located here). It works best if you print odd pages first and then the even pages. Also be sure to change your printer settings so that the picture is rotated around to give you that book-like shape.




Step 2: Head to Walmart. According to my guest list I have roughly 20 children on my just that are at the age where they can get really bored really fast. I decided to give them six crayons a piece so I picked up a box of 120 crayons for $6.97. Then I got more printer paper ($2.97) and a roll of twine ($5.00). All together these little booklets cost me a total of $14.94 for 20 of them or around $0.75 per book.





Step 3: Assembly. I folded the books together and then cut two small triangle shaped holes in the binding. Through that I tied a piece of twine and cut off the ends but left a bit for decorative purposes. The same procedure is almost duplicated for the crayons. Simply lay them out over a piece of twine, tie once in the back, flip them over, tie a knot in the front and then trim the ends.

And voila! Entertainment for the kiddos without breaking the bank.

The Money Saving Bride: The Budget So Far

"Alive"
Photo by Robin Lear

If you've been checking back to this blog, you'll notice that I've had a sort of radio silence here for a while. And that's because, well, let's face it, as a nursing student who also was working part time and playing a lead role in a large Easter production (I played the pregnant wife of the youth group worship leader), time was a little tight and most of whatever I had to spare went to studying. So blogging took a back seat and kinda got forgotten.

But since then, my schedule has cleared significantly. I quit my job just before Easter to give myself some breathing room. And now, obviously, the Easter production is over so I'm not spending 4 days a week at the church either. So here were are (hopefully) back to regular, consistent blogging.

I thought I would take this post to give you an idea of how much we've already spent on our wedding and how much we've saved given the averages of what people normally spend on these things. Given some unforseen circumstances, I have a feeling we're going to spend a little more than we wanted on our wedding, but hopefully not too terribly much. So, here goes.

Venue
Average spent in 2010 (ceremony only): $1,393
Average spent in 2010 (reception only): $12,124
Venue for our wedding (ceremony and reception): $450
Amount saved: $13,067

Originally we were going to get married at my church, costing about $600 including the officiant's fee and a day of wedding coordinator. However, because we got engaged in December and wanted to be married in June, the dates had already all been filled. So we had to start looking elsewhere and found (kind of) a farm with a concert hall that we could use for both ceremony and reception with dates available in June. So we ended spending less than we had intended for the ceremony/reception venue.

Wedding Dress
Average spent in 2010: $1,099
Spent for our wedding: $257.94 (including shipping)
Amount saved: $841. 06

I don't even know if this can count into our budget because I've actually had the dress for a while. I found it on a discount dress site about a year ago and, with no intention of getting married any time soon, went ahead and bought because it was the dress I really wanted for my wedding.

Reception DJ:
Average spent in 2010: $900
Spent for our wedding (estimate): $375
Amount saved: $525

My children's pastor actually does DJ-ing (is that even how you spell it?) to help raise money for his children's ministry. We haven't yet secured him for the wedding, but I'm hoping I can, since it would mean a lot to me if he was our DJ.

Invitations:
Average spent in 2010: $351
Spent for our wedding: $349. 50
Amount saved: $1.50

I could not find any invitations that I liked to fit my theme (Tangled, whimsical, lanterns) and so I had asked my sister if I gave her a general idea of what I wanted if she could design them for me and then we would just have them mass printed. But then I found Wedding Paper Divas and they had a perfect design that matched both theme and color scheme. So we ended up spending a little more here than intended, but it was well worth it.

Catering:
Average spent in 2010 (cost per head) $61
Spent for our wedding (cost per head) $7
Amount saved (per head): $54

I'm using the same caterer my mom used when she remarried about five years ago (or something. I never remember the right number). The caterer has also been a friend of the family for years. That being said, to save money on catering, we skillfully plotted this one out. Our ceremony time is 2:30pm, just after lunch but far enough away from dinner so the reception time will be roughly around 3:30. This way we can just serve finger foods instead a full meal and drastically reduce the cost per head.

So in all we've saved $14,448.56 so far and, given that the average wedding costs around $26,000, I'd say we're on a roll. See you next week my lovelies!

Note: All statistics taken from TheKnot.com. Survey results can be found here.

The Money Saving Bride: Tip 4

So we finally got our venue sorted out this week-at least I hope so. It's been such a rollercoaster ride trying to figure this out. Which brings me to tip number 4-find a place where you can have both the ceremony and reception and just have the pastor come out for the ceremony. I know most people like to have theirs in a church-and that's perfectly fine. But then you also (usually) have to book a separate building (or another part of the church) for the reception for an additional fee. And that can make things more expensive.

I wanted to get married in my church because I had been born and raised there. But between dates that we wanted already being taken and the cost of things, we decided to look into other venues. My parents actually suggested a concert hall on a 135-acre farm that I had done a Christmas show in one year. I hadn't even thought to consider it. But, for $650 less than the church, we landed a building that could be used for both-all we have to do is put up the tables after the ceremony.

Now I'm not saying this option is for everybody, but it's worth a shot. They say, in all the books I have been reading, that you need to have one area in which you splurge (within your budget) and the rest you keep strictly to. The venue could be it for you but I believe if you save the money here, you could spend on something else-like oodles of flowers or the dress of your dreams.

Have a happy week everybody and I'll have another tip up for you next Monday.

The Money Saving Bride: Tips 1-3

So here's my first couple of tips for saving money on your wedding. And even though my wedding is still in the oh-my-goodness-how-am-I-ever-going-to-get-this-done stage, I can still offer what I've learned so far.

1. Make a pinterest wedding board. Yes, I said it. And, most likely, as a female, you will already have one. Start looking for those pins with links to sites that will give discounts on things such as invites and decorations. But be careful-some of these sites could simply be rip-offs.

2. D.I.Y. everything you can. And if you can't do something, like, for example, sew, there is most likely someone in your acquaintance who does. And that, my friends, is the beauty of planning a wedding. Just about all your friends are willing to help-all you need to do is provide the materials.

3. Find someone, whether it is your mom, sister, dad, friend, or even your third cousin Bobby Ray, to help you stick to your budget. For me, it's my older sister who is also my Maid of Honor. Because sometimes you just need that other voice to tell you no when you want to get that one extra thing. It also helps if this person has a creative mind that can come up with cheaper alternatives to something you think you just can't do without.

That's all I've got for you for you for today. I'll have more tips coming up next Monday.

Big News

So I've been keeping something from you guys...as of December 28, Brendan and I are engaged! He took me out, after I had been very sick with some sort of sinus infection (all while staying at his parents' in Georgia for Christmas) to see Les Miserables (I'm a huge fan). After the movie we went into the mall and he took me into the jewelry store and told me to pick one. Later he said, "If you had waited for me to pick one, you would have been waiting forever." I'm very excited to be getting ready to start this new chapter with a totally amazing, godly man!

Dixie Rose, not even a day old.
Photo by Elizabeth Pires

So with our wedding, we're doing a low budget. So for anyone in the same boat, I'll put posts up on how we're saving money and how you can too.

And my other bit of news...as of December 19 I an also now an auntie! My sister-in-law safely delivered Dixie Rose (we bear the same middle name) after 18 hours of labor. 6lbs 8oz, 21 in and looking oh so much like my brother with her big ears and blue eyes. But she's has her mommy's dark black hair. The little dear even arrived on her due date.