On Hiatus

One of the things this blog is about is living life to its fullest. And often, that very thing gets in the way of writing the blog. It’s a cyclical beast.

Because of this, we’ve been on hiatus, and we’ll likely prolong it for a little while further.

Hopefully we’ll be back up and running after the first of the year.

Enjoy your holiday season!

Absens Makes the Heart Grow.... {Amy}

I tried to think up a clever title for this and totally failed.

So, we've been gone a bunch. With the exception of wedding posts, we've been awol a lot. But that should be changing here soon. No more head in the clouds, back to serious business!

Allie's been busy with work and all the extra hours her job demands, I've been recovering from the wedding and working on publishing books. But we're both going to work toward getting more focused and hopefully over the next several weeks that means we'll hit our stride, figure out a schedule and be on top of all the things.

Amy's Wedding: Magpie DIY: Ceremony Backdrop

So, when we talked about a backdrop idea for the wedding, we knew we had a brick wall... but we wanted to add just a little bit more, and so we decided to make a backdrop.

We made the trek to my  favorite art store and bought a 15ft length of primed, un-framed canvas, six bottles of spray paint and took them over to Earl's mom;s house and promptly draped the canvas over the back of his 1961 Cadillac.

 And then we got busy.

Mostly, we covered the expanse in black and dark grey spray paint and then we did some splattering with the red, black, chrome, white... and so on.
Then we used some stencils to inscribe the first line of the chorus by a band we love (The Queers), it was a sentiment we both felt was correct for the occasion - Fuck the world I'm hanging out with you tonight.

And, I think it worked out perfectly!

Don't you?

Amy's Wedding: Record Guest Book

When Earl and I talked about what we wanted to do for a guest book, we knew we didn't want to do a weird little book that would wind up in a box somewhere for years to come. We wanted something we could hang on our wall or use on a daily basis. And after searching through offbeat wedding sites and copious other forums, we decided that it made sense to use records.

Once we had that decided, we went in search of the right records. We knew we'd need more than one... and as luck would have it, a record with a HUGE amount of meaning to us was a set of two!

 

A Search for Former Clarity by Against Me! was one of the albums we listened to a lot when we first got together. (song name) was what played immediately after the ceremony. And we always love things that allow us to incorporate the number 13 (Earl's mom's lucky number.)

 

 Also,  please appreciate Jenna's AMAZING Dress (and those heels!) She looked fabulous!

And now we get to the not-Galaxie Images (I apologize)....

We took the records to a Michael's when they were having a HUGE framing sale and walked out with this...

 And now it's on our wall in the worst possible place for lighting......

Anyway, it's huge and I love it and I totally recommend doing the alternative guest book.

A Letter to My Girls: Natalie

Dear Natalie,

How is it possible to know someone for such a short time and to feel as though you’ve known them for lifetimes? If I hadn’t believed in kindred spirits before I met you, I definitely would have come around to the notion quickly. Someday when we’ve both gone silver and have a passel of grandkids between us, we’ll run away together to a cottage on Prince Edward Island. We’ll drink tea and read all the books we never got a chance to get around to. And we’ll remind ourselves time and time again of the fun we had when we were younger (and then go out and have more).

You are the kindest, most loving person I have ever met. Your optimism and ecstatic joy for the world and everything beautiful is a constant inspiration to me to be a better person. You make me want to write clockwork fairytales and brew large pots of tea, just so that you can come over and I can entertain you. (Seriously, lets find a way to make that happen).

There was no other option for my maid of honor. You’re my right hand gal, and I can’t imagine walking through this crazy world without you.

 - Amy

A Letter to My Girls: Allison

Dear Allison,

I practically lived at your house throughout our senior year of high school. Your mom probably never wants to see me again. But in all the time I’ve known you, I’ve come to think of you as a sister. Even though we graduated and traveled in different directions (me a little farther), we’ve always been able to star a conversation as through we’ve never spent any time apart. It’s one of the things I love most about our friendship.

You are one of the most creative people I have ever met, and I love the way you make beautiful things a part of your life. My admiration of that has lead to trying to better myself and I will be forever thankful for that. Someday, I’m sure we’ll figure out which of us is the magpie and which is the fox, but for now, I’m pretty sure we’re both happy bouncing back and forth.

I wake up every day to the picture from our final choir concert together. We’re a mess but we’re together. That’s what counts.

There was no way I was going to get married without you there. When I asked you to be my bridesmaid, I was prepared to come up and kidnap you if necessary (okay, not really.)

My life is a song where you are the delightful harmony.

 - Amy

A Letter to My Girls: Katie

Dear Katie, 

We met in middle school, that time of turmoil, tie-dye and tribulation. Let’s face it, lots of that was not pretty, but we made it through! And we’re still friends. WE survived MHS Choir and general shenanigans, and over the years, we’ve managed to stick together. I’m willing to guess it’s because of our mutual weirdness that the distance hasn’t been a burden that’s pulled us apart.

You’re the first to make me laugh, the one who makes me smile even when the situation might make otherwise have me in tears, and always the best bet for an amazing story. I’ve had hard times in the past and I can’t imagine getting through them without you. You are so amazing, and I’m lucky to have had you as my friend for so long.

Some days I smile just because your name is there in my chat window – even if we don’t have the time to talk. It’s that presence you have that is why everyone I’ve ever met who knows you loves you.

Asking you to be a bridesmaid was a no-brainer. I couldn’t imagine the wedding without you, and I’m so happy you were here for everything we had in store.

A world where you are not my friend, is a world in which the skies would be forever gray.

- Amy

A Letter to My Girls: Allie

Dear Allie,

In the past few years we haven't had the opportunity to spend as much time together as I'd like. First we moved apart. It was really strange going from 5-ish years of living within the same apartment complex - even in the same apartment for a year - to living what feels like half a state away. 

Then there was school and books. When you started working toward your degree, it was almost like you'd moved again, even though the campus was closer to me than your house was. About the same time, I started working on my novels in earnest and it was like time had decided to join distance on the list of things that were working against us.

You were my first friend in Arizona - a fact I still find ironic since we're both from Oregon to begin with. And you'll always be at the top of my list for tea parties and nights out. Hopefully we'll get to do more of both very soon.

When it came to picking the women who would stand up with me at the wedding, your name was a must on that list.

Thank you for being my friend, Allie. My life is richer for knowing you.

 - Amy

Amy Wedding: Thank You!

Earl and I wanted to put out an informal thank you to everyone who came to the wedding, those who couldn't, everyone who's been so lovely about it afterwards, and those who've followed along in this nearing two week long post series.

It's been an amazing journey that started over five years ago, and we could not be happier.

Amy's Wedding: Us in our Finery

So, one thing I knew right off the bat was that I wasn't going to be wearing white. I've always hated that convention, personally. I think it stems from my irritation with people telling me what to do when they have no business doing it.
I knew I was going to wear something I was comfortable in, and something, that with alterations, I could conceivably wear again. And I am most comfortable in black. So I went in search of a black wedding dress that didn't make me feel like I was chasing the rabbit down the goth hole.

I feel like I accomplished that.
I'm not going to tell you where it came from though, because the dress pictured is not actually the dress I purchased, and while I'm happy with how it worked out, I am not going to send business their way because of the fact they handled sending me said wrong dress rather poorly.

Earl wavered between what he and the guy's ended up with and the Reservoir Dogs look.  In the end, I think he really just didn't want to have to keep track of a suit jacket.

And he really loves any opportunity to pick me up.

(This is one of my favorite shots from the night!)

Images by Galaxie Andrews

Crown: Xappaland  (It also comes in gold)
Earrings: Bodyartforms
Necklace: The Jovilynne collection
Bracelet: From my lovely sister
Dress: Etsy
Shoes: Modcloth

Hat, Shirt, & Trousers: Khols
Vest & Bow tie: Men's Warehouse
Shoes: Converse

Amy's Wedding: The Reception

The best thing about weddings is the party.

 

 It was so wonderful to spend the day with our closest friends and family. It was a great time and we couldn't be happier to have shared it with them all.

 (I swear, I love these people, I'm not hiding out of fear!)

 And when the dancing got started it was a whole bunch of fun.

 And then Journey happened.

 The fun part, was when my crown fell off... and everyone else got a chance to try it on.

 And it was all made possible by this man: DJ Hartbreaks

Images by Galaxie Andrews
DJ Hartbreaks