Well, I’ve taken a bit of a break from the blog for a little while. Understandably, I’ve been a bit busy with you know…getting married and all. However, now that life has finally slowed down somewhat, I’m ready to get back to it- and following through with my goal of updating it often throughout the year as well as changing its direction a little. Here’s to 2017 and a year full of new adventures and firsts, beginning with this!

Once our wedding photos all come back, I’m planning on doing an in depth recap on the blog-for readers, but also for a simple way for me to continue to look back during the upcoming years and relive the most perfect day. However, for now I’ll keep it short-

January 14th, 2017 was by far the most wonderful day of my life. I’ve spent years dreaming of this day and it was all I could have ever imagined it to be. Not only was it a beautiful winter wonderland, surrounded by our closest family and friends, full of love, laughter, and tears, but at the end of the day I was married to my best friend and that’s all I could have ever wanted.

We were blessed to have the most incredible set of vendors to help make our day as special as possible. Our florist, A Schoolhouse Garden, did an amazing job filling the room with winter greenery just as I had visioned, as well as making my winter bouquet exactly what I pictured.

Our videographer, Boucher Visuals, captured our day beautifully and put together the most tear-jerking wedding video I’ve ever watched. Check it our here:

Our DJ, Top Hat Entertainment, kept guests on the dance floor ALL night long. We had numerous guests come up to us the next morning, commenting on how awesome the DJ was and how they kept waiting for a music break or just a mediocre song to come on so they could take a bar or bathroom break, but the awesome music just kept on coming one after another! Top Hat also provided the Photo booth all night long which was a HUGE hit and gave us some awesome pictures like these:

And lastly, our FABULOUS photographer, Rodeo & Co. Photography, who has shared the most breathtaking photos from our day- I really can’t wait to see the rest. Here’s a little sneak peek of what she’s sent so far:

Again, I can’t wait to do a more in depth recap once all our photos come back, but until then, here’s some shots just from guests. The day was simply just magical and so heart felt, all we could have imagined for our winter wonderland wedding. The best part? I HAVE A HUSBAND!! And I can’t wait to take on life, side by side, as husband and wife, and best friends.

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As it is now February, and seems a little late to be talking about New Years Resolutions, I think it’s important, as my two “resolutions” for the year are what will be the main drive for this blog during 2017. To start, I’ve never been a fan of the typical New Years Resolution. I feel as if they’re always made with a negative spin- to stop doing something, to do less of anything, or to push yourself to do something you’ve always found to be negative or daunting. For me, I know if I set resolutions like that, I’m just setting myself up for failure. So instead, I’ve always taken a positive spin on my goals for the year- to add something fresh, new, and enlightening, or simply adding something to make life better. In years past I’ve made resolutions to write more letters to send in the mail to friends and family, to simply drink more water, and to call home more often. This year, I’ve set two.

The first involves cooking. Those who know me well know that cooking isn’t a strong suit of mine- something I unfortunately didn’t inherit from my Dad. So, I’ve set the goal of cooking a new recipe once a week for the rest of the year. Starting with the basics, and then hopefully progressing to more complicated dishes as the year goes on. The best part? I’ve now got a permanent taste tester who’s stuck with me no matter how good or bad the dish may be that he’s stuck trying. “For richer or poorer, in sickness and health, during good meals and bad meals”… that’s how it goes, right?  To keep myself accountable, I’m creating a new page on the blog with all the recipes I try each week.

My 2nd goal for the year is to get to know my camera better and improve my photography skills. Conor and I invested in a really nice camera before we went on our Italy trip a few years ago and I’ve yet to take the time to sit down and really learn about all it’s different settings and manual modes. There’s so much more this camera can do and I unfortunately frequently become too impatient and resort to the Auto mode because it’s easiest. So, for the year my second goal is to learn to use our camera to its fullest potential. We’re lucky to live in an area where we have great spots to practice this, so I can’t wait to see what will come of it!

So, here’s to new beginnings in life- with this blog, with my husband, and spending our first year of marriage cooking lots of food and taking lots of pictures. Here’s to 2017!!