What do you Mean You Can't turn Left?

Soooo..I believe that I owe you some more Michigan pictures. Alright, I'm not kidding myself. I doubt you're really dieing to see them, but I finally uploaded the last ones to my laptop tonight and besides the fact that I can't believe it's been a week since I left for my sweet ass getaway, I realized how beautiful it was, how much fun I had, and how much I want these next 10 weeks to fly by so I can see N again.

(On a side note - I love you guys for never pointing out that I am a horrible sinner of the run on sentence!)


Since there are quite a few left..I'll just shut up and let you guys bask in photo viewing and my ever so witty photo captions!

the view from the lake house

the notebook house (I had to upload this for my sister Julie only)

downtown Oxford

oh the humidity

me time ♥

look it's B!

my dream candy-apple-red-fixer-upper-lake-house

my dream walking-down-the-porch-on-warm-summer-nights-like-these-watching-my-children-play house (absolutely stunning house)

the funny-face house

the lake was this pink. it was amazing.

we are going to have beautiful babies :)

i'm so 23 years old

just a humble home

we are so wearing our designer shades.

i'm saving this picture to show our kids some day

(um..how amazing does my tattoo look? :P)

Procrastinating. It's What I do

Hi kids.

Well you've definitely done it. Not that I don't love your progress and committment to reading this summer, but I cannot take another post about you much you guys have read this summer!! It's depressing me and making myself want to assign myself into the corner, for being the biggest reading slacker! I don't slack when I read.

Maybe it's my job. No. That's a bad excuse too. Maybe it's the wedding??? Ya. Let's go with that. Everyone loves to blame the wedding for things so I'll hop on that bandwagon for a few stops. Stupid wedding.

:)

So back to the part where I was shaking my finger at you. Thanks. No really. Thank you. I finally got my lazy, procrastinating butt on a plane and spent all 3 hours of my first flight finishing The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and wept the last few chapters. After the second to last chapter I just stopped trying to hied the fact that I was loosing my shit all together. I might have even let go so far that I let out a little sniffle.

Hands down, one of the most beautifully written books I've ever read. With such simple words that painted Nazi Germany in such a way that you actually feel how it was like to live in the grey area of that time, faced with confusion, humanity, and love. Brilliantly written as well as life changing; I absolutely recommend it for those that have an interest for holocaust and Nazi Germany stories - this is one of my favorites.

And because I couldn't lose my momentum, I just sort of snuck in 2 new books I picked up at the local grocery store of all places, so I have no chance of losing my "I heart reading again" streak. Thank gosh they had a pretty decent selection and of course grocery stores always sell those bestsellers, because I picked up a copy of Eat Pray Love which I refuse to see in theaters until I've read the book and one that I quite possibly might have shoved a cute little toddler out of the way for, by Audrey Niffenegger called Her Fearful Symmetry. It is her latest I believe since The Time Traveler's Wife which we all know is this girl's favorite book of all time. Plus the cover quote told me "Niffeneger lovers will not be able to put this down" so I had to get it.

:)

But I really haven't been able to put it down. That woman is just so freaking fantastic at writing. I will keep you updated on my thoughts about it. And my continued progress to show you ladies there's a new book nerd in town. :) Jk - you know I wish we could all just group hug :P

Alright, enough..who talks like that? Group hug. I'm sorry. I'm beyond delirious from my shotgun trip to MI this weekend - of which I still owe you two days' worth of report and images. Promise that'll happen tomorrow.

And I'll stop calling you kids.
And I'll never talk about group hugs again. I apologize.
Group hug. Damnit!

And You Thought I'd Forget About You

Hi kids.
I know. You're glad I'm here. Don't worry. I had planned to keep you guys with me on my little summer vacation to the ever glamorous Michigan this whole time!!!

Alright, maybe not the whole time. But I knew I was going to have some downtime to myself and my shotgun weekend getaway and what better way to spend it blogging about how the fabulous nothingness I will be doing out here??! :)

Don't worry, I won't post endless pictures of me and N hanging all over each other kissing..even though that's all we're doing. :) But so far, I've had the funnest car ride home with my boys N and Billy :), an amazing mini tour complete with a detour of the town, and a brunch filled with more food than I've eaten in the last week. If I could puke, I would. :P

I've been working my magic all day to get the boys talked into seeing Inception tonight. I think I've been patient enough plus I don't think it'll take much more convincing on their parts. I think a nap, downtime, dinner & a movie will be on the menu tonight :)

But first, today's collection...

Told you I went to go hang out with Marshall.

My boys ♥

Downtown Oxford.

Coney Island Diner.

YUM!

Oh ya. Almost forgot to mention the lovely weather we're having.

Just a humble 95 degrees with 90% humidity.

Happy Feet. Wedding Feet.

I have been completely let myself be washed over with wedding excitement. Maybe I'm mistaking it for stress. But regardless of how much my tummy already starts to flutter or how stressful everything seems... I. Cannot. WAIT!!

I am, yes, one of those girls that has dreamt about her wedding day for quite some time. Not since I was a little girl..no. Not to that extreme. I think the time I really remember starting to envisioning what colors I would want or what my dress was going to be like, was when I was 16 years old, working at my first job; Mr Neat's Formalwear. A tuxedo store here in Colorado that is now called Al's Formalwear - booh. The old name was so much cooler. But whatev.

The funny thing is..or was, seeing as now I can..I could never get a good vision of what I wanted. I played with hundreds of ideas, colors, dress shapes, and I never had that one dress I saw myself in. It definitely wasn't the princess dress that ironically everyone said that is what they did see me in. But, that should be enough about the dress talk - I know N reads it and I can't give away too much! :) :)

But with my dress, which was that "this is it" moment, so was the idea of what I wanted my wedding to look like. I was browsing through a magazine one day shortly after N had gotten down on one knee, and simply stopped and gasped really loudly. There was this 5 page spread complete with cake and bouquet ideas of this deep deep purple and bright mandarin orange colored wedding. It was stunning. Before I knew what to do with myself I tore out the entire thing and tossed the rest of the magazine. That was it.

Now that I think about it..I have to go back to the dress. Only because, I know I've never told you guys the story of me and my amazing gown :) So..remember when I said everyone and their mother envisioned me in this?

Well I'll say that I tried one and actually found one that was really gorgeous (except the fact that it weighed more than me) at DB. I did love it and thought "go big or go home" :P until one Sunday my mom came and visited me in Fort Collins for brunch and we stopped in this little vintage boutique that buys secondhand gowns, designer sample gowns, as well as sells them. We poked around in there for awhile and found some gorgeous veils and accessories, etc. I did try on a couple dresses but nothing to beat my first dress. The owner was so sweet and encouraged us to look at all sizes, because a lot of times when she buys designer gowns the sizes are way off from usual sizes. So I began to poke around again and pulled this gown out from the size 12 section that immediately caught my eye. I yelled "mom, I have to try this on!" and she goes "Hun, that's a 12. You're a 4. It'll never fit". 

Little did she know.

That little puppy zipped right up as if it were made for me. I jumped in my borrowed heels and walked out, knowing I was wearing the dress. I didn't want to take it off. It was amazing. I really didn't want to take it off when I looked at the price tag. I was ecstatic. I went home with the appointment to pick it up and purchase it 3 days later, and Googled my designer sample online to see how old it was and the original price.

Not that I ever thought I'd get thrifty when it came to my wedding but when I found it online I realized that I had just found a $3,000 Mikaella gown for $425 - in mint condition that will only require slight alterations. Who the hell cares how many collections its old!
I couldn't be happier about my dress. :) And yes, I'll post pictures in 10 weeks when everything is over.

Which actually brings me to my original reason for creating this post. The fact that my wedding is 10 weeks away! And tonight I was doing some updates to our wedding website.. www.mywedding.com/jessicalovesnicholas
I found our engagement pictures. Just because of the fact that it is just a little bit over 10 weeks away..I had to post them. Enjoy some super gross loveyness kids!

N's Being Whiny

I think this week is all about featuring various people I love on my blog :) Like N, who's been complaining about the fact that I've never directly blogged about him and after I dedicated an entire blog post to J and then Amy & Jordan the other day he got especially whiny :) 

Then I was just going through some more of my editing and found a couple snapshots my friend Billy took of N and me at the wedding this weekend :) And even though I'm soo tired and have to get back up for work in oh..5 hours..this will be my first, small, humble post dedicated to N. 

I promise there will be another schatz. ♥

this one's my favorite ♥

I miss you like crazy schatz. I can't wait until we can be together every day again. Let's just hope it comes sooner than later. Even if it's not until we are married :) Then we can just completely start new and twice as happy! (How cheesy is this?) :) But I don't care. 

I miss you. So big. :)

An Apple & A Wedding

I got to shoot my first wedding this weekend :) It was fantastic!! And despite my nerves I am more than happy with how the images turned out. It was the most beautiful wedding I've ever had the honor of attending. If you hop on over to my photography blog you can sneak a peek at some of the beautiful photos.

A post for J

One of my favorite anonymous readers :) let's call her J, has the sweetest visions to what she wants her wedding day to look like when the time comes. 

People always give her a hard time, because she wants gingham as one of her predominant patterns. They mock her 

"So you want a bbq for your wedding?" 

Those people don't know shit. They just don't have classy visions like J. I found these images on www.theknot.com 

and had to share them with you and J!! 

How beautiful are these ideas?

What's Up Buttercup?

Sorry I've been so boring lately. No fun posts. Hardly any upkeep on my life. I completely broke the snooze button I think. I can't help it. N's been gone for what seems like an eternity even though it's been hardly 3 weeks and I'm completely falling apart.

I'm not to proud of the fact that I can't seem to handle anything without him. But then again, I can. It's just almost a luxury to have someone at home to make you laugh regardless of how puffy your eyes are from crying the whole way home and much you just want to pout. I think one time he even made snot come out my nose because I was trying so hard not to cry anymore and sulk but the laugh just exploded out of me. It was hot.

BUT..if anything..I should practice what I preach and say SCREW YOU GUYS. This is my blog. Why am I apologizing? :) But .. I have to say.. might be a little less bright and a little more reflective over here for awhile. I just cannot get my brain to take its foot off the gas for even just a minute. I'm literally thinking about a million different things a minute.

The wedding.
What'll happen at work?
What if N doesn't succeed?
What if N does succeed?
The wedding.
Did I work my full 40hrs this week?
Am I in the wrong?
Why am I having dejavu again? (seriously, I've had SO many lately it's starting to freak me out)
Am I seriously gaining more weight right now?
The wedding.
What if N and I are happy in Michigan?
What if we're miserable?
What if we get pregnant sooner, rather than later?
Do I want to be pregnant?

I don't know how to turn it off. It's just always going. But in my defense, I've not completely lost my mind. And I'm not completely drowning in self pitty. I don't even think I've forgotten how to swim just yet. The waves are just a little higher than I'm comfortable with being this far out. 

A lot of my thoughts are happy thoughts. Excitement is starting to take over for stress about the wedding. And even more so excitement about the after. And that's what people who get married young don't really think about, do they. Just kind of the big party!? Well, of course I'm gitty about it. But I cannot wait for the after. 

Our own place. 

My husband and I. 

Probably far away in a strange place. 

Newlyweds. 

Laughing in the car when we run errands. 

I hope you keep visiting. Especially to tell me how you're doing. Or if you have any thoughts to add to my brilliant ones :) Just give me a heads up first?

You're a doll, 

(I like leaving you with tunage)