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Paws And Lights Holiday Card

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My Bucket List

This is my entry in the Just Ask Bucket List Getaway Giveaway. Just Ask offers a breast and ovarian cancer screening and is encouraging people to share 15 things that I want to enjoy in my lifetime as a reminder to be aware of my health. Want to enter? Head over to TodaysMama.com to get the details. 


In no particular order:

• Get my PhD!!!
• Travel to Africa (and go on safari)
• Visit all 7 continents (currently at 5 out of 7) and all 50 states (currently at 28)!
• Become fluent in Greek!
• Meet a sitting President, preferably Barack Obama!
• Exercise at least 3 days a week for at least 52 weeks straight
• Have a child and raise him/her well!
• Take ballroom dance lessons
• Donate enough money that the College of Wooster names a scholarship, building, or endowed chair position after me.
• Get a crazy, cool, contemporary haircut while I am still young enough to be able to pull it off!
• Read all of the books on the BBC Top 100 list
• Own a home
• Take professional cooking classes
• Move back to (or at least closer to) Ohio
• GET MARRIED!!!!!! And stay happily married!

It's On!

We have officially booked our wedding venue!  On July 14, 2012, James and I will be tying the knot at Mormon Lake Lodge!

We are really excited about this venue!  We will be having the ceremony outside and then the reception in the Town Hall.

Outdoor ceremony location

Town Hall (in the middle, looking at stage)

Town Hall (looking at bar)

The decor theme is rustic chic to fit in with venue!  We are incorporating a lot of mason jars, sunflowers, burlap, and lace.

If you would like to see another wedding that occurred at Mormon Lake, check out Cameron + Kelly's photos from Jen and Bubba's wedding.

Check out our wedding website for more information on our wedding!

Bridesmaids' Dresses

I've been trying to figure out why finding bridesmaid dresses is such a difficult task and I've come to the conclusion that, for me at least, it is because I get sidetracked by all the ugly dresses.  So, I've decided to highlight some of my least favorite bridesmaids dresses...the ones that I can't imagine anyone actually wearing.  Please don't be offended!

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 Laura and I found this beauty when I was looking at dresses for Jilko's wedding.  Why the weird sideways petals?

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 Speaking of weird petals...This dress might look OK if the petals on the skirt went all the way down...maybe...

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 This dress is just weird. I like structural designs on Project Runway but they rarely translate well to real life and here is an example.

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Another flower replica disaster...

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 This is another beauty that I made Laura try on.  I think Tara said it best when she called this the "big bird" dress.

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There are so many more I could highlight and I am sure I will as I continue this hunt.  However, I felt one last dress was necessary to share. Not only am I not really a fan of this dress but at $1600, it is one of the more ridiculous ones I have seen!

Do any of you have suggestions for other bad dresses that should be featured?  What about some good dress suggestions?

Please vote for us!

Sorry that I haven't posted for awhile...the end of the semester was hectic!  I have some great entries planned for this summer though including the announcement of our venue with pictures so stayed tuned!  In the meantime, I am writing to ask that you take a moment and go and vote for us to win custom cake toppers from Bunny with a Toolbelt!  

http://bunnywithatoolbelt.blogspot.com/2011/05/time-for-voting.html

One entry per person, and you must be registered to vote on Google (this prevents anonymous and duplicate votes).  We only have till Thursday so please go and vote and spread the word!  Thanks!!!!

THE Dress!

My mom is in town visiting for Easter and today we went dress shopping.  As many of you know, I've had my eye on Dolly Couture's Avila Bay.  This dress is only available to try on in Los Angeles though.  We had talked about driving out there at some point but I was just going to try on dresses in Phoenix first to get a better idea of what looks best on me.  I am curvy girl so I wanted to make sure to find stores that actually had dresses I could try on.  I googled "Plus size bridal gowns Phoenix" and my first hit was Strut Bridal Salon!  For any of you size 14+ brides out there, this is the place to go!!!!  The owner Ann was who helped me out.  She was friendly and helpful.  She took the time to get to know me right at the beginning.  I said I wanted a dress that was fun, classic, and vintagey and she nailed it on the first dress.  I, of course, tried on several more but I kept coming back to the first dress.  I asked her for a birdcage veil which is what I thought I wanted and she put it on me.  She then asked if I would try a different veil on and brought out a shoulder length veil with a blusher.  I didn't think I would like it but she put it on and the look was complete...I had found my wedding outfit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  You'll all just have to stayed tuned for the next year before the reveal though! And if you are a plus size bride in the SW, GO TO STRUT BRIDAL!!!!!!!!!!!