Anniversary, year 1

It is already November, where did the year go??!  I am a planner by nature, so of course I am already thinking about ideas for Aaron and I's first anniversary in January.

I really like the idea of giving the traditional gifts per year because Aaron is really stinkin' tough to shop for.  If I have a parameter set, ie: paper, I feel better about unleashing my creativity.  If I am picking something out of the sky I get way overwhelmed.
I had not one, but two ideas that would have been SLAM DUNKS and I would have won the anniversary.  Problem is, we are not in a place to spend hundreds of dollars on presents, especially right after Christmas.

So Aaron, if we were billionaires, here are some first anniversary Paper ideas that would have been really fun.

When I think of a paper gift, I think of two things.  Stationary (?) yawn.  And tickets to something (or somewhere)

1/31/13
We'd be celebrating a few days late, but tickets to our favorite freaky pop star ever would have been soooo awesome.

Lady Gaga!

You have got to be out of your mind?!?!

I am sure this show is worth the small fortune she is charging for tickets, but holy jeez, $442.50??  and $25 just to park my car?  and $60 for convenience??  Not happening.  Even if I did have the money, I would skip this in protest.  I might even dress up in a meat dress and hold Lady Gaga karaoke night in the parking lot across the street for all the people who are fans but not suckers.  Unbelievable.  But it would have been pretty perfect....

My second awesome idea hit me as soon as I heard the news.  The Book of Mormon is going on tour!  We both have been dying to see it for a million years.  They aren't even coming to Houston, which is way lame so I won't even get into that.

Book of Mormon on Broadway!

So our anniversary is the 28th, and that weekend the tour will be stopping at the fabulous Des Moines, Iowa Civic Center!  Can I get an LOL?  And we are totally the types that would go to Des Moines for our anniversary weekend - not even trying to be ironic about it.  

Ask me how much a flight to Des Moines costs?

Boo!   >:/

That is not even counting lodging or food for the trip.  So we would be looking at the equivalent of seeing Lady Gaga twice.

Why do all of my good ideas have such high price tags??

So for now, my best and most reasonable idea is to go see a movie, lol.

Did anyone out there do traditional first anniversary gift?  Does anyone have a good idea that is under, say, $200 bucks?

Fun fact, tomorrow is our 2nd engageaversary (if that is a thing?) :)  

Something that made me smile today

My friend and co worker Ryan and his wife are having a new baby girl in a couple months, and sadly their baby shower is scheduled the day after the wedding.  Since we are going to have loads of family and friends in town and will no doubt be exhausted, we had to decline our invite.  I got a gift for them and was just going to bring it to work on Monday for them to open at the shower.

Yay for babies :)

And since it will be the day after the wedding, I got to sign the card Aaron and Natalie Hinkley. :)

I am a dork!

Wedding favors are done!

I won't go into details because I don't want to blow the surprise, but this is what 200 wedding favors look like...

I am tired!

Red Neck Wine Glasses

Aaron and I got an awesome wedding gift last night from my Mom's next door neighbors, and I just had to share because it is hilarious:

Bubba's Redneck Wine Glasses

If you haven't seen these, or can't tell from the picture, these are mason jars with stems attached, lol.  Hilarious!

We got our present early because the neighbors are weeks away from moving to London for 2 years for work.  I am bummed that they wont be able to make it to the wedding, but they are super excited about their new adventure, so I am happy for them.  They will be missed around here!

If these glasses are to be used by actual rednecks, feel free to swap the wine for moonshine or pabst blue ribbon, lol.  

Thanks again Frank and Noelle!

Shower at The Guenther House

Holy Moly it has been a while!  It is good to be back, and I have much to blog about!  First things first, I had my bridal shower the weekend before last!

Guys, my shower was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!  First off, the Guenther House is the most quaint little historic house/restaurant ever, with gorgeous views of the San Antonio River!  We had the party room on the second floor with the terrace over looking the river.

There were SO MANY family members and friends that came to show their love, it was really great!

We had a fabulous time drinking tea and visiting.  It was a bummer that I didn't have enough time to visit with everyone as much as I liked, I am sure it will be even worse at the wedding!  We had the best food too, little tea sandwiches that were outstanding, brownies in heart shapes which were to die for, and fruits and bars, and so many delicious treats!

Yum!

And because everyone was beyond generous, I got about a billion presents <3

Only half of them fit into the car, we had my Aunt bring the other half the next day!

And a billion hugs go to my Aunt Gloria who hosted the party, I had the best time and cannot thank you enough for everything! <3

Labor Day Love

My Labor Day weekend was pretty fantastic.  My Mom and I headed down to Austin to see my Aunt Gloria and Uncle Howard, and my Granny and cousins came over too.  We ate barbecue and swam and visited and had a lot of fun.  It was really great to catch up with everyone, especially my bridesmaid/cousin Heather.  

Heather and Aunt Gloria

Well speaking of gifts from heaven, Heather's husband Randall's family owns a flower shop (two actually) in the Austin area, so my Mom and I went with intentions to get some advice on how best to DIY our centerpiece idea.  Florists around here are a little out of reach price wise, and I figure we could probably do a good job ourselves.  Time was really the issue - who knows how busy we will be on the days leading up to the big day.  Well Aunt Gloria and Uncle Howard offered/insisted that they and Randall were going to cover the flowers for the wedding - creating and financing!  Which is so awesome because the flowers at Heather and Randall's wedding were absolutely gorgeous!  But yeah, I couldn't believe it... Aaron and I have been saving and such because we didn't want to burden anyone with costs for our day, and we are learning that stuff adds up quick.  So it is such a wonderful blessing to have this area covered, and we are so appreciative of the generosity of everyone, even with their time.  Sometimes I am just overcome with how lucky I am to have my family, they are truly wonderful to Aaron and I.  <3  

First Wedding Gift!

I totally almost forgot, when we were heading back to Houston, Aaron's Mom sent us packing with our very first wedding gift!  And we got permission to open it!  I couldn't have waited 7 months though, I am super impatient with presents, lol.

Fancy!

We got a super cool set of tiered serving dishes in different sizes!  I can wait to have a place suitable for entertaining, because those will definitely get used with how much I bake around here... :)