Welcome!

This little blog started on our wedding website, which kept family and friends up to date on the planning and details. Of course this is where we will provide all of the recaps of the wedding and everything after. We look forward to keeping family and friends up to date on our lives here in Texas and all of the adventures we share as newlyweds!

Monday, November 30, 2009

Makeovers...

For your left overs of course! I don't know why but it is always the cranberry sauce that is left over in our apartment after Thanksgiving.

Its the Monday after and we still have a container full! Mainly because Rene does not like it that much but I can't have my turkey meal without it..so that lead me to a super easy makeover for the side dish!

Cranberry Muffins! I figured why not make a basic muffin and rather than blueberries why not make it with cranberry sauce?!
Megan's Made-Over Cranberry Muffins
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup leftover cranberry relish
Mix the dry ingrediants, add the eggs and mix. The fold in the butter, continue to mix until a uniform consistency. Last add the cranberry sauce and mix.
Put into lined muffin tins and bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Once done remove and while still hot sprinkle with sugar. Makes about 12-16 muffins depending on size.

Sunday, November 29, 2009

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

25 days and counting til Christmas!We spent the day yesterday to get the apartment decorated for the holidays and working on the holiday cards. This is the 3rd Christmas we are spending together. The apartment has a casual comfortable Christmas style. Reds and greens and gold fill the living room and dining room. Our little tree is full of ornaments! While I grew up my mom always put at least one or two ornaments away for my brother and I each year so I had lots for decorations, and of course Rene and I have added to the collection each year. Now that the decorating is done I need to think about the shopping! The past 2 months have just flown by and I must admit I haven't started my Christmas shopping at all!! This year has flown by!


**Hopefully in the next week I should be able to start the wedding recaps again, pending the arrival of the rest of the professional photos!!**


Saturday, November 28, 2009

Tomorrow is the BIG Day!

And here you were thinking that this would continue my recaps...however not just yet. After cooking from about 10am til 4pm yesterday, cleaning up after all the cooking then eading out to the outlets yesterday well rather today at midnight and then making our way over to Target at 5am after 6+ hours of shopping and way too much spending I am in holiday mode!

Tomorrow starts the Christmas decorating! A favorite part of my year, even if I have to have a pine scented candle rather than the real pine tree...

In any case, I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and a great Black Friday--We sure did!

Thursday, November 26, 2009

I know it's Thanksgiving but...

I could not help but share the sneak peak the photographer Jennifer Werneth sent me via e-mail today! I was so excited to find these in my mailbox after our Thanksgiving day feast! I can not wait to see the rest!





Wednesday, November 25, 2009

A Pause in Recaps

As much as I hate to keep adding in little recaps of the wedding this weekend I must! The main reason being is that I do not want to start the ceremony recap until I have the professional photos for all to enjoy and second because its THANKSGIVING! This will be the 3rd full Thanksgiving dinner I will be cooking for Rene and myself. And while it is never fun to be away from family for the holidays I would like to think that I do a pretty good job of the Thanksgiving "feast" with the little apartment kitchen.

The past 2 years we have done very traditional menus, classic turkey, my grandma's stuffing, green beans, mashed potatoes from scratch, biscuts--you know the basics.

This year however I have decided to spice things up a bit. With of course the help of Food Network.
This year's menu includes:

Appetizer: Antipasto Sausage Skewers

Appetizer: Cheesy-onion tarts

Main Dish: Classic Turkey

Side Dish: Grandma's stuffing (a staple when I cook Thanksgiving!)

Side Dish: Cranberry, Cherry and Walnut Marmalade

Side Dish: Baked Sweet Potatoes with pecan and marshmallow streusel

Side Dish: Multicolored Cauliflower

Desert: Carmel Apple pie

Alot of food I know but YUM! I have alot of work to get started on tonight for sure and a full day of cooking tomorrow! Such a great way to break in the new dishes and wedding gifts!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Monday, November 23, 2009

Recap #4 The Civil Ceremony

This is it the I Do's for the civil ceremony!




And of course it wouldn't be complete with just a couple of pictures from the legal parts of the wedding!



Need to catch up?
Day 3 We board the Wonder
Day 2 Orlando and Cocoa
Day 1 in Orlando

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Recap #3 We Board the Disney Wonder!!


Finally the day we have been waiting for!! We get to board the ship!!

After breakfast at the hotel we headed to the port in our taxi with all 4 pieces of luggage, a duffel bag, carry on rolling suitcase, garment bag, a box, a wedding dress, and my over-sized purse. Far too much for just 2 people! Nonetheless we had finally mad it, as we rounded the corner of the port there it was!



After a quick check in process we were up in the terminal waiting for the rest of the group to get there! By 11am we were on board and starting to run around putting door decorations and welcome letters on the guests doors before they got to their rooms.

After we had everything finished for guests rooms we grabbed lunch and a moment to breath before we could actually get into our stateroom. When we finally got there it was worth the wait because we had lots of goodies waiting for us in our room!


e got amazing robes and chocolates as well as a celebratory bottle of champagne waiting for us! As well as a letter from our wedding coordinator about the time and place to meet for our civil ceremony that day!
We had a little time so why not celebrate?!














A quick toast and it was time to head down to the lobby to meet up with everyone for the ceremony!!


Up next: The civil ceremony!



Need to catch up?
Day 2 Orlando and Cocoa
Day 1 in Orlando

Recap #2 Orlando to Cocoa

Day #2 in Orlando was quite productive with us running around to get some last minute things for our guest gift bags in the morning and then heading to our fave college bar to watch the UCF vs UT game.There we ran into groomsman #1 Matt and a couple of Rene's fraternity brothers where the felt the need for shots to commemorate the wonderful wedding which would take place just days later.

After the sad, but expected loss to UT we headed over to Cocoa Beach where we would meet up with my parents for dinner and then stay the night before boarding the cruise the next morning.

Following dinner I got to work on the champagne for the guests gift bags in our hotel room.
10 bottles later they looked pretty good!

Next up Day 1 of the cruise!!

Need to catch up??
Day 1 in Orlando

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Recap #1 Orlando-Food and Wine @ Epcot

For all of the friends and family that were not able to attend the wedding I am hoping to make them feel like they were there with this!

I am going to try to add photos (as I get them from friends and our own photos) in a timeline by doing little recaps of the trip!

Of course we got to Orlando on the Friday before the cruise and hang out around Orlando for 2 days.

First stop--Food and Wine Festival at Epcot of course! We made it down for one of the last 2 days so I insisted we go. Trying out the new camera's front view!!


And then once at Epcot it was time to travel around the world! Where we ate some food







And then we had some wine of course!







We ate and drank ourselves full and then realized there was a beautiful sunset over the lagoon and couldn't resist getting getting some pictures.




It was a great way to start the trip!

Wedding Photos to Come Soon!

I am so excited to see that people are uploading their photos to our group room on Snapfish!
www.snapfish.com
The one downfall that I have found is there is now a way for us to download the photos we have to actually purchase the prints.
That's ok with me thought! Last night I ordered a total of almost 300 photos from those posted by 3 friends and family so far! And they only cost us $30 with the printing and shipping!
That being said they will get uploaded to the blog soon!

I am going to try to get the video up this weekend but I don't want to promise anything just yet! Keep Checking back!

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

A Sneak Peak!

Things have been crazy since we got back to Dallas! With trying to get life back in order with the apartment and work not to mention its almost Thanksgiving and I have NO IDEA what I am making this year, we have not even started to upload our photos of videos that we have.



Thankfully we have great friends who took lots of pictures for us (we just don't have them yet!)



Here is a little something for a sneak peek care of our good friend and entertainer for the trip Kurtz! Hopefully the photographer will have her faves posted to her blog in a week or so! But until then this will have to hold you over!

I promise lots of travel, wedding, mini-honeymoon updates to follow!


Thursday, November 5, 2009

This Is It

(And no, I don't mean the new Michael Jackson movie)

This will be the last post I make as a "Miss" because tomorrow morning bright and early we are off to Orlando for the start of the wedding adventures!

I can not believe that it has been a full year since we sent out or invites and started planning the big event!

Everything is packed and ready to do, hair highlighted, nails done, boarding passes printed and valet reservation made for the car there is nothing that still needs done-minus throwing our toothbrushes in the bag tomorrow morning. What a relief!

Now its off to the airport and a quick flight to Orlando. We have a couple of last minute things to get done Friday in Orlando, then Saturday after the UCF vs UT game we are headed to Cocoa Beach for the night.

Boarding the ship Sunday Morning!!


Wedding Monday!! after the cruise we are off to Disney World til the 16th...



For tonight however, we are off to a nice dinner for our last night in Dallas as "engaged" next time we are here in Dallas we will be "Mr and Mrs!"

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

What Am I Forgetting?!?

Well it is getting to be that time, I only have about 6 or 7 more hours in the office **fingers crossed I am not stuck here late**

Then that is it! No more work til the 17th of November....which means the trip starts FRIDAY!!

While we are both excited about the trip and the upcoming cruise and wedding the one question that is of course on my mind. "What am I forgetting?"

All of my appointments here in Dallas are confirmed for tomorrow--minus nails, I need to squeeze that in between a couple of things since all of my beauty services are not at the same location (which is such a pain!) oh well....we are pretty much all packed, kitty goes off to PetSmart PetHotel on Thursday evening..HMMM....

I guess all that remains is to take care of the bills for while we are gone, stop the mail and clean out the fridge...or at least I hope that is all.

I guess I still have half a day at work and all day tomorrow to think about it.

Even more exciting though is tonight I get to speak with our photographer Jennifer Werenth to go over the final agenda and timeline for the wedding day photos! I have been stalking her website and blog for over a year and I can't wait for us to finally meet face to face instead of all of the over the phone and email conversations!

It is getting so close--but at the same time it still has not set in!

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

TOMORROW IS THE LAST DAY AT THE OFFICE!

I am just s bit excited can you tell? Now all I need to do it get out of the office today!

How many gadgets does one couple need?

I am not one to think that I am a gadget loving person more than any other person. But it was not until I realized all of the charging cords that the soon to be Mr and I would need for the trip that I realized how many "techy" type things we had accumulated between the two of us! So lets see...




Add one of these which I bought the Mr for a "fun" wedding gift http://www.nintendo.com/



One of these--I love my Kindle which I got as my "fun" wedding gift from the Mr. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0015T963C/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=4370628415&ref=pd_sl_19calxq4k4_e


Of course we need 2 of these--one in each color for "His" and "Hers" Music choices http://www.apple.com/




2 of these, though they won't be on the majority of the wedding cruise, we will be staying in Florida a couple of days and really who goes anywhere without access to phone and internet anymore? http://www.blackberry.com/






Well if that wasn't already enough, I have added 2 wonderful new pieces of fun to my arsenol of digital and electronics stash!


My new camera! I am in love! As soon as I saw it advertised I knew that I not only wanted one but we NEEDED one! I just don't know why someone did not think of this sooner! It is perfect for the couple traveling alone trying to get those images of the two of them together! The front screen shows you exactly what you are taking a picture of! It was well worth the money!




And a mini HD Video Camera. We found it randomly on sale and figured why not give it a try! We plan to use it really just to capture the ceremony. We looked at the Flip camera as well, but it did not allow for an SD card for memory space. This one does which is a nice plus. Its a DXG 567V Flash Memory Digital Video Camcorder we haven't tried it out too much but hopefully it will work out just fine!
Now if we can just keep all the cords from being a mess! Into plastic sandwich baggies they go!

Monday, November 2, 2009

Wedding Day Make Up

I figured while sitting here being non-productive at work what a better time than to post about my "day of makeup".

Let me first say that my make up is pretty fail proof, and I did not want to cake on a ton of foundation and heavy make up and be on the deck of a cruise for our ceremony and hate the fact that I looked all "done up" and not myself.

So off to Sephora I went looking a couple of months before the wedding to find my perfect face!

I sat down with one of the make up artists and explained what I wanted.



1. Minimal products to take on the ship


2. Something that can be casual and also dressed up


3. Easy!



It takes me about 10-15 minutes total now to do my make up! Its great! The only thing that I change up are my eyes to either do a simple sheer pink (casual) or add some brown shimmery colors and a smokey eye to make it a little more dramatic!

Here is what I will be using for the wedding day and really what I have been using on a daily basis because it's just that easy!

All photos from the Sephora Website

1. NARS primer with SPF 20 to help everything stay on and also prevent sun damage of course! Applied all over face and eye lids.






2. Follow this up with NARS Firming Foundation in Syracuse. I apply it to my hand and then warm it up and apply it with my finger tips, super easy to apply and a little goes a long way!





3. This has become my favorite "go to item". Its called The Multiple in Orgasm. It works on cheeks, eyes, and lips everywhere to add a little pink shimmer. I use it on my cheeks and eyes. When looking for a casual look this is all I use on my eyes.



4. Highlighting and Bronzing Duo in Orgasm and Laguna. I apply the pink to my cheeks and the bronzer all over to help set the make up.




5. Apply eyeshadow. I mix it up a little here and use everything from the Ulta Brands, and Cover Girl. I choose a shimmery brown in 2 colors and apply one to the entire eyelid and then sweep the darker shade in the crease (sorry no photos because I use lots of stuff)



6. Make Up Forever Aqua Eyes stay put eye liner. Its waterproof and stays on your eyes all day! I apply it to the top lid and smudge it a bit for a smokey effect.





7. Dior , Dior Show Mascara in Black. I use the waterproof version most days, it comes off easy but doesn't leave little flakes that other mascara may leave.



8. MAKE UP FOREVER HD Microfinish Powder-- I love this, it adds a little sheen and also set the make up very well. I just brush lightly all over my face even my eyelids to set everything.


I promise it's quick and easy, and this is all that I use. Add a sheer lip for casual or a colored lip to add a little something else. But that's it in a nut shell!



Is it Thursday Yet?

All I can say is there are a million and one things that I should be doing right now at work.....
But procrastination is getting the best of me for sure!
All I can think about is my last day of the week being Wednesday and being able to have the whole day to get ready for the trip on Thursday!
Only 2.5 days of work left! YAY!

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Our last weekend in Dallas as an Engaged Couple!

Well Saturday morning marked the last BIG thing for us...other than us getting things packed...sending the box of goodies for the wedding party to the port!



Thankfully this takes care of the 3 large boxes that have been sitting in the apartment for the past couple of weeks. We sent one even bigger box than this down to one of our wonderful bridesmaids, this one directly to the port, and then one other smaller box which holds my flowers (carry on #2 for the flight).

Then it was on to the dreaded packing...its been one of the last things on the list. With a "due date" of November 1st--Today! Ugh...no fun there....but it had to be done....hours later...



The most important item which of course will be carried on!
THE DRESS!!


It has been purchased and paid for now for over a year, and in the little place in the closet just like this since January of this year....I can not wait to wear it in 8 days!