Backyard Landscaping

I am still getting my honeymoon posts together but in the meantime I thought I'd post about something that happened before that.

Our backyard which until recently was an ugly dirt lot was finally completed two weeks before our honeymoon.  This was hubby's project from start to finish and it took a little bit longer then originally planned but he got the job done within the 6 month HOA time frame.  We were just fine with having a small backyard.  We really didn't want the maintenance and upkeep that a large one would require.  We definitely didn't want to worry about watering grass or sprinkler systems.  We could have done concrete like just about everyone else on the block but we wanted to do something different.  Our landscaping concept was so fancy in fact that the HOA required an architectural review.  They made us submit our plan, documentation and get 6 of our neighbors to sign off on it before approving.  Then we get this little letter in the mail from them kindly letting us know that they had not received our $120 payment for architectural review.  Huh?  I suppose that was in the fine print somewhere in that thick book of rules and regs but I sure didn't see it.  

 After initially considering the cheaper possibility of having Mj and friends attempt to do the work and five estimates later we hired a professional to lay pavers and build us a fire pit and stone planter.  The fire pit required a gas line which we didn't want to take any chances with and he and his friends really have no experience with landscaping.  They were just going to wing it and who knows how long it would have taken considering it took the pros 3 long days of hard work.  After the pavers were done we contacted a rock company to come out a few days later.  A big red dump truck pulled up and unloaded $425 worth of rocks in our driveway.  Who knew that something you get outside for free and kick with the bottom of your shoe could cost so much? Mj's friends who thankfully work for beer instead of cash came over and helped him lay down plastic and haul the rocks onto the sides of the house and the back corner of the yard.  Our house is no longer surrounded by dirt.

$425 bucks worth of rocks.  Our garage and everything in it is now coated in dust

 Of course I tried to talk Mj cheaper options like concrete but he was adamant about what he wanted so I stopped fighting it and just let it happen.  If it cost this much for our tiny yard I can only image how much it costs to have pavers in a large yard.  It was the more expensive option but I can't argue with the results.  Our yard may be small but now it looks nice and inviting.  It's opened up the space and made it appear so much larger.  We are going to add some potted plants around the edges and plant some in that handy dandy planter we had built.  If anyone has any ideas on plants that are hard to kill let me know.  I am really, really bad at remembering to water plants and in keeping with our low to no maintenance theme we want  tough plants that can stand up to our neglect.

We left this corner without pavers to fill with rocks

An inviting outdoor space for relaxing

 I can already see us sipping on wine cuddled up around the fire pit on a chilly night or enjoying some BBQ and beer outside on a sunny day.  We are going to have to spend even more money to get there.  Will it ever end?  Aside from the plants we still need to buy a grill and a small table with chairs to totally finish off our outdoor space.

Home Project:  Crown Moulding

Home From Our Honeymoon

View from our balcony

On the way there I was bright eyed and bushy tailed as I had my very first body scan at the airport and then sat through the five hour flight that put us in Hawaii around 5 pm.  The way home was much different.  I was so tired on our overnight flight that I could barely see straight.  The plane and the airports were freezing!  Red Eye flights are so hard for my body to take!  We got home and immediately unpacked.  I just hate letting it sit and dealing with it later so as tired as I was I wanted to get it done and Mj was on board.  It was nice not to have much dirty clothes to unpack because we did laundry on our last night.  This is something I've never done on vacation but it was nice not to have to unpack and wash sweaty gym clothes and salt water logged bathing suits.



We made it home around 9:30 am and Mj is still going strong like some kind of freaky energizer bunny.  I was laid out half asleep and partially incoherent during our flights and layover while he was  just as wide awake as could be.  He says, "No I'm not really that tired" while I stare at him in disbelief.  I'm a wreck myself.  After unpacking, sorting through some mail and catching up on some on blogs I finally had to to take a nap.  I just couldn't keep my eyes open anymore.  I'm catching up on some DVR stuff now starting with Gymnastics.  World Championships were televised last weekend and I've been dying to know who won what.  On the way home we stopped and got some Halloween candy to hand out.  I've already eaten a bunch!  I haven't handed out candy on Halloween since I moved out of my mama's house.  Our neighborhood is tiny so I doubt we'll get too many kids but it will be fun.  Provided I can stay awake that long.

My little nephew is ready for Halloween.
Don't think he'll be doing much trick or treating

We are both taking tomorrow off.  I get one more day to recoup, pay bills and mentally prepare myself for going back to work.  Is there some sort of time change that is supposed to happen?  After a food filled eating out extravaganza vacation I have no idea what we will eat now because there is little to no food around these parts.  The kitchen food supply is on E.  I am just barely accepting the fact that I am back home.  I love home but I LOVED Hawaii and I LOVE being on vacation.   Where oh where did I go wrong that my actual life can't be one long vacation?? I already miss that warm tropical breeze sifting through my sun dried hair.  We had such an amazing and perfect time together. Recaps to follow.  

Pack Your Bags

Ugg!  There is so much to remember!!!

Did I mention that I hate packing?  Well I do.  A LOT.  I like to think that I'm a pretty low maintenance person.  On a day to day basis I don't feel that I require that much grooming.  My hair is get up and go and my make up routine is usually just blush and lip gloss but when it comes time to pack for a trip I am overwhelmed by all of the things I need.  Hair dryer, flat iron, lotions and make up.  Don't even get me started on accessories. There is jewelry, hair ties and purses to consider. I have two pairs of sandals and two pairs of flip flops in various colors I want to bring.  Good thing those are fairly compact.  I need tennis shoes and work out clothes for the gym.  I need sweaters in a variety of colors for chilly nights and air conditioned buildings.  I have to have shorts, tanks and bikinis of course but I need capris, jeans and my sketchers just in case.  I checked the weather forecast again today and as of now it's supposed to rain.  Every single day that we are there!  I need to be prepared for that scenario.  I can't forget my iPod, iPod charger, camera, camera charger and heaven forbid if I forget my glasses or a back up pair of contacts.  It just goes on and on.  What seems so simple is suddenly complicated and I am worried if I can even fit it all into my suitcase!

I started last night just to give myself that one extra day to add in stuff and pick up anything else that I had forgotten about.  I stopped at the library to get a good book on the way home from work yesterday and I've got my latest Marie Claire and People magazine ready to go.  And so am I!  I've been looking forward to this trip all year.  Hubby and I have taken two shorter trips to Vegas.  We went to Delaware to visit his family which doesn't count!  This is our first big time vacation together.  Our flight leaves around noon tomorrow and neither my hatred of packing or rain will stop us from being on it.  I am officially on vacation and Hawaii- AKA paradise awaits!! 

Eight Days 'til Our Honeymoon

So excited we finally get to use these cute luggage tags!

We got an e mail with "upcoming Hawaiian vacation" in the subject line and it dawned on me.  Our honeymoon is next week!  We didn't jet off from our wedding and straight to the honeymoon mostly because the resort was booked until October but I'm actually glad it worked out that way.  We had plenty of time [3 months] to unwind and settle in after the wedding and by stretching out the festivities it gave us something else to look forward to even after all of the wedding day hoopla.

Hawaii was not our first choice.  At the beginning of the year we had our heart set on Europe.  Greece in particular.  But as we started the house hunting and wedding planning process the enormity of what an expensive year this was going to be hit us and we decided that it would be best to scale it back.  We have to save Europe for a year that we don't buy a new house and pay for a wedding.  Neither one of us has ever been to Hawaii and by going there instead we were able to keep costs low.  So low in fact that the whole trip is basically free!  We'll be staying at Hilton Grand Vacation Suites at Hilton Hawaiian Village right on Waikiki Beach in Oahu.  With our HGVC timeshare there was plenty of points to cover the hotel.  Mj had enough points earned from his USAA Credit Card to pay for both of our airline tickets.  We even have $150 in discover gift cards as spending money that I earned using my Discover credit card.  Score! We have a little bit of left over wedding cash but we will definitely need to bring more spending money then that.  And that's where things get difficult for me.  I am the type that will go on vacation and not spend a dime more then necessary while I am there.  I am already so overwhelmed by the expense of just getting to the darn place so I feel like I can't.  No souveniers no extras.  Spend as little money as possible.  But I can't do that this time.  Spa treatments will run about $300 and the underwater Atlantis submarine tour is $89.   We will be eating out.  This is our honeymoon and it only happens once so I'm going to really try to let go of that hang up.  The trip was basically free so don't think about the money and just enjoy it already!!  I'm also going to try not to worry about all of the excess delicious food I'll undoubtedly be pigging out on and how many LB's I'll gain.

Atlantis underwater submarine tour [Pic Source]. 

I'll be getting my mani/pedi this weekend.  I didn't need to buy much to prepare for the trip.  My bikini's get so little use that they last long time and I bought a few things during the summer that I've been saving for the trip.   My main concern was making sure I had some non greasy high SPF sunblock that I would actually feel comfortable putting on my face.  I got Aveeno which is a bit pricey just for my face and I will save the gunky Banana Boat stuff or whatever it is we have for the rest of my body.  The worst thing for me will be packing because I am such an anxious packer.  I am so terrified of not having what I need on my trip to the point where I triple check everything and agonize over every single thing I put into my suitcase.  The only thing that alleviates my stress at all is packing early so that's exactly what I'll do.

Next Saturday we'll be on a plane to paradise.  It's not the one way ticket I want but we'll have eight whole days of rest, relaxation and romance to ourselves.   There will be white sand between my toes and a margarita or two or three in my hands.  We actually have a 2 bedroom suite because that's all they had available but you know we didn't invite anyone else to come along.  This trip is exclusive.  It's not a group type of party and you can bet there will be a "do not disturb" sign hanging on our doorknob.

Wedding Wednesday: You May Kiss the Bride

Our wedding was short, sweet and simple.  No sand ceremonies or poetry readings.  I didn't want a big production.  Just us saying our vows to one another and exchanging our rings.  The officiant started out with a brief introduction and a paragraph about love and marriage and then I started first with reading my vows. 

Mj wipes his eyes and I can barely get the words out as my voice wavers

I love to write so I was really excited about writing my own vows.  It really felt like I'd waited so long to say in front of everyone just how much I loved him and I was finally getting my chance.   I pretty much cried my way through them.  It was such a release saying those words in front of all of those people.  I didn't realize just how emotional it would be for me or for Mj.  I have never seen him cry.  I could hardly believe it when I saw him tearing up as I looked through tear filled eyes of my own and it made me cry even more.  I later discovered in pics that my make up was streaming beneath the trail of tears down my face.  Not a good look.  But at the moment that was the last thing I was thinking about.  A tissue would have been nice!    I turned around and mouthed to my little sis "tissue" and she just shook her head.  She probably had to use the tissue I gave her for herself!  We weren't the only ones that cried.  I think everyone was really moved.

Mj, ever the procrastinator was up the night before trying to figure his out.  I'd say he did it justice and the words he spoke to me were perfect.  Then, we moved onto the ring exchange.  The officiant made a statement and we each repeated after him as we put the rings on each other.  Then, it was time to kiss the bride.

Smooches!!!

At the rehearsal the evening before kissing in front of a group of people felt so awkward.  Our wedding coordinator didn't help any by making us kiss over and over just for kicks.  I started to get nervous about having to do it in front of even more people at the wedding.  Turns out I had nothing to worry about.  I was so in the moment and so excited that I happily went for it.  Mj went for it and the kiss was as natural as could be.  Which is a good thing because that kiss was just the beginning of more kissing with all eyes on us as the night went on.

Our officiant did so good!  Our midnight rehearsal the night before really paid off and everything went perfectly.  He is my bridesmaid Eb's husband.  He probably never thought in a million years that he would be officiating a wedding.  I wrote the script, we practiced, and he pulled it off like a pro. 

So happy!!!

Another kiss for good measure

I LOVE the song that we  played as we walked down that aisle after being pronounced man and wife.   Hearing the opening melody of that song start right when it was supposed to couldn't have been more perfect as we faced our guests and walked down the aisle together.  It Feels Like Home by Chantal Kreviazuk [Listen to it here].  Every time I hear it now it makes me smile and I think of our wedding day. 

Bridal Party // Group Shots.....