S Reception

I haven't even posted pictures from my own brother's reception in June yet, I'm awesome! I've actually been having issues with the computer all those photos are on and haven't gotten to transfer them yet. But someday soon I will post them, I promise!

Last Saturday I got to be in charge of a childhood friend's reception (open house shingdig). I've known the Pratt family my entire life and they're such amazing people. So generous and helpful and kind, and just awesome (plus they're my bosses!). So when they found out Haley was getting married in August they asked if I would be willing to help them. Summers are crazy busy for them and I knew with everything else in life right now, trying to plan a reception would be really fun for me, and not as much fun for them. Of course, I said YES! haha

I believe it was mid-June that we started the planning. Now I'll be the first to admit, I'm bossy and like to get things done my own way, which I think can be good, sometimes....but not all the time. So once I got the OK, I was off! Her parents took care of the food, cupcakes, chair/tent/tablecloth rentals and I got to do the rest. I seriously LOVE this stuff ok.

It was so fun looking around for ideas and inspiration and I had a really good time pulling it all together. It's hard to know someone else's taste (even if you have known them your entire life:)) but I did know she wouldn't like diamonds dripping from the tree branches and peacocks wandering around so I crossed those off my list (I kid, I kid).

It was a backyard reception and I think it went wonderfully! Everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves and lots of people came out to congratulate the happy couple. I was so glad to have the chance to help them out.

Here are some pictures (all from my phone-high fives for attending a reception that I didn't have to take pictures at! I can count on one hand the # of receptions I've been to that I haven't taken pics at since I was 17).

Others have better photos but I only have access to my own for now.

I made several of these planters for succulents! I also made this chandelier out of wax paper for the gazebo.

Some silly details. Water bottle labels and wrapped silverware...intriguing! (These types of pics are mostly for myself so I can refer back.)

Tree branch bubbles! Some of my ideas are a little over the top to some (cough, mother, cough) and it's probably true but if it's something that I WANT to do and LIKE to do then it's all good.

Amazing HEIDI and her amazing aunt did the flowers! Heidi and I ordered flowers online about a month ago and they arrived two days before the wedding. So they were hard at work all day Friday and half of Saturday working on the beautiful flowers. They made 10 table centerpieces, 6+ ball jar arrangements, lots of corsages for moms/grandmas, 3 or 4 mini bouquets for the sisters, two head crown things for the flower girls (nieces), lots of boot-in-ears (never can spell that word)

for groom/brothers/dads/grandpas. Seriously so amazed. We had lots of flowers left over so just before everyone got back from the temple, I put some baby's breath into a couple bird cages to put around.

 This was the gate where people walked in. There was a guestbook table....

 A birdcage card table, a favor table.....

The favors were mini succulents that I made mini cement pots for. Kind of fun, kind of a pain, but it was fun to make the pots!

 I made 500 paper cranes to hang from the trees but it was a pain to hang them and I didn't have time to worry about it so only some of them got hung up. But it was ok.

 More centerpieces (and BBQ sauce)

 I had some amazing help the day of to get ready for this. I would still be sitting huddled in a corner if they hadn't come to help cut fruit/veggies and make trays, help decorate, set up, take down, etc....

 This is the buffet table. Bare Bones BBQ catered the dinner. Really we just went that day to pick up all the food from them and handled the rest ourselves.

 The drinks! We had a little mishap with the lemonade dispenser just before the family got back to eat dinner....the seal was broken and juice went evvverywhere! 

 The flowers were just so pretty!

 The tent where we put all the food stuff was really cool and handy. This is the dessert table.

Some more flowers Heidi made

 As the party was winding down.....

The end of the night. I loved the gazebo in the dark! The chandelier is now hanging in my room :)

 The cutest flower girl I've ever seen!

 And the last pics of flowers.

Wow I congratulate you if you actually made it through that mess of words/pictures! Yikes.

Overall it was so great and while it's a lot of work trying to prepare for it, seeing everyone come and enjoy themselves was awesome.

Promise to post Ty's reception pics sometime hopefully soon.

Chyla's wedding this Saturday! Literally 15 wedding invites in the mail in the last two months...cray cray.

In but not Of

My YW lesson topic tomorrow is How to be IN the World but not OF it. I like to make handouts for the girls so they can take notes/have a reference page if they want to study it later. We have a couple girls who really use these so it's worth the time and effort to make them even if only one girl uses it. I really love that there are blogs where people share their handouts because sometimes I don't have time to make my own so I thought I'd share this one I made. Here is a link to the googledoc if you'd like to use it for any reason :)

"All that Glitters"

I have been pretty busy getting ready for a wedding reception that I'm planning for this Saturday but last week I decided I needed to stop focusing on myself because I do that a lot. I have a friend who is having a tough time with stuff right now and since I love themes and surprises and happy mail, I decided I should send her a little package. The theme was "All that Glitters".

Seriously if I could get a job doing this kind of thing, I'd be ALL over it haha. It was so fun to put it together. Here are the silly things I put in the box :)

 A couple frames for her craft room- it's a fun room so hopefully they will match!

 Who doesn't love lindt truffles, especially when they're in a bejeweled box. Her and her daughters love to do nail art so I got some fun nail accessories and put them all in a green glittered pouch to represent Elphaba. They too, are obsessed with that green girl!

 Remember the Wicked obsession we just talked about? I got green and pink nail polish and renamed them after our favorites.

 Candy. She has 4 daughters so I got a variety of candies for them to share. I also got a couple of those cute suckers with the long sticks.

 A few other glittery things- a pen, sequin ribbon, high heel pencil sharpener, a bottle of pink glitter, and bejeweled clothes pins, because who doesn't need those things? A tube of homemade epsom salt bath soak.

 Some random fun princess accessories just because. I found some glittered pink flipflops in the clearance bin so obvs. I got them.

 Hey it was glittery and an R. Also who doesn't love the smell of fresh crayons and a brand new coloring book? That's one of my favorite things!

Gum is yummy. To go along with the Wicked obsession once again, I painted a mini Galinda and Elphaba because I love making those little peg dolls.

It's always fun to get unexpected mail even if it is totally silly and random!

12 Days

There is a wedding for a friend happening in 14 days. Guess who's 'in charge'? ME! haha I'm helping out the family by handling the reception/open house thing. I love this kind of thing so I was happy they asked :)
However....I'm a freak of nature that cannot be tamed. I am also ADHD. I am also a human tornado. I am also crazy. I always say this but I'll say it again, I don't know how to do a lot of things. I just try it out and if I'm able to learn something, great! If not, ehhh, I'll survive. I don't like directions though so as long as I'm able to do something without reading a manual of directions I'm good to go. 

Alas enter the 'cement mini planter project'.

Literally like a mad scientist. I coined a new word, scienticism. It means when you do something that has nothing to do with real science but it makes a big mess and looks crazy. You're welcome Webster.

So I went to the store yesterday and bought a freaking heavy bag of cement. The first one I grabbed was 80 dang pounds and last week I did something to my wrist so it's hard to do things with it. So that was super fun! 

Once I got home, I found a whole bunch of random containers to use as molds. I got plastic, metal, glass, cardboard stuff, etc...The most successful planters came from using an almond rocca container (the kind with the cardboard outside and metal bottom), and a small applesauce cup. Go figure. I recommend not using glass bottles, or those fancy 'crystal' throw away cups. No bueno.
The Tupperware worked well too.

6 out of 10 worked! 2 others were successful also but I accidentally cracked them with a hammer on purpose... (I haven't gotten around to evening out the tops yet and I'm still deciding if I want to white wash them or not)

 I'm hoping these can be used as small planters for the wedding favors, but I'll decide for sure in the next day or two. I want to get little succulent cuttings and plant them in there. I found similar favors on etsy but they were 10 for $40 or something ridiculous like that. I can make 40-50 of these planters for  less than 5 bucks- they really aren't 'hard' to make either. Then the succulent cuttings are about 70 cents plus soil I already have. So it's not too bad. Cheaper than the candy bar favor we did for Ty's :p.

Anyways. That was yesterday. Earlier this week I finished making these planter boxes for some larger succulents. They are just super simple wooden planters that I cut to size, nailed super quick and stained. They try to sell these planter boxes online for $10+ each too. Pssshhhh how about $1. Plus, when you make them yourself, you get to use power tools! And hammers that sometimes hammer your thumb and make you bleed profusely and remove 1/2 of your thumb nail.

I also got all the wood measured and cut for a cart that I'm going to try to make. It's tricky. Plus I don't have the right tools for a couple parts so I'm at a standstill. I just need a nail gun and a kreg jig come on!

 

 

This is part of that above project. They used to sell a rolling dessert cart at Anthropology which I'm hoping it will look like somewhat :)

Oy this is long and ridiculous. 

super quick though, some friends got sealed in the Vancouver, BC temple on Tuesday! It was such a neat experience, one of my favorite temple trips so far for sure. Plus the weather was wonderful! The grounds were looking really bright, colorful, and cheery as well.

  

 

And last but not least...

 

I became obsessed with this little 'show' on youtube called The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. It's a modern day twist on the Jane Austen book, Pride and Prejudice. The format is so different and something that hasn't been done before. It's 'Lizzie's' online vlog diary. Her friend helps her with it. It's mostly about her and her sisters and the other key characters from the book. 

There are 100 episodes plus there are little side-story split off videos occasionally from other characters. Each episode is about 3-6 minutes long so it's not like a huge time investment. It's just cute and not so crazy as other shows that are out there. I'm hoping the producers decide to do another 'season' because I would like that very much!

I think this last weekend was the weirdest/surrealist weekends. We got some extremely heartbreaking news Thursday night. I'm not going to go into details or anything but as a result, Ty came home Friday night and just went back to Utah tonight. One of his best friends died and everyone around here has been in a weird place. We're all so sad for his family and hope that they can find some peace. 

Sam and I talked a bit about death the other day. He had a friend from HS who died a couple weeks ago in a motorcycle accident and he was saying how weird it is that someone can die and hardly anybody in the world knows or cares. People die every second, yet unless it's someone we know we don't think about it. After this weekend and that conversation I realized that everyone is fighting a hard battle. We have no idea what someone is going through. I KNEW this already but I need lots of reminders. Cut the rude store clerk some slack, smile at someone, don't get offended easily. Just remember that most people are good at hiding their pain, they may have tough stuff they deal with, just be kind and forgiving. I need to listen to that advice the most. It's a humbling experience knowing that he we just saw him a month ago at Ty's reception and now we won't see him again (until the next life). He was the nicest kid and so respectful and good. He was the type of kid you'd want your son or daughter to hang out with. I don't understand any reasoning behind what happened. I need to stop wondering because I don't think anyone will ever get the 'right' answer. 

I'm thankful that I know where we are going after this and I hope his family knows they will see him again. Even if some of them may feel like punching him then hugging him when they see him again.....

 There was a very impromptu memorial service at our house. It was supposed to be about 5 friends then family wanted to come and it ended up being about 30ish people or so in our backyard to burn the wooden boat Ty made with his friend and brother.

 Some of the people at the beginning sitting and waiting for the fire to start.

Everybody was very somber at first, then I heard people talk about memories and the mood shifted a bit. It was still heavy but talking about happy times made it easier for everyone.
It was a really neat thing to do. I'm glad Ty had such a good friend and I'm sad that he is no longer here. It's surreal to see all the friends and family of a person and keep expecting them to show up. I thought that for a quick second last night without realizing it. I wondered when Joe was going to get there.

(This blog probably makes no sense. It''s late and I'm tired. So sorry.)

Sometimes I think about this little blog. Then I think that it's a waste of time. Then I think it's a sort of journal. Then I think I want to post about a million things. Then I don't want to post anything.

Here's a good talk I found today. You can read it if you want. It's about adversity.

I wish Amazon would start selling magical wands.