A Pink By Any Other Shade...

So we had ordered out Save-The-Date's a couple weeks ago... guess what arrived today (a week ahead of schedule)?!?  As anxious as I was to see them, I was also nervous...

You see, there are SO MANY different shades of pink! 

Our color is a bold hot pink/magenta... Not too purple, not too red, and DEFINITELY not light pink.  I've had so many issues trying to get that color right.  Depending on which printer I use (2 at school, 1 at home, etc...) I get a different shade even printing the exact same thing.  The shade of pink that I like printed at school (I use it on all of my answer keys) actually looks like a funky light purple on the screen.  But the shade I like on the screen prints red.

If I had printed the myself, I could've done guess-and-check (yes, I'm a math teacher) to see when color I liked best... But as it was, I had NO CLUE how the printers at VistaPrint operate, and had to print them all at once, so it was pretty much a crapshoot on picking the color of pink.  I just picked one that was somewhere in between the ones I liked on all the different printers and crossed my fingers.

So as I opened the box, my eyes immediately went to the pink...

AND IT'S PERFECT!

A huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders.  If it came out wrong, would I have to re-print them?  Change the wedding color?  Let it clash with the other wedding stuff?

^^^ Not stuff I have to worry about anymore! ^^^

Another thing crossed off my to-do list!

And I'm so anxious to share them... don't know if I should post a picture, or wait to mail them out this fall.  That's been the hardest thing about this blog... I get so excited about things (BM gifts, favors, details, invitations, etc...) that I can't wait to share them.  But I also kinda feel like it's ruining the suprise...

To Share, or Not To Share.  That is the question, but what is the answer? You tell me!

(And I should get some Kudos for putting versions of two different Shakespeare quotes into one blog post!)

Negative One

Happy Anniversary to Jason and I!

What anniversary?  Negative One, of course!

Yep, we are one year away from the big day!  In a short 366 days (yes, 366... 2012 is a leap year!), we will be saying our vows, celebrating with our friends and family, and starting our new life together!

Life's UP's and DOWN's

...sigh... Joplin, Missouri.  Poor Joplin.  How much heartache can one town take?  Pretty much the worst tornado since the National Weather Service kept stats on tornadoes.  I just can't help but spend my free time on the internet reading articles, looking up pictures, etc... of the devastation.  It's like when there's a bad car wreck on the highway and you can't look away.  The images tug at my heart.

Going to college in Pitt, we used to go to Joplin at least once a week.  Pittsburg isn't exactly known for their shopping, restaurants, or entertainment, so we would always go to Joplin.  I have so many fond memories of the city of Joplin.  We still go there occasionally when we go back to Pitt.

It's just so weird to see pictures of familiar places in Joplin that are now unrecognizable.

But through all of this, I've realized one thing... Life has it's UP's and it's DOWN's.  The UP's are easy, enjoyable, and energizing.  The DOWN's are... well... exhausting.  It seems like a hard day at work leaves me mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted.

I look forward to sharing all of my UP's in life with Jason.  Those times when life is good, easy, and fun.  Those moments that reminisce about and can't help but smile and laugh.  It's so fun to share those moments!

Then there's the DOWN's... It's not that you WANT to spend those times with your significant other... but that you NEED to spend those with them.  When the going gets tough, it's just what I need to have Jason there.  There are times when I can't do it anymore on my own.  It's amazing to have someone there who will support, encourage, and help me in any way.  Whether it's listening to me complain about a bad day at work, or taking care of me when I'm sick, or going shopping with me two nights in a row to get supplies to donate to Joplin (because I need to do SOMETHING to help!), he's there for me.  And I know he always will be.

Jason always asks what I'm doing while I'm on the computer.  When I say "Blogging," his response is always "About how much you love me?"  Well, yes, Jason... This post is about how much I love you and can't wait to get married so I can spend life's UP's and DOWN's with you!

If you wanna take my picture...

Another major decision made!  We have chosen our photographer... Angie at Design and Capture Studios!  

As some of you know, I'm quite picture-obsessed (and that's putting it lightly!).  I had been doing research forever online (about a year... yes, some 6 months before we were actually engaged!) looking for an affordable photographer who shared my artistic vision for wedding pictures.  I could find ones that were in my price range, but I wasn't really happy with their final product.  Or I could find ones that I really liked that wanted half our budget for photography.  I finally found the right one at the right price!


So excited about this vendor!!!

Instead of telling you all about them, I'll let their pictures do the talking!  Head on over to their website and check them out!


Also, the second picture that pops up on their home page (the one with the couple and the clouds) was actually taken at Stony Point Hall.  Here's to hoping we have photos that look THAT amazing!

Lesson Learned...

So there's one part to the creation of our "Save The Date's" story that I didn't share.  I had a minor meltdown over them.  


I go to turn on my computer to upload the pictures I had just taken.  I push the power button and the lights turn on (totally normal) as the screen loads.  After about 30 seconds of nothing on the monitor, my computer restarts itself.  This process repeats.  And again.  And again.

I proceeded to freak out slightly.

Image from MJS Computer Services

So I hold down the power button to do a hard shut down.  After giving it a minute to think about what it's done (a tech time-out), I try again.  Same result.

I proceeded to freak out a little more.

Image from Collaborative Support Associates

No worries, though.  I have an amazing Daddy who's awesome with computer.  Bad news: he doesn't answer the house phone or his cell.

I proceeded to freak out a lot.

Image from Mississauga Computer Repair

Jason couldn't understand why I was upset... WTF?!?  All of my files are saved on my laptop!  Hours and hours of work on wedding stuff is saved on a freakin' computer that won't turn on!

I had spent so much time creating the Save-The-Date file, and didn't really have hours and hours to re-create it on Jason's computer before our coupon expired (the next day).



Eventually my Dad called back and offered to look at my laptop.  But right before going over there, I gave it one more shot at turning on... and it worked!

Image from Poway Computer Repair

You better believe the very first thing I did was save every single wedding file onto my flash drive!  I had bought one specifically for wedding stuff, but hadn't used it in months.  

Cartoon from Business Computer Systems

I learned my lesson: 

ALWAYS BACK EVERYTHING UP IMMEDIATELY!!!

Ordering our Save-The-Dates!

...or the post that was originally titled "STD's... Check!"  but I thought that sounded too much like a doctor's appointment! :o)

We had a little something to get out of the way this weekend... Ordering our Save the Dates!

I had bought a Groupon a couple months ago for VistaPrint ($50 worth of stuff for $10)... that expired this weekend.  Since we were going to Pitt on Saturday and Sunday, I knew we had to get the order placed Friday night.  I had a couple of ideas on what I wanted to do... Well, I had made some changes to it based on some friendly input (thanks, guys!) and some internet browsing.

Remember this???  I changed it up some.

We haven't had our "official" engagement pictures taken yet, so we had to take the pictures on our own.  We spent a hour or so Friday night taking some 70 pictures of ourselves.  I don't have a tripod, so we went outside and propped my camera up on a box on the steps outside our apartment.  It wasn't angled quite right, so I had to wedge a rock under the camera.  It was pretty pathetic!  Our neighbor walked by and laughed!  Jason, who usually limits my number of pictures, was actually a willing participant and had some genuine smiles... probably because he was laughing at me trying to run down the stairs back into the picture in 10 seconds!

Then I saw a post on WeddingBee of an invitation that I fell in LOVE with...

From Miss Hyena on WeddingBee

Those polka dots are just too cute!  I couldn't decide if I wanted to stick with my original idea or spend a couple hours revamping our STD's.  I wanted the photobooth strip, but I wanted the polka dots too!  And I thought combining ideas on one 4" x 6" image made it look too busy.

What did I decide???  The original idea?  The polka dots?  Well, you'll just have to wait a few months until I send them out!

Hair DOs... and Hair DON'Ts

If you know me, you know I almost always wear my hair down.  It all goes back to picture day circa 1997.  I was in 8th grade.  We were scheduled to use some class (probably English) for pictures.  Unfortunately for me, that class fell right after P.E.  I didn't think it would be a big deal to just wear my hair in a ponytail since it was a little sweaty from PE.  Man, was I wrong...  I looked bald!  It was awful.  (I've since destroyed all evidence of this picture, otherwise I'd share).

So pretty much ever since then, I've hated the way I look with my hair up.  Maybe it's my weird shaped face, or my semi-Kuhn family nose.  Maybe it's the pale skin... For whatever reason, I just think I look better with hair on the sides of my face.

I'm thinking I want a look somewhat like this for the wedding... but with a veil in the back:

Summer 2010 at my co-worker, Sarah's wedding

I have such thin, fine hair that the only way to give me any kind of volume that lasts is to go somewhat curly.  I love the big flowing curls look.  Here's a few of the images I've saved as ones I really like:

I have two concerns about this type of hairstyle: 

1.  Most of these girls have hair MUCH longer than mine.  Although I still have a year to grow it out, I'm worried it won't be long enough to get make it look really good.  So I'm considering hair extensions.  No, not Kate Gosslin-style of the all-over, takes 50 hours straight to put in... but maybe just adding some length (and volume) under/mixed in with my normal hair.  Has anyone tried hair extensions before?  Do they look fake and hideous if you're not willing to spend a ton of money (over $100) on them?

2.  Sweat.  I sweat... a lot... no, I mean a LOT... and if the back of my neck gets wet, I'm worried it will ruin the hair style before the reception is even in full swing.  Maybe I will be able to do a quick semi-up-do or side pony after the ceremony before all the dancing starts?  I just think I look weird with my hair pulled back...

Oh, and did I mention that I totally and completely HATE the bump?  You know, that pushed-up blob of hair that makes you look sO ToTaLLy 80's... I'm avoiding that completely, but still want some volume. 

Any advice?