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