100 Pushup Challenge Update

I haven't updated about the 100 Pushup Challenge lately, but Arden and I have been doing it. Today is Week 2, Day 2. For W1,D2 we did 12, 14, 8, 8 and max of 11(which isn't what we were supposed to do, that was 10, 12, 8, 8, and max of 12, but I didn't have computer access since we were in a hotel, so I just guessed). W1,D3 was 11, 15, 9, 9 and max of 13. W2,D1 was 14, 14, 10, 10 and max of 15.
We've been keeping up with the amount we're supposed to do are are doing it every other day with a two day break between weeks. Arden is struggling a bit more than I am, but that's because I'm doing my pushups on my knees and he's doing them on his toes. I'm not sure if I see a difference/improvement, but that will show when we do the exhaustion test at the end of this week. I'm hoping I can do around 25+ for that.

Wedding Update

So Arden and I went home last week to do some wedding stuff. I wanted to go to LMC and pay more on the reception hall, but we forgot to go, oops! We spoke to two photographers, two florists and three bakers and we've made a decision on all three.
We've decided to go with Charles Dykstra(www.dykstraphoto.com) for our photographer. We had a really hard time choosing, since both the photographers we spoke to are amazing, but Dykstra is just a little bit cheaper. We're not really skimping on quailty by going the cheaper route, so I don't feel bad about it. We just need to decide which package to go with. $995 vs $1350 isn't really that hard of a decision, but Arden really wants the photo album that he offers with the more expensive package. I'm thinking I could make an album off shutterfly that would be equally nice.
For florists, I made the executive decision that I'm going to be doing our flowers. The first florist we spoke to was 428 dollars, the second one was over $600. If I can make them for around $200 then I feel that's the better way to go. If it turns out that it will be a huge hassle then we'll go with Tara Florists, the $428 one. But I'm determined to do it myself.
For bakers, we decided to go with Sandra Kay's Bakery(www.sandra-kays.com). It'll be around $250 for a sheet cake and a smaller cake to display and cut. Arden liked her better than Elliot's Bakery, even though a few people have told me that they love him and his cakes. Arden said his cake(probably the frosting) left a funny aftertaste in his mouth. We haven't really decided what flavors we'll do or what it will look like, but at least we decided on who to use.
So it was a productive week wedding-wise. We really need a Church and a DJ though, those are the next big ones we need to tackle.

100 Pushup Challenge

So I started the 100 pushup challenge today. (www.onehundredpushups.com) Today was Day 1, Week 1. I did 10, 12, 7, 7 then 11 for my max. Total of 47 pushups. Day 2 on Wednesday. I want my arms to be ripped!

Cake Topper gone...

So Dawn ate my cake topper. I am beyond pissed. At least I don't have to start completely over, the J survived...

DIY Update

DIY Projects(italics are done)

• cardbox (have frames and hardware, need to assemble and get engagement photos)
• unity candle
• cake topper (Dawn ate the P and the A so I need to do them over)
• centerpieces
• invites (got the kit-120 invites. Just need the information to print them)
• table numbers (need engagement photos)
• place cards (need finalized guest list and returned RSVPs)
• flowers (not doing until May 14, 2010, for obvious reasons)
• Save the Dates
• Guestbook (need engagement photos, will be doing a photobook from Shutterfly)
• ceremony programs
• rehearsal dinner invites/information

Unity Candle

So I bought and finished our unity candle today! Got the most basic set from Michaels(29.99 with a 40% coupon=17.99). Printed our monogram on some vellum paper then guled ribbon on all the candles. Arden says if he didn't know any better, he'd think I bought it that way :) I'm really happy with the way it turned out.

New direction for invites

So Arden and I decided to go a different direction with invitations. I was going to completely DIY them, but we decided to get kits from Michael's and just do the printing and putting together ourselves. I think the main thing Arden was concerned with was them looking uniform and all of them looking nice(although it's not like different people are going to compare them and say "oh, mine is slightly different from yours" or something like that). But this will save some time and hassle, so I'm ok with it. It will also be cheaper, so I'm really ok with that! We'll probably be getting this kit in either brown(shown) or blue. Or we could even get two in brown and two in blue. But for some reason I don't think Arden will go for that...

Save the Dates

So we decided to do Save the Dates after talking to some family this weekend. My Aunt said that she won't remember unless she is reminded around Christmas, so I figured why not send some out. I got magnet paper at Michael's(love that store!) and designed these on VistaPrint and saved the design to my computer. I like them and Arden likes them, so that's what we will do. The magnets were 30 and the printing will be free at school, we'll just need some envelopes(about 10 dollars from http://www.envelopemall.com/) and then stampes to mail about 80 of them. Not too bad I guess. Better than 70 to get them through VistaPrint or Shutterfly then have to get stamps. And we'd need envelopes for Shutterfly since they don't include them.

Cardbox

This is the cardbox I'm planning on making. It's from http://roadtotheaisle.blogspot.com/2007/09/diy-photo-frame-cardbox.html. Heather was an awesome DIY bride and she has all the instructions on her blog to make it. Arden wants the picture frames to be horizontal instead of vertical, but we'll see about that. I don't know how it will look...

Small Update

Nothing new has happened wedding-wise since the cake topper. I do have picture frames for the card box I'm planning on making, but we need some other things before I can start it like some L shaped brackets and screws and the like. That will probably be my next project. I do need to finish the votive holders, since I got more brown ribbon and there's only 10 left, so that should be quick.
Arden and I are going home the first week in June to go to a bunch of different vendors(baker, florist, DJs, photogs). We'll only have 3 days since we'll be leaving on Thursday morning to fly to North Carolina for my brother's graduation. Hopefully we can see everyone we need to and do some contracts. I will feel so much better when we have all our vendors. Then we just need to consentrate on the money part!

DIY Projects(italics are done)

1. cardbox
2. unity candle
3. cake topper
4. centerpieces(almost done, just need floating candles)
5. invites
6. table numbers
7. place cards
8. flowers
9. Save the Dates (well, kind of DIY. I designed them on VistaPrint and they mailed them to me...)
10. Guestbook

Finished Cake Topper

Well, I finished our cake topper, finished it Friday actually, but never updated. The P took about 4 hours, with knotting breaks. It used about 280 12ss rhinestones and about 135 16ss rhinestones. Now, I never want to glue rhinestones on anything ever again! But that kind of ruins the undergarment idea that I love(Mrs. LastName on the butt...) so I might suck it up and do it again. Perhaps after a couple months. But I don't know if 144 20ss rhinestones is going to be enough for Arden's last name, it's kind of long... Anyway, different blog there.

Cake Topper

Finished the J and the A today for our cake topper! I used 2 gross of 9 ss flatback swarovksi crystals in capri blue on them also mixing in about have a gross of 12 ss crystals. I must say, I like them. I'm going to wait to do the P until I get my 16 and 20 ss rhinestones because I would run out of rhinestones if I started it now and then it would look funny with smaller rhinestones and then larger ones not mixed together but separate(at least in my opinion). Took me around three freaking hours(with Knotting mixed in...). My back is killing me from all the bending over to see my work, but I'm sure a lot of the stuff I'm going to be doing for the wedding will give me some sort of pain(addressing 100 invites? Yeah) even if it's just a pain in the ass. So I guess I feel slightly accomplished today, even though I was going to exercise, but then got caught up in this and now I don't feel like it... I need to get back on the wagon though! It's been a horrible month...

Cake Topper

So, I got my rhinestones in today for the cake topper. The letters were from the Knot store and I got the rhinestones off Ebay. But I did not realize that 9ss and 12ss were so freaking small! I'm going to use them, but I got a gross(144) of 16ss and a gross of 20ss to supplement so I don't go crazy gluing the tiny ones on. The rhinestones are Capri Blue. This will have to wait until I finish my English paper though, ugh. That thing is going to kill me. But that's a different story.

DIY flower trial

So yesterday I bought 2 dozen roses from Meijer in order to do a DIY flower trial run to see if I could actually do it for our wedding flowers. Turns out I can, but I need some more practice, haha. The bouquet turned out more oblong than round like I want it and I'm not really satisfied with the wrapping around the stems. Arden also says that he thinks it would look better if the stems were completely covered up instead of the stems hanging out at the end. I'm not sure what I'd like better, I've seen it both ways. I'll just have to keep trying I guess. Arden says I should do it once a month until our wedding. That's a lot of flower arranging! But then we'd always have fresh roses on the kitchen table...
PS, don't mind the Target bag in the sink, our sink stopper doesn't fit in the drain...

Cake!

Arden and I decided when we're going to go home and do our "marathon wedding planning". It'll be June 1st 2nd and 3rd, cut short because we'll be going to North/South Carolina for my brother's graduation from B School at Nuk School. We'll need to do photography, DJ, ceremony music, ceremony site, cake and look at florists to compare costs to DIYing. So this got me thinking about CAKE because cake is my favorite thing in the whole world. One thing we know about the cake is that it will not be red velvet, because Arden hates red velvet and I'm not really a fan either. It also probably won't be chocolate, perhaps the frosting if I'm feeling generous. I don't like chocolate all that much. Just in small doses. As for style, I like simple cakes, the last three are not really my style, but I think they are really fun. I'm not really a big fan of fondant, I don't want my cake to taste funny. And don't really need the extra cost along with the funny taste. I like the one with the flowers, since we will most likely be going with orange roses for our flowers, but the frosting would probably be blue. Perhaps there's a hint at the groom's cake in the second picture... who knows? I'm not telling, I want it to be a suprise for Arden :)

Votives and ribbon and hot glue, oh my

So, that last post was a lie, it was 401 days until the wedding. Now, since it is 1 in the AM, it is 400 days until the wedding! On Saturday, we'll be under 400 at 399! I'm not sure if the countdown is making time go slower or faster... Today seemed to be a little of both.

I did some wedding stuff today. I had to take the dogs to the vet and there is a JoAnn's next door, so I bought some ribbon and a hot glue gun to work on the centerpieces some. They are almost done! I've finished all but 10 of the votives, I ran out of brown ribbon. So some time in the near future(perhaps tomorrow, while Arden is at work and I'm killing an hour) I'll get another spool and finish them. Arden wants the candles out of the apartment because he says the smell is a bit overwhelming in our small space. I think it smells good(better than dog urine), but whatev.

Brown and blue side by side. I like it

The first 12 brown votives. Only 60 more to go...

The first 12 votives. Nice, if I do say so myself

24 votives down, 120 to go

72 down, 72 to go. All the blue done

402 days until the wedding! Getting closer to the 300s every day! And before I know it, it'll be ONE YEAR! I really can't wait, if you couldn't tell, haha.
I got some wedding stuff done the past few days. We've got the centerpieces almost done, just need to buy the floating candles and they'll be done. Then we need to figure out what we'll do for the head table. I bought 144 votive candles, planning on putting 8 on each table and we'll have 15 tables. So that's 120 candles used up and that leaves 24 candles. Those will go on the head table, I just don't know what else to put there. I'm thinking probably the girls bouques, but I don't know if it would look funny with flowers on the head table and no flowers anywhere else. I have a bunch of brown and blue tulle from the center pieces left over(30 yards of it, in fact) so mayble I'll try to use that somewhere.
I put all 144 candles into the 144 candle holders. They look nice, I'm happy with the quality I got from them(http://www.quickcandles.com/ if you need a lot of candles for anything). I'm going to put blue and brown ribbon around the top of each of them(72 brown, 72 blue). I have the blue ribbon, although more than I need. So I think today I'll return 1 spool of that and buy some brown and I need a hot glue gun to attach the ribbon. I bought some cheap vellum at work a couple weeks ago and would like to print our monogram on that and put it on the votives, but I'm not sure if that'll be overkill or not. I'll have to try it I guess.
I took some pictures of the work I've done, I'll have to upload them later since Arden took his camera to school today for a project he's doing.
I also bought a headband for wedding day off of e-bay this weekend. I like it, I think the design goes with my dress emborydery and it had blue crystals in it, which is a nice way to tie in our colors. I didn't really want to get a tiara, it's not prom or a beauty pagent, it's my wedding. I think this will look nice. I should get it in around a week. Now i just need matching jewlery.

Wedding Dress!

Well, it's WAY early, but I am happy to say that I got a wedding dress! I've gone twice to David's Bridal with Sarah and Abby and I just keep coming back to one dress.

Here's me in the dress. I tried on a lot of dresses and I liked a lot of them, but I just really felt like a bride in this one.

The best part is I got a major deal on it, 100 dollars for the dress, crinoline and smoothing bra. That's the only reason I got it so early, otherwise I would be saving money up for it. It arrived yesterday and it is in perfect condition! Except now it has black dog hair on the hem because I wore it around the apartment... but oh well, that will come off! It fits great too, and I think there's still a little wiggle room in the waist area for when I lose some more weight. Although it seems like that area just isn't getting any smaller. But I digress. Anyway, I love my dress!

Flowers

412 days until the wedding. I really can't wait, I wish it would come faster! But my dad always says "don't wish your life away" so I think I can wait patiently(mostly). Here are some flower ideas I'm toying with. I really love the idea of orange flowers with our color scheme. Arden isn't so fond of it, but I think I can change his mind. I'm planning on having the bridesmaids wear blue dresses, and I think blue flowers with blue dresses would look funny and brown flowers are ugly and EXPENSIVE. Pink could also look nice with blue and brown, but I think I like the idea of orange more. Guess we'll have to see. I also love gerber daisies, I think they are fun, and they look so nice in orange(and don't come in blue).

Our reception venue
Upton Hall at the Mendel Center














Pic1-the head table/cake from a wedding Arden and I went to there
Pic2- Dance floor and some of the guest seating
Pic3- People dancing

Yeah, I'm not too fond of the ceiling, but I'll tell our photographer not to take any picures of it! The ceiling is hardly the most important part of the day and I really do love this venue. They have good food and have been very professional in all the times I've been to there.

So, I've started my "diet" over after two weeks of utter crappiness. I was doing really well on the exercising part, just horrible on the eating healthy part. I'm really going to try(again) this time. I'm going to try to not let Arden influence me to eat poorly or overindulge. He enables me way too much and I just let him. I got on the scale Monday and saw that I had gained about 5 pounds in 2 weeks, and that really isn't the way I want the scale to be moving!

In other news, Arden and I booked our reception venue on Sunday!!! It's going to be at Upton Hall in the Mendel Center at LMC. It's kind of expensive, but it's what Arden wants(I like it too) so we decided to just go for it, especially since they were still open for our day. So we will definatly have a reception, if nothing else :P
I think the best part is that since we're not going over 150 guests, we'll only need 15 tables. Well, we already have most of the supplies for 15 centerpieces, so we don't need to get any more(besides what we need to finish the ones we have now). So that's a bit of money we don't need to spend, which is good because we don't have any money! haha

The Beginning

I've had a lot of blogs in the past and kept some of them up and failed at others. This will not only be a blog of life, but mostly of my weight loss journey and a lot of wedding plans. I'm not too big on making a bio, so I need somewhere to put my ideas. They are all just getting lost in my head without any place to go!
I have 422 days until mine and Arden's wedding. Yes, that is a long time. But we have so much to do! And I would love to drop 20-30 pounds by that time. Completely do-able. I just need to get my binging under control! But I don't want to just lose weight for the wedding, I want to do it so I'm healthier! I've "worked" in hospitals, and I don't want to be one of those old people who needs to live hooked up to a moniter and can't do anything on their own. I want to be like my grandmother, who is about to turn 71 and is still doing great and is as active(mostly) as she was 20 years ago.
But I digress. I tend to do that a lot.
Off we go!