Relief

I cannot tell you how happy I am that Obama won. This country is so ready for a change - I am so ready for a change. Granted, either candidate would have provided that, and I actually think McCain is a great man. I admired him quite a bit when I lived in AZ. I thought he did great things for the state and I know he would have been a strong leader. I just think our country is ready to go in a new direction, instead of down a parallel path. Okay, politics over :)

I wanted to quickly post a thank you card I sent off yesterday. This is one of my favorite cards, for some reason. I love the color combo (Riding Hood Red, Old Olive, Ruby Red, and Whisper White), love the Pretty Peonies set, love the other set with the sentiment (and I just spent the last 30 minutes looking for the name - I have no idea what it's called all of a sudden).

I'm pretty proud of myself, actually posting things and sending them out. I'm one of those people who has good intentions and never quite follows through on card sending. I have a huge stash (partially for craft shows), but there's no way I can justify all that time spent and money spent without actually sending them (not that the sentiment isn't there, regardless of sending a card.)

Also wanted to post another picture. Molly, growing up :) She's going to be 6 months soon, I can't believe it. And, the famous big girl collar is on. She looks so grumpy in this picture for some reason, but she was really having a blast running around the yard with me while I took pictures. And she's getting much better about taking pictures. I tell her "Smile pretty!" and she sits or looks at me for a few seconds so if I'm on the ball, I can take her picture. Love that pooch.

My First Stamping Post

Maybe? I can't remember. Anywho...

Here it is. I wish I could give the deets, but this is the problem with blogging away from my studio. I CANNOT wait until it's all set up.

I know the base is a piece of 8.5"x5.5" Summer Sun (SU!) cardstock. The stamps for both the sentiment and the flower stem are from the SU! set Pretty Amazing (I think it's either retired or dormant). The flowers are from the Noteworthy line. The first layer is Taken with Teal, second is Old Olive, and both are dotted with black marker. I sponged Summer Sun ink around the Whisper White layer. I love how the flowers are from a different line but still match the SU! cardstock pretty well. I'm one of the obsessives who loves things to match.

Wish I could give better details/instructions, but I suppose this is better than nothing. :) I sent this card to Megan, our very talented engagement/wedding photographer, thanking her for taking our engagement pics and doing such a fantastic job. Mike and I really did have fun with the shoot (depsite us both hating having our picture taken) and we were very impressed with how the pictures turned out. Plus, she is so sweet, and we had a chance to meet her husband and talk with him as well. Great couple, can't wait to work with them!

Last night was a blur. I came home from work and let Molly out to play and promptly fell asleep. I was completely exhausted and knew I wouldn't make it. Driving home feeling like that wasn't good either. So...got up, made some dinner, and lounged on the couch with Mike. I had all these ambitions to unpack more or work on cards for my upcoming craft show, but sometimes I just need to rest. I really hope I'll be able to stick to my schedule this week for unpacking/crafting. So much to do for this weekend, so little time.

Go vote!! Have a great day :)

I should have made this a goal....

To blog on a more regular basis. It's funny...I read certain people's blogs everyday, and yet don't even think about updating mine. Granted, they have hundreds of people reading theirs and I'm pretty sure I'm the only person who reads mine, but whatever :)

So, I'm big into goals. They usually don't happen, but I always set them. And being that I live about 2 months ahead of real time because I'm always thinking about what I have coming up...Christmas, wedding, etc..., I'm sort of in the New Year goal setting mode. So...here's my scratchy paper of goals. Not sure you can read them, and not really the point, but I thought if I publically posted my scratchings, maybe it would hold me more accountable. SO...if you talk with me, push me on these things, they really are important to me.

Last week we saw our engagement pictures and I love them! Meg is an awesome photographer. Mike and I had a really good time shooting them at the pumpkin patch and seeing them made this whole wedding gig A LOT more real. There's a couple I just love to pieces and can't wait to get my hands on them so I can show everyone. I think they're really Mike and me, if that makes sense. A little goofy, a little cheesy, but definitely fun.

And after seeing them, I was totally inspired to look at some of my own pictures. I also found this amazing blog of a local photographer on a national site, and I can't believe I'd never heard of her before now. I'm sure she's a bit spendy, but someday, I would LOVE to have her take pictures of our family. Anyway, I was out playing with Molly last week and had my camera because I wanted to take pictures of her big girl collar, when I looked up and saw our amazing sunset. I'd seen it before, but it never stops being gorgeous. I spent more time snapping pictures of the sunset than I did of Molly - although I managed to get a couple good ones of her too :)

So, I'll just upload a bunch of photos that I found when I was looking through my camera. Seeing my life through my lens makes me realize even more how blessed I am.

This is Mike and Michael, pointing at a monkey at the zoo. We took all 3 kids this summer, and it was so cool to see those two together. I know Mike is great with his niece and nephew, but it was awesome to see him bond with my nephew too.

To the left is the three kids looking at something behind the glass. I love the lighting of this picture though, and their three little heads. Especially Quintin and Michael, looking up, hands pressed on the glass. SO cute!

And my beloved sunset photos. These are from all over the property. I'm standing there, snapping pictures, thinking how lucky we are to have a house and land, and then it hits me like a ton of bricks - THIS is God. This is tangible (well, sorta) proof that He exists. Not that I doubted, but if someone were to aks me how I know, I can point at these pictures and say this is how. How can anyone wonder after seeing something like this?

So, that's the news, I guess. Craft show this weekend at Bellevue East. Come visit! Other than that, lots of unpacking to look forward to this week. Hopefully all will be in order at least on the main level in time for a family dinner on Saturday night.

Have an fantabulous fall week!!

Cheese and Rice!

It's been 2 months (almost) since I wrote anything! Cheese and rice!! (say it out loud - it's something Mike says when he's flabberghasted, generally in my direction.) I quite possibly haven't written because not that much out of the ordinary has gone on (at least not in my head) or because I've been so exceptionally busy. I'll just start with this last weekend and work my way backwards.

I had my second craft show on Saturday, which went pretty well. I'm pleased with how much I sold, but not with WHAT I sold. Here I spent all this time making like 200 cards to sell, plus some sets of cards...and at the last minute, decide to make some halloween treats - and those completely sell out and I take an order for 45 more!! Now granted, I'm happy to have sold all that and taken the order, but come on people!! Sunday, we went to Mike's family's church and saw his nephew get his Bible...it was really cute. They called all the kids to the front of the church and did the childrens' sermon and the whole time, Quintin wasn't paying a bit of attention because he was busy looking through his new Bible. It was awesome to see him excited about reading it!

On the church note, this is the same church where Mike and I will be married. It's really pretty. I'm a little concerned with the size - not sure it will be able to hold everyone if they actually make it to the ceremony, but we'll squeeze in. And I know Mike and I will have plenty of room :)

The weekend (and week) before, we were in Virginia for my very favorite cousin's wedding. It was awesome - we had such a good time with everyone and the wedding was beautiful and I'm so happy to see my cousin that happy. Her new husband is a great guy and I'm glad he's part of our family! I (yes, the one who has a camera permanently attached to her hand) didn't take all that many pictures, so I'll have to wait for the professional ones or until people send them around to share.

House news - we STILL haven't closed. Rumor has it we will on Wednesday evening, but I highly doubt it will happen. We've set up 4 or 5 closings so far only to have it delayed. Loving this mortgage crisis right now :P

Molly Monster finally grew into a big girl collar. No, that's not really dire news, but her daddy and I were pretty proud. It's red with white paws on it - I miss the pink one, but she does look awfully cute. Plus, she's Husker colors now :)

I think that's about it, honestly. We haven't packed a thing yet and are supposedly moving this weekend. I haven't really done anything for halloween that I need to do (want to do). Basically, work and crafts and that's about it. Cannot wait for a weekend where I can just relax!! Cross your fingers that we close this week!!!!

Feelin' Woody

Alright - any of you who saw my apartment knew that I'm a fan of wood and metal in my decorating...don't need colors so much (though I love bright ones), but I definitely enjoy having wooden furniture and metal accents. Therefore...this is my arty take on our house and all the wood and metal that made me fall in love. Sure, there's great rooms, lots of very pretty land, even the decorating and room colors are nice - but I walked in, saw all the ORIGINAL wood and hardware and it was over.

The top left picture is one of the built-in wardrobes in the hallways - there's one on the main floor and one on the second floor. LOVE this feature. The top right is the pantry area - if the cabinets aren't original in here, they've fooled me because they look exactly like the ones in the kitchen. The bottom left picture is of the butcherblock island - built to look original but isn't. Bottom right is the "mudroom" bannister and back door...original fixtures, gorgeous woodwork on the bannister. I can't believe how well this place was kept up.

I'm getting more excited by the day, in case you couldn't tell. I've been planning my studio area lately since I can't wait to disappear there whenever I want to create. My latest business endeavor (other than the wedding invitations) has been creating greeting cards to sell at craft fairs. Our first one is September 27 so not much time after we move in, but I can't wait to begin creating there!

Wow!

Holy Hanna, it's been awhile. As promised to Maria last weekend, I will happily update my blog. Honestly, it's been so crazy I haven't even had time to think about anything but staying awake. So...I'll give you the rundown :)

First, and foremost, we're buying a house!! Finally, I know. And it's finally for sure. Honestly, this whole process has reinforced my faith in things happening for a reason. I kept telling Mike as our bids on houses would get rejected over and over again that I felt like I was in a dysfunctional relationship and I couldn't stand one more breakup! Fortunately, we stumbled onto a house and it was love at first sight. That happened on Tuesday of last week, we made an offer on Wednesday, had a gut-wrenching evening and morning to follow, and heard we were becoming home-owners on Thursday afternoon! It was such an amazing feeling, and almost a week later, Mike and I still get big grins on our faces and act like little children on Christmas morning at the thought of this being OUR house. So, here's a few pictures from the listing and I'll give details below.
Obviously, this is the front of the house. To be honest, if it weren't for this picture, I wouldn't have a clue what the front of the house looks like. It has a circle driveway that starts before the house, completely wraps around the back, and comes out on the other side of the house. We've driven by the house twice, but otherwise, no clue what it looks like from the road. I'm pathetic. :)

This is the back of the house. The door to the left is the walk-out basement door, and the door to the right is to the mudroom area...it's not really a mudroom so much as a hallway, but that's what I'm calling it. You can see the little deck off to the right. Mike and I plan to expand that so we can have big dinners outside - we're deck people for sure and can't wait to have people over for some sort of charred animal. You can also see the old-fashioned well pump in the bottom right corner of the picture - it works! We have rural water, but the well actually pumps water. Maybe that's how I'll build up those biceps. Ha.

The BARN. Mike's pride and joy. It really is an awesome barn, with electrical ran to it, plenty of room for storage, animals, whatever. And it's red like I've always wanted (and made Mike promise to paint whatever barn we ended up with - looks like he got out of that one!) There's also another building that will be great for his bucket calves, a place for my chicken coop, another building that will probably just be storage, the garage, a potting shed, and the machine shed, which is huge and will probably turn into our party barn.

And last, but certainly not least is MY pride and joy - the kitchen!! The first picture is a view from the dining room of the whole kitchen. The cabinets are original and in amazing shape. I wish I had a close-up picture of the hardware. I'm completely in love with it. I promise to update so you can see what I'm raving about cabinet hardware. New countertops, my farmhouse sink!, the bar for casual eating, a butcher block island, great light fixtures...I can't say enough great things. BUT - the best is in the picture to the right - you can see it toward the back of the picture on the left...it's my PANTRY. I have walk-in pantry. Can you believe it?? There is so much storage back there, not to mention great counters and electrical - I could have a whole baking center back there! I'm just excited beyond words to have the whole set-up, and I don't have to change a thing! I can just move in and start using...that's such a great feeling.

More boring details about the house - it's in Unadilla, NE, which is in the middle of nowhere and has very few people - maybe population 100 in town and farms surrounding. (For those of you in the area, it's off of Highway 2, which runs on the south side of Lincoln, and is about 20 miles east of Lincoln. It's about 15 minutes from Elmwood where we are now.) It's 10 acres of land, about 7 of pasture for Mike's calves. There are fruit trees next to the pasture and plenty of room for my eventual garden next spring. The house is 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms. It's also got plenty of built-in storage and huge closets. There is the living room, formal dining room, master bedroom, kitchen and bathroom on the first floor, two bedrooms and a HUGE hallway on the second floor (where Mike's office will eventually be built), and the basement is almost completely finished with the 2nd bathroom, laundry room, built-in bar area, and an open room that will eventually be my studio. I can't believe I get my own studio!!

We are planning to close on September 17 which is like...3 weeks from today! I can't believe it. Big big big party at our place on October 25 - sort of a housewarming/Halloween costume party combo :)

The other big news is the new addition to our family - our adorable pug Molly.

Here she is! Full name: Molly Monster Vogt. The middle name says it all - she is pure evil most of the time. We love her to pieces but oh my gosh, can she get on our last nerve. She's a little over 3 months now and stubborn as all get out. She is my baby though, so she loves all things pink and shoes :) I can't wait to get her on the farm so she can run some of that energy out - barking at calves and chasing chickens.

That's all the updates I have right now so I can get back to work, but I promise more pictures when I have them!!

Maybe This Time

Okay, now maybe it's time for updates galore!

Thursday of last week (the 5th), we celebrated my birthday at The Q with Amanda and some of her friends. It was an absolute blast - of course, I don't remember most of it, but I know we had a good time.

Friday morning, I GOT ENGAGED!!! It was crazy and such a surprise!! And of course, I said yes. I am so exceptionally lucky to be marrying such a wonderful man. He is everything I could have ever hoped for and more, and I had no idea it was possible to love someone so much! We're planning on October 10, 2009 for our wedding date, in Nebraska, so mark your calendars :) Here's a smallish picture of the ring that doesn't begin to do it justice:

Also Friday morning, we put an offer in on the house we love. As of today, we've received a counter offer and sent one back to them, so who knows what will happen, but we're keeping our fingers crossed.

Saturday morning, I graduated with a BS in Management of Human Resources. It was really an accomplishment for me, but still hasn't hit me yet. We celebrated that evening with the big graduation party, which was the best!

(Left to right: my adorable cousin Amanda, me, and Nichole)

Sunday, I hosted Amanda's wedding shower. I think she had a good time - I know the food and champagne was good :) Thanks to everyone who came and helped me out with that!

I think that's about it, for the time being. We haven't been washed away in the storms yet, thank goodness. Praying for everyone who has been injured or had property damage, and for the safety of everyone as we continue on through the storm season.