DIY Wedding Deets

Here are a few things Derrick and I did for our wedding!

I made a sign for Miles to carry down the aisle before me that said "Here Comes the Bride."  Here is a little bit of my process.  Derrick cut me a piece of wood.  I painted it grey.  I cut out a design on the silhouette, and painted that. 

 Then I also cut letters on the silhouette.  They were fine, but the glossy paint I used was horrific!!  When I tried to peel the vinyl off, it pulled up part of the paint.  Note to self:  Never use glossy paint!  it seriously is the worst invention ever!

 So that was disappointing!!  I had to start all the way over.  Worst thing ever.  Ask Derrick.  I cried.  Literally.  I had to paint over what I had done, and I used the other side to do the new one.  Same process: grey, white vinyl design, letters (which I changed), and thankfully it turned out.  Derrick drilled a couple holes in the top, and we strung it with tulle from Quinn's tutu for him to hold. It was the most adorable thing, but unfortunately our photographer didn't snap a picture of it.  We kept telling Miles that he had a really important job.  He was to take the sign all the way down the aisle and give it to Uncle Derrick.  He did such a good job! 

Also in this picture, we made our own programs.  Here is a picture of our programs before we had tied the ribbon on the top.  I saw the idea on Pinterest, and I think they turned our great!

 Here is Quinn's tutu that I made for her. 

She looked adorable!  And I think she had fun walking/playing down the aisle too!  I don't think she'll have a problem with stage fright! :)

For the groomsmen & usher gifts, we bought them mugs, and I etched their name and a picture on them.   It's hard to tell what's on them in these pictures.

 Here is Derrick's.  I etched a Vikings' head on his and his name.

We also decided to have cupcakes instead of a giant cake for our wedding.  So Derrick and I got busy makeing a cupcake stand.  Let's say we made it work, but it definitely wasn't our best work!  And it certainly wasn't a fun project...ask Derrick!  We bought a sheet of 1/2" wood, cut it ourselves, cut the PVC pipe, painted it, and put it all together.  This project definitely took us a few months to complete.



 But in the end, I think it looked nice at our wedding! :)

I think that concludes this post of our DIY wedding details.  I would love to see your DIY projects too!

Indianapolis 500 Parade and Race

I'm so behind!  It's a few weeks late, but here are all the pictures from our experience with the Indianapolis 500!

Olivia Newton-John

Wade Cunningham in the middle (We were able to get in the media room

because Roger was in touch with Wade!) 

Guy Fieri 

Keith Colburn, Wizard Captain from Deadliest Catch

Gladys Knight 

Ashley Judd and Dario Franchitti, Winner of 2012 Indianapolis 500 

Derrick and I at our first Indy 500 with awesome seats! 

Everyone pitting

Fishy Fish!

A few weeks ago, Derrick and I added to our little family!  We got a fish tank and four little fishies. 

Isn't it pretty?! 

Meet Ozzy, Viktor, Pinky, & Fred! :) 

Well, actually Fred died after about a week, and our tank was getting dirty pretty fast, so we got a sucker fish instead.  No pictures of him, but his name is Sucka.  Get it?! ;)

Mushroom Hunting

'Tis the season for mushrooms, and Derrick and I really seem to be striking out!  This week we went out to a co-worker's house to look for some mushrooms, and all I found was this little guy.

I think the next time we go, we'll try to hit up Eagle Creek Park or something.  There's got to be some out here! 

Iowa Trip

Now that we've been back for almost two weeks, I think I'll finally tell you how great our last trip to Iowa was!  Derrick, Kaylan, and I went back to Iowa on Friday, March 16th and drove back to Indiana on Sunday the 18th.  It made for a very short trip, but we were able to see a lot of people. 

Friday, Kaylan took us to Bondurant to meet with our pastor for our second marriage counseling day.  Well, he forgot about us, so after a little waiting we decided to go with her to Ankeny to get some Noodle Zoo and CJ's Bagels and pick up meat from T.J.'s mom.  Then we headed back to Bondurant to meet with a guy to see our reception hall.  (Derrick and I booked it, but had never seen it.)  Finally we were on our way to Baxter.  I had to go visit Janell to talk about getting our tuxes through her, and Kaylan and Derrick were being secretive about wedding shower things.  I made it back home, got ready, and then the girls started to show up.

 I had a great wedding shower, and am so blessed with such great friends!  Some of the highlights?  A "Something Blue" theme, an awesome candy/food bar set up, a fun videotaped game with Derrick, cute button bouquet making for the rehearsal, and a fun photo booth! :)  We ended the night with a few card games and lots of catching up!  It was amazing to say the least!

Saturday we girls were all able to go to David's Bridal to get them fitted for their dresses and ordered.  It was nice to be able to go all together!  Then Kaylan and I had a baby shower for Jill West to go to, and it was great to see all those girls too.  Then Kaylan, Mom, and I headed to Mason City for a couple hours to visit with my grandma and grandpa.  We made it home by about 10:00, and I still had time to meet up with friends and finish the night off! 

Sunday it was up bright and early and back to Indiana.  The next trip to Iowa will be a bit longer, and we'll have more time to catch up!  Oh, and you probably are wishing I had photos to go with this extremely wordy blog, but I didn't take any :(  I will post some the second Kaylan gets them uploaded and sent to me! :)

Who needs gas?!

So I have officially run my car out of gas for the first time!  Sunday night, Derrick and I watched Miles while Kaylan and T.J. went to their small group.  When we went to leave...it all went downhill! :)

So last Tuesday on my way home from a job in Terre Haute, my gas light came on.  I didn't rush to the gas station because I didn't have anywhere to be or anything to do the next day.  I just thought I would fill it up the next time we were on the other side of town.  Then for the next five days, the only place I ever drove was to the gym (less than a mile away) or to Kaylan and T.J.'s house (also not very far away).  Needless to say, it was getting extremely low!!  It was warm Sunday when we left to go to Kaylan and T.J.'s house to watch Miles, so my car started right up.  We joked that it wasn't going to start when we went to leave their house once it cooled off again.  And we were right.  I mean it only had 55 miles on it since my gas light came on. ;) 

After a couple tries, we got it started and headed to the gas station.  We got no more than 15 feet (but certainly far enough to be past the stop sign and in the middle of the road) and my car shut off!!!  I wish someone could have recorded our faces!  Immediate panic :) "Oh my God!  It died!!!  Derrick you have to push me!"  :)  And he did.  To the side of the road which of course is the side of the road you're not supposed to park on.  So with my hazards on, we ran back to Kaylan and T.J.'s and thankfully they had a little gas in their gas can for the mower! Phew!  We put that in my tank and headed straight to the gas station! 

I don't believe that will ever be happening to me again!  I'm so glad I wasn't by myself when that happened or I don't know what I would have done!

Mom and Scott Visit

This weekend my Mom and Scott came out for a visit.  They got here late Thursday night, and we stayed up and chatted.  They are planning a move soon, so Mom has been going through ALL her stuff.  She brought out a few goodies for Kaylan and I to rummage through. 

Friday we did some shopping and lounging because Mom didn't feel too great.  We were able to take Miles outside to play in the backyard since it wasn't too cold here.  After Miles went to bed, we played the Newlywed Game.  Needless to say, Kaylan and T.J. kicked our butts!  And Derrick and I pulled up the rear. :(  I say it's because we're not even married yet! :)

Saturday we did a little running around and then went bowling in Avon.  We haven't been bowling since Miles was about 3-6 months old, and he did great at the alley.  Then the girls did a little craft shopping, and I got some supplies to make Quinn's wedding outfit :)  We cooked dinner at home, and played the Wii.  Then when Miles went to bed, we played Battle of the Sexes, and I'm proud to say the ladies won!

They left this morning to head back to Iowa.  We're glad they made the trip out!  We'll be on our way back to Iowa in approximately 3.5 weeks! YAY! :)

Ikea Trip

Last Thursday Derrick and I headed to Ikea in Cincinnati with the McCords.  When they got their new couch last April, they had one cushion cover with a little tear in it.  So they exchanged their cover, and Derrick and I didn't need anything and were just along for the ride.

We love checking that store out with all their neat things, and we could hardly resist getting a couple new things.  We got some new coat hooks so our coats don't have to sit on the back of our dining table anymore.  Don't they fit perfectly next to our Ikea mirrors too?!

And I got a new office chair.  I bought my old office chair at Ikea too, but it was a cheap chair that I thought would do.  After much use, it just wouldn't do.  I was always uncomfortable getting any work done.  So the hunt for a new chair was on, but they are expensive!  We ended up finding a comfy one at Ikea, and so far it is amazing!

This is my old chair...

And this is my new chair!!  UPGRADE! :)

Sorry about this messy pictures.  My office/craft room really WAS that messy until a couple days ago.  I'll update you on that next ;)



Valentine's Day

It seems to be that Derrick and I will make a tradition of celebrating Valentine's Day on February 13th instead of the 14th.  Derrick had to work on Valentine's Day until 8:00, so we went out for dinner at Stone Creek on the 13th.  It's a fancier place in Plainfield that we hadn't tried yet, and it's at the mall.  It was delicious and right across the road was Coldstone, so we had that for dessert of course! :)  We also rented Abduction with Taylor Lautner in it, and I would say it was a pretty good movie.

On the real Valentine's Day, I had a job in Terre Haute and an evening date planned with my other Valentine!

Kaylan and T.J. got tickets to go to the Pacers vs. Heat game, so Miles and I spent the evening together :)  Once Derrick got off work, he came over too.  We had a romantic Taco Bell dinner, and we watched Gran Torino on TV. 

When we finally made it back to our apartment, I had these beauties waiting for me :)

Derrick spilled the beans that they would be coming since we weren't sure if either of us would be home when they would be delivered, but it was still a lovely surprise :)

Super Bowl XLVI (Picture Overload!)

The Super Bowl this year was on February 5th, but they started the celebration here in Indy on January 26th.  While Kaylan and T.J. were out of town visiting friends, Derrick and I headed downtown to the DJ Pauly D and Bret Michaels concerts. 

 DJ Pauly D

Us waiting or Bret Michaels

Bret Michaels



The concerts were great and it wasn't even too packed :)

We went to the NFL Experience on Monday afternoon with the McCords.  We walked down Georgia Street (Super Bowl Village) to get to the Experience, and there was lots to see and do.

 Concerts and Games

 Ice Sculptures

Super Bowl signs everywhere! 

The NFL Experience (Indiana Convention Center) with the Zipline right in front of it. 

Indy Cars.  There's one for every NFL team, but we only got to see these ones. 

Zipline! 

Countdown to the Super Bowl!!!

We each got to be a player for our favorite teams :) 

Miles didn't want to be a Bears fan!  Just wait and see who he wants to root for ;) 

Go Vikes! 

That's right!  He roots for the Vikings, and he waves too :) 

Some famous announcers.  I couldn't tell you who they are, but Derrick and T.J. were freaking out! :) 

Rides with Uncle D are the best!

And he wasn't even scared of the giant bird! 

There were tons of activities to do inside the NFL Experience, but this was the only one we did. 

You were supposed to throw your football fast and in the hole, and they clocked how fast you threw it. 

All the team flags 

They had a Wilson football station where they actually were making footballs.  You could get one that had your name or family name or anything on it, but it would cost you about $175 for a football!! YIKES!

We just watched :) 

She was sewing them right there!  She said she does about 170 a day, and that's for 10 hours.

She's lacing them up. 

We decided to participate in a little commercial for fun, and they gave us these stickers.  Isn't he so cute as a little football player.  Little did we know, those things are awful to come off.  I think the babe might be a little traumatised from that! 

We even were able to check out the locker rooms!

Bears locker room.

And AP in the Vikings locker room! 

They had all the Super Bowl rings here too.  And this guy is just an added bonus :) 

AFC Championship trophy 

NFC Championship trophy. 

There was a crazy line to get up close and personal to the Vince Lombardi trophy, so we just took a picture from afar.   

All the guys got drafted too!

Derrick, of course, to the Vikings. 

And T.J. to the Bears. 

And looky here, Miles even went to the Bears, and he doesn't seem so mad about it! 

Here is the Zipline tower up close.

They had these heaters all down Super Bowl Village so you could warm up IF it was cold out.  We just happened to have great weather for most of the week! 

Another one of Derrick's favorite things.  You could come here and watch them do shows for ESPN. 

The big Super Bowl letters at Monument Circle. 

Me and Derrick 

The McCords 

Here is the JW Marriott downtown.  This display of work was quite amazing. 

And for the grand finale, this is what downtown looked like Friday night before the free LMFAO concert!! Craziness!  I'm so glad we stayed in.  

That was the extent of our Super Bowl experience.  We relaxed at home on Sunday and tried to avoid the city at all costs.  However, the guys thought it would be cool to go downtown Sunday to "see if they could see anything while they were driving around."  Needless to say, they couldn't get too close.  They did see policemen on horse, parking for $200, and a whole lot of helicopters flying overhead.

We sure hope they bring the Super Bowl back to Indy in a few years!  It was quite an experience!