Preview.

My sister Charis got married September 10 (9-10-11) in Tyler, MN to Greg Stuefen.  They have a 2 year old, Taet, together...he is so cute and fun!  The colors were green and brown and the theme was sorta rustic and country.  There were old jars, wheat, candles, small logs, photos of the couple, etc. on each table.  Here are a few pictures from the fun weekend! 

Aaahhh not only did the pictures take 9 years to upload, but they also uploaded in the wrong order so you are getting the pictures in no specific order now...

It's Wedding Day!!

We were going for a "Shirley Temple" look...

 

The finished look...

 

 

 

<3

 

This is a bracelet my grandpa Leroy wore...we squeezed it around her bouquet for "something old" and to keep 

his memory close on her special day.  It was perfect.

 

Harley had to spend the entire day with all his clothes and both shoes on AND he had to stay out of the dirt.

It was a rough day for Harley.

I don't know what's going on with the crappy quality of this picture, 

BUT I had the same shot - gorgeous quality - EYES WERE HALF SHUT!  Awe Nuts!!

Looking good!

This is Charis's niece, Hannah. 

She is dangerously cute!

Either the bridal bouquet or my bouquet...not sure, but gorgeous!

The flower girls giggling away during pictures.

...while Taet was running laps.  These kids were WILD!  :)  

Hehehe actually they were all very good for pictures and always had us entertained.

The Nielsen family...

and if you want to be technical,

The Stuefen Family and The Morford family... 

Seriously, look at that face!

Taet has some AWESOME picture moves!

Aaron and Taet, 2 of my favorite men in the world!

I told you he's wild!

He kept trying to "get" my camera.

Handsome Handsome HANDSOME!!!

 

Okay, maybe some of this "wildness" runs in the family...

 

Harley can't keep his collar straight for nothing!  At our wedding it was kind of a hot mess all day.

Greg showcasing his best talent.

These are just a few of the images I snapped when I wasn't chasing Taet, prepping music, visiting with family or actually posing for the pictures so don't feel bad if I don't have a photo of you!  I was really just snapping some candids to play with my DSLR.  I haven't even looked at the images from my point and shoot yet, so I'm sure there will be more posts to come.  :)  Candids and snapshots are my favorite kind of wedding photography, you can capture so many emotions...love, joy, excitement, pride, tenderness and the list goes on and on! What are your favorite kinds of wedding photos, posed or candids?

Noelle

Patience.

 What a productive weekend!  We had no plans except for to go through our house and do some reorganizing.  I had been searching Craigslist for a hutch to replace our bar, and I found one in Sioux City.  I was very reluctant to replace our bar, it seems to be the "show piece" of our home!  Everyone is always attracted to it, there are usually some "oohhs" and "aahhhs" and nice compliments when Aron shows off it's nifty features, but it was taking up a lot of space and didn't have quite the storage capabilities we require in our pint-sized home. 

Normally I wouldn't seek a piece of furniture outside of Brookings, (or occasionally in Sioux Falls since Aaron commutes there daily) but Aaron's parents live in Sioux City, and we would also need to borrow their truck.  So off we went to Sioux City, we located and loaded the hutch and we were on our merry way.  We even stopped with Scott and Lisa and they treated us to prime rib, which was delicious
(even though the restaurant was in an old gas station!)

The Dunes had horrible flooding this summer, and left some roads in rough shape.  While we were on our way back to Scott and Lisa's, we hit a few potholes and the buffet went CRASH!!!  It fell on the glass doors, but amazingly the glass stayed in tact.  I don't know hoe we didn't all die of a heart attacks, but we parked the vehicle and nervously peeked to see what condition the buffet was in. 

It already had a "distressed" finish, so the few nicks and small dents didn't scare us.  I even have black paint I have  used many times to touch up other furniture in our home.  The windows popped out of place a little, but nothing the nail gun couldn't handle.  We were impressed with the piece for being so durable!!

We made a few adjustments and secured the buffet and were on the road again.  We were so thankful that it didn't fall out of the vehicle, and that it didn't fall when we were on the interstate, I don't know what we would have done!

As you can see in the picture above, the backing wasn't anything special.  The piece was solid wood except for that part, so we ripped it off, measured and went to purchase wainscoting to replace it.

The wainscoting needed 5 coats of stain AND varnish...this was going to take FOREVER (in Noelle time.)  So while we waited we reorganized a closet, did laundry, decorated for fall and I made a few gallons of soup.

Beef and veggie soup, yum!

And 2 big pots of chili!!!

Sometimes I forget how small my freezer is...

Fast forward a few hours and we have a completed hutch!

 

The wainscoting adds a lot of character!  We have a lot of black and wood furniture, distressed furniture, etc.

 

It required some patience, but the final product was definitely worth the wait!  It coordinates perfectly with our table and other furniture, and was a fraction of the price that something brand new would have cost us.  

Our living room furniture isn't all from one "line," but I feel like it goes together perfectly.  All of the furniture is black, espresso or black and espresso.  Much of it is "distressed" or has waincoting details,  and most of it has some molding or ornate details to make it a little bit special.  I always switch out the hardware so that all the furniture has the same color and type of drawer pulls, it doesn't take much to pull it all together, but the details make a big difference.  I don't think furniture needs to be part of a matching set to be beautiful.  Keeping it all in a certain style, same color or similar lines helps, but if you find piece that you love you can always find a way to make them work together beautifully.  

If you feel like your home looks like a "hodge podge" consider grabbing a paint brush and painting a few pieces in the same color, or adding a faux antique finish.  

If you're handy, and you could include some waincoting into some of your pieces to tie them together and change out that hardware.  

If you're really artsy, you could stencil on your furniture to add a little interest...I don't have the patience for this!

Or you can try Uppercase living or any other vinyl stencil.

Be brave!  Do something bold!  If the furniture is already ugly what's there to lose?!?  You might be surprised by how easy it is to transform a piece of furniture!  Do you have any furniture you have modified to fit perfectly in your home?  Send me pictures!!

Noelle

    

Nostalgia.

We ran to Walmart tonight for birthday gift for one of the kiddos.  I had a few things in mind, but had trouble finding them.  The idea I was really set on was this doll that had all these buttons, zippers, snaps, ties and velcro to practice dressing.  She will be turning 2, and is very into independence, so I was disappointed when I couldn't find the doll.  I almost got it for her a few months ago, but figured it wasn't going anywhere.  Oh well!  She is getting a little cloth house with 3 stuffed poodles that go in it.  She's only 2, she will just play with the wrapping anyway!

Missy was looking at this "Dance with Me" baby for her that one of the kids pointed out on TV.  You can plug your iPod into the doll, and it dances to the beat of the music.  How cool is that?  She loves to dance and "sing along" (she moves her mouth and makes a wild "rock-and-roll" face, but no sound comes out...it makes me laugh everytime!)

Dance with Me Baby is rocking some serious eye shadow!!  Is that what the toddlers are wearing now?!

When I was little (yup, that phrase still makes me feel old) I HAD to have a Water Baby.  They were rubber and squishy and...filled with water.  Some girls had patches on theirs, which makes me wonder how the hell they play with their dolls.  Recess (for you LB Alums) was in the "Little Gym" so I must have been in Kindergarten, and we would bring blankets and play dolls on the staircase.  You could only ply if you had a Water Baby...hahaha how lame.  Mine was a "mini" and I still have her in my garage.

In the late 80s/early 90s I think every kid had a Cabbage Patch Doll.  I had 3, one had short crazy brown hair and dark skin...I'm not sure if it was a girl boy or what ethnicity they were aiming for, but I remember thinking it was a girl and always playing with her extra because I felt bad that she had such an ugly haircut.  It's also in my garage, along with a cheerleading outfit and pompoms my grandma made.  Do you remember the CPK that had the hair that you could curl and crimp?  I wanted one SOOO bad!  My friend Abby let me play with hers and it was AWESOME!!!

Actually, mine is way uglier than this....

I also had a Baby Alive who pooed out powdered food, etc.  She was a new thing, so it was a big deal when I got her!  They have all kinds of Baby Alive dolls now that jump in their cribs, eat different things, talk and some that are supposed to be toddlers.  I still think they are fun  :)

I also had a baby who crawled.  My dad was always doing "surgery" on her, and I would cry and worry that she wouldn't be okay.  She was always broken!!!  Now they have lots of dolls that do that stuff, the kids even have one that swims.

Do you remember "My Buddy?" 

I wanted Kid Sister, and I think maybe she was hard to find due to popularity.  So someone got me a My Buddy...a BOY doll (big mistake..unless it's Ken.  Him and Barbie could kiss, you know.)  I just read that "My Buddy" was the top selling kids toy for 5 years.  Remember the song?  "My Buddy, My Buddy.  Wherever I go, he goes too...My Buddy and MEEE!!!"  


I think the one I got was a knock off.  It looked like Chuckie and I HATED IT.  I remember throwing him over the staircase, and hiding it in my closet so it wouldn't scare me.  It has crazy red hair that stuck straight up in the air and no hat.  It looked crazy!!  I don't know who gave it to me, or why I didn't get rid of it.  It was probably my dad, and I never wanted to make him feel bad so I just toughed it out and kept that ugly evil doll.  I found him a few years ago, and had a good laugh before throwing him away.

I won't delve into the topics on Barbies or other nostalgic toys in this blog (anyone else have a "Wrinkles" dog???), but does anyone else have a doll that they loved with a funny feature?  My Aunt collects Chatty Kathy's (she has soo many!) and my mom has a fondness for Chrissy Dolls.  What dolls did you (or your sisters) play with?

Noelle

Anniversary.

Today is our 2 Year Anniversary!!!  Two years filled with laughter, love and happiness.  I have been blessed with an amazing, kind, patient, talented, helpful, supportive and handsome husband; a husband I probably don't deserve, but am thankful to have.  :)

With my sister's wedding this weekend, I had a lot of time to reflect on our wedding day and how much life has changed.  The planning leading up to a wedding can be so stressful and time consuming but when the big day comes it is wonderful, and what follows is even better.

In the last 2 years we have bought a home, celebrated holidays, traveled, lost loved ones, made new friends and we've experienced all those small changes that you hardly notice until your life is completely different.  Life has changed and our love has changed.  I never imagined I could be so happy laying snuggled on a couch watching reruns with someone, getting dirty in the garage, planting flowers or golfing.  :)

Two years ago, we had an amazing and wonderful wedding day, and today we have an amazing and wonderful marriage that I am thankful for everyday. 

Blogger won't let me link to a wedding photo...I don't have the patience today to fix it...good night!

Noelle

Absent.

I apologize for being an absentee blogger, however I won't be doing any better until at least Sunday night!  Aaahhhh!  We have a crazy weekend coming up....one I should be preparing for right now but I am snuggled up on the couch after a looonngggg day. 

When I do write my next blog, you can look forward to hear about our cultural and culinary adventures in Minneapolis and the surrounding area.  In the meantime you should check out furniturewithasoul.com for some unique and amazing furniture!  There was a store close to where we stayed and it was reasonably priced and inspiring!  Enjoy!! 

Noelle