So...WE'RE MARRIED!!!

That's right! The wedding craziness is over. Out of town family has left. And I can finally have a life again. (Except I start work again next week, but we won't talk about that now...)

A week ago (7.26.2013) at this same exact time, we were having our ceremony. Everything went perfect for the ceremony and wedding.  All our friends and family really stepped it up in helping set up and tear down and we all had a very good weekend. I'll have to share some more wedding photos once our professional ones come back. (Two more weeks!)

The only almost-crisis was Luna...she had 103.5 degree fever the morning of the wedding and had been having high fevers off and on for the past couple of days. Luckily her fever broke during her pre-wedding ceremony nap and she's been good ever since.

I'll probably do another wedding post showing off our pictures (and the crafts of course!) but for now, I'll share our vows: (Oh yes...I started crying once I started reading the serious part. Pretty badly...I almost didn't finish them. I hardly ever cry and I know it was my wedding, but I cringe a little for crying so hard in front of so many people. Ugh. Silly emotions. Haha.

My vows for Ryan:

I promise to leave my half drank water cups all over the house.
I promise to leave all the cupboard doors open after I’ve looked for something.
I promise to Google every question I don’t know and to tell you about the weather forecast, even when you don’t care.
I vow to invent new goals for life that you are pretty much required to participate in.
I vow to say I love you every day and give you a kiss every night.
I vow to always try to make your morning coffee.

I vow to love you forever and ever and ever.
I vow to be the best parts of me that fit perfectly with the best parts of you.
Although I will be imperfect, I pledge to be sensitive and respectful of your unique talents, abilities and quirks.
I pledge to lend you strength for all of your dreams.
Through our union we can accomplish more than I could alone.
I believe in you.

Ryan's vows for me:

        I promise to put the new toilet paper on top of the old roll, never in its holder.
I promise to always wander about aimlessly when we’re trying to be productive.
I promise to buy new video games, even though I haven’t finished the old ones.
I vow to be your personal comedian complete with terrible puns.
I vow to keep you fed before you get hangry.
I vow to always try to fill your life with laughter, love, and light.

I vow to love you forever and ever and ever.
I vow to be the best parts of me that fit perfectly with the best parts of you.
Although I will be imperfect, I pledge to be sensitive and respectful of your unique talents, abilities and quirks.
I pledge to lend you strength for all of your dreams.
Through our union we can accomplish more than I could alone.
I believe in you.

 

 (For credit purposes, we found them online and changed the funny bits to fit the habits we have.)

Now it's time to work on my photo books, drink some hard cider, and enjoy our first relaxing weekend evening as newlyweds. Hope you've all been well.

Goodnight,
Mrs. 246.

P.S. We got a Keurig. Now we're like all the other fancy grown ups!

Five Days Until the Wedding (Also, I have a TODDLER!)

Isn't that adorable? Luna was helping Mr. 246 plant some succulents for the wedding. They're going to be name tags for the reception table as well as wedding favors.

We have 5 days left and I am stressed. I may have forgotten to mention that my wedding dress that I specially ordered online on Etsy never came. So I had to buy another dress last Wednesday from a dress shop. Of course then my dress arrives 2 days later. So now instead of having no dress, I now have two. And I'm $500 poorer. Ahhh, the joys of weddings, right? I keep swaying back and forth from being super excited to being on the verge of losing my shit.

In other news, I officially have a toddler. She's been walking pretty good for weeks, but this past week or so we've been taking her on a lot more walks and she is getting fast.

There was an incident today however. It involved a face plant to the sidewalk. Poor Bean was in shock after it happened. She has a little scrape on her eye, cheek, and nose. There was blood. She was a trooper though. I even think it's minor enough, she should be good to go for wedding pictures Friday. You can kind of see her eye in this one. It's super hard to get a picture of her today. She is on the move!

She is learning so much everyday. I can't believe it and I can hardly keep up with all the new stuff she's learning. It's so neat to watch her turn into a little person.

Anyways, I'll catch up with you all later. We're making a family trip to the bookstore again. Mr. 246 has suddenly decided at the lovely age of 25 that he'd like to read a graphic novel or comic book for the first time. Hahaha. I'm supportive though, so we're going with. Plus, summer clearance at Barnes and Nobles is 75% off right now. Off we go!

- Soon to be MRS. 246!

Wedding Craft Pictures and My Desire to Cancel the Wedding

Remember me? It's been two weeks without writing a blog post. Well, that isn't entirely accurate. I've written many, many blog posts over the past two weeks, probably at least one a day. The issue is I never actually sat down to my computer to write them down. They all have just been kind of floating around in my head.

I've been in a funk, mostly about the wedding and summer going by much too quickly. I'm slowly coming out of it. It's not a wedding unless planning and executing it makes you crazy, right? Severe PMS mixed with all the wedding nonsense got the best of me.

If I were brave enough and not so attached to the money I've already spent, I would have called the wedding off to do it completely different. I'd have a nice very intimate ceremony at Lake Tahoe with just Ryan, Luna, and I with a nice man to officiate us at one of those little wedding chapels near the lake. We'd do it by a campfire at dusk and I'd be in a light airy white dress. It would be simple, but very heartfelt and meaningful. We'd kiss then hug our little Bean after and we'd be married, man and wife. Simple as that.

Instead I'm having a wedding where we'll be the center of attention (which I hate), I'll have to speak up in front of people (which I hate), and I've have to party for the better part of an evening (which exhausts me). Hopefully I'm not the only bride to feel this way. Oh, and not to mention having to get all dolled up. As a girl, I feel like this should be my dream -- to have a nice fancy wedding, with all my friends, and it's the most special day of my life. Here's the thing though: I never really fantasized about my wedding like other girls. I didn't plan things and expect things. Frankly, I didn't care too much. I did fantasize about actually being married, just not getting married.

A good week or so has passed since this initial breakdown. I'm trying to be a bit more mindful of the wedding tasks at hand rather than seeing them as something comparable to "homework assignments." That's helped some. I'm sure I'll appreciate all the work I've done once the day comes but it doesn't make me too much happier when I'm sitting on this side of my wedding date.

In the end, however, I'll be happily married. And that's all that really matters. I just need to keep reminding myself of that. :)

-Ms. 246

Family Trip to Jackson, California!

Hello again! We had some very important wedding-related business matters to deal with Saturday. That prompted a day visit to the town we're getting married in: Jackson, California. This town is cute...lots of mining history, dozens of amazing antique shops (none of which we got to visit today), and lovely rolling hills. Alas, my pictures from today are terribly exciting since it was a "business-only" trip, but we did manage a couple impromptu relaxing bits...mostly to allow the Bean to stretch about.

The first thing we did is stop at their local Safeway grocery store so I could order cake and cupcakes for the wedding. I did the negotiating while Bean and Mr. 246 found a nice shady spot somewhere in the shopping center so Bean could move about.

I think he found quite a nice spot hidden behind some not-yet-filled shops. No car traffic and some wonderful views. (The shopping center was atop a hill.) Best part? Their was a grapevine area with two rows of grape plants growing quite happily in the sunshine. And look! The grapes are starting!

The next stop was at the venue location. Sadly I didn't take many pictures because I was too busy taking video while narrating notes to myself about decorations and placements and other wedding planning tidbits. We got a lot figured out, even if I do still have a ton of work left to do. Here's two sneak peeks from the wedding venue that I managed to steal out of some of the video I took. 

This first one is part of the "Lower Terrace" fountain landing area. We will be getting married in front of that archway which is actually a fountain that will have water coming down the sides. If you look closely at the right side of the upper brick "wall" (the bricks you see in the second stone wall section in the middle of the picture) there is a overturned pot. This is also part of the fountain and will be pouring water into a kind of moat that the stairs actually go over. (Ignore the ladder and the rakes...they're doing some maintenance today!)

The second shot of the venue I have is of my favorite part. The outdoor fireplace! I just love everything about it. I wish I had a zoomed out picture so you could see the surrounding area and the little stairs that lead into the woods...it's just amazing. The whole venue has tons of stonework and bricks and awesomeness.

After meeting with the venue coordinator, we walked over to a nearby park (a quick 3 minute walk!) where they were actually having a Re-Opening after doing some extensive work on the park to help restore and preserve parts of it. It's the Kennedy Wheels Tailing Park. It's part of the Kennedy Gold Mine and has these HUGE wooden wheels that helped move the water for the gold mines.

I could not believe how big these water wheels were. Part of the preservation project was to build a structure to protect the last standing wheel. For comparison, that tiny person in the picture below is Mr. 246:

We didn't quite understand the wheels and how they worked, but from what I gather they helped moved water away from the gold mine down a hill, then up a hill, then back down to a "waste" water section that was dammed off. 

Here's an illustration of the area we found on one of the information boards. The yellow arrow is actually the wheel you see above. (Not pictured is the actual gold mine way to the left.)

We had lunch behind that wheel building, overlooking the area in front of the dam. (There's no water there today, so it's just fields.) It was beautiful anyway though. If you squint you can see the dam. (Just left of the clump of trees on the right-hand side is the dam.)

Actually, we didn't eat lunch there. The Bean did. It was her lunchtime and she had food packed...we didn't. We did manage to find a nice shady spot!

Bean wanted leaves for lunch. We decided that wasn't a good idea. Do you see what Mr. 246 is holding? Genius idea he came across online...bring an avocado on-the-go, then when it's food time for baby then just break it open and spoon it out. Self contained baby food! She loves it. I may have sneaked a bite or two. 

On our way leaving the park they were packing up from that morning's Grand Re-Opening events. They had these gorgeous leather jackets for sale.

 

They second two looked definitely handmade and I'm pretty sure they were since there were a bunch of legit looking mountainous men around. I am too shy to take pictures of strangers, but I did get a picture of their sign!
 

When I got home I Googled about these mountain men and of course I could find nothing of their local chapter...but I did learn some about Kit Carson himself.

So, Bean was fed then it her naptime. With no real suitable place to nap except the car, we loaded her up, got some drive-thru food and parked in a parking garage and had a mini picnic while Luna got some much needed rest:

The last order of business of the day brought us back to Safeway so I could meet with the florist. Mr. 246 entertained Ms. Bean and they wandered about the store hooting and hollaring and reading books while I spoke with the most amazing lady ever about flower arrangements.

After Safeway, we needed another mini sit-about so Bean could stretch again before we left for our hour long ride home. We went pretty close by to the first spot of the day, but this area had a patio-like area so we didn't have to sit near itchy grass. No grapes near this spot, but there was a bunch of lavender!


I got this beautiful picture of Lunabean. In this picture she looks so....different? Maybe it's because I hardly have any profile shots of her.

 

She was quite entertained by the car keys and a baby wipes container:

 

I can't quite remember if I mentioned this or not but Luna took her first step on June 10. She's been gradually moving a bit more every day and this girl wants to go. This is why we made it a priority to give her lots of time to roam about on today's trip. We would not have a happy child on our hands if she was strapped in a car seat, or stroller, or baby carrier all day. So...this was our third "Let the Bean Stretch" hang out session of the day. And she sure did stretch. Remember the wipes container and keys? She played with them for fifteen minutes straight. She just kept throwing them and going after them. Pretty much playing "fetch" with herself:

 

Pardon our pantless child...we knew we were going to have to change her again before we left so we just kept the shorts off. 

We drove home early enough to have a normal evening and get Bean to bed on time. Later on in the evening I had to make a decision about dinner and I knew I wanted to use up what we had on hand and I randomly discovered that we could make Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza. I just had to say the words to Mr. 246 and he was on top of it. It was complete with Mr. 246's ketchup and mustard pizza "sauce" concoction. After eating it I felt awesome and disgusting.

 

So, my lovely readers, that is what I leave you with tonight: Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza. I hope you enjoyed "tagging along" for a short bit today. Thanks for stopping by!

-Ms. 246

Wedding Crafts (& The Dreaded Wedding Stress)

First full week of summer: complete! I absolutely love staying home with the Bean everyday. I feel so so so lucky that I get to stay home with her for these 2 months of summer break. If only I could afford to stay home all the time...

I have had a somewhat rough weekend, though, between PMS and wedding stress, but I'm better now. (I think?) Poor Mr. 246...I'm lucky he puts up with me. I've got exactly 46 days until the wedding and I still have a bajillion things to do. Important things...like receiving my dress. (That's a story for another day...let's just all cross our fingers that it will ship soon.) I'm really starting to feel the crunch.

I did get two small crafts done a day or two ago. First up: Cupcake To-Go Bags. Hand stamped 36 of them. (We're expecting around 25 guests, but are planning on ordering 2 cupcakes per person.) This was one of those projects where your go a little crazy toward the end due to the repetitiveness. (I'm not sure though...maybe I'm the only one who gets like that.) Each letter is stamped on individually since I have an alphabet set. I like how they turned out those. Just plain brown lunch sack bags. I think they're lovely.

Next up: "Reserved" Signs for our family members' chairs at the ceremony. We're having folding white chairs for the ceremony. (No church pews since we're not getting married in a church.) So I wanted to block off their seats somehow. Pretty easy peasy project. I did the stitching as an afterthought but I think it makes them look much more finished. They're about 3-ish x 4.5-ish inches and none of them are really exactly the same size. Fine with me...I would drive myself insane if I tried to make them that perfect.

 

Yesterday, after another wedding-stress attack I decided that I would do no more wedding stuff for the rest of the night.  I've started working on a crochet bowl and it's pretty neat so far. I can't wait to show it to you guys. As for wedding crafting...look forward to: chalkboard wedding signs, bunting signs, table runners, and cupcake decorations. :)

Thanks for stopping by! 

-Ms. 246

Crocheted Rose Brooches!

Hey there! The past couple days I've been working on these lovely crocheted rose brooches...

I'm working on all the wedding stuff recently (since I'm off work for the summer!) and instead of ordering flowers for all the family members to wear, I crocheted them.

I gathered the most "citrus" like scraps I had and went at it. See how lovely they look in a little pile!

They're a couple inches in diameter. I kind of based the rose pattern I found here on Ravelry by Ravelry user Elizabeth Ham. (It's a video tutorial...I prefer written, but the video is good! Makes me feel like I have a friend and she's teaching me to crochet something.)

She does 12 "petals" in her pattern. Once I crocheted the first one up, however, I didn't think it looked quite right so I increased the chain from 50 to 55 and added another petal. I kind of just made up the leaf pattern. It's probably about the same as any other leaf pattern. See the end of the post and I'll write up a quick pattern for them.

On the back I used 1.5 inch pin back thingys. (Yea...so I don't remember the proper name for these.) I sewed the "thingy" onto a small piece of regular ole' craft felt then sewed the felt right onto the rose back with embroidery floss. The first couple of ones I did, I had the pin back centered in the back of the rose. Once I tried on the rose, however, it flopped down a tad. Simple remedy though: put the pin back up higher! Now they hang quite lovely!

Here's an action shot: (And yes, my head is cut off, I am no where near photo ready today. Haha.)

 

Be prepared for some more wedding crafts! I've got a couple things planned. The wedding is 07.26.2013 and I have a ton of stuff to do still. I put everything off until I had the summer off. It'll be small so I'm not too concerned. As long as we get married, right?

Thanks for looking!

-Ms. 246

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Crocheted Rose Leaf Pattern: (Any similarities between this and other patterns are coincidence. A lot of leaf patterns are very similar. I don't really claim any rights to this pattern.)

•  Chain 10.
• Work through top loops: slip stitch in first stitch from hook. 
• Then, working back along chain: sc in next stitch, hdc in next stitch, dc in next stitch, 2 treble crochet stitches in next stitch, dc in next stitch, hdc in next stitch, sc in next stitch, slip stitch in next stitch. This should be your last stitch.
• Ch 2, rotate work so you're on the other side of the "leaf" and repeat what you did on the first side. Through top loops only: slip stitch, sc, hdc, dc, 2 treble crochet, dc, hdc, sc, slip stitch. Tie the end off with a generous tail, about 15 inches or so. (You should be at the "point" of your leaf). 
• Use a tapestry needle, sew through the point of your leaf, then weave through the backside of the leaf.
• I then used the rest of the tail to sew the leaf onto the rose.

Hopefully that's not too confusing. I've never really written up anything for anyone else before. Let me know if you have any questions.

Initiate Full-Time Wedding Planning

Hello strangers!

I'm sorry I've been so quiet lately. It's still a hard time adjusting to Mr. 246's new schedule. He's loving his new job and the child he's working with sounds like a really good kid. Lunabean is doing great. Her newest accomplishments: she waves! she says "dada"! she can almost pull herself up! I haven't been taking nearly as many pictures as I should and I definitely haven't been taking a picture a day like I'm supposed to. I've got a lot on my plate right now - wedding plans, new schedule, and I've been sick. :/

I've been in wedding planning mode to the extreme. It was really stressing me out at first, but now that we've picked a venue and a date I'm feeling much better and I'm starting to have a lot of fun with it all. The picture above is our venue...the Villa Privata. It's Italian/Tuscany style. We're getting married in the back, outside. The back has all sorts of awesomeness: canopy of trees, fountains, old stone and bricks, a wine cellar, arches, a fireplace. You just wait until you see it's awesomeness. Our date is 7.26.2013. :) I've started a wedding website if you'd like to check it out. It's definitely not finished yet so ignore some of the parts that aren't completed: http://wolfeanddunn.ourwedding.com/
Oh, and ignore the pictures as well. We're getting some engagement photos taken on St. Patrick's Day so I can make Save-The-Dates and all that good stuff. How fancy, right?

Anywhoo...just checking in. I'm on my middle-of-the-night pump (remember that whole exclusive pumping thing) and it's time to go back to bed. Hope you're all well!

-The Soon-To-Be Mrs. 246