I am CRAZY busy this week at work, but I’m dropping in today to do a weekend wrap-up & a little hint to an announcement coming up (at the bottom).

We had an awesome weekend. The weather was finally spring-like, so we took full advantage. Friday night was race night (we’ve been going to Williams Grove Speedway lately) so we did the ritual of grabbing Sheetz food on the way to the track. We also showed our support to reform the Pennsylvania Beer Law by mailing in our signatures. (So they can sell beer in grocery stores & gas stations. If you live in Pennsylvania and you want to support this, stop by your local Sheetz and pick up the postcards to mail in. They already have postage on them!)

Saturday was spent at my parents house. My car received a ton of love that day! It received new brakes, the seat belt and hatch wall was put back together (they were ripped off for a roof leak), it got some oil, and some coolant, a new coolant tank, the hood latch was finally fixed (yay!) and even my turn signal bulbs. She finally feels like she’s going to last me as long as we were hoping. (The longer she lasts with minimal repairs, the more we can save for a house!) While we were at my parent’s, we also went over wedding stuff (hit a little snag, but we’re working on it), went to visit my grandma and scouted out another ceremony spot option (bust).

On Sunday, it was the trucks turn to get some love. We replaced the tailgates gold Chevrolet emblem (it had water damage) with a chrome one, and also added a light bar under the tailgate. I spent my time going back and forth between helping Travis, to sitting in my car, with the country blarring, sippin’ on Soco & coke, and working on wedding stuff.

Posted on May 18, 2013 - 13 comments
 Filed Under: Weekend Wrap-Up

The date and the reception venue place have been set! May 31, 2014!

Which is about a year and two months away. Last night I finally got the biggest thing out of the way, the reception spot. We did in fact book the casino… (and decided on an after-party at two of the casinos indoor bars) We have the entire 4th floor to ourselves. Well it’s all on hold until we sign the contract. Now, there is about 10,000 little things to do for the big day, but I’m trying to keep the motto of…

do one thing at a time, don’t stress & have fun!

If you see my starting to stress, slap me (or virtually slap me). No one wants a bridezilla, or a miserable bride. Last night, after booking the casino, I felt zero stress, which was awesome. When I got home and told Travis all about it (he had to work late & couldn’t make the appointment, and he could care less about the reception place :P) I was jumping up and down on the couch yelling, we are getting married in a year and two months! But I was not like OMGZSOMUCHTODO! I was more excited than anything, which I should be.

Travis thinks that I’m planning things too soon. I don’t know if he envisions everything just magically falling into place without any work on my part, or me throwing this shindig together a month before the wedding. Heck, our event coordinator at the casino is getting married on the EXACT same day as me (not in the same place) and they already have their ceremony & TWO reception places booked! (Hi Cory!) A lot of people have told me that the day really creeps up on you, and fast. But like I said above, I’m going to focus on one thing at a time, especially the DIY’s. I don’t want to end up with a pulmonary embolism or something at the end of this. I also want to make memories during this whole planning process. I’ll be spending a ton of time with my parents, and my bridesmaids, so I want to make lasting memories. Heck, last night we were laughing a whole bunch while we were talking with Cory about the reception space, and that’s exactly what I need.

At the casino we are booking all 4 of the banquet rooms (dividers separate them, but they will of course all be open during the reception) There is also a small room that we are going to book next to Horatius that is completely separate from the big room. That way we have storage space for boxes, or extra things, or a space for people to change. The blue lines in the room layout diagram is all floor to ceiling windows.

Because of the “L” shape of the room, we asked how people normally set-up weddings there. His first suggestion, is most likely how we will have it set-up. But we have a while yet to figure that all out. …I just realized that the “L” shape is pretty perfect since my new last name will start with L. ha!

Now this next part, is kind of for me (but I’m open to suggestions for things I might have missed). It’s a big to-do list for everything I need to accomplish in the next year (sick of wedding talk yet?). Nothing is really in the correct order either, it’s just kind of a mash-up of things. (Things crossed out are already done)

The Wedding To-Do List

Holy crap, I’m getting married!

Posted on May 18, 2013 - 39 comments
 Filed Under: Wedding

It has been 17 days since my last blog post, which in blogland is an eternity. I actually have some time today to post a little something, so I will. You should also expect a weekend wrap-up post on Monday, since we have a fun-filled weekend planned (it includes a dirt track race + the first camping trip). After that, posts might stop again until mid-April. You see, March & the first two weeks of April are absolutely crazy for me at work because of our big annual spring conference. I’ve been completely swamped at work with the chaos going on, especially this year since we are WAY behind for some reason. Come April 12th (the day after the chaos ends) I will be home from work early, in my sweats, blaring some country music and downing some southern comfort. I might even leave out the coke. That’s how stressful things have been.

It has also been awful timing on the wedding front, but I’m dealing. I have been looking for a wedding venue place (Travis hates the word venue and I think he’d go nuts if I blog that word too) for about a week now. Most places are booked already, and the ones that are not, just won’t work. I’m really pushing for an outdoor wedding ceremony and an outdoor reception under a tent. At first, I was just going to go with the cheapest banquet hall I could find, but then I sat down and really thought about it what I wanted and envisioned yesterday, and said to myself that I don’t want to half-ass this. I’m only going to do it once, so I better do it right, and make it something I can be proud of.

I am in no way saying that this is going to be an extravagant and expensive affair, that’s just not me. If I had a relative who had a farm, I’d just plop down a tent, buy the booze and put wildflowers and mason jars everywhere. Sadly, I don’t know anyone who has the space for a wedding + parking. So, I have been on the hunt for a place that will let me put up a tent and serve booze, and doesn’t have 20,320,392 restrictions against times and food. (This one winery only lets you have the space from 6 – 11pm, and you can only serve their wine. This other place, their cheapest dinner was $135 a pop.).

I’ve emailed just about every hotel, winery and B&B in the area, and so far I’ve had zero luck with those. I did set something up with Laurel Rock Farm (Gorgeous!) but they are too far for traveling family members, so I canceled that appointment. We have an appointment next week with the casino (where I was proposed to). Their food is awesome, the rental price is awesome as well, and the windows with the view is amazing! But the other side of the room seems very “officey” and I don’t know if it would look right with what I want to do.

Source: from here

I still have my fingers crossed for completely outdoors – but the casino might have to be “Plan B”. What are your thoughts? Do you think it could work? Travis, My Parents & I have an appointment with them on Tuesday evening. If it does “work”, it would be quite convenient for everyone. The hotels are close and have shuttle services, and once the wedding is over anyone who is not done partying can continue to do so downstairs in the bars and casino.

& as for that look that I’m going for…

Wedding Inspiration Board

Wildflower & Mason Jars… would you expect much else from me?
Happy Friday Everyone!

P.S. Thank you to every single one of my fellow bloggers who has contacted me over the last couple weeks to make sure I’m still alive, that I’m okay or to tell me not to stress. You are all amazing! Blogger friends rock.

Posted on May 18, 2013 - 34 comments
 Filed Under: Inspiration, Wedding