7 months and 7 randoms

Quick break from studying...1 more final to go!!

We are down to 7 months now, so here are 7 more random things about us. No questions this time just facts.

1. I'm a Capricorn and Sean's a Sagittarius. Sean may be a Capricorn, too? I heard the dates changed? According to the stars, we are not that suited for each other and it may turn "futile in the long term". Truthfully, I don't pay attention to any of that...

2. I think if we had a song that we call "ours" it would be Lady Gaga-Poker face

3. Sean enjoys spicy things (but not too hot). He's at "wild" sauce on the BWW scale if that helps at all. I on the other hand have a VERY low heat tolerance. It burns!!

4. Sean started swimming when he was 6. I started swimming when I was 10. We both still enjoy swimming now at our leisure. Sean once told me he "feels at home" in the water. I think he might have gills.

5. Places we want to visit:
S: Australia, Alaska, and Washington D.C. (again)
A: Seattle, New Zealand (hi Verity!), Niagara falls, and Alaska...I like mountains

6. Sean has 2 tattoos. A tiger hawk on his right shoulder blade and "dedication" on the inside of his right upper arm. I don't think I will ever get one.

7. Right now our favorite show to watch together is Dexter. For those who don't know Dexter it's about a serial killer that does blood work for the Miami PD. It's such a thriller! It's on Showtime on Sunday nights. We don't have the channel so we have to watch it online on Monday nights. I love Monday nights :)

I'm starting to get nervous about what to write about during our monthly countdowns as the number gets lower. Anyone have any ideas or things you want to know about us?

registries cont.

This is a continuation from my earlier post this afternoon...

Sean got home and wasn't very pleased with the previous post and he said that we never decided on those locations for our wedding registries (Target, BB&B, and Younkers). All along he has wanted the Bass Pro Shop. Unfortunately for him and LUCKILY for me :) there is no Bass Pro Shop bridal gift registry. I checked.

this is from a chat forum in the BPS website...the bottom most line reads "no bridal registry" YESS!!

registries

Sometime over my Christmas break Sean and I will be completing our wedding registries. We will soon have something in our registries tab other than "information to come at another date". We are thinking of doing Target, Younkers, and Bed Bath & Beyond. I can't believe how technologically-advanced everyone is. When we went shopping for our friends in September we were so impressed at Target!! We printed off the list at the little kiosk thing and the list included the exact location of the item, price, number in stock, number that had already got bought, number they still need, and so on. It was awesome!!

Another option that we are considering is a honeymoon registration. I actually learned about this from a girl who did my hair like 2 years ago and I still remember it... if you book your honeymoon through Bridal Connection in Ankeny, which does honeymoon trips you can also set up a registry, too. That way your guests can buy you vacation excursions, champagne, chocolate covered strawberries, and other things for during the honeymoon.

Both Sean and I are excited to go around the stores with a pricing-gun-looking-thing and tag all the items. I am most looking forward to all the kitchen gadgets at Bed Bath & Beyond! (incase you didn't know, I love to cook)

But, for now I want to know is there anything you would recommend making sure we list on our registries? Anything you forgot when you did yours?  Or any other words of advice?? Thank you for the help!

time capsule

Hope everyone had a great weekend! I have finals coming up in about a week and I have been procrastinating a lot! Sean and I have been pretty lazy watching movies, watching TV, playing games, doing a little bit of Christmas shopping, looking for new apartments, and researching possible honeymoon locations. Amongst my procrastinating I managed to write this short post...

I was originally told this idea from friend, and I think it's awesome! I have since seen/read it done a few different ways. Anyways, the gist of it is at the ceremony you nail a box closed and inside is notes, sentimental little items, bottle of wine, photos, etc. Then here are the different versions...
1. It gets opened at the 1 year, 10 year, or 25 year anniversary.
2. It gets opened after a big fight. Then, once made up you write new notes or add new items and then close it back up for next time.
3. It gets opened up at big family events like a birth of a child.

picture from the knot

I'm not exactly sure which version we will follow, but this is something I definitely want to do!

ring bearer

so like I said I would do on Tuesday...this post is about our ring bearer. Garrett is my cousin Jill's son and he will be 4 next summer at our wedding. He's so much fun and whenever he comes over to our house he knows exactly where our toys are!

he always asks us to do the kissy face and points to his cheeks to take this picture

Have you seen these pictures before? The little guys are dressed in shirts that say "ring security"? cute!

professional

And these signs are cute, too! I've also seen pictures of the ring bearer holding a banner or waving flags.

I want to find Garrett a mini tie version (or just make a smaller tie) of what the groomsmen are wearing and some dark grey/charcoal pants. Kind of like this little man (in our colors of course). Simple and comfortable. 

Our wedding is so not country, but I thought this picture was funny :)

I'm really looking forward to having both Garrett and Avery in our special day!! I know they both will look adorable :)

flower girl

I just realized under our "wedding party" tab that I never added our ring bearer and flower girl so I just updated it :) Our flower girl is Sean's niece Avery and she will be 3 at our wedding next summer. I finally got to see her this past week; I can't believe how smart she is already and she's become quite the talker!

at Avery's 2nd birthday party

spring 2011

I have recently been really looking into flower girl attire. Here are some pictures of dresses that I like...

Sean's sister, Abby, found this one. It's colors are perfect!!

Avery has already grown out of a dress like this, but I thought it was cute :)

Later this week I'll be posting about our ring bearer :)

starting my diet TODAY

so after a week long stay at home and 2 Thanksgiving meals I am officially starting my "wedding diet" now! I had an amazing week at home with my family and a few days with Sean's family...and I also ate wayyyyy to much! While eating non-stop I managed to get a few other things done; here is a breakdown of my Thanksgiving break...

Saturday: Right away in the morning Sean and I set up our Christmas tree! After, Sean's parents took us out for breakfast at Perkins (they were in town for the Iowa swim meet that was on Friday). I watched part of the Iowa vs. Purdue game. Go Hawks!! Then headed home. We didn't do much that night other than hang out.

our Christmas tree

my favorite ornament on our tree (it says Mexico 2011 Sean <3 Amanda Engaged)

Sunday: Again, we really didn't do much except hang out and lay around.
Monday: I got my hair cut and started on my pinterest ornament wreath.

Tuesday: My mom and I had a few wedding appointments on Tuesday. We met at Dornink's in east village to look into a few dress alterations. After the meeting my mom and I went to Zombie Burger for lunch. It was THE best burger I have ever had. I really really liked it!! Then we met with Christiani's to try again finding napkins and left with a couple swatches. Ashley met us out at Jordan Creek for a little shopping after our meetings.

Wednesday: I had a dentist appointment at 9:00 that morning. No cavities! Holler! Then I made my tree skirt with the help of my sister Abby. Thank you for the help Abby! Sean drove home after work and picked me up on his way home. We hung out with Sean's family that night.

Thursday: We went to Carroll for Sean's family Thanksgiving. We ate a bunch of great food at watched football. Later that night we went to Walmart at 10 pm in Boone for some "deals". There really wasn't anything we wanted really bad except for the newest season of Big Bang Theory. We got the last one in the store and it rang up at $5 (the ad said $10) Score! Once we got home we went online and bought more stuff.
Friday: In the morning, Sean and I went to the bakery in Boone and got some doughnuts then went to Bacon's jewelry store and bought a new band for my engagement ring. I'm not going to have it for a couple weeks now :( It already feels so weird not having one on! Later, Abby, Sean's sister, Sean, and I went to the mall in Ames for a little more shopping. After shopping we came back and watched football and then went home (to Ankeny) for my sister Ashley's 21st birthday. We went to Latin King in Des Moines for dinner (one of my favorites)! Then went to the bar Tonic in Ankeny.
Saturday: We had my family Thanksgiving that afternoon so all morning we peeled potatoes, made dips, and got everything set up. We also had a ping pong tournament that Sean won. After dinner/snack all the adults went to Prairie Meadows. I ended up walking away with an extra $53.90!! I played penny, nickel, and quarter slots, but my big win was on a nickel slot. I love hearing the ding-ding-ding-ding!
Sunday: Everyone that was still in town went out to Diane and Rich's house for breakfast. After breakfast everyone started heading home. It was so great to see everyone!! Once I got home I finished decorating our apartment with a few more Christmas things. Now I'm going to relax for my last few hours of the break :)

I made these this past summer (the last one really does have a tag on it)

FYI this is the 50th published post I have done! Thanks everyone for reading :)

traditions

I'm at home in Ankeny taking advantage of my week long break. It is much needed! So far we have played lots of cards, hung out, ran errands, ate awesome food, and played Just Dance on the wii...and there is only 2 songs that people can beat me at. I will accept any challenge :)

So with the holidays coming up I thought it would be fitting to talk about traditions...Sean and I believe traditions are very important and I love hearing people say "we have a tradition that..." So here are a few old traditions of ours and some we want to start...

Amanda's Christmas. A Christmas tradition that we always had growing up was when Santa came. We would always be at Grandma and Grandpa's house for Christmas eve and Christmas day so Santa would come to our house early. A few days before we left town, we would set out some cookies, milk, and reindeer food and then go out for dinner (it was usually Chinese). Suspiciously, every year right as we were leaving my mom would for some reason always "forget" something like to do her hair. In addition, we coincidentally also needed gas. So while my mom "finished" getting ready the rest of us kids would go with dad to get gas. Once we got back from dinner Santa had been to our house! Once Ashley and I finally caught on we would sometimes stay with mom to help set out gifts while the rest of the family ran an errand. I really enjoyed seeing my little brother and sister still see the "magic" when we got home from dinner and get so excited :)

Sean's Christmas. Once the kids got a little bit older and Santa "didn't like them anymore" they started opening gifts Christmas eve. On that day they go to afternoon church then come back and eat homemade chicken noodle soup and chili. After dinner, they open gifts. The next day (Christmas day) they lay around and watch "A Christmas Story" all day.

Our future Christmas. One Christmas tradition that I would like to start when we have kids is "elf on the shelf". I first learned about it on Pinterest. According to amazon.com it is a based on a children's book that explains that Santa knows who is naughty and/or nice because he sends a scout elf to every home. During the holiday season, the elf watches children by day and reports to Santa each night. When the children awake, the elf has returned from the North Pole and can be hiding in a different location. It ends up being a fun hide-and-seek game.

Apple orchard. Like I talked about here, Sean and I have gone to Wilson's Apple Orchard each fall for the past 3 years. We pick lots and lots of apples and then eat half and cut up/freeze the rest so we can make apple crisp all fall/winter long. YUM!

fall 2010

Anniversary scrapbook. My mom was telling me about a daughter of a lady she works with a couple weeks ago. The couple just celebrated their one-year wedding anniversary and they decided that each year on their anniversary they will make a scrapbook page and put it into an album. I love the idea! It will be great to look back after 50 years and see how our relationship and family has grown!

8 months and 8 things we are thankful for

We're 8 months away! Since Thanksgiving is coming up I thought we would name 8 things we are thankful for as our countdown.We have so much more to be thankful for, but here is a VERY short list of 8...

1. Family. Both Sean and I are so thankful for our parent's support and love. I don't know what we would do without them! We also love our siblings!! In addition, both of our families get a long really well and whenever all of us are together it's such a good time!

2. Crafts and DIY stuff. This one is definitely mine (Amanda's). I LOVE to scrapbook, make my own cards, paint things, and create. I have a long list of things to do...

3. Friends. Our friends are amazing!! I have so many great memories!

4. Fall. This one is Sean's. Along with fall comes with football and hunting; both of which Sean loves. In addition, the weather gets colder so he doesn't sweat.

5. Pretty skies. I love everything from sunrises, sunsets, full moons, awesome clouds, and nights where you can see every star!

6. My heating blanket. This one is mine! There is nothing better than getting into a warm bed before going to sleep :)

7. Coffee in the morning while listening to Bob and Tom. This one again is Sean's. Every day on his way to work he enjoys listening to the show while he drives and coffee helps him stay awake.

8. Laughter. We love to smile, laugh, and have a good time. I think something funny can turn someone's whole day around :)

Guest from NZ!!

I'm getting even more excited now and I can't get the smile off my face!! My roommate from sophomore year posted this tonight...

Verity and I

Verity is from New Zealand and I haven't seen her since May :( I'm so excited!! I thought this deserved it's own post! YAY!! Love you Ver! Can't wait to see you!!