My Newest Obsession: Wood Projects.

Hi blog. It's been awhile. Usually when school starts that's what happens, and I'm really sorry. But I thought since I have just a few days left I would give a little update.

Recently I have found a new hobby that I love much more than I EVER thought I would. After I had to stop dancing I was in a little bit of a rut trying to find what my next "thing" would be, and it was hard. Boy, it was hard. Just ask my dear husband you had to witness a few too many tears on the particular matter. BUT. I think I have found it.

I have always had this odd obsession with wood. I love the smell, look, feel, etc of something so natural. Isn't that really strange? I know. But I love what wood can do and what it creates! When I first told Zach I wanted to make a bed frame that I had found on Pinterest I didn't quite know if I was serious. Ha. But Zach was excited and helped me believe that I could do it! So we sat down and talked with Zach's dad about the project. Mark (Zach's dad) is so great. I really love the guy. As soon as I told him about my idea, he was right on board. He told me the wood I would need, how much of it, and took Zach and I to home depot. This place is now one of my favorite places. We got the wood and spent the new few  (like two I think? It was a pretty quick project) Saturdays working on our bed. 

My favorite part of the process is the staining. Mark has this tool that sprays the stain which makes the process much faster (and way more fun). (You can tell I'm still learning because I still use terms like "spray stainer", "that one kind of saw", "the thing that makes pocket holes" haha. Good thing we have Mark!) Zach once asked what I have learned the most about this "new world" of wood and my response was "I had no idea there were so many different ways to cut things!" And it's true. There are a lot of different ways. Anyways. Here are some pictures of the process of our bed. I should have been better and actually taken my camera with me but I didn't. I'll do better on the next project.

We got the idea from someone using bookcases from IKEA for bed frames. I really wanted the wood look and so that's what we did! We made three "cases" and sectioned off the sides so that they have 3 cubbie things and the end has 2 (as you'll see in the pictures). It cost us just above $180 I think. (We did it in like July so I can't really remember.) But it was worth it. Looking at how much I would have had to spend getting the shelves at IKEA it would have been around $300. We don't have a head board (I'm still trying to decide on what I want it to actually look like) but I absolutely love how they have turned out. We have put books, shoes, my camera bag, etc without making it look like everything is just stuffed in there. I just really love them.

How it all starts.

The "boxes" that go along the side of the bed.

Staining with the cool strain gun.

Please ignore the fact that I totally didn't make the bed to get this picture. Ha. But this is essentially what it all looks like!

Our next project was to do some bedside tables. My parents have had these two that used to sit in the basement for forever. They had drawings, scratches, dings, and dents but we decided to sand them down and re-stain them and they turned out beautiful! The sanding took quite a long time on these because we had to sand around every grove and the drawers but they turned out perfect. We used the same stain color as we did the bed so they go together really well. I want to get some different knobs for them but haven't looked into it too much yet. I get carried away with the next project in mind and kind of forget that stuff.. ha.

Sanding the bedside tables.

Staining the tables now that they have been totally sanded.

Worst picture of me ever? yes. But this is what they looked like all done!

Our latest project was a coffee table. We didn't really need one of these but I saw the design online and after talking with Mark about it we just decided to go for it! I'm so glad we did. We looked for casters (the wheels) online and every where was like $30.00 at least! I didn't really want to spend that much per wheel so Mark suggested cutting them himself. He has a plasma cutter so he did the spoke parts of the wheel on that and then used 7" pipe that is about 1/4" thick and cut them to the width we wanted the wheels to be. He's a genius. Looking back we probably would have done 8" pipe but all is well. We also did a walnut inlay around the top that I really love. To add a little more of a rustic look to it we also put on metal corners that were also cut on the plasma cutter. We had to bead blast and paint them (same with the wheels) but it really adds to the rustic feel.

How the coffee table looked when we first got started! 

The top all done. Another thing I learned is that you have to clamp everything very tightly or else the wood warps and then you hate life. 

How the under part looks. 

With the wheels attached.

Getting ready to stain.

After we use the really cool stain gun thing we use rags to make sure it is all even. This is after the first coat. We ended up doing two coats.

All done!

Zach jokes that we will never be able to have a house with a basement because the coffee table and bed "boxes" are so heavy and our ideas for upcoming project will probably be ten times heavier (the table we are wanting to make is TO DIE FOR but will weigh more than an elephant I'm sure) but I think it will hold up just fine. ;)

Our next project is a crib for my brother and sister-in-law. We are so excited! It's going to be a little different because we will need to create the plans for it but that's what also makes it more exciting!

Zach's parents have been so kind to let us use their shop and have helped us and encouraged us so much! I truly feel so blessed!

My family (and Zach for that matter) have no realized that a Home Depot gift card is the best gift I could get and is definitely the way to my heart. Grateful for that too.

Anyways. I'll have to do better about taking pictures and doing more of a tutorial for the crib since we will be making the plans ourselves and such so stayed tuned! Maybe one day Zach and I will sell some of these things. ;)

JULY!

(Yes I realize August is basically over but this month was too good not to document!) I love July. It really is one of the best months of the year and it sure was a busy one for us!

We spent the 4th of July in Koosharem with some of Zach's family. Koosharem is a teeny tiny town close to Fish Lake. We usually ride four wheelers and just relax. Zach got to fight his airplanes and I got to read my book so all was well! We also went to the Salina Rodeo. I've never been to a rodeo and so I was excited to see what it was like. Haha. It was so fun but definitely a red neck party. The announcer was on a horse that had never been in a rodeo and was going crazy the whole time. I think everyone there had tears from laughing so hard.

Speaking of laughing so hard, Zach and I had quite the experience this month. At the first of the month we watch the last Harry Potter movie and Voldemort freaks me out. I don't know why and I realize that's the most childish thing ever but he does! I think it's the whole nose thing. Anyway. Zach was really tired and fell right asleep but I took my sweet time getting ready for bed while humming primary songs. All of a sudden I hear this big BOOM! I pee my pants and scream thinking someone has been shot and totally wake up Zach. Another big boom happens and Zach just looks at me and says, "that was a firework". Ha! That darn Voldemort was just scaring me!

BUT a few weeks later Zach and I are asleep (it's like 2 in the morning at this point) and all of a sudden there is this really loud CRASH!!! Terrifyingly loud. It obviously wakes us both up. I turn to Zach and ask what the heck he thinks it was and he just calmly replies "it was something upstairs". I, trusting him, try to go back to sleep. Then out of no where Zach has one arm over me and is sitting strait up. He starts yelling, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Okay by this moment I may or may not have had a few tears. I was SO scared. Zach just keeps yelling that and I think we are both dead. Goners. I tell him to grab his phone and turn on the flash light and he yells "I'M CALLING THE COPS!" Now I'm really terrified and Zach's hands are shaking so bad. He won't turn on the flash light because he is so scared and I say "Zach turn on the flash light!!!" He replies, "Then they will know where we are!" HAHAHAHAHAHA. We live in a two bedroom apartment and he's just been yelling at this "person" for the last ten minutes. Hahaha. Oh man I'm even just crying typing this. Haha. Anyway. He finally builds up the courage to turn on the flash light and we discover what he thought was a person was just a towel hanging over the door in the other room. Zach thought the towel was really long hair and someone peeking around the door. So we had some "hippie" invade our basement. It turned out our clock in the living room fell. Haha. The next day we went out to get food and we started talking about the traumatizing experience and literally couldn't even talk we were laughing so hard. Haha. Oh it was one of the best things. Just picture two little frightened newly weds shaking with fear and one yelling, "I'M CALLING THE COPS!!!" Haha!! I can only imagine what our upstairs people are thinking. We talked about getting a gun but I can only imagine how well that would go, "I HAVE A GUN!!!" The upstairs would for sure think something is terribly wrong with us. Haha! The best thing. We were really glad to be safe and I made Zach check every little space to make sure we really were safe. Oh man.. One of the best and scariest of times. Haha! I can't even get over it. Zach.. what a guy.

Anyway. Aside from a long haired hippy breaking into our house (insert crying emoji here) the rest of the month went very well.

For Pioneer Day we went up to my family's ranch in Bone, Idaho. It's a little place in basically the middle of no where. We sleep in tents, four wheel all day long, eat lots of treats, laugh, and sing around the camp fire. My family has gone up there practically every year since my mom was about 5. Last year I was in Ecuador helping the cutest babies (that I still miss all the time) when they went so I was really excited to take Zach up there. It rained. A LOT. But we still had fun. We had something like 11 four wheelers and 2 little motorbikes. My dad got a little 80 for a day and Zach was in heaven but after Steph crashed into the bushes (the softest spot in the whole place) my dad got a little worried and exchanged it for a four wheeler. I love being up there. It is SO beautiful. You have no cell phone reception and just trails for days! I always just wish we could explore for 3 days all the different trails up there. I'm sure we still wouldn't get to all of them. There really are so many!! But we really enjoyed the time to just get away. We almost didn't get there because the cows in the road wouldn't move! Haha. That was pretty good.

Overall we had quite the month. Reading over this I think July is the month we laughed a whole lot. August is turning out to be.. well… interesting. But you'll have to wait for that update next month. I'm so glad I have decided to do a little update each month because now I'll always have these moments to look back on. So thanks blog for having my back and stuff.

Did I mention we also ate at 180 tacos again like a million time? I'm not mad.

JOYFUL JUNE

June is always such a good month isn't it?

It was good to us.

We didn't really do much of our online classes.. (woops.) But that's what July is for right? Right.

Each time I remember that I promised myself I would do a little update on how the month went, I sit down and then remember nothing. I mean I swear we did more than just eat at 180 Tacos and work right? Haha. The struggle is real.

But thankfully we did more than that! We kicked off our summer just right and went and saw Kates play a show at UVU. She's in a band called the Blue Aces (look them up! they are crazy talented girls!) as they were one of the bands opening for Neon Trees. (Or Trees on Knees as Zach likes to call them). Before Zach met me he hadn't really ever been to a concert. Now he's probably been to more than he would have liked to been too haha. Just kidding. We love going! They had food trucks there so we tried a pizza one and it was awesome. We stuck around for a little while after Katie played then decided to head home. BUT. Then we remembered there was going to be a firework show, and I LOVE fireworks. So we got in our comf's (sweats) and grabbed some popcorn and headed back to UVU. We had the perfect spot on this hill and could even see where they were lighting the fireworks! Then just before they started going off an officer made us move (even though the other officer said we were okay). It was still an awesome experience. Trev and Steph joined us and we were all pretty amazed with how it went.

The next week we headed to St. George. NuSkin has a house down there and we get one week there out of the year. We LOVE it. My dad and Trev usually play golf as much as possible and we go swim as much as possible. We also played lots of "Settlers of Catan" and became quite obsessed with the game. Other than that we usually watch movies, eat lots of food and just kind of hang out. Last year I took Zach with us but it was fun to go this time being married. We also went and saw Inside Out while we were down there and LOVED it. It is so creative and we all laughed pretty hard. Highly recommend it. We also did the tunnel drive at Zion's which was really cool. I've been there before to hike but have never driven through the famous tunnel. Lastly, we saw Beauty and the Beast at Tuacahn. It was really good. Last year we saw The Little Mermaid and it was so incredible so we had a pretty high bar for this show and it was good!

Coming back to reality after that dream was the worst. But Zach started his new job at John Deere and was really excited. He's loving it for the most part. It's a lot of physical labor so he gets really tired but he's really enjoying it. On his last day at UVU I took his office Swig cookies. He works with all girls and really liked everyone he worked with so I thought we needed to say thank you for putting up with him. ;)

We've also been married for 9 months as of June 25th. We celebrated with 180 Tacos of course. If you have never been you need to go and get the buffalo chicken taco. I'm drooling just thinking of it.

That's about it. Already July has been quite the month and I can't wait to do a recap.

Katie's show. It was really sunny. And hot.

Treats before the movie of course.

The look Zach is usually giving me :)

Happy 9 months!

MAY

Is it just me or did May feel like it didn't even exist? I can't even believe it's June already! Summer time, slow down!

May was quite the month for us over here. We both had lots of work things and I finished my online class! I'm taking another online class through the summer and so is Zach but we are hoping if we both have an online class we will actually get it done.. so far it hasn't worked out for us too well. Ha! Too good.

I was asked to take pictures for the Miss Orem pageant this year. Two years ago (2013) I ran myself and ended up getting 1st attendant. I had never done anything like that but learned so much! It was fun being on the other side of things this time and just worrying about getting good pictures instead of trying to walk in heals. :) After each girl did their talent I was blown away! Seriously I don't know how those judges decide on things, I would be a wreck. But it turned out great!

We also decided we won't be going to Africa anymore.. As we were filling out the Visa information to get into Nigeria they asked for identification marks on our bodies in case we... what? DIED?! Got TAKEN?! Ha it was pretty interesting filling out the whole thing. We got to the end of it and tried to pay and found out you can only use a Master Card and the card has to have your FIRST and LAST name. So Zach and I would have to both get a Master Card. After a million phone calls back and forth to my aunt Natty she finally said "That's it. I can't go there. By the time I get a Master Card it would be too late!" So we aren't going. HOWEVER. She then told us about another trip she needed to take in August that we could tag along with. Let's just say we are SO excited about it. I'll wait this time to share the location until those plane tickets are booked. :)

I also got to help out at the clogging Nationals and do all the music. I was VERY a little bit nervous because if one thing goes wrong not only do I get the stares from everyone watching but also the directions shoot fire out of their stares. Thankfully the only thing that went wrong was a speaker died. Anyways, it was really fun and hard. I told myself over and over driving up there that I would be okay and not cry and every time I drove back home those tears would come. You see, the past 12? (maybe even more) years I've been at Nationals competing and this time I couldn't dance. It was pretty hard but it also reminded me of how hard I would work for Nationals because really that's where all the hard work payed off. It reminded me of what dancing taught me. Besides the footwork, the bloody toes, the sore feet, the amazing friends, and the feeling of actually pulling off what you wanted to accomplish, clogging taught me that a dream can never be too big but you have to be willing to work hard enough to get there. And for that I will forever be grateful. On the plus side my feet are doing a little better. After what feels like millions of different things I think they are finally starting to come along. As long as I go to yoga twice a week and stretch my muscles I usually have pretty good days! There is a light at the end of this crazy long tunnel!

To end off the month (technically it may have been the first few days in June but still), we went to Kyle's show. They are moving to Nashville and had a few goodbye shows in Provo. They did a ton of their older songs so it was the best! We also took family pictures up the canyon using a tripod. It was actually hilarious. Every time we would be ready and wait for the count down a HUGE gust of wind would come. Haha! Most of the pictures are probably just the girls trying to hold their hair down. It was pretty classic. Also, by some small (huge) miracle, Lex, Han, Tiff, Marc, and I were able to get together for the first time in almost 3 years. Can you believe that!? It was SO fun catching up with everyone. We could have probably sat and talked for 24 hours but the few hours we did have were so special. I owe quite a bit to those girls for how great my senior year was, so thank you, you sweeties.

Last, but not least, Zach got a new job! He is so excited and I'm so so happy for him! He will be a mechanic at John Deere working (at first) on small engines, like lawnmowers and such. He's been working at UVU in their One Stop center (aka answering phone calls of angry students and their mother's) for almost 2 years and was really hoping to make a change. This is a great change because this new job also will help him get his foot in the door for what he thinks he wants to do! Plus it's full time which is what he was wanting. Blessings!

Other than that we are very excited for June. Summer time is here! 

APRIL ADVENTURES

Well just like that April has FLOWN by. (Yes I know it's now almost the end of May but my goal is to recap each month). In a blink I think. But I'm not too sad about it leaving. It only means that summer is right around the corner and that we have survived another semester. With how this last semester went I'm not all that sad about seeing it go. I had a CAD class (3D design on a computer). The weekly homework took about 8 hours and then the projects took about 20 hours and we had one of those every other week. Plus you can only do it on campus so I felt like most nights I lived there but I got a better grade than expected which was nice! Zach totally destroyed his classes. He is so smart. He is currently in the diesel technology program and he has to know everything about these huge engines. I don't know how he does it but he is really good at it. I got him to come to one of the nights at the CAD lab and he got a little spark in him to maybe try out the mechanical engineering program at BYU. We will see how things go but it would be so fun to have him at the same school as me! But for now I am so glad to be done with the semester and have some breathing time before then next semester is here, which I feel always comes much too soon. But I'm getting so close to being completely done. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, it may be dim but it's there.

Other highlights of this month. Mostly that it was Zach's birthday on the 19th. I told him the week before that I wasn't sure what he would think about a certain thing I was getting him, he immediately turned around and said, "you're getting me a passport aren't you?" Was I that easy to read?! Obviously, yes. I tried so hard to make him believe that wasn't it but then he went on to guessing places we were going and I was just getting so excited I could hardly contain it! By hardly I mean I didn't contain it one bit. So I told him before his actual birthday. I really wish I would have kept it a surprise but I wasn't very good at that. So for his birthday we went to Outback one night and then since his birthday was Sunday we had a pretty relaxing day. I made french toast for breakfast and then set out all of his presents that would help for our trip. I got him a little fanny pack, a neck pillow, small journal, and a coupon book with one of them being a passport. Where are we going? Africa. Nigeria and Ghana to be more specific. We can hardly wait. I've always wanted to go and it's one of the few continents I haven't hit yet! I think I'm slowly but surely building up a travel bug in Zach. He's also so excited and even has someone in one of his classes from Nigeria! He made sure to get the scoop on how to be safe but also what we needed to see. So far we are planning on visiting an orphanage, a beach, go on a safari, visit the Ghana temple, and probably experience the biggest culture shock of our lives. But we are so excited! I keep pinteresting/googling all the things that we have to do and man we are going to be busy trying to hit all the things we have found! 

  

I also was able to take some bridals for a friend of mine Krystal and her fiance Jake. We met them through skating and through Katelyn (used to be Jones now Withers). The weather was perfect for that day. Seriously I almost couldn't believe how warm it was. Zach came with me to take the pictures and it was nice to have him with me. Plus they were so relaxed and just went with whatever. I've loved being able to take more pictures recently. I'm learning so much each time and feel like I'm making at least a little bit of progress! 

April also decided to give me a real learning experience. My hard drive died. Quite. Gave up the ghost. I was editing pictures for the Miss Orem Program and ran over to the place where they were doing rehearsal. I opened my computer and tried to turn it on and a folder with a question mark started flashing on my screen.. Immediately my heart sunk.. I knew whatever was the problem it most likely wasn't just a quick fix. I went running over to the Mac store and cried basically the whole way there and whole way back. They told me I most likely lost everything on my computer. That meant I didn't have any pictures from my trips to Australia, Jamaica, Europe, China, Ecuador, family vacations, clogging tours, high school, college, Zach and I dating, etc. If I took the picture on my phone or deleted it from the memory card it was most likely gone. There were a lot of tears. They referred me to a company that helped a lot of people get pictures/documents back after hurricanes and such and said they would be able to help me but it wouldn't be cheap. Well they were right. I got my pictures back but it came with a steep cost. Now I back everything up on an external hard drive. If you've never done that do it now. I definitely learned that the extra hard way and wouldn't wish it upon anyone!

Other than that it's been a lot of finishing up school, signing up for online classes, getting ready for our trip, work, more work, and redbox movie dates. This month has sure been one for the books. 

SIX MONTHS

Well folks, it's been a sweet six months since me and my mr. sealed the deal. SIX! If you need a quick refresher on how we met you can read that here. Can you believe it? Time has just flown! Sadly, it's been about that long since I have blogged. But I thought I would write a little update. 

Since the last time I wrote, Zach and I have moved! We were initially living in my grandmothers basement (basically free rent really rocked) and it was perfect for us. My aunt and uncle would be returning soon so we decided to just start the hunt of looking for apartments. Can we say over priced much? We had NO idea what we were in for. I mean for Provo and Orem area they were a little crazy. We also wanted to have washer dryer hook ups, and all utilities. We had started looking at a few places but nothing was working out which was fine because we at least had a place. One night as we were driving home we passed a for rent sign. I hadn't seen it on KSL or Rentler so we pulled over and called the number. Long story short we found a great basement apartment that we love! Blessings.

We have also been CRAZY busy with school. Zach does block style classes for diesel technology so it's a lot of information in not a lot of time. So far he is really liking his program! This semester is the semester from Satan himself for me. Ever heard of CAD programming? Well it's actually pretty cool but once you spend 12 hours in the same lab in front of the same (extremely) slow computers, it's not so cool anymore. This class has been a part time job. What about my other classes? Oh yeah, still have those too. Needless to say I'm so ready to be done with the semester and praying I pass these classes with decent grades. 

I also just got a new job! I now work for a sculptor as a personal assistant. He is the owner of Big Statues and does custom bronze statues. Random right? It's been a good job so far. And I love looking at all the projects be started, molded, and completed. I took ceramics once. I was pretty terrible. But this guy is really really good.

Since starting the new job I have been able to go from two jobs to one and I finally see that cute husband of mine at a decent hour. We have taken advantage of that by going on Swig dates. Did I mention we are trying to cut back on soda? Well that's not going so well. 

Since being married I have been learning how to "wife". Wifing includes cooking, cleaning, heaps of laundry, etc. Now I'm not one to put stereotypes on stuff and I don't think husbands can't do these things, these are just things I have been doing as a wife. Cooking really isn't my favorite thing. I think it would go better if I planned ahead but remember that CAD programming class? Yeah I have no time. So usually it's last minute. I haven't killed us off yet so that a good thing. The cleaning part I really don't mind. Compared to everything else the cleaning is very relaxing. 

On a little of a side note: With this new job, I'm trying to boost their social media sites. The other day I was reading article after article about how to get more likes, followers, shares, etc. and article after article talked about how scientifically more likes makes people more happy. Apparently it's a proven fact. And even before reading all of these articles I was thinking about this social media run world we live in. I get so caught up in it sometimes and I think we all do. The other day someone told me that they loved reading my blog and another girl suddenly asked, "You blog?" I was almost embarrassed when she asked to see my blog as it doesn't have the last gadgets and features, isn't of the latest trends and braids (please I can barley do a regular braid), isn't view by thousands upon thousands, and is just my personal little life. But how silly is that? Yes I love to write on my blog of things that are going on in my life. Yes I like to post on Facebook and Instagram of the happiest parts of my life. I will no longer let a number decide my happiness. Social media is such a weird thing and we all hear what I just said a million and a half times but I hope you don't let the numbers mean more to you than what you are posting about. And I would hope that we would all be a little nicer to those who we follow and be positive and loving. Because that's what I think it should be about. 

So that's my rant for now. Life is good. Hard and stressful at times but oh so good none the less. Mostly I'm just real ready for some summer time.

Here are some really awesome iPhone pictures of the latest, enjoy! Thanks for stopping by!

Valentines Date

Our sweet Ken got married.

Satan, AKA CAD

Swig dates.

 Oh and this is me after taking pictures for a good few hours. Just jammin' out to my main Sharpay Evan from High School Musical.

Wedding DIY

Finding decorations for the wedding reception was pretty tricky. Everything was so expensive so I decided to either borrow or make it myself. The only thing I rented was tables and chairs and I found those here for super cheap! (At least way cheaper than other venders.) Thank goodness for the most patient mom and wonderful bridesmaids. So I thought I would share some things we made! Hobby Lobby was awesome and usually had really great deals on things. Anyways here are some easy things you can make!

First off I used a lot of pallets. We found different businesses trying to get rid of some and used them to make quite a few different things. 

Here's one of first things we did. My bridesmaid Heather found a very similar idea on Pinterest and so we decided we would try it! We put it right inside the gate people walked through and stood in line. Not only do I love the wood/pine contrast but we were able to put different things onto it that described Zach and I.

Here's how we did it. We found a few picture frames from my brothers wedding and the dollar store and then I decided on a few different pictures or sayings that I felt best described us and our relationship. We used twine and looped it through where a nail would hang. Then, to keep it in place, we took about a two inch long piece and tied it around where the twine was looped through. This kept the picture frame in place. We had to hold up the picture frames and kind of adjust them to where we wanted them and they could slide a little bit if we needed to but it turned out to all fit really well. To keep it on the pallet I would wrap the twine around the end of that wood piece and then tie it. We then used some extra burlap and lace to add some texture. Heather had the amazing idea of getting fake weed flowers? I don't know how what you would call them but we used little clothes pins as you can see in the picture below. 

We also used pallets to make little signs we put on the corners directing people to the reception. My father-in-law is really good with wood so he was able to cut the planks in half and the use the back of the pallet for what we stuck in the ground. Zach and I were going to spray paint them but then that was a bad idea. We were also going to do a cute saying but realized there wasn't enough room. Putting these together was quite hilarious, but it worked! We made three of them like the one below and then other one was at the entrance of the gate and said #ZachandJan it really turned out a lot better then we thought. It was so easy and cheap! People sell these for like $45 on etsy. Maybe I'll start a business. 

The next idea that we did I got on Pinterest and then added my own kind of flare. Hobby Lobby always has these great sales on glass jars and bottles. My mom and I had to go a few different times to get all that we needed for the center pieces on the tables but it was just fine. Zach spray painted the mason jars a soft gold/champagne color that we used for flowers (as pictures below). We also found these bottles that you can see below and filled them with sand to hold twigs that we just used from trimming our trees, to hold pictures. We also used some twine around the bottle to mark how much sand we needed but also just to make it tie all together more. Since I wanted to use hints of gold throughout decorating I decided to put Rolo's on all of the tables. I was a little worried they would melt and get gross but since it cooled off a little for the evening they ended up being just fine. We also borrowed the burlap and navy squares from my mom's aunt that I refer to as my fairy god mother. She has everything wedding. 

Here's another view. The above one didn't have the wood piece under it yet. We borrowed these as well. You can also see the candles in the picture below. These are just battery candles that we turned on. It gave it a nice warm feel. 

For little favors we did burlap bags that we found in bulk online with Hugs and Kisses Hershey's. Then we printed out the saying, cut in squares, and tied with twine.

Since the reception was held in my backyard we had to figure out a way to keep everything lit up. I wanted the light to look natural though. Not just lots of spot lights. Again my mom and I went to Hobby Lobby and found some lanterns we could hang in the tent! (We borrowed the tent from Zach's sister's in-laws). Setting this part up was a whole lot of chaos. We needed to be able to do all the draping before hanging the lanterns and people were trying to set up tables and chairs and we had this huge latter that we were trying to move all over, it was crazy. BUT it turned out PERFECT! We used thinker twine to tie the lanterns in the tent. We then also borrows lights from Zach's uncle and strung them across the yard. You can see that in the following pictures.

Here's another shot of the side of the tent. We used burlap and navy ribbon to tie the fabric around each pole of the tent. Also the chars and tables are all from the link given at the beginning of the post. They were AWESOME to work with. 

Another little DIY project we did was with large tomato juice cans. We used tomato juice because it was the cheapest. We washed them and set them outside to air out for a few days before using them. We also had a few tiny lanterns so we decided to line where the line would go. We filled each can with a little water, drilled hole into the side and the used twine (of course) to hang it from each rod. SUPER easy.

The above picture led to a table (pictured below). The chair and table rental came with two long tables and a high table. Plus all linens. Here's how we used one table.

We used the other long table for gifts. We found these letters again at Hobby Lobby for a really good deal. We put them on the gift table along with a little bird cage thing for cards.

For our sign in book I wanted to remember and see the faces of the people who were signing our book! So we did a little polaroid picture area. We made the sign (in the picture below) by getting the little flags at party land (for like a dollar) and then my cousin cut out the vinyl for us! This is where people stood as my cute cousins snapped their picture. (isn't my husband the most handsome guy ever?)

I think I'll stop there and not bore you any further :) but if you weren't able to make it to the reception here is basically a tour of how it all went. I wish I could relive this day over and over. It was one big party with great music, amazing food, and lots of love.

Hopefully this helped get your creative juices flowing. If you would like to borrow something let me know! We still have all of it I believe. If you have any questions about other things I would love to answer them so don't be shy!

And with that I think I'll wrap up the wedding blog posts and wish to relive the best day ever.

All photos taken by Alixann Loosle Photography.

a little update on the newlyweds.

I use my blog as a journal and since getting married I promised myself I would be better at keeping the little memories that i know one day I will want to read over again. 

Marriage is quite something. It's hard but it's so wonderful. You learn you do things a little weird and your spouse definitely does things a little weird. Learning about those odd things though can be so entertaining. 

Zach and I have now been married for a whole two months plus a few days. I feel like when I say that out loud it doesn't seem that long but it's felt like a lot longer. In a very good way. Anyways here are somethings we have encountered within the last few months and memories I want to always remember.

- I oddly like to pick scabs. Don't judge. I know it's so gross. Zach, however likes to go mountain biking and always comes home with a new scratch or two. A few days later we will be snuggling while watching our favorite show (details to come) and I will feel the scab and i just have to pick it. It usually turns into a wrestling match which I lose. Gross right? Hilarious all the same.

- If I don't put Zach's clean cloths in the drawer they won't ever get there. They will end up on the dresser or desk or floor or back in the dirty cloths. So we've decided I'll put away the laundry so it's a win win. 

- Changing your last name is like trying to get out of North Korea. Plus we lost our marriage license already. Winning.

-Suits. No not the clothing. The TV show. Have you watched it? No? Do it. Right now. We are slightly obsessed. When we returned from our little CA get away (details to come) we came home to HOURS of homework. We decided we just needed one episode before we started the homework. Then we decided we could do our homework and watch another episode. It turned into a lot more then just 2 episodes and needless to say we were both up past midnight trying to get the homework done. whoops. But that's living right?

- One of my favorite things about Zach is that he can be so goofy. We will be getting ready to leave and he will grab me and start dancing in our little living space. Sometimes it will be crazy country dancing and sometimes its just slow but he always has a song that he will sing as we wiz around. 

- We recently took a little trip to California and I was so excited because Zachary has never, I repeat never, been in the ocean! When we pulled up to a beach by the pebble beach golf coarse and the sun was shining and there was no wind and it was PERFECT weather i squealed with excitement! The most perfect day! So Zach and I grabbed hands and raced into the ocean. It was awesome. We then went to Santa Cruz and did the board walk and ate good food. We spent the next day tandem biking to the golden gate bridge, eating Thanksgiving at the Hard Rock Cafe, having our minds blown by the amazing Circ Du Soliel, and driving to Santa Rosa. The next morning we explored where my dad spend most of his life. We were able to visit his friend, Bob, who owns a surf shack at Bodega Bay, walk through the house he lived in growing up, going through his high school, meeting more friends, and ending the night with treats and some good ol' BS. We played BS every night of the trip. Zach took the cake for the most wins by the end of the trip. Saturday we went shopping at Union Square. There were still a lot of black Friday deals so that was nice. My feet weren't too happy with me by the end of the day but I still enjoyed shopping at my favorite places. Later that night we found a great burger joint in Oakland and then ended the night and the trip with visit the temple. It was great. I loved spending time with my family and creating more inside jokes. We all have a lot of fun together.

- Since getting home school as hit real hard. Finals are coming up here right around the corner and it's stressful. Plus i decided i didn't (and couldn't really knowing myself) do 17 to 18 credits a semester in manufacturing engineering. My dreams of graduating by 2016 were a little crushed but as soon as I allowed myself to create a better schedule that really only added a semester and a half I have felt so much better. Zach is so good at being a supportive husband. Every time I am so worried about school he lets me cry and talk and still makes me feel like I can get through this crazy thing they call college. 

- Christmas is coming up and i am so excited! I LOVE this time of year! I wish it would snow already so that as I'm listening to my Christmas music I really feel like it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. 

- we are learning. more and more everyday. sometimes it's hard but the hard parts make the good ones even more worth it. Tiff one of my dearest friends who got me through my senior year of high school and has taught me so much about life recently said, "Getting married is strange because you just up and leave the life you've always known. Sometimes that's good, sometimes it's hard. I like to say that I'm learning how to newlywed & I'm really glad that Quinn and I can be so patient with each other." When I read this I thought it was perfect. I still do! Marriage is a weird thing. But it's the best thing. 

I often think to myself: how lucky are you to be in love with the best guy around?

Sometimes life is just so good and I think it's the little things that made it that way.

Here are some good ol' iPhone pictures from the trip.