Chardon High

A city about 20 minutes away from my house has made it in the national news today. This is one of those peaceful towns, with a gazebo in the square and a tea room a few steps away from that.  It's a city in Geauga county, an area known for maple syrup, lots of snow, and Amish country. And yet a vicious tragedy has struck the town today, when a high school boy pulled the trigger of his gun on 5 of his peers.

It's odd when a national story happens so close to home. I'm not close with anyone who even goes to that school. But my next door neighbors were friends with the first boy who died. That moment when you realize that the news you're hearing is big- that's a terrible moment.

Praying for the families of those who were shot. Praying for the boy who pulled the trigger. He must be a sad, confused boy. One who was clearly at rock bottom and filled with hatred.

I'm praying because I know that my God can be glorified, even through tragedies like this.

Ca-ca-ca-craft Time!

Hooray for paint!

Did a little ombre number on our initials in the weddin' colors. Sidenote one:  Seth is a photoshop wizard (but doesn't really use it for photos...) and so he refers to ombre as "gradient." We fight about the correct term often. Sidenote two: When I showed Seth the pic of the S and E, he was all excited and said, "Oh, half of my name!" Ugh. Boys.

Also, why do yonder Instagram photos look so vintage-chic grainy on my Ipod but just so  regular low-quality grainy on the computer?

 The before. Got the cardboard letters from a craft store for real cheap.

The after. The lighting in this picture really makes the E look yellow -> orange.
It's much more coral ->pink in real life. I suppose you will have to trust me on that one.

These will be used at our wedding. Somewhere in our wedding...I don't know where. So many ideas, so few concrete plans...

This is a good life

Precursor: My apologies for the long, windy post :)

I just had an awesome trip to see the Fiance. He just found out Friday that he officially got a web design job in Cleveland starting after he graduates in May! We are excited and praising God for how He provides. To celebrate, we went to Ikea and picked up a few things for our future home, now that know at least what area that will be in. I love Ikea so the curtains and nick knacks were such a treat. We also went to Gameworks, which is a glorified Dave and Busters. We hardcore played games and then won ourselves a 18 inch whoopee cushion. If that's not class, I don't know what is

On Sunday we spent some good time with Seth's dad and stepmom at church and out for some good brunch. In the afternoon we went to a mall. You know those semi shady looking massage places in malls? Yeah, we both got a 22 minute chair massage. That was super weird.

ANYYYYWAAAAYYY, after that, I treated Seth to Medieval Times because we are just that cool and lame of a couple. But for real, it was awesome fun! We were in the section that cheered for the Green Knight. The Green Knight was a hardcore rebel and was basically the star of the show, telling the king what he thought was up. But I suppose good always triumphs over evil, so the Black And White Knight won in the last second, saving the Prince and all that goodie two-shoes knightly stuff. Green Knight was way cooler anyway. At Medieval Times, you get to eat your food without utensils. Seth would be the first to testify that usually eat my food more like a waif or a serf and less like a princess, so I fit right in, gooey hands and all.

On Monday, we went into downtown Chicago for the day. May I say, we were in one of those super good moods. The kind of moods when you say to yourself, "I can tell this guy anything! And he loves me! And it's all so good and I'm gonna marry him!" I dunno if that's a legitimate way to describe a mood, but it fit mine. And the unusual February sunshine and warm breeze, and the calm of the lake as you sit on the outskirts of a bustling city, they all reflected our good mood. And we frolicked around the Alder Planetarium and threw melting ice chunks into Lake Michigan. And then he dropped me off for my trip home on the Megabus. But it's all alright. I won't have to do that for much longer.

Sorry for the multitude of pictures. We finally had a visit together where we took a lot of photos. And I'm sparing you from any Instagram pics, so be thankful! (Seth gave me his old Ipod touch, and I was all "WOOOO! Instagram overdose!")

 So pumped to cheer on our Green Knight.

 Some dudes fighting.

That perfect, sunny, warm Chicago day when all was right in the world.

 Navy Pier!

Checking out the world.

 So, if you're still patiently looking at these pictures, I commend you and think you're weird. To reward you I will tell you about the above picture. I have an autoimmune disease called Raynaud's. It's really not a huge deal. But my hands are always super cold. This was a heat sensitive camera in the planetarium. Do you see how icy blue my fingers are? We were obsessed and thought it was the coolest thing ever.

I love this boy.

 Just happy posing.

 Acting all like, "Yeah, this is my city."

 Don't we just look so awkward here? We are awkward posers. Maybe that will be fixed in time for the wedding...

The glorious city...

Breaking up is hard to do

No, I'm not breaking up with Seth, silly! I'm talking wedding photographers! Or other business things like that. Like here I am, talking to these 2 different photographers. They are both nice and personable. I like both of their photo styles. They are about the same price. Each has his/her own pro's and con's that has made this decision a tough one.

Fortunately Seth and my parents and my best friend love me enough to hear me list those pro's and con's, often in graph form, over and over again. And I think we've made a decision.

But now, heck, I have to call or email or SOMETHING the losing party and tell them it's a no go! I feel like a tease. I feel like I led them on. I guess people in the business world are used to this. Clients talk and compare and decide and stuff all the time.

I guess I just have to man up and do this thing, huh?

In other unrelated news, I'm getting highlights tomorrow! What color? I dunno! (Eeek!! I sound like a Junior High girl posting about her hair issues on facebook! "Should I cut my hair short? I think I would look ugly with short hair. Do you?" ::fishes for compliments::)

Also I'm going to see Seth this weekend in Illinois! I'm just all around town these days.

Hard, Harder, Hardest.

I realized I haven't talked at all about wedding planning on here. That's actually pretty intentional. I don't want people to "see the wedding" before the actual wedding.

What I'm learning about wedding planning is that coming up with ideas is easy. Clearly communicating those ideas is hard. Narrowing down those ideas is harder (we can't do everything we see on pinterest, now can we?) Solidifying those ideas into actual plans is hardest.

We have a date set: August 18th (yes, of This year.) We have a venue. We borderline have a photographer, caterer, florist, etc. We do not have a guest list. We have materials needed to make invitations and craft project.

What I AM willing to share at this point, though, is my colors! I picked these out ages before we were engaged :) I think my little box of wedding goodies will show what they are:

 

Gray, coral, and turquoise. Some ombre details. Magic. 

Saes was here

Seth worked at a laundromat his first years of college. His Korean boss pronounced his name "Saes" (also spelled Ses, Sayce, etc..) It's pretty cool as far as nicknames go. Anyway, he- Saes, Seth, Fiance- was here this past weekend. That was a wonderful treat!

We registered at Target and Crate and Barrel. To my surprise there was either really nothing that we disagreed about,  or we did a good job at just picking what we truly wanted and letting the other person do the same. But anyway, that was fun. On Saturday, we went to the much anticipated Cleveland Aquarium. I LOVE aquariums and have been to some pretty neat ones (namely in San Diego, Chicago, and Virgina Beach.) I guess I was a tad disappointed by Cleveland's. It was crowded and there was only one flow of traffic to follow, instead of being able to be like, "Hey, lets check out _____ section now!" Also the water was murky in a few of the displays, like they haven't yet perfected their cleaning cycle. But regardless, we had fun. And I mean, come on, they had lobsters in a window above you, with the sky above them.

 

 nasty eel thing.

Sharks and Rays swim in the murkiness.

On a side note, we are getting worse and worse at getting pictures of us. I swear, I have 7000 pictures from our first summer together, and we only get a few now. I think my new camera may have something to do with that because a clunky DSLR requires more of an effort to be the "photographer" and less of an option to quickly get some fun shots with yourself in them. Basically, we need a professional photographer to follow us around for a few days :) For free :)  :) Any takers?

We tried to get cool shots down in the flats but my car didn't feel like being the most cooperative tripod...

...hence this "artsy" picture we got...

Saturday night we had a birthday party. Me and 2 other friends had just had birthdays. We all ate the cake with our hands, a spontaneous act by my Saes that has now turned into what we want to be a new tradition.

"Handcake." It's all the rage in Cleveland.

It was a good weekend. I'm thankful for my fiance and the time we spend together!

Forever Twenty-One

For a year, I will be forever 21. Yes that's right, my birthday was January 31st. A Tuesday. Meaning I had to go to work and you know, also wake up early the next morning for work. Also I don't drink so you can imagine how wild of a night I had!

Actually though, it was a great day! The weather was warm. My coworkers are great and made my day special with delicious home made mocha cupcakes (with chocolate covered espresso beans, thank you) and root beer (an homage to the wild night ahead of me they knew I wouldn't have.)

I went out to eat with the parentals. I randomly hung out with a few friends in the evening. My mom also carried on a tradition that I love that she started when I was little. She would always buy me a hyacinth on my birthday. Heck, it's practically the only flower in bloom and January and it looks and SMELLS like heaven!

So yes, it was a good day. And now I'm 21 and just realized tonight that I now have an expired license! I swear, if I get pulled over for the first time ever tomorrow... I dunno what I'd do. But it would just be so bitterly ironic.

But the best birthday treat is still to come! My wonderful fiance is coming in tomorrow for the weekend! (Wow, it still feels awesome fresh to call him my fiance!) Looking forward to a good weekend with him.