Figured That One Out Quick

After an evening full of crafts with my friend Rachael, I found a solution for the placecards! Michael's Craft Stores apparently carry thick foam sheets in black and white; I thought the black would look the best and wanted to try out my vision. I think the idea's a keeper:

Because I randomly chose Melissa's name, I'm giving my favorite Irish lass (I think that's what girls are called) a shoutout - I can't wait to see her! 

Also, on a similar note, I found out today that my dad's coming out to Phoenix when my mom and Patrick's parents are visiting in late January. He was keeping it a secret - that punk ;). I'm very happy he decided to join us!

This is my artsy shot from above. Can you recognize any names?:

 

-Lisa

Pinetop & Placecards

This weekend, we had a great getaway for Patrick's birthday. We drove a few hours to Pinetop, a little town about 3 hours northeast of Phoenix. The weather was much cooler than what we're used to (37-50ish degrees), and we were able to just relax most of the time there. The exception of the relaxation was us going for a 3-mile jog; I forgot how much harder it is to run in the cold, and the fact that we were at a much higher elevation didn't help either!

It really was nice to get a change of scenery where we didn't have to think about anything but just being with each other & the dogs. Crazy to think about, but coming back from Pinetop, Patrick is now 31, and we're under 6 months until the wedding!

While Patrick was driving on the way home, I was playing around with my idea for the placecards... You can see the names I've made so far to the right. I still don't know what the next step for them will be, but turning the ends of the wire to make the names stand up on their own is my leading idea.

I've also thought about making a frame out of cardstock, hanging them on a shepherd's hook made of wire, making them stand up on a base of some type (wood/clay/foam/foamboard)... I have no idea, but for now I'll just keep making names and playing around with ideas! I love the thought that some people might take it home as something they'd want to keep.

Thanksgiving made me realize how much is going RIGHT in my life, and I hope everyone is able to step back and think of the good things in your life, too.

-Lisa

Check Out the Shirts & Ties

Please forgive the bad lighting of the pic!

The original plan for the groomsmen was to have the teal/blue shirts with matching ties, but I think we've actually decided on striped ties! We ordered a solid turquoise tie and then a striped tie with turquoise and a silver color (online) to see what they look like, and you can check it out for yourself in the picture.

Banks came over tonight, and both he and Patrick liked this look more than the solid ties. They brought up a good point that the silver will help compliment the charcoal suits, and the more I looked & thought about it, the more I like it, too. Even though I kept suggesting fuchsia in the ties somehow, they repeated shot me down. Dang ;). At least I'll be able to tie in the pink in the flower on their boutonnieres!

For Patrick's tie, I think it'd be great if we could find a tone-on-tone, white, striped tie with stripes similar in size to this tie, but who knows what we'll find.

I'm pumped b/c it's only Wednesday, and I'm off work until Monday... and there are a lot of things to celebrate. Tomorrow (Thursday) is Thanksgiving, and we're going to Kate/Ryan's house for dinner. Friday is Patrick's 31st birthday, and we're headed to Pinetop for the weekend. We found a cute cabin that was available (it was very hard to find one available for the holiday weekend), and we're even able to bring the dogs with us. THEN, Saturday is six months until our wedding (!!).

I've said that the six month point is the time where I get really serious about getting in shape, losing weight and toning up, so (knowing that was coming up this weekend) I've had some of my favorite foods - including Reeses Peanut Butter Cups and McDonalds fries - for the first (and last) time in months.

The training for our half-marathon has actually been going well. We have one long run each week, and we finished 6 miles on Saturday. That was the longest run that I've ever done at one time (without having the running happening through a sport). I noticed - and Patrick pointed out afterward - that my breathing stayed steady almost the whole time, and I was able to jog the first 3 miles, walk a little bit and then jog the 2nd three miles. The second half was about 2 minutes quicker than the first half, so that's a really good sign! I'm still not to the point that I think running is fun, but I have to admit it's feeling a little easier.

Our team: Chuck Norris and the Roundhouse Kickers

We won our 3rd kickball championship in a row with our Tuesday night team last night! Patrick did a great job pitching, and I had to step outside of my comfort zone as the shortshop... I played catcher and did my best to field the bunts. It's a tough spot when the other teams are bunting almost every time, but we won and I learned a lot about the position. Good times.

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!
- Lisa

'Before' and 'After' Pictures

If you're tired of house renovation updates, I'm sorry... This has just been taking up most of our time lately, so I had to at least put a few entries. This will hopefully be the last kitchen update for a while... Back to wedding updates after this ;). Now to the 'Before' and 'After' comparisons:

Flooded kitchen with old white appliances and old countertops:

Old white appliances with new granite countertops:

 

New black appliances with new granite countertops (the microwave still needs to be installed, and the pantry doorknob is now brushed nickel):

I love it. My favorite update from the weekend (probably because I've been used to my awesome refrigerator for the last couple years) is the stove. We found it on Craigslist for under 50% of the regular price. It's only 2 months old and has never been used. The burners are spotless and the cast iron burner covers that cover the entire top of the stove are pretty hardcore.                                                                                                                                 Workers actually came in the day of the garage sale to clean the tile and grout, and any of the tile that had been damaged through the work on the house has been repaired. There's still a small list of things that need to be touched up by the contractors/workers, but it's almost finished!

-Lisa

Got the Groomsmen's Shirts

Our weekend has been really productive. We did a whole workday's worth of work on Saturday getting appliances for the kitchen. After 8+ hours, we finished the day with a fridge (moved that one to my house - and moved my fridge to Patrick's), a microwave and a brand new 4-burner gas stove with cast iron burner covers.

The fridge is all hooked up with the water working, the stove has been connected and tested for leaks (nothing to worry about) and the microwave just needs a couple screws from Home Depot in order to install it. The change in the aesthetics of the kitchen is amazing. I'm going to keep you waiting for a good picture b/c I haven't taken a good one yet. Trust me though; it's great.

Today, we got the final sizes from the groomsmen and were planning on getting their shirts at Steinmart b/c Patrick found some really nice shirts in a color a little lighter than the bridesmaid dresses. The color combo looked sharp, but I suggested we check out JC Penney's in the same shopping center first - just to make sure there wasn't a better option available. Amazingly enough: we found a shirt that's almost identical to the 'malibu' color of the dresses. The store's lights made the colors look a little different but it was the closest we'd seen, and we agreed to get them. Once we were outside, the natural sunlight made the colors look as close as possible. SCORE! We had to go to another JC Penney's to get a couple other sizes, but the guys' shirts can now be checked off the list.

Just an idea

After the shirts, we went into a furniture store to get some ideas for the living room. We found one option that we really like... We haven't bought it, but this is the front runner so far. We'd trying to find a couch with a chaise & ottoman; if it's possible to move the chaise to either side: even better. Patrick would like a recliner if there's room, so that's on the list as a possibility too.

I've started playing around with ideas for the placecards for the wedding, and I have a fun, unique idea involving making the names individually out of wire. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to do that, so the idea hasn't been finalized yet. I love my new projects.

Ok, it's getting late and even though we have a short workweek, the morning's going to come quick. Night!

-Lisa

Is Something Missing...?

That's right... THE APPLIANCES SOLD TODAY! It took a lot longer to remove them than I ever thought - and the fridge had to have its doors removed to get out the front door - but they're gone!

When the guy texted Patrick last night saying, "Can I come by tomorrow to pick them up?" he looked at me and said, "Get online... look for new appliances!" We both had a moment of thinking, "YIKES!! This is really happening!"

When the sale was a sure thing, we moved everything from the freezer to the mini-fridge (that actually freezes everything b/c the thermostat is broken), and brought the fridge's contents over to my house. It's been fast and furious, but we've made arrangements to see a new refrigerator, gas stove and microwave tomorrow morning. The U-Haul trailer will be ready to be picked up at 7am. We're definitely getting a fridge first (saw that one before Patrick's kickball games tonight and committed to buying it), and are then heading to see a microwave and a 2-month old (never been used) gas stove.

I'm hoping it all works out, but ::knock-on-wood:: the prospects look great so far. Without getting too excited, this is really exciting! ;)

-Lisa

Countertopless No More

That title makes me laugh for some reason, but I wanted to put a few pictures up... NOW THAT WE HAVE COUNTERTOPS!

Close-up of the granite

The granite looks sooo good; there are flecks throughout that really catch the light and actually kind of sparkle. Patrick saw the beginning of the installation, and he really liked it; I can't wait for him to get back to his house and see the finished product. In the meantime, every window in the house is open (and every fan is on) b/c the fumes from the caulk are ridiculously strong. Whew.

Hopefully the kitchen will continue to change in the next week or so - b/c we've posted the white appliances for sale on Craigslist. There's a guy who's interested in the set who should be coming this weekend to check them out. Cross your fingers!

We're planning on using the $ we made in the garage sale (which was a huge success) and the $ we make on these appliances to go towrds replacing the white appliances with black appliances (the dishwasher Patrick bought a few months ago is black). We'll probably move my black, french-door, bottom-freezer refrigerator to Patrick's house and get a simple, not-expensive black refrigerator for my house since I'll be renting it out.

We've also posted all of our couches for sale and have had some bites; just waiting for the right person who wants to get them at the right price! We're also working on the little details: ex. switching out the gold doorknobs with silver ones.

The plumber is here right now installing the sink's faucet and garbage disposal. The carpet is being installed tomorrow, and I can confidently say that it feels like the house is finally coming together. HALLELUJAH!!

-Lisa

200 DAYS

It seems like I JUST posted "250 DAYS" entry; these last 50 days have flown by!

Over the weekend, Patrick and I spent a few hours reseeding the front yard and working on the backyard. Patrick mowed the grass short while I worked on pulling out all the weeds around the dirt area (partially thanks to Target's clearance section and their reduced-price $1.48 gardening tools!). Patrick actually had to cut down the big tumbleweed-ish weed to the right with a saw, but the rest of the pile was the amount I destroyed!

Last night, he finished reseeding the backyard. Now that the weather is cooling off, I'm hoping we can really start to make a dent in the backyard landscaping progress, and hopefully the inside of the house will be finished with the renovations ASAP. It's been a slower process than we'd hoped, but it's slowly getting there.

-Lisa

The Dress is Officially Mine

Ever since I chose my dress, I've been teasing Patrick and telling him it's a short, pink sequined dress...haha.

Instead of just paying for the dress in one payment, I had decided to pay for it monthly from the $ I got from my Grandma (when she passed away). This weekend, I made the final payment on my dress, so it's officially mine!

The dress is scheduled to come in at some point in mid-January, so I still have a couple months until I can see the actual dress and try it on. It'll be different from the sample I tried on: the sample was 2 sizes too small and was in a different color, so I'm VERY excited to see how it looks in the right size and color when it comes in.

I wonder if my grandma would approve of pink sequins... ;)

-Lisa