The Great Couch Swap of 2013!

Last weekend, Mr. Brown, myself, and my brother-in-law switched the couches of 4 houses, and we did it in less than 3 hours!  Now, I suppose I should clarify that when I say "we," I mean that the strong men did most of the work, and that they ought to get most of the credit.  I did my share to be sure, as I was in charge of moving the various cushions and pillows back and forth, and of course was the only one documenting the adventure.

In case you're wondering...

The chubby green love seat (my husband's $20 purchase) was ours and the first to travel.  It went to my mom & dad's house where it replaced a lovely neutral couch.  The neutral couch traveled about 20 minutes north to my sister's house to replace a mauve sectional (a remnant of her husband's bachelor days).  The sectional traveled back to my hometown to my youngest sister's house to replace the cream of the crop of sofa's...  Can you pick it out?  Process of elimination, I know, but really, it's so beautiful! And it's mine at last!  

Where Do You Take a Scot?

Summer came to Kansas this week!  I turned on the AC on Wednesday night, and that's the official beginning of summer for Kansas folk.  Along with summer, came my dear Scottish friend!  Just in time to enjoy the heat...

Now when I say "my Scottish friend," I mean she actually came over from Scotland, herself...  Technically, I think I've got some Scottish ancestry, along with what seems like 95% of the American population, but this girl even has the telling accent.  So there!

Anyway, she came for a visit, and one of the highlights (for me at least), was a trip to Jamesport, MO.  There's a high concentration of Amish/Mennonite families in this area, so over the years it's become quite the attraction.  Not only does it have small Amish-run businesses and shops, but also a load of antique shops!  Gotta love the antique shops!

My favorite purchase was a pair of blue furniture coasters
that I'm using to even out my kitchen cart!
Hence, my haul pic taking place on the kitchen floor :)

I didn't break the bank or anything, but I had a blast looking around and listening to the musings of my friend.  Twas an awesome day!

One Fine Day

Our spring has been a bit tardy this year, and March was full of freezing and snowy days.  However, there was this one day...  Literally, it was one nice day, and it was crazy warm!  One crazy warm day, and we took advantage of it.  Well, if you'd consider going to Brown County Lake taking advantage of a beautiful day.  

Regardless, it was lovely...  Mr. Brown brought his fishing gear, and I brought reading material, music, and food.  We both had a pretty good time, and it was nice to be able to relax and be warm.  Here's hoping that spring wins out before too long!

Weekend Getaway!

If there's one thing I love, it's going places.  I'll go just about anywhere if I'm asked, and recently, I was asked to go away for a weekend with a certain young man.  He said he'd reserved a room at a high class hotel in the Old Market district of Omaha, and we could spend the weekend shopping and eating...  AAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Needless to say I was pretty excited, and the weekend definitely lived up to my expectations.  Especially the food bit!  We took advantage of the opportunity to try a few new things (including room service!), and the whole experience was awesome.

We ate at a swanky italian place...

Room Service!

Mr. Brown even got to shoot the breeze with one of his favorite people!

Married and Moved!

    Well, in case you weren't at my September 1st wedding, or crossing the days off your calendar, I'm married now!  That's right, I'm Mrs. Jennifer Brown.  Well...  Let's just say that I am.  I'm having some difficulties with that transition to be quite honest.  No, I'm not having second thoughts about changing my surname to my beloved husband's, I'm literally having difficulties changing my name!

     Apparently, this does not happen automatically.  Seriously?  My workplace, the DMV, the social security office, and the bank all want something different, and I feel like I'm playing a computer game to get everything I need in the right order.  So tedious.

     Anyway, enough about the red tape of being joined in matrimony, let's get to the blog-worthy post-marriage updates.  I've moved almost all of my earthly possessions to my new home!  Isn't it adorable :)  Just look at the hastas!  We've obviously got a lot that we want to do, but I still think it's adorable.  Mr. Brown put on those shutters just for me.  I've always wanted a house with shutters!   

     After using our bridal shower money to buy my lovely new-to-me stove (please see a bit of it below), and setting up all of our kitchen-related gifts, we've got a working kitchen and I'm thinking about about cooking.  Yeah yeah, I'll get to it.

     Here's a peek at the rest of the house...  But that's all your getting!  I'm afraid all of those earthly possessions I mentioned earlier are still piled around.  I just keep bringing more over instead of putting things away.  I don't feel too bad about it though.  Mr. Brown will be leaving me for 4 months next Friday, October the 12th, so I'll have plenty of time to do it then.  Ugh.

It seriously feels like I've been wedding planning for about a year, and it's only been about 6 months!  I don't think I'd have done very well with a year long engagement, what appeal wedding planning did have is rapidly wearing off.  So many little things to worry about!

Well at least the invitations have been sent!  As you can see, I sat down and did my best to finish one of the most important steps of the wedding planning journey.  So at least people will know when it is, and where to show up on the big day.  With less than a month left, I'm rapidly making decisions that most brides have made with 6 months to go, and realizing that some decisions I was putting off have been completely forgotten!  For instance...  Boutonnieres!!!  I've gotta find a florist to deal with the guys' flowers!  Better get on that...  

In other news...  I had my birthday this week!!!  Yay!!!!!!!  My Mr. Brown got me a sewing machine!  Now, don't you dare think that he had any ideas of me making all of our clothes from now on...  I wanted one!  So many plans...

Express Yourself!

One of the roads that a bride must venture down before the big day is the wedding cake topper road.  I must admit, I'd completely overlooked this particular detail until about a week ago.

I've been missing out!

The world of wedding cake toppers includes the strange and unusual, the adorable, and the creepy.  I would love to meet the people that chose some of these toppers.  Seriously, I would love to hear your stories 'people that have chosen these toppers!'  Have 20 minutes to kill and want to waste it on Google images?  Search for wedding cake toppers!

Obviously, the wedding cake topper I have chosen falls into the cute but classy category...in my head at least.  And no.  It is not pictured in my Wedding Topper Montage above.

But can I just say...  I love the birdies in the right bottom corner!!!  They are just precious.