High Five for Friday | Link Up

Even though it was only a 4-day work week, I still felt like I was going in a million different directions. I may be delayed on the blogging every now and again, but I am still going to try and do one book review, one beauty, the weekly wrap up and h54f every week...and when I can a travel post, or just something random. That is my goal. If it proves to be too lofty, I may have to cut back to only blogging 3 days a week until I can figure it out, but right 4 days a week, possibly 5 every now and then. 

Here are the highlights of my week!

1. C officiated his first wedding on Saturday! A friend of his from high school asked him to do it many months ago, and he happily obliged. The wedding took place in this beautiful pavilion, with the reception following down by a nice little creek. The weather held off, even after a rainy start to the day, and it was a beautiful wedding and C did a great job!

2. On Sunday I got to hang out with these dudes. I got some snuggles in, and they weren't too impressed with my picture taking.

3. After a long weekend, I jammed to some Jay-Z on the way to work. Sometimes you just need to put your damn hands up and surrender, it is what it is. #workjams

4. My classroom is pretty much in order. Now it's just detail stuff, and knocking out home visits. This year is going to be a big change from what I'm used to but it will be a good experience...at least that is what I am telling myself to stay positive. 

5.  We have nothing major going on this weekend. With the last few weekends being so crazy and busy, it will be really nice to just be at home this weekend. That is a major high five!

Enjoy your weekend!

Weekly Wrap Up | Photo a Day

Happy labor day friends! It is Monday, so that means it is time for the weekly wrap up of the fms photo a day. If you want to check out my daily photos on instagram @estherlaurien or on twitter @estherlaurien. 

These are the pictures from 8/25-8/31, I hope you enjoy!

8/25 Mail: So we actually did not get mail on this day, so I took a screenshot on my phone and then cropped it down so it was only the mail icon. Adorable.

8/26 Breakfast: I grabbed one of these soft baked oatmeal squares to eat for breakfast on this particular day, they were delicious.

8/27 Dull: We had training from 8-5 on Conscious Discipline. It certainly had it's dull moments.

8/28 Travel: I took this picture while travelling home from work.

8/29 Dessert: We had a rehearsal dinner to attend for a wedding C was officiating on Saturday, and this was the dessert -- bread pudding. Yum!

8/30 Nearby: The wedding we attended was at this cool pavilion, with the reception nearby. 

8/31 10 am: I was doing laundry at 10 am...fun times.

Hope everyone is enjoying their Labor Day! Happy September!

High Five for Friday | Link-Up

Happy Friday! It is Labor Day weekend already? That is absolutely mind blowing to me. Well I had a rather exciting week, so let's get down to it.

1.  So in an unexpected turn of events, I purchased a new car! I have drove the same car for pretty much ever. It was a delightful 2002 Saturn SL2 with no frills, and it ran perfectly great for many many many years. When she finally stopped running she was at 162,000 miles. She had a great long life. My new car, Astrid, is a 2014 Toyota Corolla S Plus. It has quite a few frills that are completely unnecessary. It has been an odd experience to be driving something completely different, but it is fun.

2. I went back to work on Monday and our training room had this lovely view. It was kind of a tease to be stuck inside listening to people talk, while looking at this nice table on a patio.

3. For my birthday from my grandparents I got this awesome Tervis Tumbler! We registered for it for the wedding, well actually I registered for it. I have been using it nearly everyday this week!

4. We have a wedding to attend this weekend, and I am excited to go to a wedding and hangout with people and eat food. I'm easy to please at times.

5. I have made a lot of headway in my classroom. I have all the furniture and place and am going through and organizing everything. Yay organizing!

I hope everyone has a fun and safe weekend! Make good choices!

High Five for Friday | Link up

Happy Friday! Yesterday was my 30th birthday! I don't feel 30, I usually still feel like I should be 23, but apparently that is not the case. Just ask me that after a night of staying out past 11 pm, 30 feels 30 the next morning fo 'sho.

1. We officially have unpacked all the boxes we will be unpacking. We have put some that are not needed in this smaller space down in our storage area in the basement. But pictures and clocks are hung, Sparty is on the wall, so it's officially home! 

2. Did some work on some wedding stuff. December is going to be here so fast, our wedding is obviously kind of winter-esque hence the snowflakes. It's crazy to be thinking about snowflakes in August, but here we are.

3. I enjoy cooking, especially soups! It was kind of a dark and stormy day in Michigan on Tuesday so I cooked up some Taco Soup! So good and filling!

4. My mom and I went to have a meeting with the bakery that is going to do the cupcakes for the wedding in December. Samples are the bomb, even though we had an idea of what we wanted. Luckily, we don't have to finalize until the beginning of December  because we want to try the fall/winter flavors when they come out in September! So excited to have another vendor finalized! 

5. On my actual birthday, C and I went kayaking up in Mt. Pleasant on the Chippewa River (a blog post on this in the coming weeks). It was a great 6.5 mile trip, that took us just under 2 hours. It was beautiful, and I wish we were able to kayak like 3 times a week. 

Some of the lovely and peaceful views on the river.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend! 

High Five for Friday | Link up

Well, the first week of August is behind us and I go back to work officially on August 25th. This  summer has flown by, but I feel like I say that every summer. Here are the five highlights of my week!

1. C's parents came over on Sunday to bring us some stuff we had left over at their house and to take some stuff back with them. We drove them to the church we are getting married in and took them by the reception hall. It was great to be able to show them our venues before the big day.

2. I just had some lazy days around the new place. We are officially unpacked, and all that is left is to hang our pictures on the walls. We are working our way around steam cleaning the floors, and it is oddly satisfying.

3. I finally read The Fault In Our Stars. I have zero interest in seeing the movie, but I wanted to read the book still. I am glad I did. I didn't cry (I must have no soul) but it is definitely a tearjerker. 

4. C and I don't have cable, but I discovered one of my secret shames on hulu plus...Keeping up with the Kardashians! *hangs head in shame*

5. I got my Keurig back! It may seem stupid and simple, but I missed it. I love my coffee and it's not the same using someone else's. It's the little things people!!

See you back here on Monday with the weekly photo a day wrap up!

Wedding Experience | First Wedding Shower/BBQ

Planning a wedding is an incredibly time consuming, expensive and stressful time. My fiance and I have been together for many years prior to getting engaged, including living together far away from any family. I have already written about our registering experience, and while we are not getting married until December, we had our first shower at the end of June.

My fiance's family hosted this first shower, and it doubled as a reunion/BBQ as well. It was an incredibly HOT day. We had a tent up in the yard, along with a fan going inside of the garage to try and keep things relatively cool (it did not work). We had the usual BBQ fodder; hamburgers, hot dogs, pasta salad, potato salad, fruit salad, etc. Everything was great, and we had a lot of family and friends show up -- and it was awesome to see everyone.

We were also very blessed by the amount of giving our family did. It was not necessary, but we are very grateful and thankful for everyone's generosity. We opened our gifts in the garage, and it was miserably hot. We were dripping sweat, and half the people chose to stay outside and ignore the proceedings (I cannot blame them!).

My future mother in law did a fantastic job getting everything together; sending invites, buying decorations/food, preparing everything and opening up their home to everyone.

Our next (and last!) shower is not until October, and I am glad we were able to space them out. We wrote thank you cards all day on Monday and put them in the mail soon after. I enjoy being able to get our notes out ASAP because I want everyone to know how grateful we are.

Now that I am an expert (not), I have some tips I want to share:
1. Wear comfortable clothes. Wedding showers are awkward, and you will feel better if you are comfortable and confident.
2. Make your partner sit with you while opening gifts -- they are for them too and it is helpful to have an extra set of hands.
3. Make sure someone is writing down all gifts, and who they are from. Preferably someone who knows who people are, just for ease on their part.
4. Write thank-you cards while everything is still fresh in your mind. I like to be able to reference something we talked about and make the card very personal so it doesn't feel stale. It is easier to do this right after the event.
5. Be sure to talk to everyone! It is hard to do, but you don't want anyone to feel unappreciated or hurt.

The shower in October is going to be bigger (40ish people?) so we will see how well I will be able to follow my own advice!

High Five for Friday | link-up

Happy 4th of July friends! The summer is flying by and I have no idea what to do about it! Here are the highlights from another week!

1. We had our first wedding shower! It was hot, but the sun was shining and tons of family came out - everyone was much too generous. It was great to see everyone and we are so lucky to have so many people who want to celebrate with us!

2. My future brother and sister in law gifted us these amazing michigan cookie cutters! I love my home state, and am so excited to now own these! A giant thank you to them!

3. My mom and I did some wedding dessert recon on Wednesday. We went to a local bakery in Lansing, Whipped, and got these beauties to try. They have delicious flavors such as: cookies and cream, key lime, orange-pineapple and chocolate peanut butter. so. good.

4. I kind of took an unplanned hiatus from reading for the two weeks I was in Florida. Since I have been back I have finished three books, including the second one in the MaddAddam Trilogy by Margaret Atwood. It was SO good!

5. While helping my parents clean out their polebarn, I stumbled upon this ADORABLE picture of my sister and myself. It is fun to see how much her children look like her (and apparently me as well)!

Hope everyone has a safe and fun holiday weekend, and I will see you back here on Monday with Weekly Wrap-Up from FMS Photo A Day!

💚

High Five for Friday | link-up

Once again, will be linking up at thelaurenelizabeth.com! Hope everyone had a great week, mine was full of water and fun activities with family in Florida! 

1. 

We went to beautiful little talbot island state park on Monday. The weather was perfection, the water was crystal clear and so refreshing. I got sunburned (*shakes fist*) but it was still a great day spent playing mermaids.

2. 

 

 

My sister and her husband went away for the night, a much needed mini-vacation for the two of them. I happily babysat these two cuties-I love the opportunity to help my sister out AND have quality time with my favorite nieces!

3. 

I have been able to have some snuggles with this cutie. He may bat at my feet all night long, but he is cute so I allow it.

4. 

We went to Aquatica in Orlando -- it's a few hours away so while i did not take my phone into the park, I did snap this car selfie on the drive down.

5. I also went bridesmaid dress shopping with my sister and oldest niece. We had a "special" day with E, and hit up some stores and did some wedding thangs. 6 months away...oy vey!

High Five for Friday (link up)

Once again, linking up to the lauren elizabeth and her H54F link up party! So, happy friday everyone! Let's get right to the party:

1.

Sunday and Monday were absolutely gorgeous days! On Memorial Day we had a bonfire, and took some bonfire selfies. Also, the pond was looking spectacular. It was great to grill out, spend time with the family and enjoy the lovely weather.

2.

Lots of reading to be done this summer, so I got it started after a trip to the library! Reading is my absolutely my favorite, and I love being off during the summer months and having the opportunity to get lots of reading done. I challenge myself every year to read a certain number of books, and the bulk of it gets accomplished during the summer.

3.

I went with my best friend to go pick out her bridesmaid dress for my wedding! It was quick and easy, so then we rewarded ourselves with a great meal! pulled pork,  handcut fries, killer mac & cheese and cornbread -- yum yum!

4.  A few weeks ago, I went to the eye doctor and ordered a year supply of contacts. When I went on Tuesday to go pick them up, I found out that I also earned a free $50 pair of sunglasses! I love sunglasses, but usually opt for the $10 pairs from the store.

 

5. Today is my Dad's birthday! We will be going out to dinner as a family and then just hanging out! Looking forward to another great weekend!

Experience: Registering for wedding gifts

So, I am getting married to my best friend on December 20th and we are doing a variety of DIY stuff and some other things where we are phoning it in and hiring professionals to deal with it. Our first shower is going to be at the end of the June, with another one in mid-October. So even though we are 7 months out we needed to think about registering for our gifts.

We did an initial "drive by" of each store we were considering registering at. We discussed important things like color schemes, made sure we were on the same page on what we needed/wanted and made sure each store had a selection of what we wanted. I found it helpful to look at other people's registries (such as friends) just to get ideas on what to register for. It can be VERY overwhelming, there are SO many options and so many options within options.

Before we went to register, I made a list of items that I knew we needed. We are in desperate need of new pillows, bed linens, silverware and some organizational items. We had a few items that we debated over: new dishes, pots/pans and a new Keurig. So by the time we went into the store, all we had to do was find the version (or style) of each item that we desired -- and that was the fun part.

We went to the store early on a Saturday morning, right when the store opened, and we knocked out registering for about 100 items in a little under 2 hours. Then we were super ambitious and went onto store number 2 -- which was MUCH busier and a less enjoyable experience. So, we got as much done at store number 2 as we could handle, and then decided we would finish it online.

All in all, I think having the discussions ahead of time definitely made the experience an enjoyable one. After all, it's supposed to be fun, right?