2015 Predictions: A Fortunate Link-Up.

I for one cannot believe that Christmas is over already. I hope you all got to spend time with your family and friends last week. We had a great Christmas with my family, ate mexican food, and played Cards Against Humanity which is hilarious.

Now that the holidays are over, it's time to reflect on the past year and look ahead to what is to come. This year has slipped away from me it feels like. I remember getting engaged last year and when we finally picked October as our wedding month, it seemed like it would take forever to actually get here. It didn't take forever, and most of the year was spent wedding planning. But, the wedding came and went and we were able to celebrate our first married Christmas together. It's so hard to say what will occur in the next year because nothing is set in stone, but it sure is fun to predict what we think or hope will happen. 

Juliette and Amber came up with a fun link-up to predict what we think is going to happen next year. I was in from the moment I read it because I like lists, and I like to plan/predict what will happen. Although things obviously don't always go as planned, so it will be interesting to see how many predictions came true the end of next year. 

I predict...

| that I will try to get myself out of my comfort zone next year. 

| that we will take full advantage of our yearly passes to Universal Studios. 

| I will continue to blog life adventures in 2015. 

| that Joe and I will make big life decisions. 

| (hope) that we will move into a new place that is bigger.

| I will finish my second year of school.

| we will take a trip to Vegas.

| we will have saved enough to take a honeymoon or have one in the works.

| I will work harder than ever at my fitness and health goals.

| that I will not be working every single weekend anymore, which would mean we could find and attend a church.

What are your predictions for the next year?

Bishop Wedding Part 3: The Wedding Party

Before and after the ceremony was strictly for taking pictures and getting those done before we lost light. I must say that it was so awesome to have a smaller wedding party because it was really easy to get the pictures finished quickly while still making sure we got amazing shots.

Picking our wedding party from the very beginning was simple, there was really no questioning it. These are the people that hands down are always going to be there to support and love us.

The relationship that Joe has with my family is more than I could ever ask for. He treats my sisters as his own sisters and my mom as his own. It's always been a girls club growing up with my mom and sisters, so when they took Joe in and loved him like family I knew that he was the one.

Through the dress fittings, stress, and planning, these girls were always there to help. I remember when we first got engaged and started the planning process I didn't even remember that it's a thing to ask people to be in your wedding party in a cute and Pinterest-y way because it was just a given that these two would be in our wedding. I am thankful that even after growing up with me acting like a second mom to them that we are still lifelong best friends.

The boys looked so handsome! I was very adamant about these tux's, those colors, and the boutonnieres, so seeing everything put together on them was amazing.

I had at first wanted my mom to be my maid of honor. She's my best friend, and I knew that she had to play a major roll in this wedding. She means the world to both Joe and I. Walking me down the aisle and giving me away was the perfect way to incorporate my mom into the wedding ceremony. Without her, our wedding would not have been possible at all.

After all of the pictures, it was time to make our way into the reception as husband and wife! 

I hope you all have a merry Christmas!! 

Previous posts:

Part 1: Getting Ready

Part 2: The Ceremony

Who doesn't love cookies and parties? A Weekend Recap.

I really just love the week leading up to Christmas. Although I was one of those last minute shoppers this year, I just feel happy. Days where me and my family all have the same days off really just makes me excited. Who can be mad at a full day of work today and a half day on Wednesday?? Nobody. Anyway, I'm here with my weekend recap.

Friday was spent at Joe's company Christmas party. The company where he works goes all out, since there are hundreds of employees this was no small party. There was a DJ...who was throwing items into the crowd. I thought I was at a night club. Dinner was Thanksgiving style food which is the best. Everyone was able to get two free drinks before having to pay and being the lightweight that I am, two was enough. We had the best time just relaxing and celebrating the holidays together. I'm so thankful we always know how to have a good time together. He's the best date ever.

Saturday was a work day for me. Not getting my usual 8+ hours of sleep made for a grumpy me. But, I made it through and was able to go home, and brave the mall. Christmas shopping is officially finished!

My mom and I also made these ornaments for all of our co-workers this year, and I am so happy with how they turned out. I forgot to take a picture of the finished product. I suck.

Sunday was our five year anniversary of being a couple. I had to work until four, but then it was time to celebrate. I picked up dinner from BJ's, we started watching 22 Jump Street and didn't get to finish because I had six dozen cookies to bake. We'll finish that tonight along with a ton of wrapping. 

Three days until Christmas guys!! 

P.S - Don't forget to enter this giveaway to win a blanket scarf - it ends Friday!

New Name / Blog Design + A Holiday Giveaway.

As you can probably tell, my little blog got a face lift! Not only a new design, but a new name as well. Just in time for the new year. I am so incredibly pleased and excited about this new change and I have Erin to thank for that! She did such an amazing job, was so flexible, kind, and fast! 

As you can see I now have categories on the top of my page. You can now read all about our wedding and planning ventures under one tab, along with lifestyle and beauty categories. 

Changing everything over to a new name is no joke, I almost had a few tears when I realized that I lost my bloglovin followers under my old name. Oh well, I am ready to start brand new with this beautiful blog.

Because I am so excited, I decided to throw a little holiday giveaway. Last month I received a blanket scarf courtesy of Marley Lilly, and I had to make sure to order a second for a giveaway because it was so cozy! This giveaway will run from today December 19th until next Friday the 26th!

Just enter the giveaway below! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Bishop Wedding Part 2: The Ceremony

We really could not have asked for a more beautiful day to get married. It was sunny and 75 outside which was really just perfect. When we were searching for our venue, we found this one because it's actually right down the road from where I work. We ended up choosing it because we wanted outdoor/indoor space. I liked that we could do the ceremony and reception there and it was beautiful for pictures as well.

As for decorations at the ceremony site, we kept it simple with pink and white rose petals scattered down the isle and I had an obsession with curly willow (you'll see it incorporated in our centerpieces), so we had it added on the arch with fresh flowers on top.

I did my bridal portraits and pictures with my sisters and mom before the ceremony (which I will share in another post) so there wasn't so much waiting time after the ceremony for our guests. As time came close for the ceremony to start, I was hidden away to not be seen until 5pm. Then it was time to get married! 

My mom walked me down the isle, it was the best decision for me. She's my best friend, the one who raised me, and I couldn't imagine anyone else doing it. I walked down the isle to "A Thousand Years"

This was the first time Joe and I were seeing each other, and I was so happy we waited until that very moment to see each other. 

The ceremony itself was very quick, but perfect. Our officiant read the most beautiful prayer at the opening of the ceremony that put an ease in my mind because I was very nervous.

I had no idea how fast the ceremony would feel, it goes by so fast. The only part I didn't love... for about half the ceremony there was a bee on Joe's boutonniere. If anyone knows me, they know that I freak out if I am anywhere near a bee. So it was really hard to just stand still and keep focused, not to mention my soon to be husband is allergic to said bee. Thankfully it flew away and left us alone after that. Just the things you get with an outdoor wedding. The rest of the ceremony was so perfect. All of the worries about everything being set up or all of the little details didn't matter at this point. 

Finally, we exchanged rings and were announced as husband and wife!

I'll be back next week to share more about our big day - bridal party / bride and groom pictures!

Previous wedding day posts:

Part one: Getting Ready

How I Wash My Makeup Brushes

When you have OCD like I do, you tend to think about a lot of things more often than you should. For instance, I have stick to my cleaning routine every week and this includes washing my makeup brushes. These dirty things touch our face every single day, and carry so much bacteria. I know, what a pleasant blog post. I hope you find it useful though because I recently changed up my bush washing regimen and love it so of course I'm here to share. 

What you'll need:

Dirty brushes
Olive Oil
Baby shampoo/dish soap or whatever you prefer
2 small bowls

What I do:

I mix about a tablespoon of olive oil in with about 5 tablespoons of baby shampoo into a bowl. The one I found on Pinterest said to mix equal parts of oil with soap, but I found that too much oil made it very hard to get rid of the oil and it made my makeup weird for a few days. So I use less.

I then fill up the second bowl with warm water.

I take a dirty brush and first run it under warm water and swirl around the first bowl with the soap/oil mixture. Swirl around the bottom of the bowl for about 15-20 seconds. I will then cup the palm of my hand and swirl it around the palm of my hand to get any deep makeup out of there, and then do the same thing in the second bowl of water. If the brush is still dirty, I dip back in the first bowl until clean. I'll then run the brush under warm water to get everything off and then gently press the excess water out and reshape the brush.

Once I'm done with all of the brushes I store them facing down overnight in a clean towel to let all of the water drip out of them. If you store upright it will deteriorate the glue in the handles of the brushes.

That's it! I like using the tiny bit of olive oil in with my baby shampoo because it really makes my brushes soft and gets them clean.

I also use this mixture for my beauty blender and as you can see, it gets it completely clean.

Five on Friday

Well, it's the end of the week and I feel like I have so much to say today. I've been working on this stupid 16 page final paper for a class all week and it feels nice to write about something other than child development. Here are some things going on. 

1| Pinterest wins - I made two recipes and both were very successful. I made this oven baked fried chicken, and it was so successful and delicious. Then I just went ahead and dug deep into my housewife abilities and made what Pinterest calls the best chocolate chip cookies and boy were they right. I plan on making these way too many times. P.S - make sure to chill the dough.

2| Today marks the last day of classes for the semester, which means I get a whole month off from anything school related. This makes me so happy. I worked and had school all throughout the wedding planning process and the wedding itself, so this is a much needed break. Plus it means I can focus on this little blog.  

3| I still haven't started Christmas shopping, and we are officially less than two weeks away. Joe cannot think of anything that he wants this year, and I am usually a great gift giver but this year I am drawing blanks. Someone give me good ideas, I need them.

4| Next Friday is Joe's company Christmas party, and I am once again not prepared at all. Today is going to be spent attempting to find an outfit. Joe gets to wear a tux provided by the company, so he just lucks out in the outfit department. A haircut, a shave, and he's good to go. So lucky.

5| I made an appointment to cut off some of this hair next week. I always chop a lot of my hair off at least once a year and I had to wait extra long this year because I wanted to grow it out for the wedding. Now that it's over, I am so ready. 

Have a blast this weekend for me guys, I'll be at work all weekend. Blah. 

December Goals

I know that it may already be over a week into December, but I thought I would share my December goals since I do have quite a few things I want to accomplish before the new year. I can't say I succeeded much on my November goals, I don't think I gave myself enough time to actually do them. Pretty much why I decided not to recap them. 

So, here is what I hope to get done this month.

1| ACTUALLY get a new blog design. This is in the works as of today, and I couldn't be more excited. 

2| Do the newlywed chop. I am so sick of my long hair and I cannot wait for my appointment next week to get rib of this length and fix these roots. 

3| Ace this 16 page paper that I have put off until the last minute to do. It's due Sunday night and I am five pages deep. Only one more week of school before the much needed winter break. 

4| Get Christmas shopping done ASAP. I haven't started, and am having a really hard time picking things out this year. 

5| Order a 2015 planner. I need suggestions on your favorite planner to use for the new year. 

6| Start meal planning and prepping food. This is so hard, but I know if I have a plan I am more likely to stick to it. 

7| Get all of our wedding pictures organized and wedding posts drafted and scheduled. 

8| Find Joe a perfect five year of being together anniversary gift. He has no list or wants he can think of this year which makes it even harder. 

9| Keep up with posting 2-3 times a week. 

10| Make my New Years resolutions and long term goals. Gotta have goals. 

Bishop Wedding: Part 1 Getting Ready

It has been way too long since I have posted a wedding related post. I emailed my photographer a couple weeks ago and she said it usually takes around eight weeks to get them back. Since we weren't able to have my photographer there while I was actually getting ready for the wedding, I thought I would start with this post since it will be Iphone pictures anyway. 

Getting ready - 

The day before: If you read my previous post, you would remember that I had a pretty bad night before the wedding. I spent the night at my moms with my sisters, and we had a day of last minute errands and of course - getting pedicures. Mine was actually the pedicure from hell, he cut the skin all under my toe, and it burned the entire time but that's okay. I just kind of rolled with it. After the pedicure, that's really when everything went wrong. Since I have no desire to harp on that awful night, I will say that joy really does come in the morning, because I was ready to take on the day when I woke up.

I was just so excited to see Joe and make it until five o'clock. 

My mom made coffee and french toast, because it's my favorite and she's the best. We all had some time before we had to go set up at the venue so we ate, and all had time to shower. I know a lot of brides choose to relax the morning of their wedding, but I just wanted to go be busy and set up the reception. It kept my mind busy, and I loved being able to make everything just the way I wanted it.

It was truly, a beautiful day to get married.

My sisters strung blush pink lanterns along the exposed beams in the reception area that took a couple hours. I cannot tell you how amazing they looked. My family was a life saver setting everything up. 

A couple of hours later, it was time to go get hair and makeup done. It seemed like the morning flew by, and everything was moving so fast. My normal hair dresser was not available the day of the wedding, so I had to find someone a few months prior. Although I did a trial with this lady, I will say that I wish I would have been able to find someone I knew better to do the hair and makeup. She didn't quite listen to what I wanted. Thankfully though, it turned out really great!

I didn't wear a veil, instead I wore a really pretty headband and it matched my bridesmaids dresses. 

Joe and I opted not to see each other before the wedding. I knew it would have been easier to take pictures before, but I also knew since the beginning that I wanted to wait and see Joe as I was walking down the aisle. Stick to what you want, ladies.

After we we're done getting ready, it was time to head back to the venue and get married!

Thanksgiving, Universal, Lakers. A Weekend Recap + A Giveaway.

I know that typically recaps go up on Mondays but I was still recovering from the holiday and our trip, so here it is! This was probably one of my most favorite weeks/weekend of 2014 (except our wedding). We had an amazing time and I am here to recap it all. Hopefully I can keep this post short and sweet, and hopefully it wont bore you. But there's lots of pictures, and a giveaway at the end!

Thursday:

Thursday of course, was Thanksgiving. I woke up pretty early because it was our job to make the potato salad and deviled eggs. Making potato salad for almost 15 people is no joke, it took a really long time and I made a huge mess. Although, people said it was the best potato salad and that I had perfected it, so it was worth it. We had all the family over to my moms house and we of course ate too much. It was a beautiful day surrounded by my favorite people, food, and giving thanks for all of these things.

We skipped the whole Black Friday at 6pm because we spent more time with family and my Grandad who was in the hospital and called it a night. I think we were in bed before 9pm, which is awesome!

Friday:

Joe and I woke up around 8am and decided that we would brave the mall. The good thing I guess, about the mall opening at 6pm the night before is it wasn't as bad as usual on actual Black Friday. We didn't find much, but Joe did score big time on a Kobe jersey that was normally $120.00 on sale for $25.00 for Black Friday, which made him really happy. We also put up all of our Christmas decorations around the house and relaxed on the couch watching Parks and Rec the rest of the day.

Saturday:

I worked all day, and then we got stuff together for our trip. The end.

Sunday:

Boy, was this a packed day! It started with traveling the two hours to LA and driving in the worst rain ever. We spent most of the day at Universal Studios and even though it rained most of the day it was okay because most of the rides are indoors. Although, I was soaked, and when my hair gets wet it turns into an actual afro. Think of the episode of Friends when they go to Barbados and Monica has to get her hair braided because of how huge her hair gets from humidity. That's me.

The rides at Universal are so awesome, Transformers and The Mummy are the best! They're doing a lot of construction for the Harry Potter world that will be finished in 2016, and I. Can't. Wait! We also kinda had a fangirl moment seeing the lot where Parks and Rec is filmed. Around three it started to pour really bad. We decided it was time to leave and make our way to Staples Center.

Parking at Staples Center is a nightmare and why, why, why must parking be $20+ everywhere??? Anyway, we ate at Smashburger, and it was the best burger ever, even Joe said so too! They had the tree lit at LA Live, and it was so beautiful.

The Lakers played an amazing game and won in overtime against the Raptors! Joe had the biggest smile on his face the entire time, and I was actually so into the game too. Nothing makes me happier then seeing him so excited and happy about something.

We finally made it home around midnight, and were up by five am for work. Bummer. We had the best time and it was a much needed fun day!


What did you guys do for Thanksgiving, or this weekend? P.S enter the giveaway below to win some holiday shopping money!! 

Anne | Emelia | Meagan | Kasey | Heather | Sarah | Jenn Rachael | Jae | Sabrina | Krista | Lindsay | Vivian | Becca

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Beauty Box 5 | November

I am SO pleased with this months Beauty Box 5 that I just can't wait to share it with you all! Holidays are right around the corner, and for a beauty product lover/hoarder like me, I would love to get a monthly subscription of this box as a gift. Each month you receive five products a month delivered right to your door for $12.00 a month - they also have lower rates for quarterly and yearly subscriptions. Here's what I received in my box this month:

Afterfeather | Refillable Travel Bottle - This is an awesome product for anyone who is a traveler because it is TSA-approved. I don't travel on planes that often but this is great to fill with my favorite lotion or product to keep in my bag.

DenTek | Floss Picks + Case - I have used these things for many years. When I had braces I always made sure to keep these in my bag at all times. Now that I don't, I still keep them because no one wants to be stuck with food in their teeth.

HASK | Shine Oil - I have to use an oil on the ends of my hair after I shower. I know its from years and years of bleaching and highlighting my hair. I really felt like this oil worked great and didn't make it greasy like other oils that I have tried.

Laura Ashley | Body Butter - I received the "coconut lime" scent in my box and I am in love. I am such a fan of anything that smells like coconut and lime so this was perfect for me. I have to use a body butter everyday in the winter to keep my dry skin moisturized.

Dove | Deep Moisture Body Wash - I love Dove as a brand and use their products all the time. This is a great body wash because it is gentle and very moisturizing which I need.

*I was sent these items from Beauty Box 5 for an honest review and blog post. All opinions are my own*

P.S tomorrow I will have a re-cap from Thanksgiving/our trip tomorrow!