Engagement Picture Session!!!

Today was E-Pic day in our neck of the woods! It was actually a lot of fun, I was a little nervous at first becuase I had no idea what to expect but our photographer, Joe was amazing! He made us both feel really comfortable and it was actually pretty fun. We went to a bridge I used to go to in high school on Hines Drive, unfortunately the bridge is in A LOT worse shape then it used to be, so we spent about five minutes taking some pictures to satisfy my need for "my bridge" pictures and then headed off to a park. The park was awesome! There were some great colors that turned already, swings, two bridges, paths in the woods and a playground. Joe took a lot of pictures and showed us a few during the shoot and I am SOOOOOOOO excited to see the rest. He said he should have them up on his site by Thursday, so tomorrow is going to be the longest day ever! I cannot wait to post some pictures for you, my three followers later in the week :)

In other news, Justin and I have decided that our next big task is going to be finding a place to live. We have a lead on someone who is planning on buying and then renting out housing in our area, which I think might be our best bet at this point. We got approved for a mortgage, which is enough to get a nice condo in the area or a foreclosed home. We are definitely leaning towards the condo, just because we do not have the time or funds to fix up a foreclosed home. I realize it would be much harder to sell a condo down the line, but we expect to be living in whatever property we buy for 5+ years, so hopefully the market will take a turn and we could end up building equity in the property instead of losing money. Hopefully. So stay tuned for updates on the housing hunt. We are going to wait until after the holidays to start a serious search, but the preliminary stuff will have to start soon.

So, I have taken Tuesday - Friday off from work this week, for a few reasons, one of which I am not going to mention until tomorrow because I have NO idea who reads this and there is something in the works. The other reasons are: engagement pictures which were today, and some serious cleaning and organization that needs to happen in my room (and all the other rooms my things have migrated to). So tomorrow's mission is going to be: CLEAN STAIRS and GET CLOTHING ORGANIZED! This is my bottom line mission, if other things get done, GREAT, but I'm not going to hold my breath. Although, I'm in the middle of watching "Flipping Out" with Jeff Lewis, maybe he'll inspire my organizational side :)

Hopefully I'll have updates later with Engagement Pictures!!!

Had to Brag!

So my wonderful mother brought home some Sweetest Day flowers for me tonight! I just had to brag, take a look, I love daisies!!

Feeling Accomplished!!

So I was feeling a little better this afternoon so I decided to take on the task of finishing my rhinestone "Mrs. NewLastName" hoodie for the wedding day. I am feeling so proud, I wasn't very confident that is was going to work for some reason, but was so excited when I saw the finished product!

I got the instructions from another Knottie, who got them from a website. I got the instructions in my early knottie days, so I didn't think to take down the knotties name...sorry. If you're out there let me know and I'll give you credit!

 What you need:
1. Flatback Hot Fix Rhinestones
(I used 10ss 3m, which were ordered off ebay, I used between 700-800 rhinestones BUT I have a long NewLastName)
2. Mylar Paper
(I also purchased this from ebay I got 10 sheets for $5)
3. Tweezers or a wax rhinestone "picker-upper"
4. Computer/printer
5. Iron
6. Sweatshirt

 These are the instructions I got online, my notes will be in red.

1. In MICROSOFT WORD go to "Insert----> WordArt" and use WordArt to type out your text. Use one text box for your soon-to-be last name "Mrs.XXX" and then use a separate text box for your "EST. DATE" if you choose to include this. *I used PowerPoint because I am more comfortable with that over Word*

2. Use the Word draw tools panel and select 'Rotate or Flip' then choose 'Flip Horizontal.' This will flip your text so it looks like you are looking at a mirror image of the text. Next adjust your text for the font you want (Lucida Handwriting or Calligraphy are nice) and font size. Print them out and through trial and error see what will fit well on the undies you choose. Then print and cut out your text. *I obviously used a sweatshirt, not undies and chose Edwardian Script for my font because it has been the main font I have used for WR stuff*

3. Next, tape your text down onto your work surface and tape it so it stays in place.

4. Then take your MYLAR paper--peel off the sticky sheet away from the white backing and place the sticky sheet on top of your text--sticky side UP. Tape it down to the table, too, so it stays put. *The tape is SUPER important, you will go INSANE if you try to do it without taping the mylar paper down!*

5. Then just place your rhinestones onto the sticky mylar paper over your text (trace it with the rhinestones). Make sure your rhinestones are SHINY SIDE DOWN and glue side up. You should be looking at the glue side (when you flip it and put on your undies the shiny side will be up).

6. After you're done with the design, place it shiny side up onto your undies. Take a thin cloth or even thin t-shirt and place it over the design/mylar paper. On high heat and NO STEAM place the iron over the design (and cloth) and put pressure. This is melting the glue! Do this until you feel the stones are setting. Then flip the undies over and apply the iron to the back of the undies too. This is IMPORTANT in making sure they set! *When you go to remove the mylar paper, do it SLOWLY because some rhinestones might not of stuck and you may need to be ironed a second or third time*

That's all there is to it! It's pretty cumbersome, but easy non-the-less. I took the top of one of our TV trays off and put it on my lap in the lazy-boy and watched TV while tracing the letters with the rhinestones. That helped keep me comfortable and made it easy to put away everything if I had to take a break (it's not taped to the dining room table). I'm so excited to have this one done! But I skipped dinner to get it done, so now I'm off to find something to eat. Good Luck and let me know if you have any questions about the process! :)

The Office: Watch n' Blog

So, I was going to wait for a day or so before my next post, but this episode has made me laugh already, so here I go:

Anyone else notice how Kevin is just sitting in Jim's office in the background when Michael and Oscar are arguing?? lol!

I don't like that Jim and Pam are gone :( I miss them and it's only five minutes into the episode...I wonder if they'll be in the episode at all. Maybe we'll get to see part of the honeymoon...wow, that sounded dirtier than I anticipated. ha!

I have to say that I like Andy, sometimes, but other times I find him quite strange, which I'm sure is all part of what makes Andy, Andy.

OH. MY. GOD! Dwight just dumped the roach on the table, and I about jumped out of the chair I was laughing so hard.

A leaky spark tube! lol.

I would be so ticked if I was Jim and Pam and people from work kept calling me, BUT I would NOT be carrying my cell phone around while on my honeymoon.

Alright, The Office is over, I am moving over to Grey's but am not going to blog seeing as how I have missed the past episode and a half.

Longest Week Ever...

This is one of those blog posts that is just going to consist of me complaining about how my week went, so consider that your disclaimer.
1. I am incredibly frustrated with my job, it's really hard for me to go in everyday and seems to get more ridiculous every. single. time. I walk in the door.
2. I have been sick for about two weeks now. This past Monday, I was feeling pretty good, most of my yuckiness was gone...fast forward to Monday night --> I start to feel WORSE then I did before. Fever, chills, achy, runny nose, stuffy nose, sinus, coughing, headache, dizzy... you name it. So Wednesday rolls around, and I am having a lot of trouble breathing, I just couldn't seem to get enough air in each breath, so I am forced to take really big deep breaths every third breath or so. Wednesday night: I am weezing, and when I go to bed my throat and chest are burning each time I take a breath.
3. I take a personal day today to go to the doctor, no bronchitis, my breathing has gotten a little better, but I am told to take the next couple days off and rest. Excellent. Except I have some scheduled time off next week and I'm sure it look very good for me to be gone for two days, then back for one before I am gone for another four. I hate my job, but I NEED my job.
4. I haven't seen my fiance in five days. We have both been working and he was keeping distance so that he can stay healthy (he needs to be healthy to go to work), which is completely understandable, but I MISS HIM!
5. The medicine that my doctor prescribed me says it might cause diarreah, REALLY??? Can't I just get a break. (I know this is an over-share, sorry).

I think in an effort to keep up with my blog, I am going to start taking pictures of things and blog while watching some of my favorite shows. I love TV and that's all I'm going to be doing for the next couple of days, so we'll see if that keeps me blogging. Hopefully I will get some pictures taken for my knot bio as well. Here's hoping I will feel good enough tomorrow to get some stuff done.

Stay tuned... I might just blogg while watching your favorite show ;)

214 days and counting...

I'm home sick from work today. I usually feel pretty guilty when I can't go into work, which I did this morning, but I got progressively worse as the day went on, so I would say it was a pretty good decision. I work in a call center where I have to answer calls all day long, so if I'm not feeling well it makes my job impossible because the phone never stops ringing. So I figured I would use some of my down time to update my blog (not that anyone reads it, but whatever!)

Justin and I have decided to hold off on the house hunting for a little while. After going through the numbers we wouldn't have been left with enough money to eat/live while still saving for the wedding. So for now, we're still with our parents, which is okay, I've been here for 24 years. A couple more months won't make a difference. We did find a few condos we liked though. I'm still going through the condo-house debate. Any suggestions??

So changing topics - I watched my first episode of Gossip Girl last night. I was intrigued but also found a couple things slightly annoying. Being obsessed with other teenage drama shows, I knew I would at least be interested in it. I was surprised that even though I have never seen an episode before I enjoyed the characters and plots of the show. My beefs: Blair and her BF (I cannot remember his name, just that his initials are CB) are strange. I find him highly annoying because he reminds me of a Luke Perry impersonator. His voice sounds SOOO fake. But to Blair's credit, I think he's funny. I enjoy her personality/priorities, lol. I do, however, find "Gossip Girl" very intriguing... who is she? how does she know all these things??? Crazy!!

Alright, I know I am all over the place today, but I think I need to lay down and get some more sleep. Maybe I'll have another "The Office" marathon, those are fun.

Thanks for reading,
XOXO
Gossip Girl.