we have moved out of chicago.

for a few reasons.

after making the big decision to move to a new state from my home in Dallas Texas, for all of the reasons that we discussed quite often (we both had jobs, despite the 10% tax rate, we wanted to go to school eventually, Ani had a band opportunity, we wished to live without an automobile, to have kittens for children, and find a decent apartment.) we were sure that this new state would be good for our new life together.

we were there for less than two months.

ani and i are not cave-dwellers, but we love to be home. reading together, working on crafts, cooking... and it is not as if we dislike being around people- but. there are a lot of people in chicago.

a lot.

so many, that we felt unsafe leaving our home. the bus and trains were packed every night on the way home from work. the city never sleeps! we could hear the train from our apartment. yes, we were six blocks west of lake michigan, and two blocks west of the train station, one block from our bank and fresh market... but we, were not made to survive in that kind of environment. we were constantly fatigued, stressed out from always watching our backs, and wearing ear phones and sunglasses for our own safety just so we could blend in.

my starbucks transfer did not go through. the district manager... as well as the manager back in dallas... did not correspond. i was deleted from the system in dallas before i could find a home store in chicago, and once the termination went through, it was done. i was working the day it happened, and had found a store that day. but it was too late. i worked hard to figure out what i could do at that point. but the only option the DM left me was to be re-hired.

now, i really did enjoy working for starbucks. there were some good things about it. like the tea! and my favourite regulars. but the company side? after three years, working at (quite literally) fast-food drive thru's to make my managers / districts good numbers, by fatiguing my fingers and hands through caughing up lattes and cappuccinos in 19 seconds, and having the beverages (almost literally) thrown out by the window by the drive-thru window employee...

i was not willing to simply be "re-hired" and started at less than i had earned from my three years worth of raises.

that's all they could offer me.

our apartment was 500 sq. feet. we were paying $685 for rent. with gas, and electricity on top of that. we don't have a car, so that was wonderful no longer having to worry about those expenses, but we still payed for public transportation passes. ($23 each a week. not too shabby, right?) i can say, without a doubt in my mind, that ani and i are thrifty people. it is our way of life. we have always opted out of buying new for used, both raised on taking care of the things we have and buying from salvation army and thrift stores. i sincerely believe that one factor in our adolescence has changed the way we view dollars and cents and our A-typical Consumer Society.

i was having coffee one afternoon, a saturday afternoon, researching living in a new state. nebraska. cost of living, apartments, homes, jobs, counting with my fingers the amount of friends i had here, (and family, too!) and wondering why did we not consider this before.

when andrew's 17" macbook pro, with his entire photographic portfolio, was stolen out of my hands by two large african american men who staged a squabble between themselves in front of me over their phone.

it was traumatic.

THAT was when we knew it was over. i was incredibly emotionally instable. my heart and my mind was sore to the extent that i felt my life was in danger if i left our apartment, just to get groceries. i did not have a job anymore. so i stayed at home. for three weeks. we adopted two kittens, and planned for our great escape. as we so called it.

the plan was to apply for Whole Foods Market in Omaha. My brother and sister in law live here and have grown quite accustomed to the city and its environment, (i had visited two years ago and was convinced i had to live here; right before re-meeting my best friend and later marrying him ;) so i rode back to Omaha when they came for a visit in chicago.

i got the job, i found A GEM of a home for us, we bought incredible bicycles off of craigslist, and we have six good-neighbor-friends that live in the same 1920's mansion as us (one who owns/manages it) in the other split up apartments. we have our two "children" Arthur and Amelie. we have a garden patio, and a vegetable garden on the property, free wifi, laundry, and a 900 sq. foot apartment for less altogether than what we paid in chicago. did i mention the tax rate is 7%?

so we commute to work on our bicycles. my commute is 7.5 miles one way, while ani's is 4.2 miles. a lot of the people we have met (who were not our friends before, mainly acquaintances at work) think us crazy to move to Nebraska! over chicago. i don't think we're crazy.

we are actually very, very, happy to be in a comfortable home. in a comfortable nice neighborhood. with nice jobs. and really, really nice friends... :)

peace,

ky

Greetings From Iceland!

dear uncle wally and aunt sue,

we have decided to become scientists and travel the world, just like you two.

these are for your enjoyment and inspiration:

viking ruins

gulfoss waterfalls

strokkur in geysir, iceland

the wind here is incredibly strong

this was the view from road 1 outside of hrosshagi

Final Details

Hello friends and family!

We have kept a weary eye on the updates concerning the obnoxious weather forecasting, and it continues to baffle us. At first it was supposed to be clear, then rain, now it says it is going to thunderstorm the night before and in the early morning... Of course it will rain more in some areas of the metroplex than in others, but my act of living in denial of it actually raining and pushing our ceremony inside has come to a complete halt. It could forreal rain... and not only that, a mysterious cold front is coming through, on the day of the wedding....

So bring your cardigans and jackets! We will still have a lovely time, and eat lovely food, and dance to lovely music, we will be chilly, but there is a lovely huge fireplace inside the dining hall...that mom is quite tempted to light up.....

the party will go on.

It is going to be in the 40's, with a windchill in the upper 30's.... jeepers... ;]

So bring a comfy sweater!

Don't be alarmed when you drive into the Park and there is a $10 entrance fee... quite unfortunately they would not waive it for our wedding, so if you can, carpool! It is good for the whole day, even if you have to leave and come back. (the food and cake will be way worth it ;)

I think the weathermen are predicting the rain to stop around noon? So we will still get some time outside, i am afraid however that the ceremony will have to take place inside; and I do regret to inform. I am very disappointed... but it could be worse.

We wanted to have everything setup in the dining hall so that when the ceremony ended the guests could easily transition to the dining hall for the appetizers and lunch buffet, but we are currently undergoing a plan "RAIN" schedule to reconfigure the aisle vs. table question.

On another happy note, i took my matron of honor ashlynn (older brother jonathan's lovely wife, my best friend) my guest of honor brielle (grooms wife and a new buddy) and a sweet friend who has been around for the craft making and shower planning to whole foods to purchase the sunflowers and some of the more "exotic" flowers for our bouquets, and then met up with mother and father at Sams to get the roses and hypericum berries and eucalyptus. This afternoon we put all of the bouquets together, cleaned the mason jars and the old green sparkling water bottles, tied red ribbons on both, then topped the mason jars [to be used for the centerpieces] off with a single sunflower, and the green bottles with a brief note and bird seed [to be thrown at us during the recessional].

The napkins are nearly all ironed, the red tapestry tobacco-stuffed heart sachets nearly complete with embroidered "A + K" letters, the feather boutonnieres fly tied, the corsages sewn, the cakes ordered, the flowers bouquets ready, the food bought... all we really have to do left is bustle the dress, rehearse, pack for the honeymoon, and have a good nights sleep...

So that is the grand update! See you all very soon... don't forget your rainboots! You know i'll be wearing mine!!

//ky

I will never get married again. It requires far too much planning.

...but here is a sneak peak

of the personal touch

involved...

more to come,

//andrew

For those who have been invited...

Don't forget to RSVP, by March 1st! If you cannot send the card in the mail, email Momma Neve at booksncoffee@aol.com to book your reservation!

This will help so much! Thank you!

- ani & ky

Updating the registry!

Unfortunately we have not given as much of our attention to the registry's as of late, therefore I am updating them a bit (it's been four months since we have done anything with them!)

Just as a reminder, we are registered at

Target.com

Rei.com

ikea.com (they do not have a registry yet?! we would LOVE some gift cards there!)

Thank you ALL for checking out our wee small blog and we cannot wait to see everyone in 31 days :)

- ani & ky

Stress: something i have become much more accustomed to as of late, but something i have not lost ability to grab hold of and shake off.

after a few shakes.

I do believe that before this wedding planning began (quite a while ago, we were planning what we wanted before we were engaged) i did not quite understand what stress was. I think i expected it to feel someway, when in fact the feeling was something entirely different. It begins- and you can hardly notice it, it begins to alter your decisions, your mood, your patience, and at the finale you cannot even walk about your house without an explosion or your head popping off like a toy rocket. They are best handled with tea and a nap.

I am absolutely sure more women have had a hellish time having to plan their wedding, "dealing" with family members, florists, decorators, venue administrators, djs, grandparents trying to do the best, losing the ring, tearing the dress, fighting with the fiance, i could make up too many presumable situations... But ours really is not that stressful. I am thankful for how well ours is turning out.

Yes- at this point- i can say it will not be as i had "always dreamed." But i can admit that, while it is more expensive, time swallowing, stressful, and large, it is as it should be. I hoped for a very small (smaller than the somewhat 90 that will show as it is) backyard wedding, with a homemade dress, handpicked sunflowers, and more simple than you might be able to imagine. I am content with less, and some just cannot seem to realize that. That is how i wish it could be.

We still have the touch of our personalities; mainly his:) Ani and i had the idea for the post card save-the-dates. We found a website online that we uploaded our photo into, and paid about $24 for 100 of them. He found an image that he re-designed with our information for the invitation and sketched it out. Painting it with watercolors, then handing the project off to me, dad scanned them, i photoshopped them, had them printed at kinkos (now fedex office, but i cannot move off from the original name...) cut them out with sylvia while mom folded them all, they all came together. I have designed the wedding favors, something mom and i (with a group of ladies she has rounded up!) will put together in the next few weeks, i had ideas for the simple shower invitations, something Sylvia grabbed a hold of and turned them into something lovely, and we are still decorating... So it really is not that bad. Just- not as i first imagined. new ideas bloom, and life goes on.

and that is aok:)

I have a beautiful dress, and he has a ring from outer-space (a piece of the Gibeon meteorite that descended into Namibia, Africa. Discovered in 1838) that has been plated in 24k gold. It is heavy, and quite a thing to watch him wear it for pretend. He delights in the fact that his wedding ring is from "outer-space, kylie!!! outer-space!! :)"

he is adorable.

I have designed my corsages, as he is designing his boutonnieres. Mine are made of lace, and his designs are with feathers... if you question that, google-search "feather boutonnieres" and you will be amazed. He is an artist of immeasurable capabilities.

To the plan B: in need for a backup plan we have landed on a lovely spot, a place i have grown up in and know well and equally love as i do the backyard of the cottage: an old state park located right in our neighborhood. We as a family have had so many adventures, late-night hikes listening for the owls, day-time hikes, camping, swimming, blackberry picking, wildflower gathering, nature-walking, butterfly migrating, trips. Most of my homeschool education can easily be credited to that park. I joke and say i know the park more than the old people do that work there. I believe it's true.

Anyway, we have chosen to have it there at the conference center (and i am still equally excited- we have more space to run and play, and transition between ceremony, reception, and dancing) and in each of your invitations will be a card to refer you to right here! Our new website! Included as will is a map of the new location. The park sadly will not wave the $10 entrance fee... However, carpooling is highly encouraged... and we might be able to sneak people in with already-paid cars :D

I have just decided on my shoes, and have ordered them. My first idea was to find shoes similar to the cinderella slippers in the old drew barrymore movie "Ever After"... I love those shoes.... And i cannot believe i am admitting that. But i have. There is this website i found that makes those shoes... but being kylie, never owning a pair of heels, never wearing makeup, and never doing her hair, i was a bit intimidated by the idea of ordering heels over the internet and wearing them with a dress. I also want to be comfortable. And i also do not want to spend $40 on a pair of shoes i will only wear once? I never spend $40 on a pair of shoes...On a pair of anything, for that matter...

So i went with this pair: (only imagine them ivory). They are flat, nice, and still wearable for other fancy occasions... I am pleased with what i found, I only hope they fit well:) If not, lord knows i will be returning them...

After a bit of delay, the invitations are finally being sent out tomorrow!

I had them basically ready on thursday, but had five more to put together, the plan B cards to cut out, and stickers to attach... So ani and i cut out the cards, and while his mom was in town, she and my mom attached all the lovely sunflower stickers saturday evening, and finished right at five o'clock. Quite sad, considering the next day was sunday, and THEN presidents day... :) ahwell. I think all will be quite okay...

Here is the day mom and i went to Sylvia's to finish up the shower invitations:

maybe soon i will decide what i want with the corsages? and i will post them. until then, hold tight! we are 34 days away.

love,

- ky

so extremely excited.

Our plan to move to Chicago is becoming more and more of a reality.

This hit even more hard tonight, when I purchased our two tickets to visit on the 17th, to claim an apartment and choose the stores we will transfer into. I have never been to chicago in my life.

and we are not 100% sure yet.

(but with my whole heart, I am ready for this next adventure).

take me to chicago!

- ky

nearly there.

45 days until our marriage. Here i sit, in frisco, ready for the next two days off from work to package and address the invitations (a little behind schedule) make the blog (i can check THAT off the list!) and secure a plan B in case of rain... Our farmers almanac has claimed rain for three weeks up to our date, leaving a day or two for it all to soak up, leaving us with an icky, soggy yard...

We are planning on our old state park, located here in the neighborhood.

Last week i designed my corsages; layers of lace sewn and tucked in and folded over to make the shape of a flower head. Brown fabric, wooden buttons, and embroidery thread with our accent colors (indian paintbrush red and light yellow rose) bring them together. The sample is nearly complete- next is bringing the others to life...

I absolutely love this idea for the corsages because they WILL NOT DIE. And i will not have to make them the day before the wedding because of it. Ani has thought the same thing, and has begun his search for the perfect boutonnieres for his men... it should be pretty great:)

- ky