view from my iphone: emily and colin's wedding

yesterday i was so overwhelmed with all the amazing pictures we got from our weekend away i had to take an extra day off blogging just to keep my head on straight.  steve and i are still grinning back and forth at each other with how much fun we had.  we can't believe how lucky we are to know such incredible people and how fortunate we are to be able to spend such a fun weekend with friends and a little bit of sight seeing!  the long drive was definitely more than worth it.  mr. and mrs. b, can you please get married again every year?

it sure is exciting to think that steve and i will be the ones getting married next september!  i didn't think it was possible to be more pumped to marry steve, but after this weekend we can barely stand to wait!  i'll be posting our photos in spurts as time permits.  for now, here's a look at the wedding festivities.

me and steve with my sister sarah and her fiance dave.  a snazzy crew ready for the rehearsal dinner!

^^ rehearsal dinner fun! ^^

steve gettin' ready!!

me and the beautiful bride!!

first dance

toasting the bride and groom!

omg bubbles!!  omg glowsticks!!

if you follow me on instagram you've probably already seen a lot of these pictures.  don't worry there will be more!  i got some great ones of the ceremony with my macro lens!  woohoo aisle seat!

weddings are also like college reunions when you are in your early twenties.  in case you can't tell how awesome that is from this picture, you'll just have to take my word for it.

sarah and the best man, russell!

arriving in style!

mom and dad of the bride's toast!

cupcakes!!!!!!!!

mazel tov mr. and mrs. b!!

:)

if you can believe it, that's not even all the fun we had over the weekend!  thanks to both families for showing everyone such a great time!  have fun in new zealand em and cobra!  we're already green with honeymoon envy!

word count: 28,452

more of last weekend to kick off this weekend

pssst this horse is 24 feet tall.

happy friday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

tons of exclamation points for this friday.  (just because.  don't exclamation points make you feel happier?  they make me feel very enthusiastic, personally). today feels like an extra good friday to me, for no reason in particular.  maybe this regular exercise thing actually IS what it's cracked up to be.  or maybe it is for one of the reasons at the bottom of this post.

hops!  i suppose grand rapids IS beer city USA after all.

you can't tell because i managed to snap this picture fast enough but i almost didn't get a shot of the real life goats because the little one in the green collar kept mounting his sister for a hump session.  shame on you goats... think of the children.

if i keep dawdling posting the rest of our meijer gardens photos you'll be looking at them every day next week so here's a huge camera dump with the rest of our excursion.  these were taken at the farm garden, but my real favorite part of meijer gardens is their sculpture park.  check out how amazing some of this art is.  they obviously have one hell of a curator.  like i said, i got pretty camera happy.

steve is rocking out with keith haring.

 

the two above were done by one of my favorite artists, jim dine.  i had to get a picture with one.

donnie darko?

love this shot of steve!!

my favorite sculpture in the park!  it's called "the neuron" by artist roxy paine.

isn't it cool???

another one of my favorites.

ok so now that i've finally gotten all the pictures of meijer gardens out i can start showing you guys all exciting stuff we have coming up!!  highlights of what we are looking forward to include:

1.  my mom's birthday is monday!  can't wait for yummy dinners and celebrating!

2.  our buddy erick is coming to town all they way from seattle next weekend!  hope you're ready, ann arbor!

3.  we are spending the following weekend on a private beach on lake michigan at the cottage my parents rent each year.  one of my favorite places in the world!!

4.  secret stuff i can't tell you, but i promise you'll hear soon(ish)!  shhh!

5.  we are moving in together in august!  did you forget?  we sure haven't!  we're so excited!

hope your weekend is full of as many exclamation points as this post!!!!

dear summer 2013, we like you a lot!!!

more happy things and birthday photos

happy thursday!  i don't know about you, but i am really geared up for this week to be over... like now please?  well since i've still got to get through two more days so let's make a list of the good stuff lately shall we?  i'll throw in a few pictures from my birthday with my family to lighten the mood (excuse my hair and overall look of death pale... i was probably still a bit hungover when these were taken).

mmm spaetzle

1.  steve's interview last week went very well and his interview with a company in chicago, which was supposed to be today was pushed back one week (which was a life saver since he's been working and writing nonstop for the past week and still needs a haircut and new shoes).

2.  we are almost 2 weeks in to april which means we should know pretty soon if / where we are moving.

3.  i ordered an excellent looking floor lamp that will hopefully provide some actual light in the living room.

4.  i think i've successfully established a balance to managing my modest income.  saving for retirement makes me feel like a grown up.

5.  in a temptation that contradicts number 4... i have discovered that fancy camera lenses are a lot cheaper on ebay... 

6.  i still have about half a carrot cake in the freezer for whenever i want to num it.

7.  ann arbor got a shout out in one of the clues on jeopardy last night and it was amusing.

8.  on at least two occasions i have been able to walk around outside without a coat.

9.  arrested development's season 4 teaser posters have been popping up around the internet and it is very exciting.

10.  even though the past week hasn't been stellar... there are lots and lots of lovely things coming up soon to look forward to.

hope the rest of you have some happy things going on!

happy things

i mentioned yesterday that my car is in a rough situation.  the other day my boss, and my boss's boss were both out sick (which makes 2/3 people in our 3 person marketing department).  i kind of felt like a doggy paddle swimmer being pushed in to the deep end of the pool.  steve's stress level is through the roof due to the process of coordinating job interviews with four different companies at the moment (between, you know, 17 credits, and his 20 hour work week). on whole it's been a less than awesome week.

so to try and shake off the "it's-been-snowing-straight-through-the-first-two-days-of-spring" blues i'm going to share some happy things!

1.  steve's interview today went excellently and he has a tentative follow up in a couple weeks!  hooray!

2.  i finally relinquished self-control and made myself a huge bucket of buttery air popped popcorn and it was awesome.

3.  hopeful fortune cookies. 

4.  danny devito and rhea perlman are back together!  (can amy poehler and will arnett make this a double case of  celebrtiy awesome sauce please?)

5.  funny postcards from my sister.

6.  after many years i have finally mastered the "messy bun" hairdo. (the secret: you need really long hair).

7.  i have 4 awsesome new items to list in the vintage shop.

8.  i finally got my w2 from my old employer so i can actually finish my taxes.

9.  steve's car still works so i haven't had to use public transportation yet.

10.  i successfully didn't break or lose anything on st. patrick's day.

so really there's a lot to be happy about here.  and it's only a day and a half to the weekend so i think we're going to make it!  and of course, you know, these two guys make me super duper happy every single day, no matter how poopy it is.

no we don't live in siberia

one of my favorite ways to get through the miserable freezing unpleasantry that is winter has always been going to the beach on lake michigan.  it is so beautiful and peaceful to see the snow and ice along the shore, covering the pier.

surprisingly we weren't the only ones out there!  it was a really rejuvenating weekend trip... and... my good ol car hit the big milestone turn over of 100,000 miles!  we have a lot of great memories with this old girl, but there probably won't be too many more (i'm shopping around).

hope everyone had a as great a weekend refresher as we did!