Tag: Springfield MO

The Perfect Day

wedding day thoughtsThe weather was absolutely perfect.  A crisp 54 degrees with not a cloud in sight.  I walked through the gate into the lush garden that was filled with beautiful fall colors.  All of our family and friends stood up to see me walk down the aisle with my Dad by my side as “Marry Me” by Train softly played in the background.

My eyes met J’s and tears instantly came from both of us.  This was the moment that I had been planning for and waiting for these past nine months.  I looked away from keep from sobbing, but every eye I met walking down that aisle was filled with tears.  It was no use – I was going to cry.

The whole day was breathtaking and was filled with love, laughter and a lot, a lot of tears.  I do not come from a crying family, but we could not convince one person of that fact the whole day.

This past Saturday, J and I were married in front of everyone we love and those that could not make the trip for many different reasons were there in spirit – we felt them with us.  Now, I am no longer engaged.  I am someone’s wife and we are a family.

It feels good.

DIY Repellent Spray for Flies

How would you like a DIY repellent spray for your outdoor space?

J and I are determined to use our backyard to the fullest this summer.  We love that it is fenced in, the patio is covered, and we especially love our new patio set.  That’s the icing on the cake!

Last week I talked about repelling flies in our backyard here. J and I have worked on another home DIY treatment to rid our backyard of flies.  A repellent spray for our patio furniture was what we were looking for.

Ingredients:

1) Pine-sol
2) Water
3) White Vinegar

In a spray bottle you want to mix 1 part Vinegar with 2 parts Pine-sol and 2 parts Water.  Spray this mixture onto the patio furniture.  I could instantly see how this spray was working.  And I liked it!

DIY Repellent Spray for Flies
DIY Repellent Spray for Flies

Then I got a little carried away … I started spraying the siding of our house.  It worked!  One downfall of using this spray is the smell.  It can be a bit overwhelming.  Mainly smells like pine-sol, but that’s not a smell that I want lingering around for a long time.

But overall I love, love, love this repellent spray!  I’m thinking that I will keep a bottle mixed and ready to go.

What products do you use around your home to repel flies?

Cheers!

[hupso]

Perfect Summer Evening

yawn
Sometimes you have just a perfect evening. Earlier this week J and I had one of those evenings. We grilled, sat outside on our new patio set and played with the dogs. I think Maggie is used to me taking pictures of her…lick maggie maggieandtiny Tiny doesn’t sit still long enough for too many pictures, but little Maggie doesn’t mind a photo or two …or three.

Here’s to more of these perfect evenings.

Cheers!

Summer To-Do List

crispin
It’s official. Summer is here. The humidity is up and my allergies are finally starting to subside, a little. I put together a little list of fun things that I’d love to do in these next few months. What do you have on your to-do list?

1) Attend a Cardinals Baseball game
2) Go to the lake as much as possible
3) Grill majority of our meals
4) Learn to make a new summer cocktail, preferably with raspberries.
5) Work more on our wedding plans (getting those invites addressed without pulling out my hair)
6) Commit to Crossfit at least 3x a week (fingers crossed)
7) Spend time with J’s family and my family
8) Teach Tiny a few new tricks
9) Start saving for my Bachelorette party(!!!) in NOLA.
10) Go to Founder’s Park to watch a movie

Cheers to a great Summer!

M.I.A.

I feel as if I’ve been M.I.A. for the past few days. I haven’t felt like doing anything. My poor house is a mess, the dogs need baths, and my little ole blog has been neglected.

Where have I spending my time?

Well for starters I’ve been attempting to do Crossfit 3x a week… it’s slowly getting there. At least I can wake up the day after and not fall out of bed because my legs aren’t there to catch me.

#perfectevening #springfieldcardinals #springfieldmo

Next, we went to a Springfield Cardinals game last week.  J had won a contest at work and got free tickets to the Budweiser suite.  Of course we could not pass up a night of Cardinals baseball, beer, and stadium hot dogs.

Then I’ve been adding prints to the MereLynne Etsy shop. If you haven’t seen the new listings, please check it out.  Plus, learning the ins and outs of Etsy has been a bit challenging for me.  Promoting my pieces, my site, and my Facebook page are a bit time consuming.

il_570xN.468287328_tn15

Not your average pillow #dog #doglove #sleepypup #goodmorning

King of the mountain. #dog #doglove #cardinals

Finally, I’ve been spending some quality time with J and the pups.  I’m sure they appreciate that the quality time does not involve water and soap, but they can’t escape that for long.  Honestly, I should have cleaned around the house this past weekend.   I really, really should have.  But the couch looked some comfortable and there was a really good movie on all day… so alas I did not clean.

I’m pretty excited because my parents are coming for a visit this weekend.  My Dad hasn’t seen our new place yet.  Which means two things: 1) our house has to spotless before 8pm on Thursday night 2) we need to go grocery shopping so that it appears we have food and are doing just fine.

You know, the basics before any parent comes to visit.  Don’t look like a slob and pretend that you have enough food to feed yourselves.

It’s going to be a pretty busy week and I’m glad that I took the weekend to prepare for it.  See, I’m still trying to convince myself that it was a good thing I was lazy this weekend.

Cheers!

An exciting time

Road trip to #Branson!
It’s a pretty exciting time for me right now. I’m ready for what the future has to offer, my eyes are open and I will not ignore any more opportunities.

#happy
The most exciting part of 2013 is J and I’s wedding in November. We’ve been planning, organizing, and buying items for it. The closer we get the more ready I am for it to get here. I haven’t been too overwhelmed yet, but I’m sure it’ll hit. We are almost 5 months away from the big day!

Passed out. #dog #doglove #sleepypup #Sleepingdogs #lovedogs #sumner
These two pups mean the world to me. The love I get from them and give to them is priceless.

Working from home on the Etsy store with Tiny's help of course. #doglove #dog #Etsy
And finally, my new Etsy venture is thrilling. I will be adding more items to the shop this coming week. I’ve spent time creating new designs, working on my policies, and even my business plan. I may have a degree in Marketing, but actually attempting to use what I’ve learned is a whole new ball game. I’ve been reading up on SEO, advertising, sponsorships, etc.

Cheers to exciting times!

Prioritizing

J-M-10082 photo by DColeman Photography.

Priorities.  I’ve given it a lot of thought.  I know what makes me happy in life from work-life to home-life.  I know what I need to succeed and go to bed each night knowing that I have accomplished something that day.  Whether my accomplishment is big or small.

For me, it’s pretty simple (at least I like to think so).  I need:
– the love of my fiance, J
– cuddles from two rowdy pups, Maggie and Tiny
– a job that not only pays the bills, but one that I feel I am truly helping someone else
– a roof over my head
– something to be working towards
– my friends
– my family
– being creative

A lot of these parts intermingle with each other.  For instance, being creative, having a job, and something to works towards can all be combined.  I believe that if I find a passion that combines all three then I will have found my dream job.

Having something to work towards is something that I’ve recently struggled with.  I graduated with my undergraduate degree.  One year later, I started pursuing my Masters.  Now, I’ve graduated and … now what?  It’s hard for someone who has always been working towards some sort of degree to know where to go to next.  I know that I need to find a career that I am passionate about; however, I am wanting to move out of Springfield within the next few years.  So, for me this time needs to be spent finding out what qualities of a job make me the happiest, what qualities I want to avoid at all costs, and where J and I want to end up.

It’s a process.  A deep process with quite a bit of thought and time.  I cannot rush and I have to go with the flow.

For someone who is as Type A as I am, this time can be challenging.  Here’s to hoping that I can take a deep breath.

Cheers!

6 months to go

Love <3 #branson

Here we are: six months to go till J & I say “I Do.”  Whew! TIme flies when you are having fun.
Trying on my WEDDING DRESS this afternoon. I'm so excited! #wedding #weddingdress #thebigday
I found my dress – that was a huge weight off my shoulders!  My dress is absolutely perfect, in every way.

Here are a few tips that I’ve discovered along this wedding planning process:

– check your budget.  It’s very, very important to stay on top of your budget. Buying wedding gifts, favors, and little things here & there can really do a number on your budget.  You think you are a-okay and in the green, but then as you get closer to the big day and final payments are due then you might shock yourself.

– prepare your rehearsal dinner. I have the venue booked for our rehearsal dinner and a menu in mind, but it’s time to start narrowing down your guest list. If you’re wedding plans are similar to ours then a small, imitate dinner is all you’re looking for.  Our venue is a room at an event center where we can come and go easily.  It’s small enough that we are envisioning a room full of family and future family sharing stories, laughing, and eating some good food.

– block hotel rooms.  J had one task that he made his own. I had no input in which hotel he blocked, I just wanted to make sure that we had a room.  I have to admit – he did good!  We have one of the nicest hotels in Springfield reserved with a shuttle for our guests so no one will have too much to drink and no way to get back to their room.

We are still working on finding an officiant.  It’s next on our list and will be done ASAP! It’s making me a little nervous that we don’t have someone booked yet, but can have everything fall into place perfectly.  So far, I will not complain about how smooth the wedding plans are going.

Cheers!

Engagement Shots

459375_10151914636059698_273744153_o Not too long ago J & met with our wonderful photographer, David Coleman to shoot our engagement session.  It was a beautiful day between the rain in snow a few weeks ago.   J will probably never admit to how much fun it was walking around a hospital park with our crazy mutts in tow and me in heels, but I’m pretty sure he loved every second of it – I know I did!459105_10151914635824698_1567263657_o I love, love, love our photos.  459275_10151914635834698_1922401213_o 902792_10151914635839698_4016160_o

Check out the rest of our amazing pics at DColeman’s blog here.

I mean l-o-v-e, love.

Cheers!

Now that the moving is done, it’s time to unpack

moving_boxes
Oh how I hate moving. Something about moving furniture, boxes, trying to stay organized is one of the most tiring things I can think of.

J and I are officially in our new place; however, the unpacking has begun. It’s a challenge combining two people’s apartments into one house. Compromise is huge. J has dealt with the fact that I get more of the master closet than he does, but I have accepted that I now have a Bud Light picture hanging in the kitchen. It’s all about compromise people. I’m trying hard here.

While moving I’m sure that there will be items that you no longer need/want to keep. For instance, I have a lot, a lot of clothes. So, I went through while packing and unpacking to see what I don’t wear on a normal basis. I’ve collected about 6 garbage bags full of clothes to donate. Now I’ve done my research and have decided to make my donation to Missouri Council of the Blind that is here locally.

This week will be long and feel like it’s going to be some time before all of the boxes are unpacked. Just keep working, one box at a time. I had a goal to get the kitchen in order, most of the master bedroom, and the guest bedroom (mainly because my Mom and sister are coming this weekend). Slowly, but surely it is coming together.

Cheers,

Mere