here and there

I've been a little lost with what to write about on here lately. That's probably pretty obvious seeing its been about two weeks since I've last updated. I've started writing a few things and then I never go back to them.

It's safe to say that I'm feeling pretty blah.We need to move and are most likely not going to until October 1st, I still can't work and won't be until November...I'm just feeling a little stuck. I have also started some projects that I have yet to finish, like ::ahem:: my thank you cards from the wedding. In my defense, I ran out, but they need to be finished, asap.

I dunno...its just one of those months I guess. Where everything is at a standstill in life. I really need to learn how to enjoy these times. I do have a few things to look forward to, and the major one being: we are flying back to Michigan in October for a friend's wedding! I'm pretty excited. I think that we are going to make a trip down to Chicago to see Dani and Bikey too.

I am determined to be better about updating this little old blog of mine. I have some pictures of the things we've been doing...and I will be taking pictures of my nephew. I got a little pep talk from Dani and I'm going to put my veryyy amateur photog. skills to work!

at the lake...I've been playing with new hairdo's for liv.

it's cold!

just waking up from a 2hr nap in "mama's bed"

our week.

Sooo...what's new? Nothing much around here. My Kijiji addiction is still in full force.

Case in point, the play structure I found today...and picked up and paid for. It was a whopping $25! I'm thinking its a big hit. What do you think?

princess dress and tigers hat....cute combo

LOVES it.

Other than that, I've been single-mom'ing it since last Tuesday. Liv is going camping with Carolyn tomorrow so I will get a few days off. I'm going to miss my little monster, but I have a list of things I want to get done while she's gone.

We went to a cook-out at Pat's Aunt Donna's house yesterday. There was lots of family around and we all had a blast. Liv was reunited with her love, corn on the cob...not kidding, my child ate at least 4 pieces. She may have had more on her face than in her tummy, but she was enjoying herself.

mmmm

YEAH CORN!

party is going on...and my kid is still eating corn.

Furnishing on a Budget

We are currently looking for a place to rent. I would say apartment, but then again, we've looked at apartments that call themselves condos and condos that call themselves townhouses. So we'll stick with place. We want to rent for 6 months, maybe a little more, so that when we buy our home we can get what we want. I ::cross my fingers:: should be able to work by then.

So anyways, back to the budget part. I consider myself to be a thrifty person. I rarely go into a store and buy something that's not on the clearance rack. With that said, big purchases seem reallyyy big to me. That's where Kijiji comes in. Kijiji has been my best friend lately. Don't know what Kijiji is? Well, Kijiji is not only fun to say, but its a lot like craigslist but, in my opinion, easier to navigate and more user friendly.

 For example, I have a hard time paying $1600 for a bedroom set that I could get "lightly used" for half the price.

That said bedroom set included a queen frame with a padded headboard, a footboard, 2 side tables, a long dresser and mirror! It is barely used. If you aren't grossed out by using "used" items, which I'm not, it's a great way to save a lot of money.

There are also things that are more than barely used. I spotted 2 Ikea Tullsta Chairs and they were anything but pretty. They were a hunter green and very worn. But, a quick look on ikea showed me that they sell covers for them and so I snatched them up both up for $50 total and purchased two chair covers for $100. Total spending: $150. 

My other great finds include an ikea table and chair set (paid $50) and a Trofast storage system (paid $150). I have to say the storage system was probably my biggest savings, as it would retail around $400 total for everything I got.

I'm pretty impressed with myself. I'm totally sick of loading and unloading things...and sick of driving around searching for the addresses of where the seller is located, but all-in-all I'd say that I'm happy I did it. I'm done buying furniture on Kijiji for awhile....There isn't any more room in our basement to store it until we move!

My next purchase may be a toddler bed frame! Apparently Liv has decided it's cool to try and climb out of her crib....I was hoping to keep her in there until she was 4 :).

u.p. wedding

I didn't really have a theme for my wedding. I mean I had colors {gray and yellow}, but theme-wise, I was lacking. I had a vision, a lot of help, and when my mom told me about a conversation she had with a coworker, it clicked. She was describing all of our centerpieces (diy) and the woman was amazed and said "oh that's very u.p." I never in a million years would have planned a u.p. wedding, but it definitely was. It was outside, simple, slightly country, and come on there were branches on the table.

I have never put something together like this in my life. I felt a little over my head at times, but I'm so glad I had so much help and everyone took time to help create the masterpiece that it was.

I have some more pictures from our photographer, Lea Peterson. She did a post on her blog, Vienna Glenn Photography. She was so easy to work with and I have to say that it was far easier than I expected to have pictures of myself taken. I kept thinking it was going to be super uncomfortable and that Pat would be miserable, but we actually had a great time!

So, without further adieu, here is the sneak peek we received.

The perfect willow tree.

"today was a fairytale"...I hear this song when I look at this picture. yay Taylor  Swift.

we discovered how good we were at faux kissing :)

one of my favorites

dippity-do-da

"can you feel the magic in the air, must have been the way you kissed me!!!"

my SIL informed me that we looked like we got into a little mischief behind the bushes in this one....ha

vintage coke bottles and grey striped straws courtesy of Dani

warm coke....I was a fan, Pat, not so much. oy the things you do for love.

cheers!

my amazing cake...courtesy of Tara.

By far, one of my favorite touches...hanging flowers over the dance floor.

"I GOT IT!" Liv's dress was handmade by mom mom :)

This pictures kills me....little princess.

Dani amazing us all with her speech, crowns included.

Dani made me this sign among a few others for the reception. She repainted old frames and put her prints on canvas. They were awesome. She's very talented. This was by far my favorite. It's the chorus to Blake Shelton's "Honey Bee", but obv. we included a little improv. of the lyrics.

Wouldn't have been the same without my girl Shannon.

We had 3 larger branches in pots with pictures from our ceremony hanging from them.

Thats how amazing the cake was....oh and that Groom's cake, kills me also. Pat loves the Flames and it was the perfect touch and oh so us.

Our dance....Liv included.

Father/Daughter dance...I love Liv in this picture.

Taking Liv for a little spin on the dancefloor.

Belle of the Ball

This is Rob....Rob before he split his pants :)

So much fun!

Pat dancing with his mom. 

Kind of out of order...but isn't he handsome :)