Happy Anniversary to Us! Two Years.

Today I have been married to my best friend in all the world for two years. (And that means we've been together for just over three!) These past two years have been the best ever. We've had some pretty amazing things happen (Hey, Tatum!). I love this guy and am so excited to spend the rest of my life with him. 

I wonder where we'll be in two more years! : )

Wedding Invite Designed By: Matt Boyd.
Photography By: Emma Mae Marion.

Our Wedding.

I figured it was about time I did a wedding post.

Seeing as Josh and I have been married for almost two months now. :)

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Our colors were yellow, light blue, and grey.

I don't think I've ever been so nervous in my life.

The night before the wedding, at rehearsal, my stomach was literally in KNOTS.

Not because I was getting married. It was more like...stage fright.

I was terrified that everything would fall apart and it would be all my fault.

(I did lots of DIY.)
That night, I went home, and finished working on little things that needed to be done.
-------
The next morning was basically a whirlwind.
I was rushing around finishing the last minute details.
But once I got to the church and started getting ready, I was feeling a lot better.
I didn't feel nervous, just anxious and excited.

Getting ready was a little stressful, as my hair/makeup artist backed out on me, and I had to do it myself.
But in the end I still felt lovely. :)

About 15 minutes before the ceremony, Leah (maid of honor) told me she had a surprise for me.
She got a phone call, and it was one of my best friends, Carrie, who now lives in Sweden.
Carrie and I have been friends since we were 7 years old, and it was really hard for me that she couldn't make it to the wedding.
But that phone call meant the world to me!
I was crying so much.
(I got all my tears out here.)

The ceremony was probably the quickest in history.
It was nice, though.
And everything fell perfectly into place.

Our reception was very low key, just dinner and visiting.
But it's exactly what I wanted, and I loved every minute of it.
It was such a beautiful day.

I have the best husband, ever.
I can't believe how blessed I am to have such a wonderful man to call mine.
He's my best friend.
He makes me laugh more than anyone.
And I love him more than anything.
:)

forced to blog + wedding dresses.

last night after josh and i got home from hanging out with friends, we were sitting on my bed just talking a little bit and playing with the love of our lives, swarley.

at some point, josh was like, "lydia, did you blog today?"

"um, no. i've been busy all day."

"well, tomorrow you need to. wedding dress shopping is a big deal."

...

okay, obviously it is.

but now my fiancee is making me blog?

what is this trash?

weirdo.

just kidding!

i'm really excited to tell you guys about my wedding dress adventures.

yesterday my mom, leah, and i set out in the morning for one of our local dress shops.

they had lots of pretty stuff!

there was one that i really loved on me, and my mom and leah loved it, too.

they even made me walk out and stand on that awkward "look at me" stage in the middle of the room.

but i have to admit...i did feel really pretty in it. :)

it's hard to explain how it looked, but i'll try!

it's white, simple, sweetheart neckline, has a huge train, and is rumply all over.

rumply is a bad word.

but perhaps you know what i mean.

my point is: it was beautiful!

we decided i should probably still look around a little, though.

we went to the other shop in town and they had like, two dresses.

one of them being made to look like a sweater.

it was really hard not to just take that one and go...

we decided to drive all the way to farmington, where my grandparents live, and hour and a half away.

they have a big wedding place there, so we figured it'd be a nice try.

WRONG.

we were in town for a total of 30 minutes.

and it was really awkward at the dress place, because all they had was beaded, floofy stuff, which i hate.

and i pretty much had to try this dress on just to get this lady off my back.

it was ugly.

and a size too small.

awkward...

so we rushed back to town and ordered the dress that i really loved. :)

i'm so happy and excited about it!

i can't wait til the wedding so i can show you all the pictures of it.

and i'm so happy that it basically only took me an hour to find my dress.

and i know it's the one, i promise!

tell me about your wedding dress! :)

or your dream wedding dress.

oooor show me a picture, please!

engagment pictures and things!

On Sunday Josh and I ventured to Springfield, MO, a town about three hours away from us.

Also the town that we will be moving to in July!

One of my very best friends, Abby, lives there.

I recruited her to take our engagement pictures, and she was happy to do so.

She even offered doing so for us as her wedding gift!

Such a nice gesture, and I simply love her to pieces.

So Sunday morning, a little thrown off by the time change, Josh and I headed over there.

I hadn't seen Abby since June and I'd really been missing her. :)

(I'll talk more about Abby and our relationship when I do my belated "I Want to Celebrate" post.)

I was so excited to be reunited!

We drove downtown to start with for the pictures...and from there it didn't exactly go as planned.

First of all, the jacket I had wanted Josh to wear had a huge hole in it. AWESOME. haha.

Secondly, it was freezing out there and on top of that, raining!

We had a cute little umbrella idea, but Josh totally hated it, and taking pictures was torture enough for him. Poor guy.

So basically the outdoors pictures are a photoshoot of me acting completely ridiculous. :)

YEAH, SO?

There is actually one of us that I like a lot.

We went to this coffee house, The Dancing Mule, and tried to take cute pictures there.

We got one.

And it is one that I actually really love. :)

From there we met up with Audre, one of Abby's closest friends, and a girl who, over the summer, became one of my friends, too. Love her.

We decided to make our own indoor photo studio.

Tools needed:

-white sheet

-clothes pins

-cut out hearts

-white tacks

-empty room in apartment, due to roommate leaving randomly/secretly

-lots of light

We took quite a few photos in there.

I liked a lot of them.

Probably a lot of my love for them had to do with the background we made.

It was super cute and reminded me so much of NYLON magazine for some reason.

It was so fun and I'm seriously considering putting something like this in our future house, just for fun! We tried to convince Audre to just leave the room like that. NO GO.

Regardless of things not going entirely as planned, we still got a few cute photos.

Which is all i wanted!

We're going back again when it's more consistently warm to do some outdoor shots.

Abby hasn't had time to put all of our pictures up yet, which is why this is so lacking in pictures.

I'll be posting them later tho!

In the mean time, I really like this one:

It's a little cheesy, but that's us. And it's pretty cute, too. :)

After pictures Josh left us ladies to some girl time.

Audre made dinner, because she's such a good cook, and that's just her thing.

We talked and visited for a couple of hours, and then it was goodbye time. :(

Hopefully this time it won't be so long in between seeing each other.

And I'm so excited to be moving there! I'll have plenty of time with them.

And I think it'll be a great place for me and Josh, starting out.

oh, p.s.

before josh and i left yesterday we went to Petland.

they had so many cute, adorable puppies.

the first thing i was drawn to was this husky baby.

and then josh said, "lyddiiia."

and he was pointing at the most incredible thing of my life:

BABY ENGLISH BULLDOG.

she was so sweet.

i asked to play with her, and it was the most fun time.

She was so little and fat and wrinkly and wonderful.

I have never been more in love. (what, josh?)

she was super playful and cute.

too bad she was also $3600.

but honestly, if i'd had that money, i would have totally dropped it on this cutie.

seriously, this made my life! :)

(after we left, i realized i forgot a picture. so sad.)

Wedding Business #1-Cake Stress.

A couple of weeks ago Josh and I were at Wal-Mart late one night, as usual, and we passed the Bakery section.

Out of the corner of my eye I spotted something that I thought just might be the yummiest thing I'd ever lain eyes on.

"A chocolate ganache cake with custard and mousse fillings, and a pink ganache swirl on top."

So pretty!

I had to try a piece.

And I was correct: Definitely one of the yummiest things.

Then I thought to myself...

"This is the perfect wedding cake! With a few alterations of course."

It turned out that Wal-Mart doesn't make that cake; they only order it into the store.

So I went to the most popular (and really only) bakery in town to consult with their wedding cake specialist.

"Hi, I'm here to see about having a wedding cake made for May 29th."

"What are you looking for?"

"Well, a white cake, white icing, with mousse and custard fillings."

"We don't do fillings here."

What to do, what to do...

After a lot of thought, I maybe possibly sort of have an idea.

I'd just like opinions, please and thank you very much.

A couple of nights ago Josh and I were at Wal-Mart (what did I tell you?) and we passed the Bakery Section.

I jokingly said, "I'm about to just serve a bunch of different cakes."

But what if we really did?

I'd have my traditional wedding cake of course, too.

But not everyone is going to like the same thing, anyways.

A cake buffet might be fun!

What do you guys think?

Also, ideas on how to pull this off in a non-tacky and inexpensive way would be much appreciated. :)

Or if you have other ideas on how this matter of cake can be handled...do share!

I'M A FIANCEE.

let's just say that february 24th was a pretty big day.

:)

josh and i have been talking about getting married for months and months now.

and in the past couple of months we'd actually already started planning, even.

basically the only thing we didn't have was the engagement ring on my finger to make it "official."

so we picked one out.

and then it was my job to just wait.

which i was actually really, incredibly bad at, by the way.

i was too excited!

so, february 24th comes along:

i had to work all blessed day, until 10 pm.

josh has been being my chauffeur lately, so when he came to pick me up he came inside and was asking me if we had any sleep masks. at first i actually didn't get that he was wanting to use it on me.

and i was all, "YOU CAN BORROW CHLOE'S HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL ONE. HAHA." (i'm so funny.)

he was like, "no, a black sleep mask."

then i sort of started to realize.

especially when he thought that tying black tights around his eyes was sufficient.

so i knew it was happening, but he still wanted it to be special.

first he had to put gas in the car, so we stopped and did that.

and while we were there got a couple of those giant pretzels and ate those first.

(oh, just about to be engaged, no big deal.)

then he blindfolded me and we set out on the adventure.

we drove for the longest time ever in the world.

we stopped and he pulled the blindfold off and handed me a card that said:

"where we met!"

it had a sweet little love note on the back, too.

...

BACKSTORY:

josh was in a band back in the day called Cries Hannah.

they were pretty popular around here.

and my friend morgan was probably their biggest fan in the world.

so, basically, if it wasn't for morgan i never would have started talking to josh.

i'd had a crush from afar for the longest time, but i was way too shy.

and he'd had the same little crush, but he was the same way, i guess.

but on halloween night morgan and me drove to dexter to hang out with him for a little bit.

in the wal-mart parking lot.

so that is where we officially met.

and where i was like "so in love." ha. :)

this was my senior year of high school.

after this, josh and i texted a bit and we hung out a few times.

we never did anything except for drive around.

we barely even spoke to each other.

looking back it's so crazy to me, because now we don't shut up.

and we are beyond goofy and weird to each other.

like we're ultra embarrassing. :)

so thinking back to how it used to be is so funny.

he would ask me to hang out and we wouldn't even speak.

but, seriously, at that time...just being in his presence was such a wonderful thing for me.

it made me so excited that he just wanted to be around me.

ENGAGEMENT STORY:

so after wal-mart i was re-blindfolded.

we drove a little while more and stopped.

before he took the blindfold off, the music to carrie underwood's "so small" started playing.

we were at the park.

he gave me a little card that said:

"our first kiss!"

there was also a sweet note on the back of it. :)

we shared another kiss. (duh.)

and then i went to the park bathroom and josh had to hold the door open because there was no light in there and i was way too scared to go alone. HOW ROMANTIC.

BACKSTORY:

josh and i didn't talk for a really long time before we started dating.

he texted me a couple of times, but i didn't really talk to him.

at the time, i was dating a really horrible guy, and i "wasn't allowed" to talk to other boys.

(stupid of me, but that's another story for another day.)

the last time i had talked to him was june 2008, at the last show at the venue he and his friend jason owned.

he and jason were moving to mississippi.

morgan and i took a picture of ourselves and gave it to them as a going away gift.

and that was the last time we talked for months and months.

when cory and i broke up, and josh found out, he started talking to me again.

at this time he was now living in new jersey and playing with the band I Am Alpha And Omega.

they were touring and would be coming to our hometown in just a couple of weeks.

in the time leading up to this stop, josh and i texted everyday and talked a little bit. but he's really bad at texting so it wasn't as much as i'd have liked to talk, but again, it was enough. :)

the day they got here i was so, so nervous.

and when we finally saw each other...josh didn't even really talk to me.

he gave me the awkward side hug.

and then throughout the night did that awkward thing where you're in the same room with a person, but you just text them.

i had made him a mixed cd he asked for and when i gave it to him that was pretty much the extent of our talking that day.

but he told me he was going to stay in town for the next couple of days and asked if i wanted to hang out.

obviously i did.

i drove to dexter, where he lived and we drove around and decided to go to the park and just sit and talk.

we talked for awhile and then there was this huge block of time where it was just quiet and we just sat there.

he was in the passenger seat and we were sitting facing each other.

i remember he had his hand on my headrest and i could see in a shadow that he was playing with my hair, but very subtly, so that i couldn't even feel it until i saw it in the shadow. it was so sweet.

i remember my heart was just racing, and i felt like i was on fire or something.

if that makes any sense.

josh asked me, "what are you thinking about?"

and i said, "you."

he grabbed my hand.

and then a second later, we kissed.

the rest is history!

(i don't actually get that saying, really. but it seems to fit here, so i said it. WHAT.)

ENGAGEMENT STORY:

we drove awhile longer and all of a sudden the terrain got super crazy and i was FREAKING OUT.

"OH MY GOSH. ARE WE ON WATER. ARE WE?!"

(i'm afraid.)

josh was obviously thinking i was an idiot. haha.

we stopped the car.

and we were sitting at a golf course.

apparently josh and jason used to come out there and tip over this port a potty every night.

(nice guys!)

also just realized that josh felt that this place would be perfectly fitting for our engagement....THANKS, DEAR.

(just kidding, it was wonderful.)

ANYWAYS.

josh pulled out another card and it said:

"Where we got engaged!" and there was also a note on the back of it that he wouldn't let me look at yet.

he told me some nice, sweet things about how he loves me and such and then let me look.

"Will you marry me? check yes or no."

i checked yes and wrote, "duh. use your whale brains."

he gave me the rest of the tulips (there were tulips, i forgot to add.) and also the obvious, the ring. :)

josh is seriously such a great person, not just friend or boyfriend, but person in general.

he has the best heart and is the greatest man i have ever met.

i know people always say this, but he really does make me better.

my family all noticed that after we got together i was happier, nicer, better.

he takes care of me and truly loves me.

he's forgiven me for past things and doesn't even care about my past, either.

he's kind and generous.

and i'm so blessed to have him in my life. :)

since this is practically a novel anyway, i thought i'd include our first "i love you." in the story:

we'd only been dating about a month, but i'd been knowing i loved him for awhile.

you just know!

josh had moved to columbia to live for the summer with a friend, but he was back visiting for the weekend.

and the next day he was going back, and i was leaving for springfield to visit a friend.

we were sitting in my basement and i was so sad about us having to part ways again.

i hated being away from him.

i was crying and sad.

and then he said, "i love you."

i was so taken aback. i couldn't believe it.

i'm pretty sure i cried a little more and just hugged him, but i didn't say it back...

he got really upset and just wanted to leave but he wouldn't tell me why.

i was afraid to say it back because i was in love.

and i was afraid he loved me, but wasn't in love. so i was scared.

immediately after he left, i realized that this was dumb, and i couldn't care.

no matter how he felt, i just had to say it.

so i got in my car and i drove to his house in dexter.

and on the way there, we texted each other.

and i asked if he meant what he said.

he did.

and when i got there, i told him i loved him.

and we were happy.

he's been my best friend since day one and he will be forever.

also he is my whale.

(oh if you are wondering about the whale thing...the beluga whale is my favorite animal, and somehow we just started calling each other that. it has now evolved to where we are sort of an anomaly and we have whale brains and bear guts. it just happened. we are weird, but we know.)

it's "fill in the blank friday!" over on lauren's blog.

sooo fun. :)

1. I am hoping my Valentine's day this year includes, i don't really have any high hopes for this vday. josh and i haven't really discussed it much. and i'm not even sure if i'm off work. :( but whatever the case, i know it'll just be another day filled with love and laughter! .

2. My biggest guilty pleasure is um, this is really creepy and gross probably, but i love picking at things. like not suuuper gross stuff. but i just can't help it. sometimes i just really like it, okay? hopefully this won't totally change your opinion of me, and we can still be friends .

3. I am most proud of always staying true to who i am, and being a good role model to my little brothers and sisters.

4. If I could choose one outfit to live in it would be leggings, slouchy sweater, longish white v-neck, and some cute boots. maybe flats. .

5. People are really interesting to me. my days are filled with being around people. i love meeting new sweet, cute people every blessed day.

6. I would rather be with my whale right now than be without .

7. I love my baby whale husband more than he loves me. sorry, josh, but it's just a fact, okay? deal with it .

yesterday i was off work and i didn't have anything to do all day, because my plans to go to the kindergarten center were ruined.

the principal wasn't there, so i couldn't do anything!

instead, i went to hastings and goodwill.

at hastings i bought the book "the year of magical thinking." by joan didion.

it sounds completely beautiful, touching, and enriching.

i can't wait to start reading it.

at goodwill, i bought a cute little mug that says "YOU." on the front of it.

i'm assuming it was part of a set, but there was no "ME." mug around. :(

and this wicker coaster set. there are a tooon of them, all in this little wooden heart shaped block.

and a big plaid thermos!

all for under five dollars.

(pictures later.)

after class last night, josh and i went to his parents' house.

we talked to them a lot about wedding stuff.

and i'm really excited and happy that they're excited and happy for us. :)

we told his dad that we want him to perform our ceremony.

and we talked about rehearsal and colors and the wedding party and just everything.

i haven't spent a ton of time around his parents, but i have enough to know that i really like them, a lot.

and i'm so excited to be a part of their family and get to know them even better.

they're wonderful.

after we left their house and were driving home, josh was like:

"lydia, when you said that the rehearsal and dinner were the groom's day, i didn't know you meant that my family is in charge of it. i thought that you meant it was like, "my day", a day for me."

clearly a big issue for him.

what a diva.

i'm so excited to be officially engaged.

and really start sharing the whole process with all of you!

and getting your insight and opinions. :)

BTW.

definitely go on over to james' blog and wish her some congratulations and love on her big news!

:)

two whales in a pod.

so, as most of you probably know...i hate my job.

one of my "resolutions" for this year was to find a new one, asap.

i've just felt very under appreciated for a long time there.

and i also hate all of the drama that goes along with this job.

i hate sounding really whiny and complaining, but there's just some stuff i have to get off my chest.

(then, onto happy things!)

at the beginning of this year, i took my two weeks of vacation.

after i got back to work, i found out that they didn't count my second week, because i can't take it til after my anniversary.

but apparently no one decided to tell me this the multiple times i asked about it.

thanks, guys!

also upon my return, i find that i have been kicked out my position in the office and demoted to cashier.

it has been about 3 weeks that i've been back and no one talks to me about it. at all.

until two days ago.

my manager comes and talks to me and tells me that because i was out for a week, i was kicked out.

so on top of the fact that i was so sick i could barely walk or even move,

or that i was seeing multiple doctors everyday...

i lost my job.

it's just very hard to accept and deal with.

i want to get out of there as fast as i possibly can.

ANYWAYS.

yesterday started out as a pretty rough day in paradise.

i won't lie...josh and i aren't perfect always.

he had his moment yesterday afternoon, and i had mine later that night.

and honestly, i can't even care that there are occasionally moments like these.

i love seeing how josh and i work through things and every time we do i feel closer to him.

i love watching how the two of us grow together and learn from each other.

it's so beautiful and wonderful to me!

things were mended quickly and we had a fun day.

we went to eat at steak n shake.

every time we go josh always gets chicken fingers and fries with barbeque sauce.

but when the waitress asks what he wants, he says, "chicken fingers with ra--barbeque sauce."

because he hates, hates, hates ranch.

and he did it a million years ago when we first started dating, to be silly, and now he has done it ever since.

it always makes me laugh. :)

i really wanted to go to the pet store afterwards, so we did!

i tried to get josh to guess my favorite fish, but they DIDN'T EVEN HAVE IT. thanks a heap, petsway!

we also looked at chinchillas, which i have a really funny story about, but i'll save that for another day. :)

there was this really funny little bird that hated josh and every time he got close it would snap at him.

but it let me touch it's creepy, cute little toes and talk to it.

and they had a bunch of "free to good home" dogs that i was DYING to have, but i know the 'rents would have killed me. :(

we went to jcpenney's and looked in their jewelry dept. at rings.

they didn't have the kind i liked, they only had the square and pear styles.

but i still liked going to get a better grasp of what sizes and stuff are like.

it was really awkward for me talking to the people behind the counter.

because i didn't like anything they were trying to show me, and i felt so weird being like, "no. no. no." ha.

oh, and at one point the lady was like, "i heard you make a comment about diamonart. what was that?"

and i was like, "um....they're not...real?"

and she was like, "oh. right. they're CZ. you don't want that?"

do i want a fake diamond ring? no, no thank you, lady.

i mean, i'm not trying to be shallow or greedy, but i would like a real ring!

i told josh he had to do the talking, and we left. :)

we went to the movies and saw "when in rome."

it was pretty cute! but there was this lady behind us that thought that literally every line of the movie was like, rip-roaringly funny. josh and i could not handle it. so funny.

i love being with my best friend.

seriously, such a blessing! :)

first of all, i really loved everyone's sweet, sweet comments on my last post.

they were all super encouraging and kind. :)

and once we're "officially" engaged, i can't wait to share every step of the way. :)

----------------

last night, i began watching "mad men."

it's official: i'm in love.

everything about it is so interesting to me; the fashion, style, story...all of it!

i think i'm pretty much the last person on the planet to get in on this action, but just in case i'm not...

i'll suggest that everyone at least give it a shot.

----------

last night, something really embarrassing happened to me.

now you have to know that nothing like this has ever happened before.

i just don't know what came over me!

anyways.

i'll get to the point:

things started out with me being silly to josh, pretending i had an elephant trunk.

then i said, "dumbo is a sad movie."

josh asked me, "why?"

then it began.

i started tearing up the hardest ever!

josh of course thought this was simply the funniest thing on the planet, and he just kept yelling, "please start crying!"

AND I DID.

i kept trying to tell him why it was so sad, but every time i tried, i just kept crying more!

the video explains it all.

sheesh.

------------

in other news, i can't believe i just cleaned my room like, two days ago.

and now i need to clean it again.

what the heck is my problem?!

a day out.

other than doctor visits and my brief "adventure" last night, i haven't really left the house in a little over a week.

i'd say it's definitely time.

josh has a show a couple of hours away today, so i'm going with him to that.

it won't be the most exciting thing, but at least it's a chance to get out and about.

can't complain!

last night, leah and i were discussing my hopefully soon to be happening engagement/wedding.

i was telling her what kind of ring i really like, and i said that i hope that it's the style i'll get.

so, as a joke-kind of-mostly-sort of-but a little serious, i put the picture of the ring as my desktop.

josh just thought it was funny, but he told me to leave it there. so we'll see. :)

today was my first day of attempting my goal to try harder with my appearance and be a little bit more girly.

it is a struggle. :)

i have such a hard time with my hair! it seems to be really damaged. i think i'm going to lay off using heat on it for awhile, except on drying my bangs, and get some sort of repairing shampoo and conditioner.

other than the hair debacle, today was a success. :)