married!

I haven't blogged since the wedding! After the wedding we spent a week in Montana relaxing, came back to Seattle for a week and a half and then went back to Montana again for Logan and Eric's wedding. It was a bit of a whirlwind but soooo fun. We still have one more wedding to go to in September and already FOUR scheduled for next year. We are definitely in the season of love with all of our friends. We are going to need to start a savings account just for all the wedding gifts we'll purchase!

Our wedding was truly amazing. It was perfect. And I really do mean perfect. There was nothing that went wrong, no major issues, no weather problems...it was truly perfect...magical...wonderful. We had so much fun too. It was four days of wedding celebrations starting with my bridal shower and going through to the rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, wedding and morning after brunch. SO much fun. My only wish? That we could do it all over again. The moments went by so quickly. This is why I actually love going to other people's weddings now. We can relive all the moments from our wedding, just through our friends.

wine tasting and to-do lists

I finally got around to uploading the pictures from my bachelorette party last weekend. It was SO much fun. We went wine tasting (my first time) and then out to dinner at a really good seafood restaurant in downtown Seattle on the lake.

I loved the group of girls who were able to come with, I think we all had a really good time and I am so thankful they were all there to help me celebrate!

3 weeks until our wedding! The last minute stuff has begun. I continue to write to-do lists of tasks that can't quite yet be done yet but must be accomplished by the wedding week. I am so nervous I will forget something like order 5 extra table cloths or add another appointment for a girl to get her hair done or order the kegs Tuesday...so many details! But I think I'm on top of it. The lists are my life savers for sure. I am anxious to be home and surrounded by a team of helpers and planners and organizers who can carry us through the rest of it.

I think Nathan and I are going to go head to a movie and round out our low-key weekend (I may also convince him to make a quick stop at the Nordstrom anniversary sale...just so I can take a peek). This is actually our last weekend before the storm. Next weekend is Abbie's wedding, the next weekend we head home and the following is our wedding...AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

summer sunshine

Can I just say I love summer? Things are just so carefree and sunny and happy and FUN. We are going to Bite of Seattle this weekend which totally equals summer to me. Tons of happy people, food stands for miles, water parks, music, sitting on the grass, walking around in shorts, holding hands, taking pictures. I'm excited.

Then next weekend we are back in Montana for Abbie's wedding! Weddings also equal summer to me and obviously this summer is no exception by any means. Ahh. I am definitely looking forward to all of it...

On the home front, I got a couple samples of paint so I can re-do the yellow office (it's just way too bright and I feel guilty considering it will also be a guest room...and our poor guests will die of yellow overload) and finally paint our bedroom. The yellow is definitely a go but for our bedroom I chose two greyish blues and we cannot seem to choose which one we like better, they're both good! We also have one naked wall in our family room because we ran out of taupe color and thought it might be the perfect opportunity to throw in an accent wall...But what color accent wall!? That room is mostly neutrals, tans, browns, light blues. I was thinking a really light blue which I don't think classifies as an accent wall, but whatever. The painting never goes very quickly anyway so I'm not in a hurry because I am estimating it will be the end of August before we finally get it all finished...but I like to dream.

I also want to plant some flowers in some planters on our steps but I am very nervous about them surviving while we are gone so much this summer. When we came back last week our little pansies were completely dead. I need a timed waterer for a little flower pot, has anyone invented that?

We are going to test drive some cars for Nathan this weekend. We are sad to say we may have to get rid of the truck. It's a bummer because we love its comfort, utility and just all around greatness...but it is a terrible vehicle for commuting and that is exactly what Nathan is doing every day. He is looking at the Audi A4 which isn't exactly what I was thinking but he really wants all wheel drive while still having some sportiness and power. It also has to be comfortable for a tall guy and have four doors...because let's be realistic, we plan to keep this next car for a while and that probably means needing to use the backseat for things like...babies. So we'll see what we can find. Surprisingly the Audi A4 is only about $15 more a month for insurance which was music to my ears considering our insurance is at a great rate since it just went down again when we moved to a safer area.

the ship has sailed!

We have finally finished our wedding invitations and got the majority of them in the mail exactly at the 6 week deadline. What a relief! I love them after adding a backing to the invite and polka dot yellow envelope liners. It was a lot of extra work but my sweet hubby-to-be was a great crafting assistant. In fact, on Sunday morning he got up at 6:00am and stamped our return address on every single envelope...and beautifully too!

We are ready for this wedding! There are a few extra details to work out and then it's go time! We're pretty excited for the big day and the combination of sealing the deal forever as well as spending time with so many friends and family in our favorite place.
A lot of our friends have been taking trips and buying fun things lately and we have been bummed to not take part due to saving for a wedding and our house...but looking back I don't know if I'd do it any other way. The wait is going to be so worth it and I think coming home to OUR house is going to feel even better when we can hang a "The Johnsons" sign on the door and wake up each morning as husband and wife. I know I'm going to spend a good part of August 7 crying but it's all going to be big huge happy tears. I'm crazy in love with the boy I will call my husband and I can't wait to make it officially official. We are also BEYOND excited to be at the lake for 2 weeks basking in the sun with family and taking a little break from the stressful side of life.

It's going to be good.

labels and bent rings

I am working on creating labels for our wedding invitations right now. So many of our friends of the moving around every few months age so I am trying to stay on top of the updates. Our invitations are running a bit late so the plan is to create the labels, put them on the envelopes and have everything ready and waiting the day they arrive. It should come as no surprise that they will be late, it is mostly just my life story. I couldn't find the ones I wanted and then finally chose a graphic designer and didn't plan for the amount of time the back and forth edits would take. But they are at the printer now and they will soon be finished and that is all that matters!

I just noticed my engagement ring is really bent, at the diamond part. I have no idea how this happened but I am totally worried now. This ring is supposed to last...um, forever and already I'm having issues. When we went to pick out our wedding bands last month the guy at the store mentioned the white gold color was already starting to wear off my e-ring. In less than a year! My ring is Tacori, it wasn't cheap by any means so I'm a bit surprised...but I guess white gold is just very soft. I didn't want platinum because I thought it was a waste for the same look but now I guess I get it...I just need to be more careful I think. And our wedding bands...ohhhhh how I can't wait to have mine. We both got ones we really love so we are quite anxious for August 7th to get here. We are also getting some special tattoos (very tiny, most unnoticeable) after the wedding and are pretty excited for those as well. Nathan's is indestructable Tungsten and mine is, again, white gold. But oh so beeeeyooteefull!

The sun is finally out and I think summer might be on its way. I have started running and am hoping to stick to it. There is a long street that leads to our house and there are always tons of people running on the sidewalks everytime I drive by. It has pushed me to get out and do the same. Unfortunately I feel guilty going without the dog and he usually ruins my whole workout. He is the worst leash dog ever. He is a male hound and has to stop to smell everything and pee on everything. It is SO frustrating because after most of his stops he takes off running and pulls me with him. I thought he'd get better with more time on a leash but I have been doing this for 2 1/2 years and nothing has changed. I can't leave him though, he knows what it means when I change into shorts and put on shoes and jumps up and down until I take him with me. At least he's getting some exercise too I guess. We are taking him to Doggy Haven Resort tomorrow to test out a new and much more exciting doggy day camp (he usually goes to PetSmart). Pretty sure he is not going to want to leave.

home

We've been in our new home for almost a week! We have spent nearly every day moving between the old house and the new one (who knew we had so much stuff?) but we are nearly finished. The first thing we moved was the bed so we've been staying the night since day one.

We have painted 2 rooms and while there are some obvious signs we did it ourselves, we're still pretty happy with the results. I had dreamed of turning the smallest bedroom into a cheerful yellow office so we painted it first, only to find that "pale butter" was not so pale and rather a margarine hue. It's a bit bright and I have to admit, I closed the door for a whole day because I didn't want to look at it...but I think it will be okay. The furniture and accents in there will be mostly white and that should help tone it down a little. It's always a waiting game to find out if the paint is actually the same color by the time the room is finished and it has dried. Oh well, nothing is permanent.

3 different neighbors have said hello, welcomed us to to the neighborhood and even offered to help us move. It feels so good to be part of a community again. We have still not seen any other dogs though so we're a little nervous Scrappy is the only one. Not that it's a bad thing but just that most people are a little more understanding when a dog pees on their plants if they have a dog of their own. Oh well. He doesn't run far yet anyway, I think he's still understanding that this is our new home. He has a doggy door now too. He loves it but is still learning that he can use it whenever he wants, without permission.

We desperately want to furnish every room in the house but are taking it slow. Our wedding is two and a half months away so we need to focus on saving for it...and we have to have something to register for! So we are just making do with getting a few things here and there. Besides, we'll be here for a few years so there's no reason to do everything at once.

almost finished!

We are FINALLY [almost] homeowners! We signed the paperwork on Thursday and were set to get keys Friday. Unfortunately the escrow office forgot a piece of paperwork and everything got pushed back. Nathan left for his bachelor party Friday morning and they didn't realize the paperwork was missing until after he had left. So we wait...We will officially have the place Monday but our realtor called the sellers to ask if they would let us in early. They said we could go in and clean and mow if we wanted to. So I have the key.

I went there today and walked through every room, opened every cabinet and drawer and imagined the paint colors and furniture that would fill them. I am a little overwhelmed by the painting that needs to happen. The walls are TALL and there is so much space to cover! I think it will be a day by day thing, a room here, a room there. But I'm excited and I am super excited for Nathan to get home and for us to move in and make it our own!

This has been such a long time coming and finally it's here!