About Me

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I'm a 23 year old Business Systems Analyst planning a DIY-heavy wedding to the love of my life on 9 . 10 . 11. Other then wedding planning, I spend most of my time trying to stay in shape or playing with my 3 dogs...Gabby, Dudley, and Tyson. I hate cleaning and almost never go a day without wearing something purple, and I hope you can keep up with my ADD blogging style!

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Happy (Belated) Fourth of July!

Hey everyone!  I hope you all had as awesome of a weekend as I did!

(Make sure you don't miss my post from earlier this morning, though!)

First, I made a flipping awesome pie to bring to Bryan's parents' house:

Seriously...how freaking cute is that?  It was a cherry pie - and I don't even like cherry pie!  But Bryan loves it, so I made it for him.  And I actually got the idea for the star top from the packaging for a pie pan I saw in WalMart last year! And although it didn't cut well (it all fell apart) it was actually a lot easier than doing a tradition latice top so I definitely plan on doing this again in the future!

And we played outside in the sprinkler with the dogs:



 I love this picture:



 But this one is my favorite; I have no idea how I caught her mid-shake like this:

And I remembered to take a picture of my flowers:
And that picture is adorable because Tyson is standing on the edge looking up at me like "see Mom, I know I is not allowed on the pretty flowers!" hahahaha

And that's all for now - did you do anything fun for the Holiday Weekend?

DIY Bride-zilla - ROAR!

Yeah yeah, I forgot the link again.  But yesterday I posted on Weddzilla about my little DIY meltdown, and it's actually quite amusing (if I do say so myself)!

Go check it out, and leave me some comments - I haven't really been feeling the love from anyone other than my Aunt lately, lol!

Friday, July 1, 2011

Seriously - When Did It Become JULY!?!?!?

Ummm, yeah, this morning when I was writing my post about the big change in my life I seemed to completely forget that today is the first freaking day of July!!!!  Yeah, ummm, 2 months left of planning ::cue squeals of excitement mixed with shudders of nervousness::

Seeing as it is a new month, I can't forget to share with you my plans:

Oh yes, July will be a busy one...

On the non-wedding related front my last day at my current job is July 13, and I start my new job on July 18.  Then I have a hair appointment on the 30th.

Now, on the wedding related front:
  • This weekend - finish my damn invitations
  • July 7 - mail said invitations
  • July 9 - Make candy buffet bags/tags
  • July 10 - Turn the DIY string balls into DIY string ball curtains
  • 14th-15th - Since I have two days off before I start my new job I plan on making sure to finish my shoes (so they'll be ready for my second fitting) and probably work on my topiary balls as well as my pearl bouquet
  • July 17 - Bryan will be helping me make columns for our ceremony space
  • July 18 - I'll have my second fitting!  (and I promise to try and get more pictures of my hoarder seamstress' house!)
  • July 24 - finish the topiary ball thingies that will be used as cocktail hour centerpieces
  • July 30 - make bar signage (what's available as well as signature drinks)
  • July 31 - I'm hoping we'll have gotten some RSVPs back and we can start the seating chart!
Definitely going to be a busy month - but it doesn't even compare to what August is going to look like!

Are you going to be having as busy of a July as I am?

And don't forget you can always check out my calendars and timelines on my "Countdown to the Big Day" tab!!!

Big Life Changes...

...are always scary, but 90% of the time they are for the best.

Yesterday I officially resigned from my job.  Let's face it, I was miserable here.  As much as I liked {most} of the people I worked with, and I feel horrible leaving given that one of my other coworkers just left (and our group only has 4 people in it) I have to do what's best for me emotionally and financially.  I'll be starting at my new job on July 18th, and I'm very excited!

I had given my current company a chance to match the offer that my new job gave me, not because I wanted to stay but as a courtesy given the only two people left have less than 1 year experience here between the two of them.  When the director of my area told me that they weren't going to be countering, and I simply responded "Okay" he looked a little dumbstruck.  Bryan and I think he might have thought I was bluffing about having another job lined up, but that would be really stupid if you ask me.  So after he stared at me for a moment he goes "And to be quite honest, Amanda, I'm offended you were even looking at other jobs considering all the opportunities we've given you."

It took every fiber of my being to prevent me from either laughing or blowing up in his face.  First of all, he was not the director of my area when I was initially hired, so he had nothing to do with that.  And unless you count an obscene amount of work and responsibilities (and given I had just graduated from college and didn't have any sort of mentor ship because two other people from our group quit last summer) with absolutely no compensation or recognition as "opportunities" they've done nothing but under appreciate the amount of work I've put in here.

And after that, I felt like a massive weight had been lifted off my shoulders.  I'm excited about my new job, I was actually afraid they would counter the offer and I wouldn't be able to turn down the additional salary even though I don't like my job.  But I'm still slightly offended.  It just proves that management here really has no idea what it is that I do, and they're going to be in for a big surprise when I leave.

But - at my new job I get to wear open toed shoes, and I'll actually get paid for overtime!!!!!!  And I'll no longer have to walk past the Planned Parenthood Protesters on my way to work!  Part of me felt like it wasn't the best idea to switch careers with my wedding coming up so quickly, but there's no day like today, and I've decided to take Skinny Bitch's advice and "dedicate myself to creating the life I want."

As for working out (yes, it is still Fitness Recap Friday) I only did twice this week...but that's better than the past two weeks!  I did HIIT 15 on Monday and Fire 45 on Tuesday.  Tuesday night I knew I would be approaching my boss the next day and I took all my anxiety out on that kickboxing workout.  I'm amazed my arms didn't go flying off my body I was punching so hard, hahaha.




And since I'm quite proud of the progress I'm making on shoe number 2, I just have to show it off:

Isn't she purrrrty?

This weekend is more invitation extravaganza - I'm hoping to get them in the mail by next Thursday.

Any big plans for Fourth of July weekend (wedding related or not)?