Prayers Please!!

Jay and I would love some extra prayers this week. We have officially started looking for a home. It is something we have been talking about forever and now seems like such a good time. Housing prices are low, as well as mortgage rates. We are praying that we can find a good home, in a good neighborhood, and a good school district that we have the ability to grow into. We are looking for something we can stay in for the next 8-10 years. We have been praying, and feel that God has something in mind for us out there, but we would just ask for prayers to help us be guided towards that home. We don't want to do anything rash, because we do have the ability to wait as long as needed for the right home. Any and all prayers would be much appreciated. Also, stay tuned for updates on our journey to becoming homeowners!!

Happy Memorial Day!!

Hope everyone had a fun and safe Memorial Day! Jay and I did what we do best, float around the lake for threee straight days. It was really great to relax and spend some time family since things have been crazy since we got married 7 weeks ago! We spent most of our time lounging in the lake, but were able to get out on the boat for a while yesterday. It wasn't too terribly crowded around lunch time so we went for a cruise and then hit Fish Tales, my favorite lake spot, for lunch. They make an amazing fried mac n cheese, exactly what you need after 100 beers and trying to maintain a bikini body! Check it out sometime if you are up on Lanier.

Gorgeous view from the front of the boat!

Still chillaxin...tryin to get my tan on!

Haley, who is terrified of water, spent quite a bit of time on the float we tied to the dock. I think she was lovin it! Such a tough life for a dog!

Redneck for a Day

I grew up going to the drag races in Pamona, CA and just loved every second of it. Unlike Nascar, the races are quick and you don't have to pay attention for too terribly long. Jay, however, had never been to a redneck event like this. We went out and I showed him the pits, and showed him how the rebuild the engines in between races, and what all the different cars were. We then went down to the track, we were sitting right at the start, and showed him what a top fuel race looked like. He asked why he needed the ear plugs, and I just laughed and told him to use them. We had such a blast, and laughed at all of the ridiculous looking people. Including the 300 lb woman sitting in front of us with the belly shirt spaghetti strap tank top, mullet, no front teeth, that felt the need to chain smoke and drink Bud Light all day. It was an experience! Jay's dad, Gary, seems pretty concerned. After the drag race and the Mecum Auto Auction, more to come later, he is concerned he may need to move back North. Don't worry Norm, we won't ever buy a pick up truck!! ; )

The In-N-Out car was always my favorite when we lived in Cali. When I found out that a woman was now sponsored by In-N-Out I was so excited, then I found out she is from Duluth and plays golf with a friend of my mother's!!

Racing bikes

Funny cars are probably my favorite! They are super fast, super loud, and they look pretty cool.

Can't beat a Miller Lite and a day of racing!

Haha...Passin Gas...this was a hilarious immature moment on my part!

Melanie fixin to make sure the engine is running properly for her next race.

I was the only person to ask her about golf all day. She has just recently picked up the sport and is learning like I am!

She looks fabulous even with helmet hair and a full day of racing!

 

Jay and Melanie!

Love racing when it gets dark!

Major burnout!

Mr & Mrs Anderson 5/21/11

We recently attended my cousin's wedding in Kenallville, IN, and I wanted to share some photos from their wedding. They were very creative and figured out ways to make their wedding unique. Check out some photos below.

Of course I started with cake, that's my favorite part of every wedding. Elisabeth and Zach had a family member make their cake for them. Cheers to the maker, I think it looks fabulous. It tasted great too! Chocolate...yum!

The Komets are local farm team for a pro hockey team in the area. Zach is a huge hockey fan, and I think they made a great groom's cake here. Didn't get to taste this one, unfortunately, but looks amazing!

Their centerpieces were simple yet very elegant. It's hard to see in the picture, but they had purple marbles in the bottom of the vase to tie in the purple theme. All of the boxes were full of chocolate and made for cute favors. My cousin Evan ate almost every box at the table, except for mine. I don't even share chocolate with my husband!

Loved the head table! The hung, what looks like, icicle lights under the table and it popped so well in the room!

Going back to the obsession with hockey, the bride and groom entered the room to a Guns N Roses song and sported their hockey jerseys.

Macy decided to collect all of the ribbons on the boxes containing chocolate, that her brother ate, and turn them into jewelry. HA!

Another picture with Macy. Too bad I didn't snag one of Jay. He too was decorated with white and purple bows!

Nothing Cuter than a Flower Girl!!

There is nothing cuter coming down the aisle than a flower girl, whether she is smiling or not! I love my 3 young cousins, and couldn't pick between the three of them. Instead of picking, they all walked down together. I had trouble deciding what I could get these three precious girls that they would really enjoy. Well Macy, the oldest of the three, went through a phase where she kept telling me she was going to get married. She would tell us everytime we talked to her on the phone. So, I decided to do something wedding themed so they could all remember our wedding. Jay and I went to Build-a-Bear dressed our new friends in wedding dresses. The outfit came with the dress, veil, flowers, and even a blue garter. I mean every properly dressed bear must have her something blue!! I think the girls really liked them, and Jay and I had a blast. We were able to create their birth certificates, and even name them. Since we were having an Auburn wedding, we went with Auburn names. Magnolia, Aubie, and Haley. So, if you are looking for something a little bit different to give your flower girls you should try this. Go to a Build-a-Bear on a weeknight, if you go on the weekend you will get a headache and a large portion of birth control. We had an absolute blast, and it's something they can play with forever!

Tirsit and Macy hanging out with their bears at the rehearsal dinner! It was Tirsit's birthday, so all of the girls got crowns!!

The girls hanging out before their big walk!

 We were just dancing at the rehearsal dinner!!

The Hubby's Birthday

I wanted to do Jay's birthday up big this year. It was his first birthday as a married man, and I wanted him to know how much I love and appreciate him for all that he does for me! I took him down to Auburn the weekend before his birthday to watch Auburn beat Alabama at baseball...thinking we could celebrate then since we would be in Indianapolis for a wedding on his actual birthday. I had planned on making his favorite, Boston Cream Cheesecake. I mean how hard could it be? HA! I ruined two cakes...TWO! The directions didn't make since, and have since decided to alter them in order to make it work. Obviously I was pretty upset, since I was attempting this while Jay was at tennis practice the night before we were leaving. I was in tears, but still wanted to make sure I had something to make Jay's birthday special. The next week I decided to do something that wouldn't make me despise his birthday cake, and went for something more traditional. Chocolate cake with confetti icing...delish! I decorated it too, so it was everything a homemade birthday cake should be!!

Thank you Beth for getting me the cutest mixer on the block...perfect for these situations!!

Love that confetti frosting!!

 Mixing up my decorating icing!

 Final product!

 View from the top!!

Jay finally enjoying a cake...third time is a charm!!

It's All About the Cake!!

When I started planning our wedding, the one thing I couldn't wait to do was try cake. That is my favorite part of every meal. When I finally was able to do this, I was amazed by how different the bakeries could actually be. I just figured that if you are a successful bakery you probably have some pretty good cake. I was so wrong. Most of the cakes I tried were dry and needed more frosting than they gave me to sample. But, there was light at the end of the tunnel. Sugar Kneads in Lawrenceville has the most amazing cake I have ever tasted. It melts in your mouth, and they truly love what they do. I sat down with the man who owns the shop, and he looked like he would fit in better at a heavy metal concert. But, he was so nice, and baking beautiful cakes is truly his passion. I went in with an idea in mind of something I had seen on the Knot. He took my idea and ran with it, and even made the perfect groom's cake for Jay. I'll add their contact info below the photos if you are in need of anything from a birthday cake to a wedding cake, or just a cupcake pick-me-up in the afternoon.

They made each layer extra tall. Each layer consisted of vanilla cake, strawberry filling, chocolate cake, chocolate ganche filling, and another layer of vanilla cake. It tasted like divine chocolate covered strawberries. He actually did a fake layer on the bottom in order to give it the height it needed.

Jay wanted chocolate with chocolate filling in his cake, so that is what he got! Sugar Kneads added the Red Sox logo so Jay could have a taste of his favorite Boston team!

If you are looking for a bakery you can stop in call Sugar Kneads. Their number is 678-639-1134. They are expanding into a new shop on May 31st. Their new address is 150 Highway 78, Suite 700, Loganville, GA. Or you can check out more of their pictures at Sugar Kneads Online 

A War Eagle Wedding

Since we met at Auburn, and my favorite color happens to be orange, it was an easy decision to have a War Eagle wedding. We wanted something that felt southern, classy, but still had a hint of the town we know and love. The reception was filled with orange pintuck table cloths, orange slices in the arrangements, and hints of blue everywhere you looked. We had orange specialty drinks that had a candy orange slice on the rim. That was specifically for my grandma, who is no longer with us, but had no self-control when it came to candy orange slices. It really was beautiful looking, and I can't believe how amazing it looked when it all came together. I have added a couple of pictures from before it was finished, I'm still waiting on photos from the photographer that I can add later. You can still get a feel for the room though.

I love blue hydrangea, so we added those with some pale orange roses to decorate the altar.

Orange slices filled a vase full of seasonal orange and white flowers. These we atop the hightop tables in the cocktail area of the room. 

We had a furniture grouping set up in the cocktail area so it felt more like a relaxed lounge. That way people could hang out but not just stand around the bar.

My favorite accessory has always been a koozie. In fact, I keep one in every purse I own and have several for specific gamedays on the Plains. We thought this would be the perfect thank you for all of our guests. On the other side it says, "Amy & Jay - Chateau Elan - April 9, 2011" They were a big hit. We put them in a metal tub and set them on the bar.

Chandeliers hanging above the head table added a great element to the room. We placed the head table in the center of the room and were surrounded by friends and family instead of facing them. It gave an element of elegance but very southern at the same time.

The ceremony took place in the atrium of Chateau Elan's hotel. It was great because the natural sunlight made it feel like an outdoor wedding without the humidity. There were quite a few people standing around the balcony looking on as we said our vows. It was very cool!!

Welcome!!

Thank you so much for following my blog! I really wanted a place where I could share some of our newlywed experiences, as well as document our wedding and some of the weddings we are attending. When I was wedding planning it seemed like alot of the ideas you saw on the internet were expensive to reproduce, or didn't turn out anything like the instructions so easily said it would. We are at the age where alot of our friends are getting married, and are doing alot of different and creative things to make their weddings different.

Jay and I are planning, fingers crossed, on buying a home by this fall! Prayers please!! I also want to document this process and some of the stuff we are going to end up doing to make our house a home. We all know what it feels like to be on a tight budget and starting a new life together. It makes it nice to share the ups and downs with all of our friends and family, so we can all laugh together one day!

Feel free to comment on anything, if you have a better idea or if you have a wedding suggestion I have put up, please feel free to let me know. I would love to hear everyone's wedding, newlywed, new home owner, etc stories.

And again, welcome to our blog!!