engagiversary?

I dunno what else to call it...

Anywho, we have been engaged for a year today :)  at this time last year, we were having a celebratory cookie monster at Cheddar's in Waco.  yay.

success...and failure

on more than one front:

• House addiction is now full blown.
• $200 adorable wool pea coat for $30.
• found adorable flower pins for BM dresses for 2 bucks each on clearance.
• LOST 2.5 POUNDS SINCE THURSDAY.

failures:

• still have not started multiple homework BS.
• daylight savings time - WTF.
• figs have been added to my list of things that weird me the hell out.
• horrible migraine 90% of yesterday.

happy weekend, everyone.

life, and tagged.

so it's been a week, time to update my loyal readers, who I'm sure are on the edge of their seat.

valentine's day was pretty uneventful because we are poor until this friday when we get paid. so we're pretending it didn't happen yet. I went and tried on my (new) dream dress, put up with a bunch of obnoxious girls in the bridal salon, and then we went to lunch without chad, since he wasn't included in the wedding dress shopping, obvi. for those of you in the know, it is looking like #2 is a solid winner. my dad did make a fabulous steak and shrimp dinner though, ohhhh baby.

sunday, we were talking and decided we should probably move our wedding back to next spring. with the economy sucking our life forces away, and my internship this summer (which I absolutely cannot skip, too much of an opportunity/resume booster) not ending until like 3 weeks before the wedding, we just don't see it happening. this way we have a few extra months to take care of payments (even though we have really whittled the budget so it's not that big a deal anyway), and gives my parents some extra time to settle their stuff so they can help us with my dress and whatever else they are going to. also, we really don't feel like everyone important to us has the resources to buy plane tickets soon, let alone maybe 2 for bachelor/bachelorette parties as well. so that is sort of a bummer, but sort of whatever, because we basically are married without it being official anyway, so what's the rush I guess.

this week has been awful so far, and it's only getting worse. one professor assigned 4 major projects this week - one due monday, one tuesday, one thursday, and one friday. everyone I have talked to is a combination of completely stressed and extremely pissed. I have completed 2 of them and am too angry to start on the other 2. on top of that, I have another major project for my ore geochem class due friday. since this is the only class I actually care about, I feel like it should be taking precidence, but it really hasn't so far. guess I know what I'm doing during office hours tomorrow. dang.

today, I had an awkward break because of said stupid professor adjusting class times this week, so I went on an adventure around fort collins since I do not really know much about it. I went to a place called the buttercream cupcakery - omg. they have jumbo sized (well, rather large regular sized, I guess), and little mini cupcakes. I got a mini chai tea and a mini PB fudge. DELISH. and the display case was adorable. also, on sundays, they make french toast cupcakes. NOT EVEN RIGHT.



yum.

then I went to a consignment shop to sell some of the clothes I have been dragging around in the back of my car. they bought one thing, and the guy told me that they "totally wanted the rest" but that even though they were all cute and stylish and sellable clothes, because they were more than one year old, they were not allowed to sell them. um, wtf? I worked in a consignment shop once, and that makes no sense. if it is cute and sellable, we bought it. who cares how old it is? so that was dumb and a waste of time, I guess I will try another shop elsewhere.

after that, I took a trip to a local jewelry shop and looked for a wedding band. I wanted to get the one that matches my e-ring, but I am a little bored by it and want something more fun and unique. I found a couple of things I really liked (one being a $3800 tacori band - sigh.), so that gives me new hope. the one I ended up liking the most I never would have picked up on my own, and the girl helping me suggested it. she was right. I tried to find a similar pic online, but no luck.

so the lovely christy tagged me in this random purse survey thing. you're supposed to post a picture of your purse and how much it cost and some interesting story about how you got it. so here's my bag. I love it and all of it's $30 glory. I bought it because I kept walking by it and swooning over it and finally decided I had to have it, even though I have 34234 other purses. shhh. it's kinda boring I guess...haha.


now that this has turned into a novel, I bid you adieu.

hey, knotties...

if you haven't already, will you check out my dress poll on the austin board?

i am indecisive and torn.

we won!

thanks to everyone who voted for us in the photograph contest chad & i were finalists in.  we won!  exxxxciting :)

vote please :)

I also posted this on theknot and facebook, so please disregard if you've seen it/done it already :)

Chad and I are entered into a contest to win a free engagement session on a photographer's blog in denver.  We have to get at least 20 votes to win one of the 6 sessions, and you can vote for us by leaving a comment on the blog with our number (we are #5 - the ice skating picture).  if you have a second and wouldn't mind, it would be awesome if you would vote for us!  you can only vote once per person/IP address or you can get disqualified so only vote once please :)

http://www.thetatteredveil.com/blog/

weekend update.

so, 101 progress:

15.  try a new recipe once a month.

saturday night we had a little soiree with some friends here and my mom and I made these delicious concoctions that I have no name for.  they are very simple:  take a green pepper chopped into reasonable appetizer sized pieces (I suppose you could use any, but I liked the flavor with these), spray with a little olive oil and salt and pepper, crumble some feta cheese on each piece, and then sprinkle some sliced kalamata olives on top of the feta cheese.  grill (or bake) until the peppers are softened.  OMG.  amazing.  they tasted nothing like I expected them to, and they were gone in about 2 minutes.

41.  try a new wine every month.

I tried Black Opal shiraz this month.  I was not such a fan - if you like dry red wines, you would probably be impressed by it, but it was a little too much for me.  It had a good flavor, but it was not quite what I like.  I did use it to make some marinara for my baked eggplant parmesan, and it was a nice touch there, though!

32.  keep my car clean - especially if I get a new one!

check.  I have had the car for almost a month and it has been kept thoroughly pristine.  I scrubbed it down last week, and there is no trash piling up inside.  victory, so far.

64.  clean out my closet and donate/consign what i can.

I did this right before we moved back to Colorado, and I did it again when we got here.  I have a cargo area full of clothes to take to the consignment shop.

75.  get my parents to switch lightbulbs.

by this, I mean from traditional ones to the energy efficient spiral ones.  well, turns out they had pretty much done most of the household bulbs on their own!  success.

78.  register for practical wedding gifts - and at least one splurge.

we registered last tuesday.  it was fun but really pretty exhausting.  I would say our splurge was the Dyson we registered for.  my parents have had one for a few years and I love it - so I must have one.  I really wanted the pink breast cancer one they came out with, but I will settle for the allergen one we registered for.  I was also excited for the free gift we got from crate & barrel - they give you a crystal heart bowl when you register there.

confessions:

- I start grad school on tuesday.  I know I should probably be excited or something, but I am really just dreading more school.  plus, I am not all that psyched about my schedule right now (it is still sort of in limbo though...so that might change).  I know that it should go by really fast due to the fact the 3.5 years of undergrad pretty much flew by, and theoretically I should only be in my master's program for 1.5 years, but I really, truly, with every fiber of my being hate school.  I want the advanced degree, but I hate the process.

- I have not heard from my doctor since my ovarian ultrasound.  I am not sure if this is good or bad, but either way I do not like being in limbo.  

- I am not sure if I know how to be a teacher, so I don't know how this TA position thing is going to go.  ack.

- chad jacked up my favorite (of our 2) guitar controller for guitar hero being a drunken fool on saturday, and I want to punch him.  okay, maybe not the violence, but I am ticked.

random thoughts...

1) revlon beyond natural make up is amazing.

I am usually a strictly Clinique girl, but I kept seeing Jessica Alba on TV, taunting me with the magic powers of this make up (it's the one that goes on white, but matches to your skin color when you apply it).  I am pretty impressed.  It feels really light, and I like it.  I may just switch...*hides from lady at Macy's Clinique counter*

2)  I love broccoli salad.  I love it too much.  

3)  we visited that wedding venue today - it was awesome.  We're very excited.  I have pictures, but am too lazy to find my camera cable.

4)  I don't actually know where my camera charger is.  Damn.  Also, I have been taking pictures for the 365 project and I should upload them.  sigh.

5)  I love Wii fit.  It is awesome because you can do an hour and a half of aerobics without even realizing it.  Because it is fun.  Yesssss.

6)  I haaaate time warner cable.  They are ridiculous.  I don't even have their service anymore and I am still dealing with their shenanigans.

Potato)  There are a lot of new movies I want to see.  And some that I am embarrassed about (coughBrideWarscough).  

fingers crossed...

I mentioned in my last post that we were frustrated with our original venue choice because of the coordinator's mistake. Tomorrow, we are going to visit a second venue which seems amazing from pictures/information/other brides' opinions, and seems to "fit" much better with our general theme. It's a great rustic-style (but actually new) lodge on some acreage in an upscale neighborhood. It's very affordable, open to any and all vendors we want to bring in, and has great outdoor spaces/views. I'm hopeful and excited.

Fingers crossed, we will have a venue tomorrow.

p.s. we're getting married in 8 months!

honeymoon changes?

so originally, we were pretty set on disneyworld as our honeymoon.  maybe that sounds kid-like, but we both love disneyworld, and you get special newlywed treatment there, so it seemed like a lot of fun.  

then, i suggested a cruise.  but we couldn't really find some place to go on a cruise to that we were really interested in.  lots of places in the caribbean are gorgeous, but we don't really want to sit around on a beach for a week, so that seemed pointless.  we aren't interested in mexico. european cruises are an option, but we want to wait until we have a bigger budget to plan a trip to europe, so that seemed silly, too.

i have always been really interested in going to hawaii, but we pretty much assumed it would be outrageously priced.  i was randomly clicking around on theknot last night, and i was just messing around on the honeymoon channel reading articles.  i was browsing an article about hawaii, and it was ridiculously beautiful.  i was craving it already.  

so, i started doing some google research, with help from tripadvisor.com.  hawaii is really surprisingly affordable.  i mean, obviously, you can rack up a $6000 week if you stay at the $800/night resorts pretty easily, but there are lots of options that make it a fraction of that cost.  i am more than a little psyched about this.  there are so many cool things to do and see there.

1.  volcanoes national park/volcanoes in general - hello?  my major is rocks.  yes, please.

2.  gorgeous, amazing beaches - can't go wrong here.

3.  dole pineapple farms and tours - NOM NOM

4.  coffee plantations and tours - ditto

5.  pearl harbor - dying to see this.

6.  swimming with dolphins - lifelong dream

7.  scuba diving - looks amazing

8.  rainforests & waterfalls

9.  helicopter tours - terrifying but awesome.

i could go on and on, i think.  i am practically drooling at the thought of this.