Lions, Tigers, and dams, oh my!

Yesterday Brendon and I visited the Austin Zoo and Animal Sanctuary. We were a little skeptical when we pulled up, but it turned out to be really awesome. All the animals are rescued, so it isn't a typical zoo. Most of the animals were pets or circus animals that had to be surrendered. Some of them had sad stories but it was great to see them in a happier home. It was a quiet little place and you get to get really close to the animals. Plus the weather was b-e-a-utiful! All the animals were out enjoying the sun, it was the perfect day to go. The zoo is out in the hill country outside of town. I love the hill country! Home sweet home. Unfortunately the hill country is full of cedar, so our allergies were a tad out of control, especially poor Brendon. But we had a blast!

You could feed some of the animals! It was a lot of fun, minus the slobber. I got to feed bambi! All the animals were very ready to get a snack, they knew how it worked and were showing off their cuteness.

 This is Bobo, he was so sweet! He loved getting attention. And he was beautiful! All the birds at the zoo were super friendly, it made me sad because they used to be peoples pets and probably miss having human interaction. Fortunately all the employees/volunteers seemed to really care about the animals! We are going to look into volunteering there!

Baby Mr. H in the hill country dying via allergies.

After we left the zoo, we went on a little drive and checked out the Lake Travis dam. You couldn't walk across it (I guess that makes sense since it's a hydroelectric dam, danger zone!) which was a bummer but it was very impressive! Not as big as the Hoover dam, but it makes the Canyon Lake dam look like a baby.

 

 

           

It was a great day. I feel like we hadn't had a day off together in forever! Today, the weather did a flip flop and it got really cold and windy. Felt like winter again. Yesterday it was like 75 degrees and tonight it's going to freeze. Texas you are weird.

Wedding details

So we've been married for almost 9 months and I have yet to blog anything really about the wedding, aside from a quick summary. It was seriously the best day of my life. There was so much wonderfulness that I feel like I will never be able to do the day justice. But I am going to try, starting with all the crafty details. Because I am a crafty lady.

But, first and foremost I have to say that all these fabulous photos are courtesy and property of Powerhouse Studios. Thank you Breanna for documenting our special day so beautifully. I highly recommend her if you are in the San Antonio area and in need of anything photo related. She's a genius behind the camera. Check out her website, you might see a couple familiar faces on the home page.

When I first started looking at ideas in wedding magazines and blogs (which is a very scary process, the wedding blog world is INSANE) I was like, omg this is too much, lets just elope. But then I was more like, I can do this. I can make this stuff. So I did. I made all of our wedding decorations, as well as put them up the day of with help from my mom and sister... in 90+ degree humidity... post hair and make up, aside from the beeeeautiful flowers that our venue provided.

I spent a LOT of time crafting our wedding (but not nearly as much as some people do. Bridezillas y'all, they exist). Brendon helped a ton too. I had a billion projects I wanted to do but I narrowed it down to a few things I felt were worth the time and effort. I'm glad I did because even just the few I did kept me busy up pretty much right up until the wedding actually started. At times it was overwhelming and I thought I had bit off more than I could chew, but it was worth it to see it all come together that day. It made our wedding feel like us. Plus, it probably saved us a ton of cash. PLUS, the venue is beautiful on its own and the flowers were phenomenal, so I didn't have to do much.

      

I was on the fence about having a program, I mean people know how weddings work. But I decided to have a little fun with them, they turned out to be a blast to make. I wanted them to set the tone for the day, let everyone know it was going to be nontraditional and fun was the name of the game. I was really proud of them except I'm a super douchebag and put my best friend and bridesmaid's maiden name instead of her married name. I was mortified when she pointed it out, I proofread those suckers 10,000 times and I didn't catch it. So embarrassing.

Brendon and I made 200 pinwheels for our guests. TWO HUNDRED. The idea sounded great at first, but then we started making them and I never thought we would finish. Our fingers nearly fell apart but it was worth it when we saw everyone holding them up as we giggled down the aisle post-marriage. I also sewed yards upon yards upon yards of white bunting. Because that's what the wedding blogs said was cool.

I think my favorite detail was our little "LOVE" backdrop for our ceremony. I collected a bunch of various blue, yellow, and orange ribbons over the months before our wedding. I got letters Hobby Lobby and painted them white then attached them to one of the ribbons. I had no idea what I was going to do with them until the day of, and I ended up with this. The flowers coordinated pretty perfectly. "LOVE" now resides in our dining room, aka the corner of the living room where we eat. It makes me happy.

Okay, obviously I didn't make the cakes. My mom found Jessica from Jessicakes (cutest name ever?) in New Braunfels, and Jessica made these delicious beauties. I pretty much left the details up to her and she did a fantastic job. How cool is that hamburger groom's cake? If you're in the area and in need of a cake, I can totally give you her number. She's amazing!

This is also not something I made, but something I loved. Obviously animals are an important part of our lives and there are way too many of them suffering out there without a voice to speak for them. So instead of traditional favors we donated to the ASPCA in honor of our guests. They sent us these sweet little cards for all our guests. I kind of felt like our animal family was represented this way, plus we got to help some four legged friends in need!

 I lined our flower girl basket and made our ring bearer pillow out of the same fabric and ribbons. I wanted them to have a kind of quilted feel so I ended up actually using one of those quilting star designs on the pillow. Also, check out our bling! Our rings look nothing like that now, that was the cleanest they will be for years. Or ever.

Instead of a veil, I opted for a headband. A veil for an outdoor wedding in Texas seemed a little silly. I could just picture being slapped in the face by it via an unfriendly breeze mid-ceremony. Plus a veil felt a tad too traditional for me. Originally I had just planned on tying a simple ribbon in my hair, but I started wanting something a bit more special. I found lots of lovely decorative headbands online, but they were all outrageously expensive. So I figured I'd try to make my own. And I was really happy with the end result, and it's not something anyone else will ever have! I found some pretty trim, sewed on a gazillion pearls, and added a satin ribbon. I wish I could find an excuse to wear it again!

Of course, eventually (and hopefully soon), I'll post pictures that actually include people and wedding events. There is just so much goodness! How do I condense it into one post?

Mini Sophie and mooovies

Since that last post was lame-o, I thought I'd give you something lighthearted and ridiculous to look at. BABY SOPHIE, before she was a monster cat! And baby us! This was taken in January of 2008 so... about 4 years ago. Sophie was just a few months old and we were 19, still teens. Hence the Hollister and Abercrombie gear. We were obviously super cool kids. And that's a nice face Mr. H.

So lately we've gotten to go to gone to the movies a bunch! This is exciting because we love movies and basically didn't go at all during this last semester (except to see Breaking Dawn... not sure if that counts). Let's recap:

First we saw Sherlock Holmes - Game of Shadows. Obviously Robert Downey Jr was fine as wine. As was Jude Law. It was very entertaining and I loved the music. And the setting. And the costumes. If you liked the first one you'll enjoy this one. Plus lots of awesome action sequences if you're into that like we are.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was next on our list. I highly suggest reading the book first, the plot is kind of confusing even having read the book. But I really liked it. I think they did a great job capturing the overall feeling of the book. It was really neat to see it all in action. However, the disturbing part in the book is reeeeeally disturbing to watch. If you've read the book or seen the film (or read any reviews on it), you know what I'm talking about. But I give them props for going there. All the actors were great, but Rooney Mara seriously kicked ass as Lisbeth. You go girl.

Our latest film endeavor was Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol. I know, I know. It was corny and Tom Cruise did his thing but it was entertaining. If you haven't seen or didn't enjoy the previous three, I wouldn't bother seeing this one. It was definitely the best out of the Mission Impossible movies so far though.

There are a lot of films coming out this year that I am very excited about. Hunger Games y'all! Get hyped.

Medical mystery tour

First off, I apologize if this post is a little buzzkillington. I debated back and forth about posting it but whatev, you guys can suck it up. Jk, jk, it's not that bad.

I'm sure many of you, who have had to deal with me for any long period of time, are aware of this nonsense. I may have talked about this on here before, but long story short I've been having problems with this mysterious stomach pain. And by problems I mean every. single. day. for years. I cannot remember the last time I went a whole day without pain. About a year ago, with a lot of encouragement from Brendon, I starting seeing a GI specialist. I had lots of lovely tests done, tried lots of medicines with fun side effects, and spent lotsss of money, but we still didn't (and don't) know what was wrong. I am seeing a new doctor here in Austin and just had the most fun of all my tests so far done (sarcasm y'all).

Obviously that's me, I think right after taking out that thing they give you oxygen up the nose with. Post-procedure trippin' on some anesthesia. I wanted Brendon to get a video of me coming out of it, because duh everyone says funny stuff, but he only got this picture because apparently photos/videos are not allowed. The last thing I remember before being fully awake is dreaming about working while on a gurney that one of my fellow employees was pushing me around on. I'm assuming that was when they were wheeling me back to the room. I told everyone I was making lattes?

So that was how I spent my days off this week. Prep was the worst part (aside from the iv, dear god I hate needles), I couldn't eat or drink anything but clear liquids FOR A WHOLE DAY. I was starving and feeling real terrible. And then when I finally was all finished and Brendon took me to Cracker Barrel so I could stuff my face with some "home cooked" goodness (aka mac and cheeeese) I could barely eat anything. Such a let down.

And guess what? They didn't find anything abnormal or even remotely interesting! SO it was basically a waste of time, food I could have eaten, and a whoooole lotta moola. Really, I'm just being bitter. It's good news that everything was normal and I should be happy. But at this point, I could really care less what's wrong with me as long as we figure it out and there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Because in the mean time I still have to live with this nonsense everyday.

BUT, I'm being a baby and need to man up. It isn't that bad. I'm a happy camper and for the most part I am able to ignore it. Some days are way better than others, although I have my weak moments, sorry Brendon. Speaking of Mr. H, let's talk about how great he is. About how supportive he has been through all of this for all these years. How many movies he watched with me these past few days (A LOT). How when I lose my cool and can't hang he's solid as a rock. I can't say it enough, I married a winner. Thanks boo.

So sorry for this post. But it's my blog and my life, and unfortunately this is a big part of it. Thank you for dealing with my little rant, we'll be back to the usual broadcast of sunshine and rainbows shortly!

Hello 2012!

Happy New Year to you all! I hope 2012 brings you lots of good fortune and happiness! I have no resolutions, as always, but I am excited for the coming year. Hopefully 2012 will be good to us!

Can you tell we spent the day at work? We look a little less than fabulous I'm afraid.

We spent our New Years Eve at home on the couch watching tv (have you seen that Virgin Diaries show on TLC? Dear lord that one couple kissing/eating each others faces... so awkward). It was lovely. We meandered (I dragged Brendon) outside for a bit to watch some fireworks you could see from downtown and then we barricaded ourselves under blankets on the couch. We had some champagne at midnight and then stayed up until 2am!!! I am as shocked as you are. I've been working evenings these past few days so my sleep schedule is all kinds of jacked. Usually as soon as the sun goes down my body starts getting ready for bed, but lately I've been a little bit of a night owl. Making the switch back will be rough I'm sure, but sleeping in sure is nice.

In literary news, I just finished up the Hunger Games series. Pretty good. Definitely had a hard time putting them down. Very entertaining! I'd highly recommend them. Now I need something new to read! Any recommendations?