All Settled In

Russell and I are finally all settled into our new apartment! Like any decision I make I over thought this one too! We looked at 7 or 8 different apartment complexes before finally deciding on the one we chose. 

One thing that we had to figure out was where we were going to fit Russell's music things and my hoarding since the new place didn't have patio storage! ;) Hopi suggested I go through things and get rid of stuff, which would've made sense, butttt I challenged myself to make it all fit! 

I had most things put away in the first few days! :) Hanging things up was a different story! I finally finished that this past weekend!

Move in

So, I got creative with storage! :) Russell's music stuff is above the washer and dryer. This place has really tall ceilings which I used to my advantage. 

Laundry Area

Coat closet 

Holiday stuff and college hoarding :)

Pantry (AKA storage for things we use)

Linens, air beds, shopping bags, board games etc. 

Now, to the good stuff. :) Decor. I decided when we moved in here that I wanted to buy very few new things. We just did all of that a year ago when we moved into our last apartment. So, I only bought curtains, bath mats (we have two sinks now-which changed things a bit), picture hanging strips, diploma frames and a frame for engagement pics. :) 

So before the Texas State wall looked like this...

It looked like...

Picture wall-last year this took me about six hours to do! This year, I wised up bad bought picture hanging command strips and arranged it on the floor first. 

Living Room

Kitchen 

Bathroom

The new rugs are from World Market. $9 each. :)

Here's my new frame from Hobby Lobby. 

The bedroom is still a work in progress. :) 

It's so nice to have everything where it belongs and be all settled in!

Thanks for shopping by!

-Amanda 

Getting Fit

So, I've decided to get it together!  One of the red things (past due) on my knot checklist is "create a beauty plan." 

My friend Lindsay and I had been doing just cardio over the last few weeks, which was helpful, but I was eating like crap. In the month of June, I ran/walked 26.4 miles. We were using the C25K app and the Nike running app-I loved them both!! I was/am extremely proud of myself and Lindsay! Lindsay went out of town and my workouts went with her! Haha :) 

This post is in an effort to document my fitness life. After talking with my friend Monica, I decided to give Jamie Eason's 12 week challenge a try. 

I researched the plan and got Russell on board and decided to start preparing yesterday. One difference is no cardio-so I'm interested to see how that goes for me, since was an "only cardio" kind of girl.  We went grocery shopping and had our "last supper" delivered-Pizza Hut, naturally. We are following the meal plan pretty much exactly. 

Last night, I went ahead and made our "mid morning" and "mid afternoon" meal-turkey muffins. 

Monica advised me to use seasoning packets instead of doing all of the spices! So, I tired taco seasoning. Delicious. I'm weird about consistency and these aren't my favorite when it comes to that, but overall flavor delicious. 

Today, we had this for lunch. :) 

We did Day 1 workout today, which is arms and chest. I am still certain that I have no upper body strength. 

Post workout shake 

We're definitely going to have to work on 5-6 small meals a day! We got three in today.

I'm so excited for this journey to begin. I'll keep y'all posted!

Thanks for stopping by! 

Amanda 

I said yes...

To the dress. Finally! :) 

After months of shopping and trying on upwards of 50 dresses in 4 different cities and 444 pictures (no exaggeration) in my wedding dress album that aren't the one, I finally said 'yes' to the dress!

My advice:

1. Research. Research dresses. Research places to shop. Take your research with you. I did a lot of research, but I have a habit of being like, "oh, that's pretty-let's pin it." and it doesn't help me at all! Haha if you're good at decision making, then dress research is helpful. ;)  To find places to shop-my research simply consisted of googling wedding boutiques in Austin, TX. Tons of options. :)

2. Set your budget before you go anywhere. I did not and fell in almost love with a $3300 dress (the first one I tried on)-no thank you.

3. Don't let someone talk you into or out of something. I'm speaking of salespeople. Some people have this problem with extra opinionated friends/family. I can't even begin to tell you (so I'll show you further down) some of things people tried to talk me into. 😳

4. It's okay to change your mind. As long as you do so within 6-8 months before your wedding. Some designers take longer than others, but you don't want to end up in a situation where you have to rush order your dress.

5. Take someone with you. Most places I only had one or two people with me, which I found to be great! It's easier to figure out what you want with fewer opinions in the moment. That's not to say every dress contender that I tried on wasn't then sent to at least 10 people. Once I finally more or less decided on the dress, that's when I texted all of my bridesmaids, moh ;), and mom to see if they could come in and say 'yes' with me! 

6. Last one, take lots of pictures. You'll probably change your mind on what you want/what you like-at least that's what I did! :) 

Thank you Julie, Lindsay, Sarah, Kara, Becca, Brookie, Hopi and Mom for being my shopping buddies over the past few months!! 😚 I'm so blessed to have each of you in my life! 

Thank you to all of my bridesmaids for responding to all of my group texts about dresses. Thank Jesus that's over huh? 😉

Last, but not least, thank you, thank you, thank you to my sweet momma, moh-Hopi and 5 of my sweet bridesmaids, Heather, Lindsay, Julie, Becca and Shanna who were able to be with me today as I finally said, "yes!!" to the dress.  Y'all sure know how to make this girl feel so special. Love y'all so much!

Now to the good stuff. 

Location: Blush Bridal 

This dress had my heart for months. My brain would not let me do it. :)

I would then send them to my sister and she would make picstitches so I could compare them! lol :) These were my top two for the longest time!

Location: Belle Saison

 

Lindsay and me!

Location: Unbridaled 

Sarah and me! 

Location: Signature Bridal 

Becca and me! :)

Location: Alfred Angelo 

Location: Serendipity Bridal 

Brookie and me!

At this point in shopping, I decided I wanted to change everything. :) Lindsay and Kara joined me for Round 2. 

Location: Belle Saison 

Location: Alexia Gavela Bridal

My new friend Kara! She's been quite the helper on this wedding dress adventure! 

Then, on Wednesday, I scheduled three appointments. Cloud 9, Second Summer Bride and Signature Bridal for the third time! 

Location: Cloud 9

Location: Second Summer Bride

Location: Signature Bridal

Finally, to where I said yes! First we had lunch at Panera. :)

Then, we headed to Georgetown! I had narrowed it down to my top 2! This was #2. :)

Would it be weird to frame this picture? Lol :) so happy my momma and Hopi came to help me move-it resulted in fitting in this dress adventure. :) couldn't/wouldn't have done it without them.

I can't imagine my life without my Hopi. 

So precious! :)

My sweet Shanna had this made for me a while back, but I changed my wedding date on her so she had to order the seven, but it worked out perfect because she got to give it me today!!! I love it!! Thank you Shanna Banana! 

Now, here I am in my dress.

;) 

Thanks for sticking with me! :) I can't wait to wear my pretty dress down the aisle to my Russell. :)

-Amanda