101 days left!!- End of Year Recap (stolen from Hannah Callaway)

1. What did you do in 2013 that you'd never done before? I got the flu shot and planned 3 weddings, lol.

2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions and will you make more for next year? I don't think I made any resolutions last year but our first year of marriage to do list may start early for a group resolution type thing.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? My sister did! Little Ryan Patrick Dunne was born and I became a godmother :)

4. Did anyone close to you die? My dog Belle died :(

5. What countries did you visit? I didn't leave this one.

6. What would you like to have in 2014 that you lacked in 2013? I would like to finally have my wedding! Which I will, only 101 days away!

7. What date(s) from 2013 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? None, it has been a year of waiting with no specific dates in mind.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? I lost 30 pounds, I gained 10 back because I fell off the wagon hard but I am still proud of my 20 lbs lost!

9. What was your biggest failure? Allowing the little things to get to me, forgetting at times that what matters at the end of the day is that you have your family.

10. Did you suffer any illness or injury? I had Pneumonia for a month straight and I dislocated my thumb.

11. What was the best thing you bought? My wedding dress, though I didn't technically buy it, my mommy did.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? I will say mine and Dusty's because we have been thrown some rough curve balls, had to re=plan our wedding twice with most details changing costing us to lose many deposits and we still pushed through, heads high, jumping back on the horse and making new plans. We have also been complimented many times this year for taking the high road when many others would not and making very mature decisions.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Society in general, through there have been a few rays of hope society as a whole has shown its dark, hateful side and it makes me sad how horrible people can be.

14. Where did most of your money go? Wedding plans that fell through, food and rent.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? I was engaged and was planning my wedding!

16. What song will always remind you of 2013? None, I am not big into music.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. Happier or sadder? I will have to say sadder only because this time last year I had JUST gotten engaged. I am however extremely happy.
ii. Thinner or fatter? Let's go with thinner, though after the wedding I plan on trying to lose some more weight.
iii. Richer or poorer? Definitely poorer, but that is life.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of? Saving money.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of? Stressing. Poor Dusty has to deal with stressed out Dianna quite often.

20. How did you spend Christmas? We woke up around 5:30 am and laid in bed for a little bit, around 6 we started a fire and woke up Noah as it was our year to have him Christmas morning, watched him open his gifts, ate some breakfast, gave him a bath and watched a movie and played with new toys until Noah's mom picked him up at 9am. Got dressed and went to Dusty's parents' house for lunch and presents where Noah's mom dropped him off so he could partake, went to my brother's house for presents and dinner, stopped at Dusty's mom's house again for a couple of presents we forgot to give Noah then brought Noah to his MawMaw and PawPaw's house, went home too tired to clean and fell asleep super fast.

21. Did you fall in love in 2013? Yes. While I was already in love with Dusty I would, at times, find myself looking at him sometimes and feel that feeling of falling in love with him all over again. He would ask me what was wrong and I would say, "nothing, I just love you."

22. What was your favorite tv program? Hmm...I was big on HGTV this year watching shows like Love It or List It (NOT LOVE IT OR LIST IT TOO), Property Brothers, Property Virgins and House Hunters.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? I don't think I HATE anyone. At work I often say that I hate people in general for being so petty and hateful but I don't literally HATE them.

24. What was your greatest musical discovery? "First Day of my Life" by Bright Eyes- OK so I am not actually not positive as to when I first hear this song but it was on a Zillow commercial and now it will be played at our wedding :)

25. What did you want and get? A big TV to make our love of movies more exiting at home!

26. What did you want and not get? A house

27. What was your favorite film of the year? Either The Conjuring or Catching Fire

28. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I worked, will probably do the same thing this coming year, I turned 25

29. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Buying a house rather than moving into an apartment, though I do LOVE my apartment (minus my downstairs neighbor)

30. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2013? Um, I wouldn't.

31. What kept you sane? Dusty Haynes (and he is a who, not a what)

32. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? No idea- Jennifer Lawrence maybe because she is really down to earth and seems like a really good person.

33. Who did you miss? I miss abby doodles as she doesn't live with  me since I moved. 

34. Who was the best new person you met? Dusty's friend Katie, she is pretty awesome.

35. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2013: Plans need to be changed sometimes, get over it, make the best of it and remember what is important.

36. Quote a song lyric movie quote that sums up your year: "When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible."

110 days left! - Honey Butter Crescent Rolls

Welcome to my first post in a new series! I have been cooking almost every day since Dusty and I moved in to our apartment (or Noah's apartment if you ask Noah) and as many of YOU send me your recipes, I thought I would share mine in a series called DSnowInTheKitchen.

For my first recipe I will share with you what I made for breakfast today: Honey Butter Crescent Rolls

Ingredients:

• 1 package of refrigerated crescent roll dough (DON'T buy the butter flavored ones)
• 4 TBSP of Butter (you can probably try less or can sub margarine if that is your preference)
• 1 TBSP of Honey
• 1 tsp of Cinnamon (I didn't use this but I WILL next time because it would be delicious) 

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and spray a thin layer of pam for baking on a cookie sheet.
2. Soften the butter for 10-15 seconds in the microwave.
3. Mix the Butter and Honey (and Cinnamon) 
4. Open each triangle of crescent roll dough and spread a thin layer of the honey (cinnamon) butter on it, roll it up and place on cookie sheet. REPEAT for all 8 rolls. Be sure to leave space for the rolls to expand (as they do).
5. Spread the remaining honey (cinnamon) butter over the top of the rolls.
6. Bake the rolls in the oven for 10-13 minutes or until golden brown.
7. Allow to cool and enjoy!

With this and ANY of my recipes, if you try them and would do something different let me know. That is something Dusty and I do anytime we (I) cook anything new. When we are eating we pose the question "What would you do different?" So feel free to share your input!

112 Days left! A Special Surprise for Noah!

As stated in the video above, Noah got a special call today while we were watching the Grinch. Santa called him and told him that he was being a good son and that if he kept it up he would get a surprise and maybe even a new toy! Noah listened intently and nodded enthusiastically as Santa complimented him. His face lights up every time we listen to his message and he is very VERY excited for Christmas to come in just 5 short days!

For you parents out there, this lovely moment was brought to you by Google's Santa Tracker where you personalize the message for any of your friends or loved ones and Santa makes it a point to give you a recording to send to them. Gotta LOVE technology sometimes.

That's all for now from the Future Step-Mom D Haynes!

114 days left! Meet the Cast Double Feature: David and Lauren

Cast Member: David Cox
Role in Wedding: Best Man
Relationship: friend of the groom
How we met: Dusty met Dave on the bus Dusty's sophmore year of high school.
How he got the gig:  Dave is Dusty's best friend, any other questions?

Cast Member:  Lauren Dunne
Role in Wedding: Matron of Honor
Relationship: Sister of the Bride
How we met: Lauren is Dianna's big sister!
How she got the gig:  Being Dianna's big sister, Lauren was Dianna's first friend and she was the only one to fit the role :)

115 Days left!- Meet the Cast Double Feature- Brad and Brittany

Cast Member: Bradley Leonard
Role in Wedding:Groomsman
Relationship: friend of the groom
How we met: Dusty went to school with Brad and they became close friends in middle school.
How he got the gig:  It was a no brainer! Brad is one of Dusty's oldest friends!









Cast Member:  Brittany Mixon
Role in Wedding: Bridesmaid
Relationship: Friend of the bride
How we met: Dianna met Brittany in college, they were in the ASU college of education together and Brittany became one of Dianna's best friends!
How she got the gig:  Brittany is an amazing lady and an inspiration to Dianna. She also may have strong-armed her way in, haha, JUST KIDDING BRITTANY!

116 days left!!! Meet the Cast Double Feature: Lyle and Lily

Cast Member: Lyle Davis
Role in Wedding:Groomsman
Relationship: Step-father of the Groom
How we met: Lyle is married to the grooms's mother.
How he got the gig:  Lyle is Dusty's step dad and it was important to Dusty that he be a part of his wedding.

Cast Member:  Lily McLean
Role in Wedding: Bridesmaid
Relationship: Friend of the bride
How we met: Dianna met Lily on the bus after moving to North Carolina her sophomore year in high school and they have been friends ever since!
How she got the gig:  Lily is on of the bride's best friends and they have been through a lot together so it made sense to heave her at the bride's side on her big day!

117 Days left! Meet the Cast: Double Feature! Michael and Heather

Cast Member: Michael Naglieri
Role in Wedding:Groomsman
Relationship: Brother of the Bride
How we met: When Dianna was born, Michael got to meet her as he is her big brother! Dianna introduced Dusty to Michael on July 4, 2012.
How he got the gig:  He is the bride's brother and she really really wanted him and Dusty's sister (below) in the wedding and to accommodate this Dianna and Dusty added 2 people to the bridal party they had already decided on!

Cast Member:  Heather Haynes
Role in Wedding: Bridesmaid
Relationship: Sister of the groom
How we met: Heather is Dusty's little sister so it is similar to the story above but backwards.
How she got the gig:  It was important to the couple that their siblings were in their wedding so the extra spots were created just for them!

118 Days Left!!- Here's the plan...

It has been a while to say the least. We are one day away from my first dress fitting, one month away from sending out invitations and 4 months away from being married!! Time is flying and I am so grateful because this wait is killing me! (Not literally of course).

I have decided to go ahead and finish my meet the cast and crew, it will be done fairly rapidly as a new and final series (final before wedding not final forever) will begin in 18 days. For the final 100 days I will (do my best to) post one picture a day up until the big day! Any wedding stuff will obviously be the focus but if we don't do something wedding related it will still be about me and/or my family.

I look forward to starting up again and sharing my journey with you all, <3.

-D*

150 days left!!- Extreme Makeover, Wedding Edition.

When I left you last you knew (or we thought you knew) all of our wedding vendors and we were working on introducing the wedding party. As of recently just about ALL of our vendors have changed! Due to unforeseen and uncontrollable circumstances our entire wedding has been re-planned so almost everything you thought you knew was... 

Here's a list of what stayed the same:

1. Dusty and I are still getting married.
2. Our bridal party
3. Our Officiant
4. Our Photographer
5. Our cake

Short list, eh?

Here are somethings that have changed:

Wedding date (now April 11th rather than 12th), Wedding size (much smaller venue means more intimate wedding, went from about 200 people to 50), Hotel accommodations (no special rates, book at your own risk, we booked a room AT the wedding venue location), Venue, DJ, and Caterer. There will be no alcohol at the wedding, there WILL be seating for guests during the ceremony. Our honeymoon has changed as well but you won't be invited to that anyway. 

We have all new plans in store for you so here is a compilation of our NEW Cast and Crew!

Venue- We have moved our venue to the lovely Manor House in Tanglewood Park.

Crew title: The Manor House at Tanglewood Park
Address: 4201 Manor House Circle, Clemmons, NC 27102
Phone: 336-703-6400
Role in wedding: Venue
How we met: I first heard of Tanglewood due to the lovely Festival of Lights! I had driven past the Manor House many times but never entered until the day before we booked it as our venue. What to expect: The Manor House is the former country home of William and Kate Reynolds which now serves as a B&B that is very elegant inside. We are aiming to have our ceremony outside on the front veranda then open all of the French doors to have dancing in the front relaxing in the house and food set up in the back Veranda. There are rooms that can be rented if you are planning on spending the night and Dusty and I are doing just that! Our room is booked and the old fashioned feel will make for some beautiful pictures! The Manor house is located behind the Rose Garden and in front of the arboretum so beautiful flowers will not be lacking!

DJ- My beyond awesome brother in law has decided he would be our DJ for the big day. 

Crew title: John Dunne
Address: n/a
Phone: n/a
Role in wedding: DJ and MC
How we met: John is my Brother in Law.
What to expect: Nothing short of awesome. John is a very talented musician who was originally just going to play the ceremony music for us but once he heard we were canceling our DJ stepped in and offered to make our wedding ROCK. 

Caterer- Still deciding on that one, check back another time for more info.

All for now my dears! 

181 Days Left!! Meet the Cast and Crew: DOUBLE FEATURE Noah Haynes and Karlee Naglieri

Cast Member: Noah Haynes
Role in Wedding: Ring Bearer
Relationship: Son of the Groom
How we met: Dusty was in the room when he was born. I met Noah one day when Dusty brought Noah in to the office on his day off because he forgot his phone charger.
How he got the gig:  He is awesome, fun, brave, adventurous, inquisitive, smart, polite, handsome, beautiful and all around wonderful. Oh yeah, he is also Dusty's 3 year old son and my soon to be step-son. He is going to be an very handsome ring bearer!

Cast Member:  Karlee Naglieri
Role in Wedding: Flower Girl

Relationship: Niece of the Bride
How we met: Dianna met Karlee in a delivery room at Forsyth Medical Center the night she was born right before she was taken to Brenners to begin her long journey with CHD. Dusty met Karlee on July 4th 2012 when he met the rest of the Naglieri crew.
How she got the gig:  Karlee is an amazing miracle baby! She is the strongest little girl I know and given her adorableness plus the fact that she is the youngest little girl in the Naglieri/Dunne/Haynes clan, she was the perfect fit!

201 Days Left!!!- Meet the Cast: Perry Hardison

So you are planning a wedding, you have the dress, the venue, someone to marry, what else do you need? How about someone to make it official? Cue our next cast member, our officiant.

Crew title: Perry Hardison 
Address: PO Box 374, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27515
Phone: 919.618.3359
Role in wedding: Officiant
How we met: The internet. Since neither Dusty or I attend a church regularly we did not have anyone in mind when it came to someone performing our ceremony. We used wedding venue websites to check out our options for an officiant who would suit our needs and once we found Perry we knew we were on the right track. We met up with Perry in Chapel Hill at a Starbucks, talked it over and booked him to marry us.

What to expect: Perry Hardison is an ordained Baptist minister who will custom write our ceremony to fit our personality and wishes. Perry is a good guy and we are blessed to have him as part of or ceremony.

210 days left!!- Meet the Cast: Leah Robbins

What are some things that you take to a wedding? Tissues? A gift? A camera? I personally LOVE pictures and while I may not be the best at taking them, I sometimes pretend I am and adore having these frozen moments in time to remember a friend's special moments. With this in mind, it is not too hard to believe that the very first vendor that was booked was our photographer.

Crew title: Leah Robbins
Address: N/A
Phone: N/A
Role in wedding: Photographer
How we met: Leah had been the photographer to capture the pictures of Mrs and Mr Callaway's wedding and engagement and Hannah's Bridal shots! The pictures were wonderful so when Hannah told me of an amazing deal that her photographer was having that included 7 hours at the wedding a Bridal Shoot and an Engagement shoot I had to jump! Dusty and I looked through her work and determined that she was perfect for us! We had talked though what we wanted and had Leah booked even before Dusty asked me to marry him! While Leah is no longer accepting new business she is still going to be shooting our wedding making it even more special!

What to expect: You can expect to see a lovely lady setting up and taking amazing pictures at the wedding. We still want you to take pictures but please be mindful that if Leah is trying to set up a shot these are the pictures that WE get to keep, her job is to take the pictures that we will have forever as we wont be toting around a camera to capture the moment. Now she isn't going to stand directly in your way as we are having our first kiss but she may move around if she needs to get a different angle for a shot.

244 Days Left!! - Meet the Cast and Crew: Dewey's Bakery

If you have ever planned a wedding you may know that some of the most enjoyable things to pick out are your dress (which I can't post about), your food (which will be in another post) , and your cake. The first because (in my opinion) the dresses that you get to wear are just so beautiful and the moment when you see yourself for the first time in "the one" you get this amazing feeling and no matter what you thought about your self image before hand you feel beautiful. The second and third are because you get to eat lots of free delicious food. For my first "Meet the Cast and Crew" post I am writing about Dewey's Bakery, as they allowed us to do TWO cake tastings (both of which were sooooo delicious, and because a wedding cake is super important (I feel) to a wedding.

Note: this is NOT our cake, but it is a lovely wedding cake with an "H" on it :)

Crew title: Dewey's Bakery
Address: 262 South Stratford Road 
Winston-Salem, NC 27103 Phone: 336.725.8321
Role in wedding: baking and decorating (and transporting) wedding cake!
How we met: When I worked at Borders Books Music and Cafe, some of the Dewey's staff would come in to get some ice from us because they would run out and we would have a HUGE ice maker in our cafe. To pay us back they would bring us Moravian Sugar Cake, Pink Lemonade Cake or some other pastry. Dusty first "met" Dewey's when we went for our first cake testing.

What to Expect:  Dewey's is known for quite a few things, Moravian pastries, Pink Lemonade cake and custom cakes. I can tell you that we will not have the first two but you can expect a wonderful custom cake that was partially designed by your favorite bride and groom as well as the amazingly talented cake decorators at Dewey's. While we have clearly not seen the finished product, we know it will be amazing and definitely a cake to remember (and to take a picture of)!

247 Days Left! - New Series: Meet the Cast and Crew

Picture this: You are going to this wedding of a friend or family member and you spend a good chunk of time looking at the bride, groom and the select people they decided to have participate in the ceremony and you think to yourself...WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?!  You have never seen most of them before in your life and you can guess who is who but you may really want to know which bridesmaid was once kidnapped by real pirates and which groomsman used to date Kiera Knightly (briefly of course).

To make it a bit easier, for the next 21 weeks I am going to have a series starting next week entitled: "Meet the Cast and Crew" where I will tell you who is who, how I (or we) met this person, a little info about them and what role they will be performing in the wedding. Please note that just because someone is not featured in this series does not mean they are any less important, in the same way as just because you may not be a bridesmaid does not mean you are not an important person in my life.  I may also introduce you to some vendors we are using, you never know when that information may come in handy!

So sit back, relax, and enjoy the road ahead!

250 Days Left!! - What to Expect- Seating

Ah, the dreaded topic of our seating plan. I think if this wedding has one more area in which to stress me out it is going to be in making the seating plan. Since we are having plated meals that will be submitted beforehand, everyone must be in the seats to which we assign them, which makes our job much harder. Just in case sitting 10 random relatives at a table wasn't already stressful there comes the issue of seating during the ceremony and THAT is where I expect complaints.

Background: Our ceremony and reception are being held in the same room which means we will have it set up almost exactly the same all night. The Crystal Ballroom at our venue is perfect and it was kind of special to be able to have our table in the exact spot that we exchanged our vows. It was also going to be much more money and hassle to either pay for another room in the building for 30 minutes or make guests travel from one location to another for these events. We landed on the single room option and our event coordinator at the venue has instilled confidence in how it will turn out.

What to Expect: You may be standing for our entire ceremony, but it will be probably max about 30 minutes, if that. We will have some chairs moved from tables into rows to create an aisle for immediate family and for anyone with VERY young children or anyone who is injured but these seats will be filled at primarily our discretion. I know it may seem silly that you may have to STAND but this will give you more freedom as to where to be, you can be on the second floor or the first and maybe see the wedding from a POV that you have never experienced! This is one thing about my wedding that I KNOW is going to upset people but honestly, as mean as it sounds, I don't want to hear it, I have stood in line longer to get into a crummy movie or to pay for some groceries so I feel that standing (while I am doing the exact same thing), isn't too much to ask someone. After the ceremony, Dusty and I will make our escape to get some photo's done with our bridal party and family while our guests are offered some snacks, will have access to the pub and can take their seats inside when they are ready waiting for cocktail hour to be over so they can see us again and eat some yummy food then dance it all off!

256 Days Left!!- One Year Dating Anniversary

Yesterday, July 29th, was the anniversary of when Dusty and I made our relationship "official." Along with that declaration came telling everyone at work (including HR), and updating Facebook (because it wasn't official until then). Our families had already known we were dating so they never noticed a change.

To celebrate this anniversary we had big plans to eat all the food we wanted regardless of calories, go to Boone and Blowing Rock and go to Grandfather Mountain and go to the movies. Our plans changed quite a bit thanks to this bride to be getting pneumonia (in July...seriously?) and our procrastination with getting Dusty moved. So instead we focused on being together and on eating, lol.

First we went to Cracker Barrel and had Mamma's Pancake Breakfast which included 3 pancakes, 3 pieces of bacon, and scrambled eggs. Of course our eyes were bigger than our stomachs but we put quite a bit away...mmmm...pancakes! I felt so full afterward that I thought I would puke.

After breakfast we visited The Village Inn and walked around trying to visualize good spots to take our wedding pictures. We left 100% sure that our pictures would be amazing!

We had to go get some paint to match what was in Dusty's apartment thanks to a few poorly removed command hooks (our fault, not the product's) so we headed to Lowe's Hardware who matched the color better than we would have ever thought possible! After we got our paint we walked around and picked out flooring, cabinets, cabinet pulls, sinks, tiles, and more for our future house! Of course we didn't buy anything as a. we have no money and b. we have no house, but it was so much fun. I felt like we were on HGTV about to do a home renovation. I was inspired to create a new pinterest board for the items we picked out (though I could only remember a few) and saved the items to my favorite on our new MyLowes account.

After Lowe's a wrong turn took us to Once Upon a Child where we got Noah a couple of outfits for a decent price before we walked around the mall! The only things we got at the mall were from Starbucks (not that we had much room for it). We then decided to get a couple of slices of pizza from Mario's near Target and to my surprise a slice of pizza from there was like an entire small pizza! It was delicious but so much pizza!

We then took our full bellies to Dusty's apartment where we moved his mom's back seat back into her van, painted some walls, returned Dusty's mom's van to her, met with Stefanie for her to pick up the coffee table and TV we were giving her, did our final walk through (taking pictures) then turned in his keys. As of tomorrow his lease will be completed and he is no longer a resident at Fiddler's Creek Apartments!

We were going to go to the movies that evening before dinner (since we were so full) but I forgot my antibiotics in Beverly's car so Dusty drove all the way to Thomasville while I rested then cooked. I am no expert chef but we made 2-8oz steaks (marinated by McCormick), roasted red potatoes and lightly seasoned cooked corn. Our grill was out of gas so it was all made in the oven and I feel like I overcooked the steak but overall it was very tasty.

To finish out our cheat day/anniversary we ate Coldstone, Dusty had Cheesecake ice-cream and I had birthday cake remix, sinfully delicious. We watched HGTV until my eyes gave out on me and I passed out. Overall it was a very productive and a perfect day for us.

This will however be our LAST dating anniversary. In 256 days we will declare our love for each other in front of family and friends and be blessed with a new anniversary to celebrate.

260 days left! - First year to-do's

A lot of people in the world have a bucket list. If you do not know what a bucket list is, I shall clarify that it is not a list of buckets that you wish to own, see, fill or empty but rather a list of things to do before you die or "kick the bucket."

Just kidding, here is my bucket collection from my bucket list ;)

My main problem with bucket lists? Procrastination. You may not know it from my wedding planning but I am one of those people who will wait until the last minute for many things because I feel like I have all the time in the world to do something. It is actually the reason I am wedding planning so much now, if I do it now, I know I am taking the quality time I need to put thought and care into my decisions rather than wait until the night before the wedding to hand write all the programs, start talking gibberish and fall asleep during the ceremony, ( I, Dianna take you Dusty to by my fnioanmkfbuioejkn m,...banana.). I got the idea from someone (either Hannah or Pinterest I am sure) to make a first year of marriage bucket-list BUT since calling it a bucket list seems to imply that once we hit the end of year one we get to the death do us parting, I thought it would be fun to call them the Year 1: I Do, To Do's.

I won't post ALL of them, I don't even think we have all of them just yet, but here are some things that we have included.

• Lose another 50 lbs (dianna)
• Travel out of the country
• Travel to another state 
• Save $5,000 towards our first home.
• See 10 movies in theaters
• Use all of your wedding gifts at least once
• Cook 100 meals at home
• Take a photo a week to document 
• Change last name (dianna)
• Have our first guests over

Do you have a bucket list? Do you have any suggestions for items to add to ours? Feel free to comment and share!

270 Days Left!!- Home Hunters...almost.

If you already didn't know, Dusty and I have a loving relationship with HGTV. We can often be found sitting together watching Love It, or List it (NOT Love it, or List it too because it is just not the same), House Hunters and every other remodel, renovation, property searching show they have. There are good things and bad things that come with watching such a channel, good being things like getting an idea of places or spaces that we could imagine ourselves in and conversations about decorating, our "Must Haves," and so on. What could the bad be you ask? Well, quite simply that I want to go find my first apartment (our first home together) NOW, not next year, and quite frankly, that is just not possible.

Even with knowing that the odds of us getting an apartment right now and still being able to pay for all of our wedding expenses are 0% (not even a million-bazillion to 1), it doesn't stop me from loging in to my Zillow app on my phone or searching the Apartment Finder website to see what is available in our price range. It is lots of fun and easier to handle then when I tricked myself into thinking we could move straight into a house (short version: we can't). The problem still remains that things that are available NOW may not be availible in Febrary-March of next year.

To try and prepare for our first home search, Dusty had a great idea to make some forms that would allow us to gather some information about each place we consider and make it easier to compare when making the final decision. I had a great idea to hire someone to film our apartment search and make our own version of House Hunters and be on HGTV! While my plan was brilliant...we decided to go with Dusty's plan.

If you do not get this reference, go watch Meet the Robinsons right NOW!

Now the question is, what information should we look for in a living space? Here is what we know:

• We only want to live there for about a year or so while we save as much as we can for a decent down-payment on our first house.
• We only need a 2 bedroom for this time span.
• If we are only staying a year, school ratings aren't a huge deal. If we stay longer, they are.
• We want to feel safe in our location.
• We want just basics so that we can save as much as possible, but don't want to live in a wreck either.

Here is where you come in: What do you look for when selecting an apartment? What should be most important? What do you wish you knew about your apartment or lease before you signed it?

All help given will be appreciated greatly!

That's all for now, I will let you know what our forms end up including, and I can picture some "Must Have" lists popping up in here somewhere.

280 Days Left!! - What to Expect: Drinks

After reading hundreds of wedding related posts I can tell you something that they all mention that kind of ticks me off. Every one tells me how tacky, inappropriate, and inconvenient cash bars are. They all say how you should go all out and offer a full bar to all of your guests to ensure they have fun. Well, this morning I had the last straw, and to clear anything up I determined what my next "what to expect" post would be.

Background:
I for one have never been much of a drinker. The most I have ever had was two or three weak drinks in one night. Dusty isn't a huge drinker either, not that he doesn't like to drink occasionally, it is just not a priority. I know it can be relaxing or even a bit fun to indulge once in a while but it isn't what I think of when I think of my wedding.

What to expect:
Two words for you: cash bar. As inconvenient as it may be for a guest at my wedding to break out their wallet for a jack and coke, it is ten times more inconvenient and costly for me to budget an entire wedding's alcohol intake. At our reception there is a full bar literally two doors down from the ballroom that would be very accommodating of guests wishing to acquire some spirits for the occasion. We have worked out that water, soda, tea and champagne punch will be free and unlimited and I for one think that is more than reasonable. Weddings are expensive and pumping guests full of booze is not at the top of my priorities. I don't mind the drinking, I just don't want to pay for it.

285 Days to Go! - Dieting

Ah, we have reached that horrible "D" word. Like most women in the world, I too feel that I need to loose some poundage,  as I have for quite a while now, but with the wedding comming up and any future plans to have kids it seemed like a good place to start and stick to it. Since June 3rd Dusty and I have been on a Diet. We are using the MyFitnessPal app from the android market to set our weight goals, record our calories and our excercises. The app is pretty awesome as once you tell it your weight, what you want to accomplish, and how fast you want to accomplish it, it tells you how many calories you are allowed to eat each day. At the end of each day when you "complete your entry" it tells you what you could weigh if every day was like that day (which, on days where you gave up and ate a Baconator for dinner, can be very discouraging).  My goal is to have lost 64 lbs by December 15th (the day I have my first Bridal Gown fitting).

Now, when I first got engaged I was going to try to get in shape, then decided not to because by February (a couple months after my engagement) I had found and purchased my wedding gown which was already a size too big for me. I figured that my fiancee loves me like I am so who else am I trying to impress? On many occasions Dusty and I would have conversations about dieting and how we often fail at it but probably should do it and whatnot. We have access to a health coach at work who gives us advice, gives us someone to talk to and helps set attainable goals. I found that my motivations that were most...well.. motivating were not just the ones that included "because I want to NOT buy size 22 jeans," but rather, "I want to like my wedding pictures," "because being so much overweight will put any children I try to have at higher risk for defects," and "because I want to be able to run around with my kids and not be winded in two minutes." Apparently when you have good reasons to do it, you are more likely to succeed.

Committing to dieting was difficult for me, not just because I was lazy, but because I was scared (and still am). If/when I lose weight, my engagement and wedding rings may not fit me anymore (they are already getting loose). If/when I lose weight, my wedding dress may be more difficult to alter and may end up looking terrible. If/when I lose weight, I may have to use our savings to buy clothes that fit. These things scare me to death, but they are not good enough reasons NOT to do it. SO what if my gown is a little different than when I first tried it on, I am having professionals alter it and they should be able to make it work. My ring set, if it needs to be bought again, is not going to break our bank and clothes, a small price to pay for being healthy for yourself and your family.

We began using the app to record our food intake in May, not setting a goal, just recording to get into the habit. Since officially starting on June 3rd Dusty and I have lost about 10lbs each following MyFitnessPal, taking walks and just paying attention to what we were pumping into our bodies. Have we gone over calories? YES, sometimes by much more than I am willing to admit but it is ok. Dusty keeps reminding me that just paying closer attention to your calorie intake tends to make you make healthier choices, even if you are above your 'goal.'

Dieting is hard, especially when you only have x amount of calories to consume (and that number goes down with the numbers on the scale! 11.5 pounds lost lost me 40 calories every day! Having someone to do it with makes it a little easier, I would have never lost an ounce without Dusty.

DO you have any dieting tips? Any recipies that are low calorie? Any favorite low calorie meals or snacks? Share away!

292 Days Left!! - What to Expect: Theme

When you hear that a wedding has a "theme," what comes to mind? For some a scene from 27 Dresses pops in their head where she has tried on all her "Gone With the Wind" dresses;

 for others it may be princess, beach or country that comes to mind. Sometimes the thought of a themed wedding is scary because it can be way, way, WAY over the top. I am willing to admit our wedding has a theme, but not one that should be feared.

Background:
When Dusty and I got engaged, or maybe even in the months before, we had discussed ideas for our wedding. We didn't specifically discuss a "theme" at first but as we considered, and reconsidered one kind of fell into place. Now I had considered many ideas for my wedding over the last 25 years including fairytale, Tim Burton, The Nightmare Before Christmas,

Dr. Seuss, and Disney, but none of these really fit for Dusty and I when it came down to it. They were fun to think about pre-engagement but when realistically picturing this incredible event, they didn't work. I think this is true about a lot of pre-relationship wedding ideas because when you plan before a relationship you are only thinking about you, when you actually plan for real you have to take into account what the other person likes and what will represent you and your partner. Now if you watch Bridezillas or some of these other wedding shows, they may not have quite that same bearing.

What to Expect:

If you know me and or Dusty, you know that we love movies and going to the movies. Some people have a misguided idea of our wedding theme. Many people think it is "movie," like you would be able to see a story line (boy waits at alter, girl walks down alter, evil genius has secretly kidnapped the officiant and is planning on using his love-me-not-inator to make everyone in the tri-state area be unable to love, Platypus in a fedora saves the day, the bride and groom get married, the end),

or scenes/quotes that are from beloved movies (To have and to hold, and I'll never let go Jack, I'll never let go). That isn't the case. Rather than movie, think the movies, that's right, think the cinema, the experience you have going to the Grand, Regal, AMC or Wynsong, and watching magic unfold before your eyes because that is the experience we want you to have when you leave. You just came to a showing of a never before seen movie, you laughed, you cried and you felt, if only for a few hours, that the rest of the world didn't exist, you only existed in that room and got to experience something truly amazing.  While we won't be going too over the top (I don't think), you will see nods to the movie going experience throughout our wedding and wedding process.