Happy Birthday Jill!

Just want to wish my best friend Jill a Very Happy Birthday!! Hope you have a great day! I'm so thankful for this day as it was the day you were born! Where would I be without you in my life?! Probably 10 pounds skinnier from all of the ice cream and s'mores we've eaten together over the years! :o) Love you girl! Can't wait to celebrate all the June birthdays sometime soon!

Technical Difficulties

We got a new computer and I'm having trouble loading new pictures onto the blog. Working on it...

Birthday Fun Day, Part 1

I realize my birthday was in March, and now it's July... better late than never. What I wanted for my birthday was a "fun day" planned by Robb. Finally, we got around to it sometime in April. We started out by going to The Greenhouse, which we hadn't been to in a long time.
Orange tree!
Huge Bird of Paradise (which we saw everywhere wild on our recent trip to Florida)

Actually, we saw a lot of these palms in Florida! The green house is like a mini Florida.

Wierd trunk

Grapefruit!

This was a beautiful spot where we just wished we could sit in! Lovely orchidsI love this mossy ground cover and all of the ferns around. Wish I could make my yard look like that! I believe these were varieties of hibiscus' I just loved the delicate pink trim around the petals

Really cool flowering bush Me and a bunch of liliesWe were just about a week shy of all these Easter lilies being in full bloom. It still smelled fantastic with just the few that were opened Prickly cactus room. I'm amazed these can grow so big in not desert Ohio.

HUGE cactus!

Pretty bush-tree

Then afterwards Robb took me to Tommy's for my favorite MR3 and fresh cut fries! What a great birthday day!

$2000 Wedding

Throughout my countless hours online looking at wedding stuff, I stumbled across this wonderful blog that every time I read has brought my stress level way down. The girl who hosts the blog got married 3 years ago on just a $2000 budget. I love reading the stories on there, which remind me about the real reason for our wedding, Robb and I. It's very easy to get swept into the "wedding industry whirlwind." All of the propaganda, flashy websites, and what is proper etiquette, tend to put undo pressure on those getting married, making it easy to stray from what really matters to them. In addition, like all other media, has turned the population into zombies who expect certain things from those getting married, instead of celebrating the individualities of the couple. I go to this blog, anytime I need to get back to what matters for Robb and I, which is getting married and sharing this very special event with our closest friends and family.

I love this quote for a recent post, "When you're in Wedding-Planning-Mode, it can be so easy to fall into the habit of examining E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G under a microscope. The smallest things feel like the biggest deal. The more wedding blogs or magazines you subject yourself to, the higher the standards rise. Sometimes it can be helpful to step back and remember the little things don't matter as much as they might seem to in the moment."

In addition, this post really hit home for me, and instantly calmed my spinning head. It brought me back to the focus on having a wedding that is authentic to Robb and I, which is so extremely important to us, and how we live our lives, regardless of wedding media, etiquette, or other social pressures of those who challenge our ideals. Wonderful inspiration!