I-OH-WAY

...is also known as Iowa. It is a great place. Especially when you get free antiques from the in-laws and the State Fair is going on (And you get in for half price). :)

Exhibit One:
Barnwood from the Terrell Farm.

Exhibit Two:
Antique table from said Farm.

Exhibit Three:
Iowa State fair for $5 admission.

Exhibit Three point Five:
Porkchop on a stick.

This profitable weekend has created challenges with its grand exhibits of awesomeness:
1: Build amazing headboard out of barnwood.
2: Clean and spruce up antique table (think: years of mice dwelling).
3: Have even MORE fun at the Minnesota State Fair.
3.5: Try to not become a porkchop as result of State Fairs.

More to come on these challenges/projects! The top of the desk has already been shined up to look so sparkly new, so stay tuned!

Unexpected Good Stuff.

Yesterday afternoon when Bryant got off work we sat around the house doing nothing very constructive. I did manage to look through thousands of photos and swoon over our wedding day all over again (you can too, right here) but stuff like that usually doesn't count as being productive.

Before the afternoon moved into evening we forced ourselves out of the apartment and walked to a yard sale (bust), drove to a lampshade shop (closed--bust), walked to an antique store (expensive--bu$t), and then to Dairy Queen (major success!). Because Bryant works today we went to Bethlehem Baptist in downtown Minneapolis for church where John Piper was at the pulpit after 7 weeks of writing leave/vacation. I don't think Bryant and I have seen him preach since before we started dating in 2009, so it was nice to hear truth spoken through him again while sitting next to my spouse.

After church I am pretty sure we sat in the air-conditioned car for a good 20 minutes before deciding what do to for dinner. A few weeks ago Bryant won a contest through Facebook from South of Canada where he received a $25 gift card for the Loop Bar so we figured that since we were in Mpls we might as well head over there. This took such a long time to decide because although I love the Twin Cities, I don't like its night life. I was fearful that a Saturday night around the North Loop would be loud, cramped, and uncomfortable. Setting my premonitions aside, we decided to go anyway. Surprisingly, we got to sit outside at sidewalk seating where it was quieter and warmer (yeah, totally freezing inside) and the food was super yummy! We splurged and each got a locally-brewed beer. We enjoyed those while watching people walk by and we even saw Mark Rosen with his family--Minnesota celebrity sighting!

All of these unexpected good things happened to us and to top it all off we learned that our gift card was actually worth $65 instead of $25! It sounds like we have to return to the Loop before we leave! When we learned that Bryant just sat back with a grin on his face and said, "Gosh, sometimes I just feel so... lucky." Unexpected good stuff is awesome. :)

Wedding Photos!

The moment we have been waiting for had arrived on Tuesday night: Our wedding photos were posted!! Since then I have been dying to sit down and look through all 3,501 of them. I actually still have yet to get through them all, but I am close and I managed to put together a few collages of some of our favorites:

I couldn't be any more in love with how the day turned out. The flowers, the whole look, the photo booth (UnBooth)  and my adorable bridesmaids were just a few parts of what made it so great!

The butterfly combs were lent to me by my mother, and the necklace was my MorMor's string of pearls.

The Boys. I am so glad our photographer captured the boutonnieres. I love fiddlehead ferns! Each yellow tie was different and custom-made by a shop I found on Etsy.

It may be strange, but my favorite photo of all 3,501 is the bottom right of this set. I love to look at that face he makes when I go in for a smootch. I cannot believe how lucky I am to have such a wonderful man to kiss for the rest of my life!

If you want to see more of our favorites, we have created an album on our wedding photo Flickr site. We added a bunch today and I have more tweaking to do yet, but until then, enjoy the creme de la creme!

Acknowledgements:
Photography - Clewell Photography
Location - Minnetonka Orchards
Ceremony/Reception Flowers - Armstrong Design
Bouquets/Boutonnieres - My pal, Kate. :)
Custom Neckties - Tux and Tulle
Gown/Dresses/Tuxes- The Wedding Shoppe, Inc.

July is almost over!

Today is the "We've been married for 2-months" day! Wow, time has certainly gone by quickly. I cannot believe that July is almost over. We have so many things yet to do, people to see, places to visit! This may sound kind of depressing, but we have kind of created a "bucket list" of things to do before we move.

See Family in WI
See Family in IA
Go to a Twins Game in MN
Go to a Brewers Game in WI
Fly to Seattle to see Dave Matthews Band in Concert
Visit my sister in Washington state
Go to Wisconsin Dells
Make a headboard for our bed
Go to the MN State Fair
Visit Friends in Cook one more time
Visit a dozen other friends we will miss a TON

Not to mention all of the necessary things that have to get done before we leave:

Apply for a visa
Arrange a contract with the movers
Close cell phone account
Cancel internet (and other) services
Sell two cars
Forward our mail
Clean and store my wedding gown

... and we leave in less than two months! I am not overwhelmed (yet) but just looking at the long list of things, and I know this is not exhaustive, does make me a bit sad. A trip to the Dells and a DIY headboard is probably not going to happen.

We continue to have fun and take each day as it comes. Tonight we utilized a free appetizer from Buca di Beppo for joining their eClub! We got the cheesy bread florentine which normally costs $12.95 and we also received a free lunch-sized slice of lasagna for National Lasagna Day! All of that with the small pasta dish means TONS of leftovers for the next two meals, as Bryant showcased here:

In other news, the ceiling in the sunroom is all fixed! The painter was in last week and fixed her right up:

 

The weather is still really warm and we are excited to see my little sister this weekend! Garage Sale shopping? Mall of America? Como Zoo? So many possibilities (that aren't even on the bucket list!)

The Excitement of Apartment Life (part two).

Well folks, just when you thought all the drama of a plaster ceiling would subside, you get another surprise.

To stay cool tonight we had Sebastian Joe's ice cream with our pals Jared & Skyler! It was so nice to go into an air conditioned ice cream parlor and enjoy a delicious time with friends. When we got home, I sat on the couch to look at the mail when Bryant said, "Hannah, you have to come over here. I am not happy." He was in the sunroom and it didn't take long for me to realize that something was going on with our favorite ceiling corner--you can read about the ceiling in "The Excitement of Apartment Life (part one)" here, although at the time we didn't think that story would be the first part of a duology at the time.

I really haven't had much to complain about with the humidity today. I spent a grand total of 12 minutes outdoors and the rest of the day was spent in air conditioned buildings. Our apartment was not handling the weather well, though, and the integrity of the sunroom's plaster was rapidly diminishing...

The updated ceiling:

The remains:

The saddest part is the damage those chunks did to our day bed. There are now three nasty gouges in the wood. We would have kept the bed unmade and out from under the corner but we had a friend stay overnight at our place this weekend due to an unexpected flight delay. We can't forfeit our hospitality to a little plaster/flood problem, right?? Well, we could have offered the couch I suppose, but fortunately this didn't happen on Friday night when someone's head would have had the gouges in it instead of the bed. :-/

On another positive note, the mess isn't gross water and the crumbs and dust can be brushed off for the most part.

...But I am really hoping there isn't a part three to this saga.

TOO DARN HOT.

You know that cute song that Ella Fitzgerald sings? I'm feeling like it is just too darn hot to do anything right now. This morning Bryant and I braved the humidity in our apartment by quickly making pancakes and bacon and then running back to our air-conditioned bedroom to eat breakfast in bed.

When we moved into this apartment is was March and boy oh boy, was it a cold March. This winter was especially long! We didn't really take into consideration the fact that our new apartment didn't have A/C until we returned from our honeymoon the first week in June. We went to Target on the first hot day just to walk around in the air conditioning and actually considered buying the only window unit they had left on the shelf (which was probably the most expensive unit and likely way too big for our window).

Fortunately, my wonderful family donated their extra A/C window unit to the cause! We have a tiny little window in our bedroom and this thing couldn't have fit any more perfectly. I am pretty sure the guy from our apartment maintenance department rolled his eyes when we asked him to install it in that window instead of a larger one. Thanks to a few screws and a little elbow grease, we've had a cool and comfortable sleeping area on these hot days!

Right now in that cruel, hot world, 99º F with 80º F dew point means it is very, very uncomfortable out there (but very nice in here!):

Stay cool, Minnesota!

The Excitement of Apartment Life.

During our engagement, Bryant had moved to the Twin Cities from Cook, MN. It was a bittersweet time of transition because we were leaving all the friends we had made up there to start our life together in the city. A couple we were close with got married last weekend and it was so great to get back up North to celebrate with them. We even got to stop by my favorite ice cream place while we were there!

Even though the weekend on the lake was relaxing and fun, we returned to our apartment and beheld a very unfortunate sight:

Water damage!

The ceiling in our sunroom had been victimized by our upstairs neighbors. We were not very happy about getting home to this mess. It's one thing to have a ceiling looking like this and it's another thing to have it leak water all over your day bed. :(

Exhibit A:

This photo is of my very sad down comforter covered in nasty ceiling water. I really should have taken photos of everything before we disrobed the bed and removed the soaked lamp and clock, but I felt that unplugging the electrical cords was probably a good first move instead. Everything was pretty nasty, though, and Bryant and I were really bummed to have to deal with such a mess after a nice vacation.

Once we removed all our prized possessions from underneath the still-dripping ceiling corner we decided to go outside, look at the 3rd floor neighbors' apartment sunroom and see if there was any clue as to what was making my day bed a really ugly brown color. There was! We looked up there and saw this: 

If you can't tell what that is, I'll tell you. It's someone's idea of a window unit air conditioner installation. [And by that I mean: The neighbors don't know how air conditioners work and thought that placing one on the window ledge and turning it on before leaving for the weekend would be a super idea.] 

We knocked on their door several times with no answer. I had considered dropping a passive agressive note under their door laying out the basic physics of air condensation for their return but Bryant wouldn't let me.

Needless to say, we did manage to clean up the mess and pay $25 to get our comforter cleaned, which is only a slightly dingier white now. The maintenance man came about an hour after we called, turned off the air conditioner and installed it (correctly) for the neighbors. We've been told the painters will be by later to solve the ceiling problem, but until mold starts growing I'm not too concerned. :)

The whole situation was a test of patience, and I think we did alright except for the choice words I drafted in my brain in the first moments of displeasure. It was a reminder of the frustrations, and relief, that come with living in a rental apartment complex. Even though it was a headache and very inconvenient at the time, it isn't our bank account or re-plastering skills being put to work to fix the issue (phew)! 

On a happier note, here is a photo of the adorable couple we saw get married last weekend. It certainly was the highlight! :)