Indecisive Excursions!

Have I mentioned I love my fiancé? 

Wednesday, as I drove to the office at 6 am - 6.A.M! - Henry calls me to say he wants to go on a trip until next week. I was completely taken off guard, and having a mini-party in my head with all the possibilities. Only problem, I wanted to go to a beach in Florida, he wanted to go to the mountains to escape the heat in New Mexico.  

 When it comes to international travel, I don't think we could ever disagree on where to go. However, when it comes to the good 'ole US, we couldn't disagree more. Boo. Since I grew up in Houston, I am use to being close to the ocean. The smell of the ocean, the calming sounds of the ocean waves, the delicious and fresh seafood....I can't get enough of those things.  I would be perfectly happy moving to an island and retiring as a beach bum - fishing and drinking piña coladas 24:7  It may not be your dream, but I'd be so happy! Don't rain on my parade. Henry on the other hand is fond of mountains, rivers and lakes.

 So, Henry voted for Red River, New Mexico. I voted for childhood favorite, Destin, Florida. I am not fond of New Mexico, period. It kind of drives me crazy thinking of going there. Henry and I took a 3 week long vacation through Colorado and New Mexico when we first met, NM I wasn't impressed with, Colorado I LOVED. Especially, Durango and Telluride! Holy Smokes are those gorgeous, fun towns...But Henry shot down Durango....Red River he was set on. 

Standing on the edge of a cliff in New Mexico, July 2009 - Henry as he "jokingly" acts as if he is going to toss me off the cliff. Such a great foundation for a budding relationship haha!

 We flipped a coin, 7 times!! It landed on "beach" 5 of the 7, but still couldn't agree. Then Henry set up a mini-craps game for us. After near 30-40 minutes of Craps, I won. BEACH IT WAS! Yippee!! I found a gorgeous campground for our new RV, for $110/night. We were all set to book when she mentioned no dogs on the beach front sites. Ok, fine, what beach is close by where we can take them? No where! It's a county law in multiple counties!! Part of this trip was for our two Aussies! "Thank you, but nevermind." Red River it was again. Ugh! I know, I know, a vacation is a vacation, I should be thankful to even take one. But what can I say? I'm stubborn, and grew up as the oldest, I want MY way dangit!! 

The cardboard, dice and quarters we used to play our game - The cardboard was really to protect the wood from the dice corners.
:-]

 Luckily, Red River's park we stayed in two years ago was now a mobile home park. Yuck. The other two, booked solid. Yay! Next town in line, Pagosa Springs, Colorado. Yet again booked, or ridiculous pet fees. Boo! Next town, DURANGO! Guess what park had an opening?!?! The first park we stayed in on our first trip, right on a beautiful part of the Animas River! Oh ya! Even better, the only spot available was #23! My lucky number. It was meant to be! Haha  

Standing on the Animas River bank in front of our cabin on our first trip, July 2009 <3

My first Henry Weinhard, Henry's favorite! They make and bottle them 30 minutes from where I live now, but you can rarely find them in this area. However, they are EVERYWHERE in Colorado. 

 Now here we are, on the road to Durango, Colorado for a few days! :-) Looking forward to renting a jeep, four-wheelers, white-water rafting, hiking, and local breweries! Oh and this amazing Mexican restaurant on the edge of town with great Margarita pitchers!  Hope y'all have a fabulous weekend! Cheers! XoXo

Local brewery in the next town over, Silverton. Outside they have a slew of fun, very interesting beer facts. This particular brewery had a beer Henry loved so much, he bought some to take home.

Wedding Inspired Wednesday {No. 16}: Wood Decor

        Browsing Pinterest and Etsy I have found some wonderful wooden accents to use for wedding decor. I have especially been looking for ways to incorporate it into the way we display our food items. My parents have access to plenty of trees on their property in Livingston, and my fiance's brother, Will, clears land for a living. I figured I would try to find things that would put them to work and add their own touches to the wedding. Below are what I found so far.

Now not only could you use this as a dessert display, but cheese and fruit, hors d'oeuvres, etc. Source:

I am dying for a cake stand such as this one. However, the lone stand with the round slab makes me nervous. I would rather opt for one sound, thick slab of wood - then carve our signature onto it that we have used throughout our stationary. Source: Etsy

Another way to display your food - I would love a few of those wooden square slabs to display our pre-made cocktails in mason jars. Source: Etsy

I think this is a great rustic way to display bar options!! Source: Style Me Pretty

I love this food display! It is so simple, but makes a statement. This wedding was fabulous and you should definitely check out all of their awesome ideas using the source link :-) Source: Green Wedding Shoes

Aggie Bridals

One of the MANY photo-ops involved with weddings are Bridal photos. Even though my wedding isn't until October, this Texas heat is killer right up until - sometimes it's still pretty darn hot mid-way through October!

Thanks to Randy to the Rescue (which the episode I am on airs this Friday, July 6th at 9 pm Central on TLC) I was able to get my dress in a timely manner, and altered, to have my bridals taken before it got scorching hot!

Our fabulous photographer, Michelle Peyronet with Peyronet Photography, went above and beyond what I expected! Being part of the Fightin Texas Aggie Class of 2010, WHOOP! I couldn't think of anywhere better to take my bridals than Good 'ole College Station. Bridals Aggie style!

Michelle graciously let me drag her, my seester & Megan all around CS with me all day long to my favorite Aggie spots.

First spot, Kyle Field! Michelle had the perfect wide angle lense for catching the entire stadium behind me, on the field and in front of the stadium! The sneak peak was breathtaking - for an Aggie of course.

Source for Kyle Field Image

Next, Century Tree or Engagement Tree. This spot was extremely special to me. When I first toured the A&M campus, there were rose petals all around the base of the tree from a recent engagement. I was so impressed by the Aggie spirit as everyone was camped out for an upcoming TU ticket pull, and all the "Howdys!!" I received, that these rose petals were just the icing on the cake for a young, impressionable, highschool senior. I knew from that moment forward, I was going to A&M - and I hadn't even been accepted yet! Not to mention, in order for us to "finalize" our engagement Henry had us walk over to the engagement tree where we walked under the tree together and took engagement photos. :-) So when Michelle asked where to take bridals, the Century Tree was a must!

Source for Century Tree Image

The third location we chose was the Dixie Chicken!!! Almost everyone knows about the Dixie Chicken! Henry proposed to me behind the Dixie Chicken, where we also first met. I expected just a few fun pictures here and there, but Michelle found such wonderful spots!!!! The lighting, the signs, the angles, my dress - it was perfection! I was squealing with joy at the sneak peaks! 

Source for Dixie Chicken Image

We wrapped up the bridal session at the Aggie Barn. We really weren't expecting to make this location, but with time on our side, we were able to make it for the perfect sunset too! Again, some of my favorites were taken here!

Source for Aggie Barn Image

Overall, it was a great session! I'll be sure to post an update post wedding. I know being an Aggie, when I was searching for "Aggie Bridals", "Kyle Field Bridals", "A&M Bridals", "Aggie Bride", etc. my picture results were few and far between. I am hoping this bridal session can help inspire those future die-hard Aggies!

Wedding Inspired Wednesday {No. 15}: Mason Jars

Our "Country Boy Meets City Girl" themed wedding involves a lot of mason jars. Luckily, living in Texas there is an abundance of mason jars and we were able to obtain A TON of FREE mason jars from a local peach orchard that had retired - my fiance's aunt was his friend and heard he was going to just throw away all those fabulous mason jars. She remembered me and was able to bring me out there to load them all up and take them off his hands. Sweet!

I like this idea! Especially for those few mason jars that are plain without the vintage writing on them already.

Source

This eclectic mix of mason jars wrapped in twine, bows of raffia, or just filled with cotton/twigs is perfection to me.

Source

I love the simplicity of this - wild flowers with various candles, rustic horseshoes, wooden base, burlap table clothes - Perfect for a rustic outdoor wedding.

Source:

Now this was found completely separate from the above post, but again would be a good idea for mason jars - especially those small mason jars that you could easily use for single blooms. Another idea, mix food coloring with mod-podge and you get a simple translucent stain, perfect for any color you need! Then add tea-light candles!

Source

Simple twine to dress up mason jars.

Source

This is my FAVORITE of all centerpieces - the mason jars with jute ribbon or burlap, held together with twine or raffia, topped off with that main focal piece with cotton and wheat - Oh, la, la!

Source

You could take this idea with the suggestion above - if you didn't color the candle itself, again use the idea of mod podge + food coloring to add the colorful glow to your homemade mason jar candle!

Source

Do I even need to explain this picture!?

Source

Great way to decorate the isle or walk-way - you could even take this off the shepherd hook and hang from tree branches or wooden beams from the ceiling with clear fishing line. It would be very magical.

Source

So many ideas!!! As the wedding gets closer, I am finding it harder and harder to narrow down all these inspirations to figure out what I want to actually do! Tomorrow I head to Canton with the in-laws for my future MIL's birthday. Hoping I can find further inspiration there on ways to dress up mason jars in a rustic way. :-) Main goal for Canton - 150 horseshoes. Yes - ONE-HUNDRED-FIFTY. I can't wait to blog this idea!