Someone tell Charlie Sheen...

... that I've discovered the true definition of "winning."

And that is:

• Finally being able to take out the recycling that has been building up for the past two weeks, which includes two bins full of papers and plastics as well as dozens of cardboard boxes.

• Confirming that the reason our microwave mysteriously stopped working today was a randomly blown fuse, not a broken appliance. This is comforting since we've already had to buy a washer and dryer and replace the stove.

• Discovering the purpose of the two mystery switches in the kitchen.

One turns on the furthest outside garage light, and the other turns on the motion sensor light in the back yard.

Why didn't I think of that?

Oh yes, because the kitchen is nowhere near either of those things.

The persons who configured the electrical wiring in our new house are starting to give me gray hairs. I'm just glad we finally know what the hell the switches are for. Now if only we could figure out why three of our outlets don't work, and why the overhead light in the spare bedroom doesn't seem to want to function whatsoever...

So far, owning a home is just as stressful (and wonderful) as everyone told us it would be. We're honestly loving every minute of it, despite the random little mysteries.

Actual photos coming soon. I pinkie swear!




*Note: To anyone who noticed the two separate but mostly identical posts in their Google Reader, my apologies for the repetition. I had intended to say Charlie Sheen in the post title but for some reason typed Alec Baldwin instead. Apparently at the end of the day they're the same person in my mind. And now it's time for a glass of wine.

Closer to home.

As I right this I'm sitting at my desk. I just finished a nice sandwich, and I'm catching up on some reality television. I'm not off work today, but am enjoying my lunch break from the comfort of my own home because my new job is three miles from the new house. THREE! MILES! I'm tempted to do a happy little jig every time I think about it, honestly.

I've been working in the insurance industry for the past year and up until this week I was driving over 50 minutes each way. My position was primarily customer service, although I'm a licensed agent, and I was starting to feel burned out. I didn't like what I was doing there, I hated the drive, and our department was so broken and dysfunctional. If it hadn't been for the amazing people I worked with I likely would have quit long before I did.

A few weeks ago, after coming home and complaining about work for what felt like the millionth time, I decided to sit down at my computer and find some jobs in the area that seemed like they'd be more challenging and somewhat enjoyable, if that was possible. I sent my resume to three or four different agencies near our new house and walked away to enjoy the rest of my evening.

Within thirty minutes I had an email from the owner of a local agency asking me more about my experience and offering to set up an interview. I met with him days later, and the rest is history.

From the moment I walked in the door at that office I had a feeling that this job was a great fit for me. The location is perfect, the employees are helpful and friendly, and I get the impression that the owner (my new boss) is an honest person who likes things done the right way. They were looking to add a new producer to their small but productive agency, and he thought I'd be a good fit.

This position will be completely different than the only other job I've ever had in insurance, but I welcome the change with open arms. I love that I'll be trying something different and learning what I'm capable of in a new environment and with a smaller team of employees. I look forward to seeing what the future has in store for me there.

I'm promising myself and Aaron and everyone else that this is the last major life change I'll be making for a while. I've already gotten engaged, bought a house, and changed jobs all in the span of three months. I'm ready for a break and I'm dying for some routine and consistency.

Like coming home on my lunch breaks! That's a routine I'll happily get on board with.

Wine Cork Heart DIY

Happy Valentine's Day! I'm a firm believe in spreading love every day of the year, but I still enjoy celebrating this holiday. In addition to telling yout friends and family how you feel about them, it's a great excuse to buy sappy Hallmark cards and stuff your face with delicious treats. That's my kind of holiday.

In honor of this lovey-dovey occasion I thought I'd share one of my recent DIY projects.

What You'll Need:

*A wine drinking habit that results in approximately 80 wine corks. I collected mine over the course of about six months, with a lot of help from friends and family. I tried to keep the most unique corks, and especially the ones that had absorbed the most wine and had pink or purple ends.

*A hot glue gun and about four sticks of glue. Note: I'd recommend not buying a hot glue gun that costs less than most bottles of wine. Mine broke after about two minutes, and I had to borrow my mom's to finish the project.

Look at all the pretty corks! I'm reminded of a certain SNL skit. Anyone else?

Okay, so before I started glueing these bad boys together I began by setting them out on the table in as close to a heart shape as I could get. I wanted to make sure that the shape and size of all of the corks would actually fit together to create that shape, so that I ended up with a symmetrical heart. Then I started to glue.

I held the corks together to see where the sides touched before applying the hot glue. In the photo above you can see where the edges actually touch. I glued pretty liberally so that they'd stay together.

After adhering the corks together I'd also go back and apply more glue as reinforcement, since the sides wouldn't be visible once the heart was finished.

Slowly but surely the shape started to form.

It wasn't perfect, but I eventually just had to accept that fact and let it go. The sides would never be completely round, but it was pretty easy to make them even on both sides.

The fun part about this project is that you can mold it to look however you want, and you can mix and match the different color corks to your liking. I'm planning to display the finished product on the dessert table or the bar at our wedding.

Once again, Happy Valentine's Day!

Northern Exposure.

Our wedding photographer lives up in Traverse City, and we've been planning for months to travel up there to meet him for our engagement photos. This way we were able to avoid paying an extra travel fee, and we had the opportunity to have our pictures taken in a very picturesque location. Win-win!

Except for one minor detail.

Winter in Michigan hasn't exactly been what I'd call beautiful this year. It's snowed a handful of times, but each snowfall seems to melt within a few days in this unseasonably warm weather. I'd envisioned a photo session with fresh white snow in a rustic outdoor setting, but it was starting to look as though we'd be stuck with mud and gloom.

Our session was scheduled for this past Saturday, so I was keeping my fingers crossed that the weather would cooperate. And it did! We woke up the morning of our session, before hitting the road for the four hour drive, and saw this in our backyard.

Luckily the northern parts of our state were hit with the same storm. It was a snowy miracle! We packed our things into my car, got some Starbucks, and hit the road.

We met the photographer, Dan Stewart, and had a lot of fun wandering around some gorgeous property in Suttons Bay for photos. It was overcast, with very little wind and the occasional snowflakes. I couldn't have asked for more perfect weather! Dan was a lot of fun to work with, and I can't wait to see how the photos turn out. The preview should be available in the next week or two and you best believe I'll be sharing it here!

After photos we went into downtown Traverse City to warm up, since both of us had lost feeling in our toes after hanging out in the 14 degree weather for so long. We stopped at the Grand Traverse Pie Company for pot pies and coffee. It was a wise decision.

If you followed me at my old blog, then you know that I have an ongoing love affair with Northern Michigan, especially with Traverse City. Every time I visit it makes me so sad to get in the car and come home again. This visit in particular was a major tease, since we were only there for a few hours. I didn't even get a chance to stop and visit with Lake Michigan.

As Aaron and I were enjoying our pie we talked about how much we love the area and that my photography business could really thrive there more than it realistically would in Southeast Michigan. That's a dream for another time, but it's one we'll be exploring after he has a few more years of management experience under his belt and when we're ready to move into a bigger home. That wont be for several years, but it's fun to dream about in the mean time.

Engagement Party: Drinks and Decor.

Once I started punching those little hearts out of book pages, the cuteness just kept on coming. It all started when I saw this garland on Pinterest, then Erica came up with the idea to tie in the word "engaged" with it as well.

We typed giant letters in Microsoft Word, and printed them out onto book pages that we'd taped onto standard printer paper. It worked brilliantly, but we had to tape down at least three sides of the pages to avoid paper jams.

We cut them to the desired size and folded the top edge over a strand of hemp string and used a glue stick to hold them in place. The end result was exactly what we'd envisioned.



I also used another idea found on Pinterest, which was to share five things that the groom's side should know about the bride, and five things her side should know about him. I typed up the lists on card stock and placed them in frames. I also threw in five fun facts about the happy couple.


Five Things Her Side Should Know About Him:

1. Aaron served six years and three tours of duty in the United States Marine Corps.
2. He has traveled to Australia, Thailand, Japan, Spain, Djibouti, South Korea, Germany, Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
3. He is addicted to Starbucks.
4. He loves the Detroit Lions, whether they win or lose.
5. His favorite drinks is a Caucasion, and The Big Lebowski is his favorite movie.


Five Things His Side Should Know About Her:


1. Lauryn has a bachelor's degree in Marketing, and has no idea how she ended up in insurance.
2. She loves to cook and secretly wants to be a contestant on MasterChef.
3. She has been in fifteen plays and musicals.
4. She has been a blogger for four years.
5. She will stop whatever she's doing to pet a bulldog, and can't wait to adopt one.


Fun Facts About the Happy Couple:


1. Aaron and Lauryn met playing Wallyball in 2010. It was very romantic. And smelly.
2. They love to go camping, specifically near any of the Great Lakes.
3. They just bought a house. The day before the party!
4. Their favorite shows to watch together are Pawn Stars and The Big Bang Theory.
5. They grew up 4.6 miles apart and never knew each other.

We had a variety of beers and wines for everyone, but the biggest hit of the night was the White Sangria with Pomegranate, also found on Pinterest (of course). It consists of white wine, lemon lime soda, Grand Marnier, limes and pomegranate seeds. It was easy to make and everyone loved it. I'd definitely recommend this if you're looking for a festive drink for your next party!

After all of the planning and pinning, it's amazing how quickly an evening can fly by. Being surrounded by so many friends and family made me even more excited for the wedding in September. I wish we had taken more photos of the guests, but luckily we remembered to at least have a photo taken of the two of us!

Engagement Party: The Favors.

This weekend absolutely FLEW by. We closed on our house on Friday, but we weren't able to get in to clean and paint as we had originally planned because our electric company refused to turn the power on until Monday. I'm just grateful that we made it through the weekend without our pipes freezing. Photos will be coming later this week!

Our engagement party was on Saturday, and after running around like chickens with our heads cut off I can officially say that the evening was a success. It was so much fun to visit with everyone, but the whole thing went by way too quickly! It felt like a whirlwind of guests arriving, and then all of a sudden they were heading home again. Parties with all of your favorite people just never last long enough!

In the days leading up to the party, Erica and I decided that one of our desserts would be homemade sugar cookies. We found adorable little heart shaped cookie cutters, and as our cookies were coming out of the oven we decided that they would make perfect favors for the guests to take home.

The wedding colors are going to be purple and silver (er, grey), so we wanted to decorate accordingly. Out came the food coloring...

My elementary school art classes really came in handy for this step.

Aaron snapped this photo of Erica and I frosting away in the kitchen. Clearly he was very involved from his comfy spot on the couch.

We topped them with sparkly silver sprinkles, and voila!

I bought clear plastic bags and some hemp string at Joann Fabrics, and strung paper hearts that I punched from old book pages onto each piece of string before tying them.

We had a lot of fun putting these together!

Next up, the decorations and the menu.

The big 2-9.

On Sunday we got together with six of our good friends to celebrate Aaron's 29th birthday. He was dreading turning another year older, so I can only imagine how excited he'll be about turning 30 next year. If you ask me, you're only as old as you feel, and if getting older means being surrounded by wonderful people and eating a delicious hibachi-style meal, then count me in.

We started with dinner and drinks at Miyako, and of course we insisted that they come play their obnoxious birthday song for Aaron. I wasn't expecting them to make him wear a napkin as a hat, but that made it even more entertaining. He was a good sport about it.

After dinner we went to one of our favorite bars, which happens to be about fifty feet away from the restaurant, for another round of drinks.

Somehow the new point and shoot was set on landscape. Woops. I was pretty pleased with its performance, though I still need to play around with the manual settings a bit.

It was a succesfull qaudruple date. We need to get together like this more often!

The rest of this week is going to be dedicated to closing on the new house and getting things ready for the engagement party this weekend. I'm excited to share all of the little details that Erica (pictured above, second from the left) and I have been working on for the party. I'm really looking forward to seeing it all come together and to having our friends and family together in one place to celebrate!

How is your week going so far?