Honeymoon Part II

We paid a little visit to Wildseed Farms in Fredericksburg. My flower-happy heart was certainly pleased.

This the post-sunset view from our porch. I could live quite happily forever with scenery like this.

Sigh.

I don't know if I've let you know just how much I love cows. This is also from  our porch, and totally completed the awesomeness of the scenery.

We went into the main house for breakfast on our last morning. 

I don't remember what town this was, but its water tower was happy to see us.

I was trying to get a picture of the flowers before we drove past them, but somebody had to stick his tongue out...haha

I just want to brag about how organized our pot cabinet is now!

There is no real pot in there, sorry to disappoint.

Happy wedding to myself.  Loving those gifts cards.

Breaded chicken is that much better when you can actually use bread crumbs instead of bread chunks.

I made cookies with my new KitchenAid. Yummmmmmmm!

Honeymoon Part I

When one spots a giant squirrel, one does not drive past like nothing happened.

I don't really approve of it's creepy expression.

The main house of our bed and breakfast! We stayed in one of the cute little houses you can see off to the left (our left) (look closely).  Feel free to research a little about Rose Hill Manor. We stayed in the cottage named Hilltop. It was go'geous.  Mr. Hottie did good!   

We visited the Museum of the Pacific War (pretty sure that isn't the correct name, but I'm too tired to Google it). 

Cool little Pearl Harbor display/demonstration.

I realized I looked like a Navy dweeb since I was wearing that t-shirt (did not want people to think I'd worn it on purpose), so of course the real Navy dweeb had to take a picture.

Giving out his orders.

Somebody watched toddler TV for longer than I thought acceptable.  This particular part was some girls teaching us how to do the mermaid wiggle, or whatever. It had a dumb song and dance, that's all I know.

This pup lives at the Manor. She is old as heck, but so so so so sweet. She just visits the cottages and makes cute faces for tummy rubs.

Wedding pictures!

Brace yourself folks, I am about to bombard the nonsense out of this blog with photos from the wedding, honeymoon, and various aspects of domestic life. 

Let's begin with wedding pictures, courtesy of the oh-so-talented Erin!

Cake toppers were made by my sister-in-law Darilyn...I am in love with them.

My other sister-in-law Sarah is rather close to having her baby girl, so she opted out of the two hour drive to the temple. Therefore, we had to take a picture together at the reception.

I am pretty certain we have a very similar picture to this taken at her wedding, when I caught her bouquet. It only took 10 years to take effect ;-)

All of my sisters and sisters-in-law! The two on the far right are two of my Brown SILs.  I still need to meet the third!

I looove this.

Nicely done, Korrigan! She my cousin's girl.

Melanie is so awesome. She was everywhere all weekend. I love her for it!

My handsome man and I 

This picture makes me giggle.

Quick intro

Real wedding and honeymoon post will happen soon, I just wanted to share the breathtaking view from the front porch of our little honeymoon house.

I could so get used to that.

Oh my gaaash!

I'm getting married THIS SATURDAY!

Commence panic attack................now.

It will all come together, for better or worse, and by now I don't even really care. As long as my I don't get my dress dirty, the groom shows up, we don't break the punch bowl, and the world doesn't end I will be thrilled.

Mr. Hottie and I met with my grandparents this weekend for my grandma's Going To the Temple for the First Time lesson. It was awesome. I'm tempted to say that I feel sorry for everyone who has ever gone through without talking to her first.

I'll let you know how beneficial it really was after I've gone through.

P.S. I have the cutest grandparents EVER.

See?? Who wouldn't want some grandpa huggins from him?!

I am so happy that he will be the one to seal us. Let's hear it for temples and grandpas!

There's still soooo much to do. Yesterday was supposed to be a major get stuff done day, but I woke up at about 4 in the morning suffering from some.....shall we say, major abdominal distress. And by that I mean, lots and lots and lots of pain that had me awake for pretty much the rest of the day. Once I was feeling okay enough to make myself work anyways, I moved all of my stuff to the apartment and put a few things away, tossed chicken in the crockpot and passed out for about two hours. I was pooped.

And nothing else got done for the rest of the day.

So as soon as our new towels are finished drying here at mi madre's, I will be back over at the apartment.

For more napping. Hahahahahaahahahahaaaaaaaa just kidding.

Kind of.

We Are Young

This video is weird as heck, but I can't get enough of the song.

Life just got awesome

Courtesy of my amazing BFF Melanie, I received a CROCK POT in the mail yesterday!

Straight off my registry.

Oh boy, am I p-u-m-p-e-d. 

It is going on its maiden voyage tonight as I prepare my very first corned beef and cabbage stew.

(Darren's numero uno favorito holiday is St. Patrick's Day, and I have a  bizarre love for obscure holidays that people celebrate for the fun of it......and by that I mean I love food.)

It is going to be oh-so delicious.

We are going to have a feast tomorrow afternoon that mostly consists of corned beef and green food coloring (see: green mashed potatoes and green icing with green sugar sprinkles on my super delicious snickerdoodles I mixed up yesterday).

World class fatties, right here.

Oh, our feast will also consist of ginger ale because we are too sober for alcohol. And Chief O'Brien, the Irish man from Deep Space Nine (...the side of Darren I couldn't see upon our first meeting...) always drinks ale, so, obviously, we need a form of ale at our meal.

But it's cool, I'm basically Irish, so I can celebrate however I want.

Jumbles of thoughts

I am in the process of moving stuff into my very near future lovenest.  It isn't much to look at right now because I have yet to actually arrange my things, but the point is that they are no longer cluttering up my bedroom at my parents' house. They are cluttering up Darren's living room.

I will fix that tonight.

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We are selling Darren's Columbian Tegu (Google it) and tarantula, if anybody is interested.

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Exciting stuff (to me): 

1. I can be domestic! I totally made some oven baked chicken this week, and get this: it tasted good!

Chicken has always been a formidable opponent in the kitchen. Now it knows who's boss.

2. At my bridal shower I received this super cool steamer pot that I had no idea what to do with until my exceedingly enthusiastic aunt told me all about it (through her drool....she seemed to want to keep it herself).  I made veggies in it and LET ME TELL YOU, no microwave has ever done what this steamer pot did. I actually enjoyed my broccoli.

3. P.S. the above mentioned foods, in addition to some nice pantry potatoes (Pinterest it), were "the best meal" I've ever cooked for Darren thus far.  He gobbled it up. 

There is hope for me.

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I love getting all the cards, gifts, and money in the mail. It's almost like graduating from high school, except people are sending kitchen things.

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Linday Lohan did something weird to her face, and her hair looks crazy. I mourn The Parent Trap LL.

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In a week, almost all of our family will be here. On that note, we found out yesterday that we will be getting a new nephew! Congrats, Toni!

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Mr. Hottie makes me laugh more than anybody I've ever met, and I absolutely love it!

And I'm not just talking about when he tickles me either (which is a lot....I can't wait until we have kids so that he can torture them instead).

He's the cutest.

Yarn wreath

My first successful yarn wreath! 

Oddly enough, I can't find the tutorial where I found the directions for the flowers, but as soon as I do I will let you know.

P.S. the flowers are made out of an old, ugly, throw away pillow case. I love saving something for months and months and months with intentions of using it for something crafty and then actually doing it.

Because most of the time I don't....

Yay me!

I was kind of a stripper in my youthlier days

1. My bouquet is ordered! I would like you all to be really excited in my behalf. One more major thing off the to-do list!

2. Mr. Hottie is away this weekend for drill....blah blah. I know it happens every month, but it is kind of a big deal to me each time.  This month he took my car (wayyyyy easier on the wallet), which means I am driving his truck. I learned how to drive in an Astro van and drove that sucker through high school, but oh. my. heck.

I miss my little car.

Driving the truck feels a lot like I might be driving this:

...might as well be.

3. Coworker Courtney and I watched some water birthing videos on YouTube this morning. Life=changed. If I could have a video of her watching the videos, I'm pretty sure the hits would be through the roof.  It was hylarious!

And no. By saying my life is changed I am in NO way indicating a new preference for childbirth method. I am actually quite turned off to the idea. Hospital it is for me, chaps. No water tubs necessary.

4.

So much to look forward to, I really could squeal

1. According to the wedding caddy on my phone, I have 17 days, 1 hour, 36 minutes, and 29 seconds until I get to be married to my prince.

2. ...14 seconds.

3. The nesting phase is in full swing (why did nobody tell me that that was a part of getting married?). I've been dreading setting up house, mostly because I know I lose steam really fast when it comes to that kind of stuff, but something woke up in me the other day and I can't stop thinking of all the possibilities that lie in store for that little apartment. We've done a lot this week. There is still plenty to do, but we have some time. And he'll be gone to drill this weekend, so I can pretty much have my way with it.  I would love for everything to be as complete as possible before he returns! We'll see how that goes.

4. Our Celtic Woman tickets came in the mail today (!!!).  I know they were originally planned for and purchased as a Christmas gift to Russell, but I cannot deny that I am s-t-o-k-e-d about going to see them.

5. Thanks to Pinterest and wedding nesting, I have been cooking more and more lately. It's actually a lot more fun than I realized, and I'm not half as bad as some people (*cough*Darren*cough*) suspected I am.  I made twice baked potatoes for the first time (easy as heck, btw) and I can't stop thinking about them.

I love potatoes.

6. Also, this recipe for pie crust is delicious. I would love to just cook it and sprinkle powdered sugar on it. Yum!

7. I cannot wait to meet all of my new tiny relatives in a couple of weeks! Three nieces and one nephew, coming up!

(Two are nieces from my side, and the other two are a niece and nephew from his side. I'm an aunt again!)

8. I cannot wait to see The Hunger Games in a couple of weeks!

9. I cannot wait to meet Darren's family in a couple of weeks! (However, they'll probably think I'm super weird....I'm so awkward when it comes to meeting new people. Sigh.)

10. Today it is just beautiful outside...I so want to be laying out at the beach with my ipod. Happiness.

11. I wish I could flush all of the Harry Potter pins on Pinterest down the toilet.

Two days less than three weeks

...and other things that make me happy.

P.S. That's all the time that is left! Aaaah!

Let me just say that I am suuuuper excited. Like, really.

1. This weekend began with a small gathering at sweet Shannon's house where I was showered with all manner of sketchy women's clothing. My stash is much more impressive than it was before the shower, and that makes me smile. Thank you, ladies!

Also, I am going to let other women buy my stuff from now on, because they are much more skilled at choosing the right sizes than I am. Bother.

2. Russell moved out this weekend, so tonight Darren allowed me to micromanage the arrangement of his living room. Being a little reluctant to make any decisions about "his" home was a handicap at first, but I got the hang of bossing him around pretty easily. It definitely feels more like our home now instead of me being a guest in his and Russell's bachelor pad, and I love the new arrangement!

3. People have gotten their announcements, and I am hearing nothing but positive things about how darling they are! All the credit goes to Darilyn for desiging such cuteness, and Erin for shooting such a rocking picture. I'll go ahead and give credit to my curling iron as well. I would be nowhere without her.

4. Tonight I also spent time trying to perfect my "Emily Brown" signature, and I might have an anxiety attack when it comes time to signing any and all official wedding documents. It seriously took me until the end of high school before I came close to developing an acceptable signing of Emily Jeter. I've only had a few months to get this down. I don't respond well to that kind of pressure!

I will keep practicing.

5. Given how much I love Up All Night, and how much I've learned to love to hate how much I hate to love Ava from the show. I am so tempted to always end these posts with a passionate declaration to, "Keep on watching and growing!".

But then you couldn't see me flip my hair like Ava does, and the whole effect would be lost and the effort would be for naught.

See it here first...

Guess who's been working on collecting photos for the slideshow!

Many thanks to Darren's sister, Jaymie, for emailing the adorable Darren Throughout the Years photos to me. 

I'm apparently too impatient to wait for the wedding, so I have to share these with you. 

It's only a sampling.

Of pure cuteness.

That claim might debatable for our teenage years... (I'm saving the excessively ugly ones for the actual slideshow, so if you want to see those you'll have to come to the reception).

BABIES

I totally have bug eyes, and I'm not entirely sure that I ever grew into them.

Someboday looks like Winston Churchill...

KIDDOS

Dirty as heck, but that is what I looked like between mandatory school and mandatory bathtime. I grew up under a bit of a dictatorship.

Speedos. That's all I need to say.

TEENS

We're happy that I learned how to tame the cowlick (kind of), and that Katy (mercifully) dyed her hair back to normal.

That hair is hawt.

ADULTS

That hair might make a comeback.

Mmmmmmm. Yeah, he's kind of dreamy.