invites and banisters

last weekend was spent writing, folding, stamping, and sending invitations. It was extremely fun and exciting, as you can see:

(PS, what do you think about this headband? I've wanted to be a bow-wearing kind of girl for quite some time now, 

but I'm still unsure that I can really pull it off)

Really though, I was pretty excited for this part - busy work is like my passion. Ok i wouldn't say "passion", but I am definitely all for it. Anyway, so far we've done about 520ish. And we wrote out every single address (ok except for like 75), which really wasn't that bad. I actually like the personal touch.

I would post them up here, but they fold and so it's kind of awkward looking at the front and back not folded...but trust me, they're awesome. Jantz's dad designed and printed them. He may be the most creative person I know (except for Jantz, of course :)


And THEN, a few nights later, we were walking to my apartment and Jantz casually tossed his keys up, thinking they would go over a big banister and come back down. He was wrong. they did not come back down. We ran upstairs and this is what we found:

And so, being the tough girl that i am, hopped over the railing to grab them - I wasn't even phased by the 20 foot drop or the fact that there was nothing stopping me from falling. I tell you - if this is any indication of how I would act when saving a person (not just a pair of keys), you will definitely want me to be the one saving your life. haha, ok now i'm getting carried away.

If you're wondering why Jantz didn't get them, it's only because I hopped over first. And it's probably a good thing, because getting back over the railing was not the most pain-free experience...

On a completely separate note, I'm getting my hair done today...which means any suggestions you give me (which I am asking for) will not be useful. I'm going to do some sort of coloring - probably just some blondish highlights (not hooker blonde, just normal romantic wedding blonde, if that exists). But what are thoughts on changing your hair color before the wedding? I don't want to look like a different person, but I do want to look my best (obviously).

Anyone have any fun weekend plans? We're going shopping for a couch, and finishing up some dreaded wedding planning (right when i think we're done, a million other things come up!).

Hawaii

So, ever since we've started planning this amazing wedding of ours, my dad continues to give us an offer:

forget all the silly planning and just go to Hawaii. get married, have a great honeymoon, and leave the stressful planning be.

And I must say, the more I hear it, the more appeal it has (although the little girl in me just has to have the big production).

but wouldn't it be nice? to forgo all that stress? all the worry about what kind of fabric to buy and what kind of food everyone will like? and just escape to a beautiful place, have a quite ceremony on the beach, and celebrate the love of two people?

So Hawaii: here's to wishing we were there in a month (and probably always wishing we had chosen you). but we have family and friends we want to share our day with.

don't fret, we'll be there soon enough (maybe even next Christmas)

our (real) place to call home (again)

Well, things worked out with our apartment situation (somewhat magically).

As promised, Jantz got right on it, making appointments to look at a few different places. By some miracle, he found some apartments right across the street from the one we lost that were available.

Same layout.
Cheaper rent.
Better management.
AND new paint and carpets.

We were pretty much immediately sold on it. So it all worked out :) and we still get our dream apartment (and it's even better than the other one!) Here's our new place:

revision

So, we lost the apartment.

our perfect dream apartment (well, as perfect and dreamy as any soon-to-be-married poor college couple can hope for).

so now we're homeless.

and stressing to the max (even though jantz has insisted that he take care of this and that i am not to worry about it. i can't help it!)

but of course there will be another apartment. there has to be. one that we love. and then that one will become our perfect apartment. and I'll be able to (again) tell you all about it.

that will happen right? in the next two weeks?

I sure hope so.

we have an appointment to look at one tomorrow. it won't be the same, but we're gonna try to keep an open mind.



....on a completely different and happy note (because I'm trying to focus on the happy things), we're getting our invitations tomorrow! Jantz's dad made them and trust me, they are gorgeous.

and last night, (previously mentioned bestie) Debbie helped me put together favors. while watching Gilmore Girls. it was much needed.

AND, lastly, I just looked at the calendar (we're not big on counting days so I had to check. haha) and in exactly four weeks we'll be married. and frankly, as long as that happens, I could care less where we live.

friendlies and flowers

a few thoughts on a couple weeks ago,

I got to hang out with a bestie from high school, Debbie, and her adorable baby on Wednesday. I wish I had had my camera, because that child is way too cute. It was so nice catching up and spending some quality time with a girl. it's sad that I've almost forgotten what that is like (but i guess that's what happens when you're trying to plan a wedding, work, and do an internship....and it doesn't help that spending all my time with Jantz is my most favorite thing to do haha). Anyway, girls are awesome. And I need to be way better about setting aside time to see my friends.

After a rough night and day, Jantz arrived at my apartment after work with flowers and a candy bar. It was the most perfect thing he could have done (most perfect works right? ha). It was the sweetest. Just another reason why I can't wait to spend my life with him. No he's not perfect (and neither am I), but when it really matters, he knows just how to help me feel like everything will work out.

a place to call home

We signed a lease on an apartment! Remember the apartment we went to look at last week? Well we totally loved it. It fit perfectly into our budget and it was bigger than what we were expecting to find.

Maybe we shouldn't show the world where we live, but oh well (I just won't tell you which side is ours. haha). It doesn't look like much, but the inside is the best part - it actually has two levels!

Now comes the task of pretending I know how to decorate. Despite my (not so much) vast knowledge of art history, actually making things look pleasing is not one of my strong points. Thankfully it is Jantz's, so you better believe I'm going to rope him into helping decorate our new place (just like I roped him into marrying me ;) .....ok so maybe that one was his idea...)

We're getting ready for a busy day tomorrow. First we get to pick up Jantz's bonus check from work (woot woot) and then we'll be off to see Harry Potter (so excited) and THEN we're going to spend the day at Lagoon for Jantz's work (which will be super fun). then perhaps a stop in Layton at our fave pizza place (you know, the one that was so rudely closed on the 4th?) so we can finally get our fix.

cuz baby, you're a firework

Here are some of those special pictures I tried taking of fireworks from the Stadium of Fire over 4th of July weekend...

 

Every year for the 4th of July, both Jantz and I have always had plans (apart and together) with either family or friends, but this year, we had no such plans.

So we made our own special day. It started off, naturally, with Jantz playing some FIFA (while I did some wedding registering haha. ok I played one game)

After he won every game, we took off for Layton. One of our favorite pizza places is up there, it's called Ligori's. It is seriously the best pizza. So delicious. I was so excited for it.

So of course it was closed (who didn't think to check if it was open on the 4th? yeah...both of us). We were really bummed, but instead of letting our drive go to waste, we found a really good chinese place. In case you haven't noticed, we're pretty serious about our food.

Then we went to a Bee's game in Salt Lake. It was really fun. Good game. Good snacks. And a really awesome fireworks show at the end. And we were so close to them (sometimes being the farthest away from home plate can have its advantages). It really turned out to be a great day :)

reminiscing

I've been looking through a bunch of old pictures and I've realized two things:

1. I seriously miss Europe. I miss the places. I miss the art. I especially miss all the friends I made. I really want to print out all of my absolute favorite pictures from Europe and put them in a frame. Good idea? I think yes. (perhaps this would fit better as a goal post-wedding?)

 2. I seriously miss family trips. We took a big family trip to Mesa Verde a couple years ago. It was the first big trip with all of us as adults (except darling niece Izzy,

she gets to stay a child forever). And it was so much fun. I'm praying real hard for another trip sometime soon.

the big CO

Our week in Colorado was so much fun. Here is a "documentary" in pictures :

The beginning of our drive

 

 

 our treats and drinks

our stop for gas (Jantz makes funny faces)

(he also does a grand job of cleaning the windshield)

 

(bear with little rock poops. too random not to take a picture)

 at Parker Days parade

(Jantz with his buddy Kevin. We had just gone to the doctor that morning, so the bandaid is protecting his poor biopsied noggin)

(the old ladies in the parade and Jantz's adorable nephew on the right)

We went to one of our favorite places, Guadalajara

(I caught this gem while Jantz was taking pictures on his iPhone 

- you know, the app that morphs your face. so priceless) 

the main event, Larke's graduation!

(these were some of the boards she had to make, it was very impressive :) she worked so hard to graduate and it was so great being able to see all her hard work) 

graduation day Rockies game

 (us with his brother Rhett)

so...on our way home Monday morning we ran into a snow storm in the mountains (SNOW, in the middle of JUNE! and not just a little sprinkling...it was like February up there!). we were pretty much speechless (of all days!). the roads were so icy and wet - there was major slipping and hydroplaning. so we pulled off into Silverthorne, informed our bosses that there was no way we were going to make it into work (who needs money anyway?), and hung out there for the day until things cleared up a bit. It was quite the detour, but it turned out to be really fun.

(here we are eating at the Pizza Hut. I knew I would forget what happened here, but I said something and this was the face I got. haha. my future husband everyone)

We did so much that I didn't take pictures of, but those were some pretty good highlights. We love being in Colorado, especially with Jantz's family. They were so great and so much fun! Hopefully we'll be able to make the trek out there again soon (you know, after the whole getting married there week in August :)

4 day week woot!

How was your 4th of July weekend?

Ours was pretty great :)

I tried taking pictures of fireworks. It was NOT easy. or successful. haha.

This week is already going slow - I want a weekend again! We're going to look at an apartment tomorrow that we're really excited about! so good thoughts that we'll like it as much as we want to :)

Things for the wedding just keep falling into place and getting done....which means minimal stress right now (at a time when I thought I would be going crazy with plans)...is this normal? It feels not normal.

cold

so, i wore shorts to work today for the first time this year (see, we're not usually allowed to wear shorts at work, only during spring and summer term). usually it's pretty chilly inside so i'm just fine wearing pants since i'm cold about 70% of the time anyway. but today is sunny and it seemed like a good idea for shorts.

so here i am at work. in my shorts. and i am cold.

thankfully i brought a jacket in (hoping i wouldn't have to use it - who likes to be the one wearing a jacket in the middle of summer?), so that's been keeping me warm.

that's all i wanted to say. I'm cold. (well, that and i got up on time again this morning, yay :) so excited for a warm three day weekend!