A Roof Over Our Heads

I will admit it, I am afraid of ladders. I get up on one fine, but as soon as I hit the top and it starts wiggling ever so slightly, I panic. So I was sooo thankful when Phil said he could handle the roof and I wouldn’t have to leave the ground. However, after watching him scramble around up there with our dads for days, I began to feel bad. They were all working really hard, and (although I was working hard inside the house) I felt like I might not be pulling my weight in this project. So I put on my big girl pants, grabbed a pitchfork, and hauled my butt up there.

I wasn’t up there too long before the guys decided that really I was kind of slow and would be better at handing them tools from the ground (meaning: getting out of their way), but I did learn all the steps involved in properly roofing a house, and I did get to shingle my very own little overhang above the back door. :)

The roof was a mess. It had AT LEAST three layers of shingles (Phil’s dad swears there were six), and parts of it were so rotted you couldn’t set foot on them. It took us two weeks to rip all the layers off, replace the rotted overhangs, patch the holes, and nail down the new shingles. I honestly wasn’t sure we’d ever get done. The result, however, looks so much better than I ever thought it could. And even though it looks really, really good, more importantly it will not allow for the shower that took place in the stairwell and living room every time it rained. This roof was the biggest thing standing in the way of our new home, and now that it’s fixed I’m thinking the rest of the house will start to fall into place. A big thanks to Phil’s parents, my parents, and Trav (Phil’s friend) for helping us get through something we never would have survived on our own.

Home Is Where The Heart Is..

So Phil and I have some pretty exciting news to share. See if you can guess what it is..






We bought this house! Now I will be the first to admit that the house is a dump...at the moment. When we are done with it, it's going to be awesome! I can feel it!



Here's a few "before" shots from the inside. In a few months I'll post some "after" shots and I'm sure you will be SHOCKED at the improvements. Actually I'm sure I will be too.

Here's the kitchen. It's got a FABULOUS gas stove that is probably original to the house. Not sure if it works..


The living room. GORGEOUS fire place! The water damage is not so gorgeous haha. The roof has a basketball sized hole in it.

Upstairs bathroom. The house has three bedrooms and 1.5 bathrooms. I like that tile hiding under the ceiling chunks :).

Master bedroom! There is a cute little balcony on the other side of that door. Currently it has some weeds growing out of it.

And there it is! Stay tuned for more updates!

Briiiiiidezilla!

There have been a lot of weddings/engagements in my life recently (including my own!), and they've all been approached VERY differently. I was thinking about this while brainstorming about our STDs (Save The Dates. Sidenote: I thought I was super whitty and creative when I came up with that acronym and then found out it's pretty commonly used in the wedding-planning world. Bummer) and I just so happened to stumble across this funny little piece on Kadee's Wedding and thought I'd share.

How Bridezilla is Born!
Bridezilla: An engaged, spoiled princess whose every demand has always been met for her wedding. Is this you? (expert advice)

We’ve all heard the horror tales of Bridezilla and most of us have made promises to never become that unbearable bride ourselves. Now that your big day is almost here and you’re in the middle of planning the biggest event of your life – have you found yourself wondering how you’ll keep that promise and hide the Bridezilla that seems to be within us all?
Who is Bridezilla?
Some people believe that Bridezilla is a spoiled princess who’s every demand has always been met. The truth is, every single bride-to-be has the potential to become this dreaded wedding monster. The only thing on her mind is the wedding and she’s ready to destroy anything that stands in the way of her perfect day.

How is Bridezilla Born?
It usually starts with a little disorganization and the realization that time is moving much faster than the wedding planning. Once this happens, usually a few months before the big day, it won’t take much to create a new Bridezilla. The stress of planning a wedding is usually the real reason so many sweet and loving brides transform into monsters within a matter of minutes.
A few things that can trigger Bridezilla behavior:

• A delay at the printer that holds up the invitations.
  Learning that your bridesmaid dress is only available in certain sizes – none of the ones you need.
  
• Asking the groom-to-be for his portion of the guest list that still isn’t done.
  
• As the big day gets closer, it will take even less to bring out Bridezilla. If the early warnings go unnoticed and nothing is done, a big wedding disaster could be in the future. I don’t know of any girl that has made it her goal to become Bridezilla, yet it happens everyday.

Bridezilla Doesn’t Have to be You
The first thing to remember is that there will never be a perfect wedding, but new brides usually never care once the day is over and most guests never even notice. The other – a bride-to-be cannot live on planning alone. Don’t neglect your friends, family, and loved ones for the sake of the wedding and don’t let the planning consume you!
You can’t hold back the appearance of Bridezilla on your own so communicate with your fiancé, parents, and bridal party and enlist their support. Warn your groom-to-be of the Bridezilla warning signs and let him know his importance in the planning. Finally, when you become wedding-crazed and can’t seem to think about anything else – take a day off. No planning, no browsing, don’t even look through a wedding magazine, and definitely don’t talk about the wedding. The most important thing is to manage your stress and don’t obsess over perfection – take time for yourself and you’ll avoid the curse of Bridezilla.

Paintings & Some Photography

Who would have thought that picking a wedding dress could be so hard!? I have gone to four stores in the area and now have a top five that I absolutely love, so how do I pick? Most are from a store called Sweet Things, Etc in Rockwell. Jodie, the owner, is super sweet and has been so helpful in the process. I'll probably go with one from her just because of how awesome she's been. This is how it went with every dress I put on:


Me: "Ohmygosh this is so pretty!"
Jodie: "It is! (insert brand) does such a nice job with their dresses. It's really pretty on you."
Me: "I totally love it. Well, I don't love (insert random bow, bustle, strap, etc)."
Jodie: "Oh we can fix that easily! We'll just (insert awesome idea I never thought was possible)."
Me: "I love you guys!"



...



In other news, we met our wedding photographer, Nealy, and we both love her. She is very fun and I think she's going to do a fabulous job. I had (technically am still having) an art show at RAYGUN in Des Moines. The reception was pretty small, but my paintings look fabulous hanging on their walls if I do say so myself :). Here's a few shots snapped on my friend's phone.




They'll be up until August 21st, so if you find yourself in Des Moines, be sure to check it out in the East Village (400 E Locust). If not, you can see the whole thing on my website.

We ALSO had our engagement photos taken! It was cloudy and a little windy in Clear Lake, and I haven't seen the photos yet but I'm betting they turned out fabulous. My college advisor/professor Dave Damm took them, and he assured me they did. Phil was so funny during the photos. He's normally really loud and outgoing, but he was so quiet and nervous! It was adorable. He seemed to calm down towards the end though and not be so self-conscious. I hope that this kind of relaxed him a little, because next year he'll have to spend our wedding day in front of a camera. Maybe I'll start playing paparazzi at our house to get him prepared. :) If that doesn't work, I can always photoshop a smile on him later.

Work, Design, and a Peacock-Themed Wedding

So  I'm pretty new to this whole "blog world".  The only blog I've ever consistently followed is that of my wedding photographer, Nealy, and I've really only known about hers for a week or so.  But with all the exciting things happening in my life right now, I am really feeling the need to share.  

I recently graduated with a BA in Communications-Print Media and a minor in Art.  I set up a studio in the spare bedroom and have been forcing myself to paint so as not to lose my inspiration now that I'm out in the real world.  I put together an art show that is currently on display in Des Moines at a store called RAYGUN.  

I'm recently employed (celebrated my 6 month anniversary last month) and I absolutely love my job.  Although it's not the graphic design job I dreamed of, it's such a good fit for me and I feel rewarded every day which is something I know not everyone experiences.  I'm hoping to continue to do freelance work on the side, because art and design have always been my passion and I really can't see myself ever giving it up.  

I'm recently engaged (May 21st, 6 days after my birthday) to the love of my life.  His name is Phillip and he is caring and supportive and makes me laugh more times a day than I thought possible.  With an engagement comes a wedding, of course, and I've found out that wedding planning is something I really, really enjoy.  Ours will be July 23rd, 2011, and I'm having so much fun getting things together.  So far all I've really done is book the church, reception hall, and photographer, but I've got a pretty thick folder of photos printed out for inspiration.  I'm a pretty artistic person, and plan on doing a lot of the wedding myself (and will try to include some DIY posts on here).  With that, I'll leave you with a few of my favorites out of the wedding folder. I've recently (like 5 hours ago) discovered that I absolutely love the idea of a peacock-themed wedding. We'd already kind of decided on a colbalt blue and charteuse theme with light orange accents, so really this isn't too far off.