170

170 days until our wedding!

Tonight Will and I are taking some much needed relaxation time and watching as much TV as possible.

Sometimes you just gotta... be mindless. You know?

He just turned to me, while laying on his belly in his white (off white...) tee and blue jeans and yelled THANKSGIVING!

Ladies and gentleman, I am one lucky lady. No sarcasm, except for the off-whiteness. Those shirts have gotta go.

Starring on our screen tonight was of course...

Yay the New Girl is back!

Onward :)

Little by little you go a long way.

I'll be back with some nice posts this week :)

Fill in the Blank Friday: Back in action!

I have decided to join back in with the Fill in the blank Friday routine. Yes! Thanks Lauren for keeping this up!
1.   My plans this summer include : Sorting out our new life. Finding a place to live. How to make a living. And hopefully some pretty sweet memories. Lots of dancing with Will while times are tough :)

2.  The best summer I ever had was : The summer after 8th grade. Lots of trips to the hill country with friends to play in the river and eat junk food, summer movies with big groups, and chatter about cute boys and our "big" drama. It was simple then and I am proud to say I still have most of the best friends I was with that summer. 

3.  Summer is: Too hot in Texas but filled with excitement. Hot dogs, parks, rivers, beer, and watermelon. Pretty awesome?

4.  My favorite summer food is: Anything off of the grill! Kabobs and corn? Delish! And Guacamole. Yum.

5.  The best way to quench a summer thirst is with : a margarita with all fresh juices and a tall glass of ice water. 

6.  My summer uniform consists of: sundresses and workout clothes. 

7.  The best thing about summer is : you feel like you are ready for anything.Breezy evenings for long conversations with friends and love, opportunity, and adventure all feel possible and it is so awesome. 

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This is what I am dreaming of doing every day this summer and probably beyond. Will and I are really into the slumber party lifestyle. How about you?

Could it be, a wedding post at last?

Things have been a bit crazy on the Swain - Stan front but I am pleased to announce we are working very hard to plant some roots in our new city of Austin and pleased to announce we will be getting married next October!

Here are the pretty amazing colors Will and I have chosen.

     left img via// right img via

Was it hard for you to pick your wedding colors? I usually don't have a hard time helping a bride out with this but when it's for yourself, good golly it's hard! We are pretty excited. Pretty sure I am going to go ahead and bite the bullet and make a full wedding section here on le blog. Readers beware! Just kidding!
Stay tuned for photos of the ring.

I am one lucky lady. A lucky lady who is super in love. Eee!

Side-note: I counted the word PRETTY 3 times in this post. Yikes?

Motivation.

I am committing to motivation. I have a lot of potential and I am going to get it and run with it. No more walking.

That is all.

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kill me with cuteness.

Anna just showed me Cute Roulette. How will I ever get anything done now? As if cuteoverload.com and Pinterest weren't enough to keep my procrastination fueled... oh and awkward family photos...

This is totally worth it and heart warming though right?

And the web design is pretty perfect for it too... and I am big sucker for that, considering I do that on a day to day basis for living and all.

Enjoy!

Have I mentioned...

That we are also having a big adventure this year? It includes moving to two wonderful cities and traveling the east coast! Stay tuned for the full update. I just knew I had to do a little jotting down today in order to push myself to type out the whole shabang later this week :)

Here are some pretty photos of where we will be just for a little sneak peak.
Plus lots more exciting things but now I am headed to the work... 5 more weeks! Then full time Huckleberry Creative. Hooray!

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hamilton pool  via

cherry blossoms via

bonnaroo.com

My new favorite story...

Is one of my own! Can you guess what it is? 

What else could it be except how Will proposed!

 On the morning of  my 24th birthday, just about 2 weeks ago now, I woke up very early because I noticed there was a little less warmth in my comfy bed. Livi and I (our dog) searched the house (all 679 sqft.) for our beloved Will. Having seen the bathroom light was off I naturally didn't look in there. Right as I was about to panic, I heard my phone ringing and saw his face pop up on my screen :) 

His phone photo is one of him pretending to hide behind a fake tree 

in a craft store which cracks me up everytime I see it! Just a good sidenote :)

The first thing he asked me was if I had been in the bathroom yet. I thought this was a strange question

 until I went to look and saw this sign hanging from the doorway. It really makes a lot of sense when you think of it logically but I unfortunately don't do things in order all of the time. 

If you know me you know I love going on the roof. A LOT. Not sure if I posted it here but we recently did this photoshoot up there for Huckleberry.

 

Above is what I saw when I got up there. 

He had a breakfast picnic and bought me a super amazing record player I have been wanting for ages. Upon closer inspection and a little guidance from my man I found this little box and a VERY lovely and amazing letter inside. He styled it so beautifully and even wrote "To My Love" on the top. Great font choices too :) This letter was so sweet that he said he had to step away while I read it. Its main theme was passion and planning. He also engraved those words into the inside of the box which held the letter. It spoke of hopes and dreams for our life, our past talks about getting married and plans, and most of all, our love.

I'm definitely holding back tears as I type this...

At the bottom of the letter I was told to come get some kisses on the roof from him as my last birthday present. They were magical and I was so happy about my birthday gifts and love from him! I thought that was it then, time to eat! 

He's really good at timing. I mean really good. He's a feet sweeper in every way. 

As we walked back to the picnic site he must have stayed a few steps behind me because as I was about to go for some scrumptious breakfast treats he called from behind me " Wait! I have one more present for you!"

He claims I must have known by the way he said because I turned around in slow motion ( I always get nervous for other people when they are dong big things!). He does a funny impression of the look I had on my face now as well. 

Much to my surprise, he was down on his knee asking me for forever with him. He handcrafted me a ring out of wood because he is just that thoughtful. I laughed, cried, danced around and of course said yes!  

I am still just so smitten and bursting with joy over the whole deal I feel like this post just can't express it

Sorry for the poor quality of my iPhone photos... I obviously wasn't prepared for photo taking! 

Here is a picture of the finished proposal ring from Will's post about the making of it on his blog. 

Check it out for sure. Pretty neat if you ask me :)

Husband - to - Be : HIS NEW BLOG!

My wonderful man has started a new super awesome legit blog called We Speak the Ber. His nickname by his family and most of his friends now is The Ber. Derived from Wilbur (which is a nickname from his real name William), this name has become so common for him that his nephew is learning to know him as  Uncle The Ber.

His blog is focused on his many projects he likes to do and his all around friendly funny self. It's going to be epic I am sure.

Awesome looking right?

I am proud. Just Sayin. 

Gettin hitched.

WILL AND I  ARE GETTING MARRIED!

He proposed on my birthday.

I am the happiest woman alive.

Birthday weekend and Jenny's Texas Arrival

Right now we are headed to ATX to celebrate Jenny and Denise coming to Texas from NYC. It's going to be Whiskey and BBQ tonight. I get to see so many of my friends tonight AND we get to stay with Rachel and Michael.

I can't think of a better way to start my Birthday weekend!

This what we look like when we are so excited. Awesomely scary!



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I. Love. Friends.

Heading out to hang out with Ms. Ashleigh (wonderful friend for over 10 years!) for dinner tonight at her new apartment.

She is cooking Will and I chicken parmesan and I am in charge of bringing the wine. I think tonight is going to be a really great night that just might cure this nasty head cold I have.

Expect a really great post about tonight later.

I am so lucky to have such great friends taking care of me when I am down right grumpy and stuffy.

I owe Anna and Will a big thank you for going to dinner with me last night (even though I wasn't hungry) and dancing in the living room with me.

And you too Mom! Thanks for trying to cheer me up!

But for now...

Can't Stop, Won't Stop.

This little blog gets neglected but not forgotten :) With so much going on with Huckleberry Creative, scheduling me time can get a little daunting.

But, here I am... a little under the weather and taking the day off work for me. Little blog, you won't be neglected any longer. Also... Sorry dear friends and family who faithfully check here for updates... I will not fail you any longer.

Funny that my last post was about resolutions... haha I have actually not done too bad with them until the monumental I quit my big fancy magazine job because they treated me terrible and now I am bar-tending again fiasco.  The bar-tending is not forever I know... because our little company is rapidly growing and I couldn't be more thrilled to be doing something so awesome with two of my favorite people ever.

I'm excited. I need to keep writing it down because these are times I definitley do not want to forget.
You know what else? I think they are exciting enough for you all to read about too.

So there. I'm back.

Resolution Update

I'm deserving of a small wrist slap, I slipped on a day of leg shaving and I probably complained at least 3 times today. Back on the wagon tomorrow. 

But! Alas! I am still eating healthy. Day 2 is going fabulous!

Did anyone see this bracelet? Genius and such great packaging I think I need one, right? 

Ella.

Today was kind of a long day, therefore I am thinking about super happy things like....

When Ella and Caitlin came to visit. We had so much fun going to the park and to see christmas lights at the Lights in the Heights Festival and so much more. Makes my heart super warm just thinking about all of it :) I even miss her jumping around and bouncing off my walls and writing on things with crayons. (Thank you Will for all of you patience and wonderful lovingness while she was here.)

Having a little sister 21 years younger than yourself is pretty great if you ask me. I feel like I get to know her without all of the sibling rivalry and really enjoy her, despite the fact that most people think she could be my daughter when we are out in public or that my stepmom is my sister. 

I love all of the little quirks that make up our crazy little bunch.

Some of these are almost awkward family photo worthy but I love them. 

Isn't she the best photo subject ever?

New Year!!!

Hello January 2011!

Here are my resolutions. Better a couple days late than never right?

1. Be good to my body. Eat better & exercise mas.


We've come a long way together and I did a little sabotaging in 2010. This includes the usual new years stuff like eating better (no more putting crap down my gullet!) and getting exercise in everyday. I will be picking up my yoga habit and doing fun things for exercise like long walks in my new vibrams with my Will after work and hikes etc. I just rejoined WW too!


2. Appreciate my imperfections.

I am extremely hard on myself. Its gotta stop. This year is about letting go of mistakes and allowing myself to make them. 


3. More family and friends time.

I am going to organize my life better so that there is work time and family/friends time. No more of this running around like a crazy lady.


4. Perfect my sewing and crafty skills.

We have some big things happening this year and I am ready to get my skills perfected so I take some projects to the next level! 


5. Get Ready.


This could actually apply to tons of things I want to happen this year. I have a lot to get ready for, but the first step is to start doing things like painting my nails,  putting on my makeups, moisturizing more, not letting my legs go unshaved just because its cold outside, etc. These little changes make a big difference in how you tackle many things in life, plus Will deserves more than a frumpy girlfriend. 


6. Complain Less!


Super inspired from reading A Cup of Jo's decision to join in on this challenge. I will take it a week at a time. I think miss Anna is going to give it a go too! Life is too short to complain, generally what we complain about is something we should just be taking action to change instead of wasting time ramblin on about it. 




Cheers to 2011!!

Photo taken on a beautiful day by the river in Comfort, TX at my family's farm :)