Easter Weekend

This past weekend was an amazing one. 

Friday night Jason and I spent some quality couple time together. We went to a little restaurant in St. Paul that Jason's co-workers had recommended called  The Little Oven. It's just a small hole-in-the-wall place with INCREDIBLE food! They're known for their pizza but the pasta looked pretty incredible so we compromised and shared one of each. 

It was SO much food, but SO good! We still haven't finished all the leftovers. 

Saturday morning we went up north to visit Jason's mom and step-dad. The own a ton of property and since it was such a beautiful day we spent most of it outside with all their animals.

Then we went in to town for a meat raffle, and of course, Jason won....a giant ham!

We ended up giving the ham to the Mayor of Bock...LONG story. It was a quick trip but it was great to go up for the day and spend some quality time with the in-laws. 

Saturday night, Jason and I pulled out mattress downstairs to camp in the living room {one of my absolute favorite things that we do}.

We snuggled up and watched my boyfriend Leo in Inception {man I love that movie!} But the best part was eating some yummy cookies with milk!

My amazing mama sent me these homemade Koulourakia (Greek cookie typically made during Easter) from Arizona! They are my absolute favorite cookies and it was such a fabulous surprise! 

Easter morning Jason and I got up and went to church. It's always so fun going back to the church where we were married. 

After church we went to our favorite restaurant, Tony's Diner {where we had our Groom's Dinner} and had brunch. Tony makes THE BEST blueberry pancakes in town!

After brunch we went to Jason's Aunt and Uncle's house. Jason has an ENORMOUS family and it's always so much fun when everyone gets together. 

{that's only about half of them}

Jay & Kerry {Jason's Aunt & Uncle} have a gorgeous house on a beautiful lake. So we had some fun riding the lawnmower (not actually mowing the lawn) and spending some time by the water. 

It was an wonderfully blessed weekend filled with lots of family and lots of food. 

I hope you all enjoyed your holiday and are having a great start to your week!

Bloggers Beware

We all love Pinterest, I mean, how can you not? It’s such a brilliant site and an amazing way to find new and creative ideas for all assets of your life. 

Not to mention some of the stuff is just straight funny. 

You may or may not already know this but there is a way to look on Pinterest and see what has been pinned from your blog. 

(Just go to www.pinterest.com/source/YOURBLOGURL)

The Beeb figured this out yesterday and of course looked up hers and then mine. She was appalled when she found some of my wedding photos had been pinned by a complete stranger under the board “Your Wedding is Tacky.”

I will say that everyone has a right to their opinion. And by me blogging and sharing my wedding and the rest of my life publicly I am voluntarily taking the risk that people may not like what they see, I get that and I’m OK with it.

However…

This girl knows nothing about me or my wedding and for whatever reason had quite a lot to say about some of my wedding photos taken at the stadium (none of which were nice, I might add).
This person has an entire board (with nearly 300 pins) devoted to making fun of other people’s weddings.

I will admit, I have seen plenty of wedding photos where I’ve thought “Oh, how tacky?” or “Why would anyone do that?” But they were THOUGHTS! I would NEVER save them and share them and add rude commentary to them.

A person’s wedding is an incredible and sacred day in their lives. What makes weddings so special is that no two are the same. I personally think the sign of a GREAT wedding is not the budget or the glitz and glam but is one that truly honors and highlights the couple and their love for each other.

I’m not going to go on a tangent and defend myself or my wedding, because I know I don't need to, but I will say that my wedding was the best day of my life. I have never felt more beautiful or more loved. Our time at the stadium is a memory I will cherish forever because that place has great meaning to me and Jason, we were surrounded by our best friends and we were having a blast…if that’s tacky, then FINE, I am tacky.

And not to be a brat...but call this tacky:

Just Married and the happiest we've ever looked!

Let me also add that I absolutely adore my friends. My Beeb,Caroyln, for getting just as mad about this, if not more. My love, Jess, who always knows just what to say…. “Your wedding does not belong on a board with smurfs and mullets.” And, my dear friend and wedding photographer, Sara, who had some rather choice words which cannot be shared! 

Anyways, initially I wanted to write a super snarky post defending myself but I realized that I AM classy and I don't need to bash other people to feel good about myself. 

So, instead my point is this:

The internet is filled with tons of great ideas, information and inspiration but it's also filled with lots of hate. So as bloggers, please be mindful of what you are putting out there and also where it is ending up. But even more importantly, think about what you're saying or writing whether it's in a post, in a comment, on twitter or anywhere else...something you may think is funny may be mean and hurtful to someone else.


***UPDATE***
Since originally writing this post my photos have been removed from the board (yes, I contacted Pinterest--I was THAT upset) and I have also received two apology e-mails from the pinner. While I am still hurt by the things that were written, I believe her apologies were sincere and I forgive her. I just hope that she (and everyone else who reads this) thinks about how their words can effect other people.  


ps. make sure to check out Caroline's blog (Simply Smithwick) today! I'm guest posting!

Have a great weekend lovers!

It's a Miracle

A couple of weeks ago I went out to dinner with three of my best college girlfriends, two of which I lived with for three years. I love nothing more than reminiscing about the good ol days and usually when I'm remiscing with these girls I am brought to tears from laughing so hard.
This dinner was no different. 

After looking back at those three glorious years of living together I have determined that it is an absolute miracle that I am married and even more so that I am still friends with these people. 

sophomore year roomies

You guys, I was not a good roommate. 

Not because I was too messy, because let's face it, none of us girls were overly tidy. It wasn't because I was rude or caused drama or was inconsiderate but it was because I did the weirdest shit. Pardon my french, but there's no other way to describe it. I did some really weird shit. 

For example:

I would watch these videos on repeat and pee myself from laughing. Turns out I still pee myself from laughing while watching these. 

Have any of you seen these?! Homestar Runner? C'mon! Tell me I'm not alone!

How about these?


...I'll wait while I watch my number of followers drastically decline...

I would also stay up until the wee hours of the morning watching The Cosby Show on Nick at Night and cracking up...those who have met me in real life know that my laugh is not quiet.

My favorite episode is when the boys are dreaming about giving birth...Cliff gives birth to a giant sandwich! So funny, please tell me you know what I'm talking about.

I would also eat loads of pistachios and without really trying would get the shells everywhere.

Sophomore year we had bunk beds and I would always fall asleep in bed while doing homework and all my super huge, hard and heavy textbooks would fall through the cracks and land on my bottom bunk roomie.

For my 21st birthday my Aunt bought me one of those mini-polaroid cameras and I would take really close up photos of my nose, or eye or mouth, etc and leave them around the room for my roommate Kelly to discover.
Poor Kelly.

Kell-you better be reading this cuz this photo is JUST for you. 

While I have moved on from a lot of the weird stuff I did in college, I still have my quirks {just ask my husband and my Beeb}...I am afraid of mirrors at night, I hate wearing socks, when I think I've said something witty I stick out my chin like I have an under bite, I throw fits when I'm bunchy {when my clothes bunch up or twist},

I'm strange, but I landed a dude and he's now legally obligated to stay with me until I die....so I've got that goin' for me.

So What Wednesday...

SO WHAT...

...if I saw Titanic 3D last night {opening night}.

...if I cried like I hadn't already seen it 25 times before.

...if my 15 year love affair with Leonardo DiCaprio has gotten more intense in the past 12 hours. 

...if my husband refused to see the movie with me so I third-wheeled it with my brother and future sister-in-law. 

...if my 23 year old brother is just as much of a Titanic spaz as I am.

...if I want to see it in 3D 6 more times just like I did the first time it came out {yes, I was one of those girls}

...if Titanic is still my favorite movie and probably always will be. 

Wedding Recap {The Stadium}

If you've been following this blog for more than a hot minute then you know I am major University of Minnesota Golden Gopher football fan. 

You also know that J proposed on the 50 yard line of TCF Bank Stadium. 

And that we took engagement pictures at the stadium. 

So it's no surprise that the first stop we told our limo driver to make was at The Bank! 

I have SO many amazing memories at TCF Bank Stadium and to include it in our wedding day was really just icing on the cake! We had so much fun just letting loose and celebrating being MARRIED! 

All photographs by Sara Jayne Photography