Engagement pictures

We got our engagement pictures back a few weeks ago and they turned out FABULOUS! we need to choose our prints that she does for us to put some up in our house! She is awesome! I am so happy with them and that just means I know I will be even happier with our wedding pictures. http://whitedaisyphoto.com/blog/2012/engagement-photographer-professional/ehrman-mansion-lake-tahoe-ehrman-mansion-lake-tahoe-weddings-ehrman-mansion-lake-tahoe-engagement-lake-tahoe-weddings/ashley-danny-engaged-sugar-pine-point-state-park/

there's the link to the blog! :)

Here's a few of our favorites that she sent me to use...Aimee Fredy who is White Daisy Photography is amazing! She did such an awesome job...we have so many favorites!

Ok so now that I have finished catching up on blog posts (well sort of!) I'm off to spend the day at the pool! Ahhhhh an amazing free day...FINALLY!

Wedding invites

We have decided on our invitations (I think!) Becca and I wanted to design them and make them...she really wanted to do it more than I did! But I decided to have a back up invite ready to order if we just don't want to do it anymore...we're still going to give it a go! I have been working on this for a LONG time...I found one I liked a while ago and just began messing with it and turning it into something I really liked. It's simple enough to allow me to make all the rest of the stuff (rsvp cards, info cards, rehearsal invites to go with it, etc.) but detailed enough to not be so PLAIN...I just ordered 10 (the minimum) to see how they looked before actually ordering a huge order and not liking them. I'm excited for them to arrive! I really trust Becca in making them, she has made me a couple other things so far for the wedding that have turned out adorable...she has all the right programming on her computer to do this stuff and she is really good with it. Our save the dates should be here Monday :) I am so excited to get those addressed and mailed out. I guess now that I've relaxed and let go of a lot of things this wedding planning isn't so bad afterall.

They made it!

I am so happy to announce our friends Jess and Josh FINALLY made it to Cali! They live in our complex just across the way from us and I am SO happy to have them back! It's as if they never left. Three years went by so quickly and when we all saw each other again it feels like we haven't missed a beat. Thank God for technology. Couldn't have been greater timing either with our wedding only 4 months away and Jess being one of my bridesmaids...I'm so happy to have her back here. There's a lot to be done and I could really use her help :) Plus this guarantees that she will be at my bridal shower, bach party, and wedding! It's so nice to have them back.

the never ending fun!

So I woke up Thursday morning after taking a sick day and had a small breakout of some sort of rash! LOL all I could do was laugh because SERIOUSLY??? Jess says I am at bad odds with nature and should live in a bubble...I proceeded to tell her of my owl experience while running and she died laughing and said I REALLY shouldn't leave the house! This has been one crazy year! From getting violently ill, attacked by an owl, getting hand foot and mouth disease (which by the way I still have 3 recovering blisters left on my body from it), and now hives? LOL The only thing we decided it was from was yogurt. It's so weird...I stopped eating it a few months ago because it upset my stomach...I figured since I had given up so much dairy 5 years ago (aside from cheese) that my body created some sort of intolerance to it. I decided this past week to give it a shot again and I ate it on Monday and felt totally fine...I then proceeded to eat it Tuesday, and Wednesday and woke up Thursday with itchy arms...UH OH! So frustrating! I talked to one of our parents who is a doctor and she said it was more than likely from that and it's just a slight intolerance.  I asked how and said that I eat so much cheese and she said most people can do cheese, just not milk and yogurts...GREAT! So back to the no yogurt I go...or maybe in moderation. I guess I did go overboard this week with it because I was pretty excited I could eat it again! I'm also going to contact my Dr. about getting a foot intolerance test...I've had too many funny rashes lately and I'd like to know what is going on. I had a friend who kept getting a weird rash and it turned out she was gluten intolerant and so much more stuff that she ate all the time! It was a pretty cool test that she had done because now she knows what she should eat and what she can avoid...intolerances don't mean you can't have them...your body just has a harder time digesting whatever it is so it's good to avoid it...most people are lactose and gluten intolerant but they just ignore the symptoms and go about their daily lives. I, on the other hand, plan to find out what is going on and change my lifestyle accordingly!

sick again...

AY YI YI! I think I've been sick more this year than ever. I know it's from being exposed to new germs and children in a different setting than I have been but this seriously stinks! When I worked for Misty I eventually got used to all the *stuff* and built up a great immune system...then nannying I was only with 1-2 kids so I didn't get that exposure anymore, and now I'm back in the large group setting and here I am catching everything! From the common cold, to the flu, to freakin hand foot and mouth disease...COME ON! I don't solely contribute it to my job...I know there are a ton of other factors...I probably don't go to bed early enough, I try to do too much, and never really have a day off to just relax...it's just go go go from 5am-9pm then do it the next day...then weekends are sheer chaos and before I know it it's back to the work week. But when I first felt sick I didn't let it get me down...I kept getting up at 5, working, doing errands, babysitting, and doing everything else I normally did until today...well untill last night.  I finally crashed yesterday while at work...I began feeling sick to my stomach, on the verge of puking, and just plain awful...I have had this terrible cough since last week but just powered through it. Now it's 10 times worse! I decided to give myself a sick day. Especially after Danny said "if I heard you in a room full of kids I would be angry that you were taking care of my child!" LOL thanks Danny, thanks! So today was my day to stay home and rest....yea, rest!!! Ok so I rested...for an hour on the couch...then I was bored...so I did some yoga (that's relaxing right?)...then I reorganized our pantry, spices, and washed the sheets...that's semi-relaxing...didn't take much energy...plus the sheets have to be washed again because I'm sick...gotta wash off those sick germs! Ok...so now I'm relaxing...and thinking about organizing my closet again...once again, not much energy required...then, I will start dinner...still...pretty easy day. Ok...I've got this relaxing thing down to a science...not! Regardless, I am relaxing more than if I were at work...and that's what I needed. I've vouched (ahhhh) to take the rest of the week off from working out...but I will be doing yoga in the mornings (remember, it's relaxing!) I need to give my body a chance to recover or I will never get better. I am also upping my intake of vitamin C. Adding an extra tablet to my morning routine and potentially to my evenings.  So here I go to relax...and finish laundry and organize my closet...it is kind of nice to have a day to myself to just do whatever though...I can't say I will complain about that!

Father's day 2012

Not sure how I deleted this post, but I did...silly me! anyway, really just sharing a picture of my dad and I from Christmas in '92...This father's day was a special one...they all are always special and I always feel so lucky to be able to spend them with my dad but this was an especially important one because this past December we almost lost him. Thank God we didn't...he had plenty of angels watching over him but I felt even luckier to be able to celebrate his day with him this year.

wedding plans...oh decisions, decisions!

Wedding! Wedding! Wedding! No matter how hard I try to get other things done everything leads back to the wedding and how much I have to do and how little time I'm beginning to have! I can't wait for it to be here! I accomplished a lot this weekend wedding related with my mom Saturday and with my BFF Sunday. Saturday I went to the mall with my mom to add a few more things to my registries. I wanted to physically go into Crate&Barrel to make sure I didn't miss anything online (I found 21 things to add!) and I never made it to Macy's but I'm sure that one is fine since we were just there last weekend. I also purchased something from crate&barrel that I just couldn't wait to buy nor did I want to register for it. I can see this becoming an issue if I keep going in to add things. Sunday(today) Kayla pretty much dedicated the entire day to my wedding stuff. We went EVERYWHERE! Nordstrom, bridal salons, everywhere....I had no clue what color I even wanted anymore...but...I think we found one! I initially wanted the light pastel colors...but I quickly realized how washed out it might make people look...I wanted a pretty color, just no clue what color. I also went by mens warehouse to see if I could find a suit I liked for Danny, which I did so he and I need to go this week to get him to decide on that for him and his groomsmen.  I am not sure if he is going to want to purchase or just rent the style they have for rental...I think the price is pretty close so either way will work.  I went by Michael's again to look at invites, no luck! Nothing jumped out at me...I've decided to just order them...or Becca is so dead set on making them I'm going to see what she comes up with and maybe just print them off from her.  She has also been designing up a bunch of other things I want for the wedding..she is pretty skilled I must say. I am impressed. We shall see about the invites though. I've also made our save the dates and am still waiting on the ONE I ordered so I can see it and order the rest...I feel like things are getting done and I'm really happy. I found a flower girl dress I loved, now I just need to get the girls in to try it on. Jess will be here this week so one of these weekends coming up we are going to go all together so the girls can also pick their bridesmaid dresses out. I can't wait to get this done and out of the way. I am tired, excited, stressed, and so ready for it to be our wedding day already. I can't wait to enjoy this day I have waited so long for. PHEW! I'm glad I had a productive weekend...now I'm ready for bed and hoping Danny gets home any minute here! Goodnight world.

Registry and Save the dates

We are officially registered! All our goodies are at Macy's and Crate&Barrel. I'm very excited this is done! There's a few more things that we need to add to the Macy's one and I'm sure I'll find other stuff along the way that we want. I will say, our initial experience at Bed Bath and Beyond was not fun! It was overwhelming because the girl guided us around and pretty much tried to get us to register for the most expensive stuff and stuff I made clear we didn't want or need. Needless to say I deleted the registry and added everything to the other two. Plus, I couldn't find drinking glasses I liked except at C&B so I didn't want just one thing on a registry there. Anyway. I'm happy we did it. These two stores have been great so far! :) I also have chosen and ordered one of our save the dates. I ordered one just to make sure it looked good and fit right. I spent 5 bucks to do it but it's well worth it for my sanity. :) it's cheaper in bulk so it did cost more just for the one. But oh well! Can't wait to see it! Things are happening!

Our lives lately...

AHHHH life! I haven't had a chance to sit down lately other than when I am laying down going to bed! This seems to be a trend and I literally haven't had a free weekend for as long as I can remember! Every weekend through September is looking just the same...So much to catch up on but no time right now (of course!) It's bedtime because we have another FULL weekend ahead of us! Top things we've been up to:

1. We got our engagement pictures back (blog soon) loved them! We have the best photographer! :)

2. Decided on Save the date pics...will be ordering soon...need to play around with a few save the dates we like and see which pics work best...yippee!

3. Registered at one store for wedding...going to do the next tomorrow!!

4. Been working like CRAZY!!! I have been working...and babysitting after work and on weekends...I have been going from 5am-9pm non-stop...

5. Danny not only has made 2nd...but he is offically OOD qualified as well...YAY for him! Passed his board with flying colors.

6. Finalizing invite ideas and getting onto making those...

7.  Our friends Jess and Josh are due to arrive on the 28th or 29th...can't wait! They are living in the building across from us! YAY!

8.  Been working like a crazy woman on my work portfolios while trying to plan a wedding...ahhhh! One portfolio in particular I need done by the end of the month.

So much to do...so little time! Life gets away from us. Between work, birthdays, dr appts, babysitting, working out, wedding planning, portfolio writing, and oh yea! SLEEPING...I feel like life is flying by us! Our wedding is fast approaching...unbelievable! I'm so grateful for my amazing bridesmaids who have been nothing but helpful during this time! I sent becca my HUGE to-do list and she says it's doable...fingers crossed!

5 months!!!

We have 5 months as of today left until our wedding! FINALLY! FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY! I am so ready for this next chapter in our lives...I have been ready for it and I'm so happy it's almost here. Sounds silly but today at work I was looking at the filter on my brita pitcher I bought for there and it needs to be changed in July...I thought to myself ok 3 months from July will be the next time I need to change it and that will be October, the month before my wedding. So after I change it this time, once more and it's wedding time. SO STUPID but I really thought of that. LOL We sat down yesterday and did a lot of things together...I managed to get just about all the addresses we need (thanks to Kayla pressuring me for them for my shower!), we played arond with music and made a few lists of options for songs, we figured out what we owed still, what we have in the wedding fund, and what our game plan is in terms of saving for the last few months, we talked honeymoon ideas, we talked about what we want to register for, and a cazillion other things...from linens to centerpieces...I found out my floral is going to be relatively cheap! PHEW! I mean CHEAP...I owe my godmother big time and I owe this lady a lovely tip for what she is doing for my wedding. She's amazing! I have been a lot less stressed lately because I have honestly stopped looking for opinions from other poeple...I deleted my wedding board a while ago on pinterest because it was honestly doing me no good and that alone alleviated a load of stress when I did that...I've decided to go with ideas that I have had in my mind all along and not worry about all the different ideas out there. Our engagement pictures should be done by next week and I have been looking at potential save the dates so as soon as we get those back we will be choosing the picture, the save the date, and ordering them! Then it's on to invites which I have a couple ideas on how I want to do them so Becca and I will have to start playing around with ideas and what would be the best route. I'm looking for classy and unique yet affordable. I have faith I can make my vision come to life :) I am excited that all of this is coming together. I think seeing my dress and realizing that it was perfect and that's all that matters...the rest of the little details aren't as important and everything will come together beautifully helped me to just be stress free. Well, sort of. I know my mom wouldn't let it be any other way and I wouldn't have it any other way. I have a great team of ladies helping with my big day from my mom and godmother to my bridesmaids...I know it will be PERFECT. <3 <3

Registry

We have a date! June 9th at 10:30 we will be doing our first registry at Bed Bath and Beyond! I can't wait...I already know a few things I want and I know they have them there. I'm so excited to finally register for stuff that I've been wanting and refraining from buying! I have a hard time because anything we have needed I have just gotten because I usually need it right then and there...I have been dying with our pots and pans...I mean DYING! I HATE them...but I just couldn't spend the money on the new ones and didn't want to go buy a set of cheap ones and waste money just to throw them away in a couple months. Those are what I am most excited to register for! haha :) I also want a food processor! I have been wanting one every since I moved out of my moms! I want one for so many reasons! Making salsa is one reason, another is because I know I will be making baby food in the future with it :) annnnnd I want an ice cream maker! haha! oh my I'm so ready to register! We still need to decide on our second place to register...but for now, we are doing this one first.

Pasta salad

This pasta salad recipe was given to me by a friend a few years ago and ever since then, it's been at just about every bbq we go to.  It was always at every single bbq we did and to this day people still request me to bring it. It's so simple!

What you need:

1 box of tri-colored rotini, cooked according to al dente directions, drained and cooled (they didn't have any when I went this time, the tri-color makes it so fun. I've even subbed whole wheat pasta for it and it tastes just as good! Just make sure you use a type that will trap the dressing as opposed to a flat pasta that it will fall right off of)

1 bottle of Italian dressing

1 small purple onion, diced

1 red bell pepper, seeded, cored, diced

1 green bell pepper, seeded, cored, diced

1 container of grape tomatoes, sliced in half

1 medium can sliced olives (I omitted them because Danny doesn't like olives)

1 container of parmesean cheese

Salt and Pepper

Directions:

Once pasta is cooked and cooled put it in a bowl and add diced veggies, half the bottle of italian, approximately 1/4 cup parm, salt and pepper to taste. Mix it up and add ingredients as needed. Enjoy!

Salsa

We rarely buy salsa, I always make it from scratch...it just tastes better that way! I actually got this recipe from a friend who got it off pinterest :) and I later figured out that I too had it pinned but hadn't made it yet. It might be the easiest, yummiest salsa I have ever made! You literally throw it all in a blender and voila! No boiling veggies and dealing with scalding hot veggies trying to transfer them to the blender...just chop, throw, pulse! My other recipe that I always use requires me to boil the ingredients first then transfer them...I've actually burned my entire hand with hot water before doing it and now I'm always scared when I'm making it! I did however make a complete disaster (haha but what else is new...I'm not a very neat chef) because I tried to open the top of the blender while pulsing to push down the ingredients because our blender is no top of the line blender and it was giving me some trouble and POOF! everything splattered all over the cupboards and kitchen ceiling :) oops! I can't wait to get a food processor! I've been wanting one for sooooo long....just a little longer!

YOU NEED:

1 - 14 oz. can diced tomatoes

1 - 10 oz. can Rotel original diced tomatoes with green chilis

1/2 small yellow onion roughly chopped

1 clove garlic, peeled and smashed

1/2 - 1 Jalepeno, seeded or not (depends on how spicey you like it)

1 teaspoon honey

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

small to medium size handful of cilantro, washed

juice of 1 lime

DIRECTIONS:

Put all the ingredients in the base of a food processor or good blender and pulse to combine until all the ingredients are finely chopped and salsa is desired consistency. Taste for seasoning and adjust to taste. Enjoy!