Mannheim Steamroller

Week Forty Seven

November 23, 2014

These three people are my everything. Had a wonderful time seeing Mannheim Steamroller perform live.

101 in 1001 | 2.5 Years

Start Date:  May 27, 2012
Finish Date: February 22, 2015
Days Left: 87
Percent Complete: 65%
Completed: 66
In Progress: 10
Still to Go: 35

I am nearing the end of this project!!!  The next update will be in February when I see how much I actually accomplished on this list and what I let go of.  Some of these were very much out of reach and some items I'm just not interested in spending time trying to complete them.  And that is ok.  It's hard to plan out what you want to do for 2.75 years.

As much as I enjoyed it, I'm a little glad to see it go away in February.  However, I'll probably do this again in a few years... we will see.  Because I am a list maker, I'm going to keep goals in a similar fashion, just on a smalerl scale with items that are a little more in reach.  I have a list starting for 2015 and I can't wait!

Completed:
1.  Get a job :: May 7, 2012
2.  Develop a bill station :: May 27, 2012
3.  Put flowers on the graves of my deceased family members :: May 28, 2012
4.  Grow carrots :: June 16, 2012
5.  Plant a tree for Earth Day :: June 24, 2012
6.  Make a playlist of 26 songs A-Z :: June 30, 2012
7.  Play bingo :: July 6, 2012
8.  Search for a rainbow on a rainy day :: August 8, 2012
9.  Watch 5 Disney movies to discover what I missed during my childhood :: August 12, 2012
10.  Buy a new lens for my camera :: August 21, 2012
11.  Photograph a wedding :: August 25, 2012
12.  Buy a new phone :: September 21, 2012
13.  Have a Godfather marathon :: October 27, 2012
14.  Learn to make cheesecake :: October 28, 2012
15.  Go wine tasting :: November 3, 2012
16.  Vote in the next election :: November 6, 2012
17.  Don’t eat fast foot for a month :: November 27, 2012
18.  Send Christmas Cards :: December 21, 2012
19.  Have a game night with family :: December 21, 2012
20.  Watch all the Best Picture Oscar Movies :: December 28, 2012
21.  Take one photo a day for a year :: December 31, 2012
22.  Go to the Kansas City Aquarium :: January 12, 2013
23.  Get a Massage :: March 23, 2013
24.  Visit a State I’ve Never Been to Before :: March 26, 2013
25.  Go to the Omaha Zoo :: March 26, 2013
26.  Visit a butterfly sanctuary :: March 26, 2013
27.  Grow tulips :: March 27, 2013
28.  Don’t eat sweets for 2 weeks :: April 15, 2013
29.  Answer the 50 Questions that Will Free Your Mind :: April 19, 2013
30.  Ride a roller coaster :: May 11, 2013
31.  (Donate hair to Locks of Love) Try a new hair style-cut :: June 6, 2013
32.  Start an herb garden :: June 8, 2013
33.  Make pizza from scratch :: June 10, 2013
34.  Paint a piece of furniture :: June 25, 2013
35.  Visit Mall of America again :: June 29, 2013
36.  Visit my childhood home :: June 30, 2013
37.  Visit a lighthouse :: July 1, 2013
38.  Visit a waterfall :: July 2, 2013
39.  Go to a fireworks show on the Fourth of July :: July 4, 2013
40.  Take a yoga class :: July 28, 2013
41.  Take an online class (Originally Ali Edwards’ 31 Things Class. Never completed; iPhone Photography) :: August 7, 2013
42.  Watch all the Best Actor Oscar Movies :: August 21, 2013
43.  Adopt an animal :: September 27, 2013
44.  Be in a parade :: September 28, 2013
45 .  Paint the front porch :: October 19, 2013
46.  Go to a high school football game :: November 16, 2013
47.  Go to a concert :: November 21, 2013
48.  Do Ali Edwards’ One Little Word Project in 2013 :: December 30, 2013
49.  Create and keep a gratitude journal for 1 year :: January 1, 2014)
50.  Do Project Life in 2013 :: January 3, 2014
51.  Send a letter to someone living outside of the United States :: February 21, 2014
52.  Eat 3 things I’ve never tired before :: March 1, 2014
53.  See a Cirque de Soleil show :: March 7, 2014
54.  Volunteer at a soup kitchen :: April 10, 2014
55.  Go to World War I museum in Kansas City :: April 12, 2014
56.  Visit 5 museums :: April 12, 2014
57.  Have a yard sale :: June 6, 2014
58.  Go on a family vacation :: July 18, 2014
59.  Visit the Northwest :: July 22, 2014
60.  Go on a picnic :: July 24, 2014
61.  Find a personally inspirational quote and work in into a piece of art :: August 6, 2014
62.  Try 5 new local restaurants :: August 14, 2014
63.  Go on a hike :: September 7, 2014
64.  Stay up and watch the sunrise :: September 16, 2014
65.  Get engaged :: September 16, 2014
66.  Pick pumpkins :: October 4, 2014

In Progress: (10)
Do 10 projects from my Pinterest Board 6/10 (10 projects planned)
Do Week in the Life (2013 - done; 2014 - finishing up album)
Forty Bags in 10 Months (15/40)
Have a John Hughes movie marathon
Make a collection of 25 black and white photos (3/25)
Read 50 books (16/50)
Try 40 new recipes (29/40)
Watch all the Best Actress Oscar Movies 64/86
Watch all the Best Supporting Actor Oscar Movies 34/78
Watch all the Best Supporting Actress Oscar Movies 33/78

Still to Go: (35)
Build a blanket fort and sleep in it
Clean out the garage
Complete a 5000 piece puzzle
Donate blood
Go back to Washington DC with the family
Go horseback riding
Go to a drive in Movie Theater
Go to a midnight showing of a movie
Go to a show in Branson
Go to a tulip festival
Go to Shatto Dairy farm with the family
Go whale watching
Have a pancake dinner reunion
Learn how to mow the lawn on the tractor
Make a quilt
Make my own ice cream
Meal Plan
Paint a wall an outrageous color
Pay for the person behind me at a drive-thru
Read a chapter in the bible every night for a week
See the Pacific Ocean
Take a cake decorating class
Take a hot air balloon ride
Take a pottery class
Travel to Hawaii

If you want to see my progress go here.
If you want to start your own 101 in 1001, go here.

Week Forty Six

November 12, 2014

Love my girl.

Week Forty Five

November 2, 2014

12of12 | November 2014

01.  I almost forgot it was the 12th so I grabbed a quick 'getting ready' photo.
02.  Hot chocolate kind of morning.
03.  Came home to have lunch with dad and she thought she'd have some too.
04.  Lunch.
05.  Mmmm macaroni and cheese!
06.  Driving back to work.
07.  Sunset.
08.  Watching an Oscar movie.
09.  Laid on the bed and talked with mom for quite some time.
10.  Nightly routine.
11.  Jammies.
12.  Goodnight.

Dress

Week Forty Four

November 1, 2014

I found and bought my wedding dress! 

I am officially a bride!

10.10.15 can't get here soon enough!

Wedding Update

This wedding planning stuff has been a breeze so far.  To be honest, I'm shocked at how much we have done.  Within the first month and a half of being engaged we have settled on the following:

Church - I've always known where I've wanted to get married, the same church my parents got married in.  The church where my mom grew up and where my grandparents were members of and sang in the choir every single week.  They spent a lot of their time in this church, I'm sure they will be there in spirit for my wedding too.

Reception Venue - After a month of touring and tossing back and forth between two locations, we finally settled on one, the one that was the front runner.  We got to see it all set up in our colors and knew that this was our place.  Dakota and I love it!  And it's only three blocks away from the church.

Florist - This one was a given since Dakota's mom owns a flower shop.  We still need to discuss what the flower will look like, but so far we are pretty similar in what we have in mind.

Photograhy - When I was the maid of honor in my friends wedding last year, we went to a bridal boutique that have photos all over the walls.  I loved every single one of them and turns out they were all done by the same person so I grabbed a business card.  Flash forward 14 months later and I found said business card in my wallet.  We looked them up online and loved every single photo we saw.  For most of the other photographers it was like I liked one photo from this wedding, this photo from a different wedding....  But when I went to our photographers website I liked every photo from one event.  And then I looked at a different event and loved every photo from that one.  I know they are going to be worth every single penny.  And we have our engagement session scheduled for next month!

Cake - My mom, Dakota's mom and sisters and I went to a bridal expo in KC and while we were there we sampled the best cake we have ever tasted.  We all knew that if this cake was resonably priced, we had to have them.  So we drove the hour and a half south to the bakery to taste test some cakes.  It was heavenly.  Cake has been decided, we are just discussing how it will look (texture in the frosting).

Dress - At the same expo, I signed up for a dress appointment at David's Bridal in order to get a discount.  My appointment as the first of this month.  I'm going to be honest, I really wasn't excited about this.  I really wanted it to be just me, mom, and dad going to my dress appointment, but we had something to go to later that evening and dad wasn't up to going to both and since we weren't expecting to find a dress, we decided it was ok he didn't go this time so it was just me and mom.  We got to the dress shop and started to look around.  I had no expectation on what I wanted and pulled out about four dresses I semi liked.  We went to the dressing room and tried on the first one.  I really liked it from the profile, but it didn't wow me from the front.  I tried on a few vails and headpieces and found the one I wanted.  I wasn't sold on the dress so we tried on another.  I walked out of the dressing room and mom started crying when she saw me.  So then I started crying.  This was it!  They took me up to the big stage area and we played with the train and more vails until we found the right one.  And then we we were settled on the look, I got to make a wish and ring the bell.  This was the first time I really felt like a bride.  We ordered and it and it will be here at the end of January.  We are also going back to the store in a few weeks so dad and Dakota's family can see it!

We are so close to settling on a few other big things.  We are tasting one caterer later this month, we are down to two DJs and two oficiants. Hopefully those will be picked out by next month!

This whole wedding and getting marriend thing is getting more real by the minute.  The entire thing will be planned by the end of the year and then I won't have anything to do for 10 months...(I kid...I now we are going to have a lot more to do and will be crazy busy.

Week Forty Three

October 29, 2014

Fall Colors

Week Forty Two

October 20, 2014

Week in the Life Sunday

^^ Woke up to this picture from mom.

^^ So we went over to have breakfast with mom and dad.

^^ I love this pup!

 ^^ And this kitty.

^^ This kitty always has to be in the bathroom when I shower.  He plays with my hair ties the entire time.

 ^^ Went to the park to shoot some photos for a co-worker.

 ^^ The evening came an hour sooner, but that didn't stop him.

 ^^ Watching our shows, Once Upon a Time and Selfie.

^^ Bed time. 

Week in the Life Saturday

 ^^ Mr. Rory.  I totally forgot to mention one of the biggest changes from last year to this year in my intro...Dakota and I adopting this kitty!

 ^^ I love how they play!

 ^^ Making breakfast.

 ^^ His favorite spot in the house is sitting on the back of the love seat so he can look out the front windows.

 ^^ First wedding dress appointment.

^^ I found and bought my dress today!  I'm a bride now!

^^ Our evenings often look like this.

Week in the Life Friday

 ^^ Getting ready for work.

^^ Another beautiful sunrise.

 ^^ Lunch with this pup.  She is too funny! 

 ^^ The leaves are almost all gone.

^^ 4:30pm.  Hello weekend!

^^ Dinner from 54.

 ^^ Ready for trick or treaters! 

OLW October Goals

Instead of setting intentions for the year, I am setting 3 goals to accomplish each month.  Goals that will create moments.  Goals that are attainable.  Goals that are things I need to get done.  Goals that will make me a better person.

Here is how I did in October:

1.  Announce bridal party in a fun way | Bridal party has been asked and everyone has accepted!

2.  Work on Save the Dates | This didn't happen.  Our engagement photos will be done next month and we will have our save the dates out after the New Year.

3.  Get caught up on one little word | This also didn't happen.  However, mom and I watched the videos to September and October and have plans to get caught up.

4.  Participate in my third Week in the Life project | Collecting information/photos is done.  Just need to work on putting my book together this month.

5.  Celebrate dad's 61st birthday! | We celelbrated by having dinner and cake at home.  He had some shots to boost his bone morrow and wasn't feeling up to going out to dinner.  We will be doing that soon.

This month is going to be all about catching up on projects.  I've slacked and I don't like it one bit.  I think a little break was needed, but now I'm ready to craft and get it done.
1.  Complete my Week in the Life book
2.  Get caught up on Project Life (currently 11 weeks behind)
3.  Get caught up on One Little Word (currently 5 months behind, including November)
4.  Put together beach album


Bring on November!

Week in the Life Thursday Photos

Oh Thursday, you were such a strange day and on top of that, I really struggled to document you.  With only 19 camera photos and 16 iPhone photos, you didn't leave me with much.  But hey, at least I got something.

 ^^ So do not want to get out of my warm, cozy bead.

^^ Today is moody.

 ^^ Hot dogs for lunch.

 ^^ Back to work I go...

 ^^ Got dressed up for a visitation for my future mother-in-law's cousin.  

Like I said, weird day.  Today went so unlike what I had planned, and that's ok.  It's life.  I wish I documented more, like driving to KC, the sunset, and dinner with Dakota's family to name a few.  But in stead I just embraced the moment and didn't worry too much to document.  After all, some of those things didn't seem appropriate to get the camera out for.  We will try again on Friday.

City to City

This month our prompt was fall.

It was so fun to see how fall is the same and different in Virginia and Missouri.

I'm so loving this project.  It makes me feel closer to Brandi.

Sometimes living so far away from your best friend is hard.  This makes it a little easier.

Brandi's photo are on the left, mine are on the right.