Busy Summer

I haven't posted in quite a long time...So here's what's been happening:
-I quit my morning job.  My body just does not want to get up at 6 AND keep going until evening anyways.  I was also not really qualified to provide care for a special needs child.  I can change diapers, but only when I'm stronger than the child!
-I've been translating quite a bit.  This was also another reason to quit the other job.  I really need to keep up with vocabulary.  I'm hoping that I continue to receive a lot of work!
-The baby I nanny is now crawling at top speed and can pull up on things.  He also has object permanence and eats a TON.  He's only 6 months...The toddler's favorite word is 'no', and his favorite activity is to lie on the floor, talk to himself, and push a car back and forth.
-I'm getting extremely tired of living with my parents-in-law.  Rent may be low, but if I put something down, it gets moved by 1 of 3 people, we fight over tv's, the fridge is packed with leftovers no one eats/expired food, I 'get in trouble', I had to pack away almost all of my bridal shower and wedding presents 'cause there's no room for them...you get the idea.  We've only been there since the end of March!

Here are some more wedding pictures, with DIY ideas and projects:

We had the reception in a historic building, using their tables and chairs, with added padding.  

The tables had lilacs in mason jars, plastic silverware that was actually silver, plastic champagne flutes for sparkling apple cider, borrowed table clothes and runners...The place settings also had wedding mad libs, a sheet with information about the historic church we had the ceremony in, and a wildflower seed packet with our picture, names, and the date.

It was catered by the Celery Stick Cafe.  Great food, great prices.  And they are a co-op!

The church was old, and also very cheap to rent.

We rode in a family friend/distant cousin's antique truck.

With the help of several friends, I made this cake.  There are violets from my backyard on it.  There were also 9 small sheet cakes that we handed out to the tables for the guests.  It was delicious!  The cake mixes were only a dollar each at Walmart, and I made the frosting with some friends.  The piping came from tubes with decorative tips already on them.

Small guest book, basket for the wedding mad libs, and box for cards.  The ring bearer's pillow that my mom made from leftover wedding dress fabric is on top of the box.

Pictures were done for free by an old roommate's father and my cousin.  This one is taken in front of my favorite mountains!  Bridesmaids' dresses were bought on clearance from David's Bridal.

I made my dress, got the veil from Veilubridal.com, got the slip and underthings online, and my shoes were from Payless.  The flowers were extremely simple and cost a total of $330.

(I'm not that heavy!!!)

With a tiny bit of altering to make it fit properly (still ended up needing double sided tape and safety pins...), I used this pattern to make the dress.  It was easier than the prom dresses that I had made with boning and multiple layers.  I was able to have the wedding dress of my dreams, for a price that I could afford!  With all of the fabric and notions, this dress cost me a little over $100.

Yes, I finally did finish the shawl...a week after.  Thankfully, it was far to warm to even think about a shawl for the wedding day.  Its still beautiful and an heirloom to keep!

That's all for now.  I'll write again soon about my garden's progress!

Last Post Before Wedding

I've been super busy with work and getting last minute things ready.  The shawl still isn't done, but I only have 13 rows left.  I think I can do it.  4 days to go!  I'm leaving to go stay with my parents tomorrow early, so that I can meet up with my bridesmaids and get a bunch of stuff done.  I'm going to be crazy busy.  I am making my own cakes, too!

I went last Saturday to get contacts.  I tried them out for a couple days, but ended up ripping one trying to get it in yesterday.  They never did feel right when they were in, I felt a little fuzzy, and they bothered my eyes quite a bit.  So...back to glasses.  I won't be wearing them for the wedding, though.  I'm not that blind, and my cheap college glasses just wouldn't go!

Last night, Ruby got out of her cage and was running around Jon's studio.  We started the hutch last weekend, so hopefully after the wedding we can finish it!  I saw a wild rabbit just now outside in the yard =)

I'm exhausted, I forgot (wouldn't have had time anyways) to pack a lunch, so I'm starving, but I have so much to do tonight.  I need to pack everything so I can leave as close to 6am tomorrow as possible.  The good thing is that if I forget anything, Jon can bring it up =)  I hope we get some awesome thunderstorms this afternoon!

The peas and beans are getting quite tall now.  The greens are taking it slow.  We need more heat.  The cukes, zucchini, summer squash, and sunflowers haven't germinated yet.  I've been hardening the tomatoes, eggplants, watermelon, and peppers outside.  We need to start having some sunny weather, though!

So this is my last post before the wedding, because I will be super busy, and because I'm not sure when I will have internet.  This is exciting!

Updated Picture of Shawl

I'm on row 135 of 176.  It will look pretty...later.

Getting stressed

Ok, so my wedding is a week and four days away. Time to really start getting stressed! My shawl is getting there...I figured out that I need to do at least 12 more hours of work on it. I'd take a picture right now, but its all bunched up on a circular needle so you can't tell what it looks like. I think I have everything all set, except:

-bridesmaids' gifts and my jewelry are in the mail
-still waiting for sample of seed packet wedding favors (http://www.etsy.com/listing/57220949/wedding-favors-25-wildflower-seed)
-need to buy double sided tape and safety pins
-last minute makeup purchases
-maybe make a wedding mad lib for the guests? (http://community.theknot.com/cs/ks/blogs/wedding_style_file/archive/2010/01/30/new-wedding-ideas-mad-libs-inspired-guest-book.aspx)
-get nails done, not filled, but looking decent
-get drinks

and then the last minute things:
-make sheet cakes and a small pretty cake, and frosting
-cut lilacs and maybe other wildflowers

There's probably more. I have 5 more work days and 2 weekend days before I go to my parents'. It will all come together, but until then, I need to distract myself. The toddler is sleeping, and the infant is rolling and crawling around the floor, growling and chewing on a cloth book happily. I'm going to knit for a while and watching some hulu to get my mind off of things.

Oh, and my seeds outside are germinating! I just planted some cukes, zucchini, summer squash, and sunflowers in a freshly plowed plot, too. The rosemary never germinated, so Jon's mom got me a nice plant all ready to go =) Everything else is growing nicely!

Money is tight.

I just sat down and worked on a budget.  I need another car, and I realistically don't have the money for it.  I can't really cut anything out of my budget- its all pretty much gas, food, rent and wedding stuff.  And of course, rabbits, but they will always have plenty to eat and be comfortable.  I love them!  When my garden gets going, they will have plenty of veggies, and when my future father-in-law starts haying, I'll get hay from him and not the pet store.  Wedding spending is almost over, though, and I will be very thankful for that.  I still have a few more things to pay for.  This is going to be a beautiful wedding!  Its coming up so soon...19 days, I think.  I'm getting nervous, but I guess that's good.  Waiting is the hard part.  If I can finally save up for another car, then I'll need to save up for a house and future children.  It never ends!

This last weekend went by very quickly.  I knit quite a bit, and am now on row 99 of the shawl.  I babysat Saturday night with Jon.  We stopped at the Russian grocery and got dinner food!  We had potato and mushroom perogi, real Russian sour cream, kvas, cake, sushki (sweet crackers in the shape of rings), kolbasa, an apple, and Challah bread.  Lots of lovely leftovers.  Очень вкусно! (Very tasty!)

I'm about ready for a nap.  I spent all morning outside with the kids.  The baby is already starting to lift onto his hands and knees...at 5 months!  The toddler ran and ran and biked and slid and giggled for hours.  =)  The kids are napping now, so I might just catch up on some hulu and think about knitting patterns!

A few hours to spare

I have a few hours to spare between jobs today.  I would love to take a nap, but I have a feeling that I wouldn't fall asleep until just before I had to leave.  So instead, I'm going to work on that wedding shawl.  I decided to go with a different pattern, which meant that I could just use the @1000 yards that I had already spun.  The pattern was also free:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/ez-100th-anniversary-hearts-half-circle
Here's what it looks like so far:

I've got a lot to do!

Last night, I made bread with this recipe:

http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/quick/recipe-notime-bread-040653

It takes maybe an hour to make, and tastes like it took hours.  I did forget to shape it into a ball before putting it into the Dutch oven, so its a bit flat, but its still tasty and airy and its my new favorite bread!