Fall

Fall is almost my favorite season. It means I can get out the sweaters and boots. I can start drinking warm drinks and stay in on nights off (without feeling too guilty). Fall means family time, pumpkin flavored things, football all day. It tends to spice up every one of my senses. Fall also leads into a ton of family traditions like making apple sauce, carving pumpkins, and making pumpkin seeds. Last week we got together and got busy! 

We have such a great system for making apple sauce. It lasts a long time and tastes way better than store bought!

Andy had a very long pumpkin to work with...hence the flashlight.

The best fall drink. Hot apple cider & butterscotch schnapps (with homemade carmel mixed in).   

Brooke's creativeness

             

                                             

                                                   Final product. 

Carmel apple bar. 

So proud of his half zucchini half pumpkin. 

Charlie trying out her Halloween costume. She's going to be batdog. My mom made her wings out of duct tape and pipe cleaners! We'll see how long it lasts. Her huge ears really complete the costume.

Happy Fall Everyone! 

Transformation Thursday

My mom and I went shopping for wedding dresses the month after Andy and I got engaged. Nothing fit. It was so frustrating. I had to have at least 12 of those clips in different areas of each dress. And honestly, I was not about to pay thousands of dollars just to put more money into altering it! There we were, downtown Holland...so frustrated. So we did what we do best in Holland: antique shopping. Coffee in hand, we walked into our last stop for the day "Not So Shabby" in Zeeland. With wedding on the brain, we saw this gem hanging on the wall almost immediately. 

 No dressing room left us in the employee bathroom with an extremely dusty dress (spiders were everywhere!). I was thinking no way mom. This dress was the closest to fitting me from that day. Although I was still a little skeptical Mom pulled some fabric back to show me what we could alter and adjust.  My mom has an eye for things like this. I am so glad I trusted her. A homemade lace dress with beautiful detailing was the ultimate diamond in the rough.

We came home filled the tub with bleach and let it work its magic...what did we have to lose?

We took the dress to Deb Zondlak who has been altering my dresses forever. She is absolutely wonderful. She saw our vision and made it happen. Every time we met with her she was shaping this dress into exactly what was in my mind. 

And tadaaaa wedding dress. 

Ps. don't mind the pictures...focus on the dress haha February is just not my month....

The heels I wore brought the dress to a perfect length

Cathedral length train with lace trim 

Shape of dress

Bustling this dress was a type of art form...good job mom! I wish I had a closer picture of it the lace trimming laid perfectly! 

All Dogs Go To Heaven

So many big things have been happening all summer and the only thing on my mind lately is the past two days. So bear with me as a I write this from a very scattered, unorganized mind. This is how I cope...put all my thoughts on a page and hey, why not let everyone read it, right?
Yesterday my family had to put my dog down. My baby girl Dot is no more. (Please, just for today, put aside your beliefs and convince me that all dogs go to heaven.) Through really unfortunate circumstances, the decision was made that this way was the best. Every cell in my body disagrees with any logic or reason at this point on this decision but what's done is done.
She was such a good girl, always there with her beautiful blue eyes and smiling dog-face. We stopped tying Dot up after a while and she was such a good girl about staying home. She was always hanging out with her people. The more people that showed up the more she limped...people can't resist giving attention to a pathetic dog...we all laughed when people got suckered in.
 I am going to miss her listening ears, quiet soul and her general presence around the backyard. I miss her so much.
 I won't bore you with my never ending dog stories, but you should know she made such an impact on our family. She was there through first years of colleges and weddings and vacations. She was always there, always waiting and happy to see us when we came home.
So before I get too sappy or mushy or emotional I should wrap this up with some pictures and the simple hope that Dot is so happy in heaven and there's lots of red truck beds for her to ride around in with her four perfect legs and a very happy heart.

ok...that's being a little uncooperative 

I was always trying to add Dot to family pictures but she always wrecked them...embarrassing...'shut your legs, Dot' or 'Dot, be a lady, were common phrases at our house.

so glad she could be a part of our wedding day 

Loved chasing balls, but never returning them... 

Our Day.

Our day was us. An outside reception is not something to mess around with for a control freak, but wow, I am so glad we took the chance. I still can't stop thinking about how perfect everything was. I used to daydream about how everything was going to look  and now I just daydream about how everything went. Absolutely perfect. Everything was homemade from the bouquets & boutonnieres to the wine. This wedding had not only my heart and soul in it, but my whole family and our friends who worked so hard to make my vision become a reality. Here's a couple of snapshots of the details of our day...

We made the programs by using fonts we found off of Pinterest.

The pew decoration were really simple...sheets of organza tied with twine and we tucked baby's breath into it. 

This wagon was mine growing up and we cut a big piece of tulle that could wrap around it and then cut and tied small piece of tulle to give it a tutu look. Norah (the flower girl) was also wearing a tutu! They both did so good.

Last minute (like 4 hours before the wedding) we decided to add astillbe (the pinkish flower) out of my mom's flower gardens to go with the baby's breath. 

Bar sign. Chalked onto our old front porch by my artsy sister. 

The menu on a window leaning against a ladder.

The center pieces were different at every table. They had mason jars we wrapped with lace, burlap, twine, pearls, etc. and filled with flowers or a candle. The table numbers were picture frames Andy and I found and made different backgrounds and stamped the numbers on. 

There were also a lot of twine flowers everywhere that we made. We took doilies and wrapped them around the silverware and tied it with twine flowers. It was so much work but I loved how they looked. 

Escort cards on chicken wire. We (my sister) wrote the names on office tags and stamped the number. 

This was the dance floor the night before the wedding after it was finished. We had a hula hoop chandelier (thank you Pinterest) and windows hanging from wire on the back wall to give it a little something. We also hung mason jars in the trees with candles in them. 

This is the dance floor from the side of the deck.

This picture was from the side of the dance floor. The cupcake and candy table are straight ahead but it shows the jars lit up in the trees. 

And after writing this blog and looking back through it, pictures just don't do it justice...Thank you to everyone who helped make that day a reality! 

Wedding slideshow

This is the slideshow I worked way too hard on hours before our wedding. In case you wanted to see it, or see it again.

Annie song: Flowers in your hair-Lumineers
Andy song: Growing Up- Bruce Springsteen
Andy & Annie song: Overwhelmed- Tim McMorris

Enjoy!

MARRIED.

I am married [& probably considered the most annoying person around because I am still so excited about being a wife, but married nonetheless]. Everything went perfect. I cannot wait to actually sit down and blog about all the components that went into this wedding, but for now, I need to finish thank you notes before getting busy with work again! Here's a couple of gems that are making me excited to see more pictures!! 

This was right after a groomsman accidentally trampled a family of field mice. Those guys had me laughing ALL day!

These people made my wedding dreams come true! So thankful for my family, we could not have done it without them!

Tie a Knot and HANG ON!

It has been so long since I've even felt guilty for not writing. Ahh I am so busy! I am doing an internship at a daycare in Byron Center about 40 hours a week (in a room full of 2 year olds!) and then cramming in about 20 more hours on the weekend to make money! Craziness. If I ever had the choice to this again I probably wouldn't. PLUS all this wedding business going on and Andy is preparing for boards (which is the Monday before our wedding awesome timing). My head's been spinning 90 mph.
 The final details and finishing touches are pretty much done for the wedding. This past weekend we (my dad, Big J, and Cassie) worked on the dance floor where Andy and I will be sharing our first dance as Mr. and Mrs. Bosch and finished our ceremony programs. Which is awesome but crazy. We've been counting down for what seems like forever and I'm at 12 days today. 12. That's like nothing.
Ahhh my life. It is all about to slow down and I'll be wishing I was this busy, but for now this is how I feel...12 more days...

Ps. The only reason why I had time to write this blog is because it's nap time and I'm waiting for my powerpoint for class to download. I loathe nap time. Two mandatory hours a day where the kids get to re-energize for the rest of the day and I tiredly eat string cheese and goldfish and stress over homework.