Anyone know a "sun dance"???

Well our wedding reception is finally upon us. You may recall we were officially married by a JP in our home on October 1, but we couldn't have our families and friends there easily on short notice and on a weekday morning. So we promised our brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews, along with our very closest friends- that we would have an outdoor reception for them in the spring, at Eric's family lodge in the mountains.
When I was dating Eric, he talked often about the "cabin" in Breezewood, PA that his father and he had built themselves on a 300 acre parcel tucked away in the mountains. He spoke of it as if it were a magical place and his eyes twinkled when he told me how excited he would be to take me there soon. Now, I've seen plenty of cabins and "get away" spots before, so I smiled nicely and told him how excited I was to see it. Well I have to say, that when he finally drove me up the picturesque mile-long driveway, this "cabin" took my breath away! It is so beautiful and really is a magical place. Every detail was attended to when this family built their vacation spot. Much love went into creating a special place for special family gatherings. Once there, I could see why this place meant so much to my new fiance. So I looked at him and said, "this is where we should be married!" You should have seen the smile on his face and later, the same smile on his father's face when we told him of our decision! This "cabin" as they call it (it's truly more of a 6 bedroom lodge!) was built with the sole purpose to bring family together. What better place could there be, to celebrate our love and family than this! So, while we were officially married in our home last October, we will renew our vows this time in front of all of our loved ones. This will be a perfect opportunity for us to thank those closest to us, for their support and love over the years. The people in attendance are those who have seen us through the rough times and have helped us get to this new, happy and loving place we are today. We have much to be grateful for and have the perfect location in which to celebrate.
So, final preparations are being made. The only concern we have now is the weather. We have a tent for the tables and caterer, but really want the ceremony to be outside on the lawn. We would also love for our 21 children in attendance to be able to play outside at this wonderful mountain retreat. So, if you happen to know a "sun dance", now would be a great time to do it! The Breezewood weather report is calling for rain!

Regardless, rain or shine, our day will be magical. With such a unique and true love, wonderful people and a magical location, we can't help but have a memorable day.

Log Home Kitchens

I'm getting so excited about spending my first full summer in my beautiful new log home! I'm settling into this new area and making some new friends. I'm here to tell you that it's not easy being 40ish and starting over in a new town, with a new husband, and trying to make new friends. But I'm getting there and have connected with some very cool local moms. Life is good!
I'm very excited about hosting some summer parties and inviting new and old friends alike to my home. The contractors are putting in our backyard patio as we speak and Eric and I will be plugging away on those kitchen cabinets throughout the weekend.
I've gathered some inspiration photos of some log home kitchens to share with you. While my kitchen will be somewhat different, these are some pretty pics that you might enjoy. Our island will eventually have a stone facing like the one shown here:

 

Photo courtesy of Kootenai Log Homes

It looks like I'm not the only designer who felt that pine colored walls were ENOUGH pine, and wanted some color in the cabinets...look at these green kitchens.

Photo courtesy of Log Home

Photo courtesy of B Lavish

I love every kitchen featured on this blog post...check them out for your own inspiration!

Alkemie

This kitchen is also found on Alkemie. And while it's not a log home kitchen, I wanted to show it because my kitchen island will have a cookbook shelf similar to this, on the end by my stove. Hoping it might inspire me to cook! While I love a pretty kitchen, I have to admit that I dislike cooking and I'm a terrible cook to boot. And for those of you wondering, YES, I did warn my new hubby that I couldn't cook BEFORE we said "I do"!

Have a lovely weekend, folks and keep your fingers crossed that we make great headway on those darned cabinets! ;)

Tackling the Kitchen Cabinets...Finally!

You might recall months ago that I posted about our home...that beautiful log home that Eric, my ruggedly handsome hubby- built by himself. You might also recall the photos in that post that featured my yet unfinished kitchen. (See that post here.)
Well we are finally getting around to making those kitchen cabinet doors! Eric has worked hard each evening this week to make eleven of the twenty five cabinet doors we will be needing in the end, and I'm now busily painting them. I thought you might enjoy seeing the progress today.
We are hoping to get these eleven cabinet doors hung this weekend, put on some of our pretty bronze knobs, finish the remaining doors and drawer fronts over the next few weeks- and have a completed kitchen to share with you soon! Imagine how much less-cluttered my kitchen will apppear with all of that junk concealed! Keep your fingers crossed for quick success, please!

The Wedding

I pride myself in being a stickler for the details, but since meeting my dear sweet husband, I seem to be more easily distracted and miss a few at times. Now, mind you- his charming personality and rugged good looks are a pleasant and welcome distraction, but a distraction nonetheless! Therefore, the fact that I'm just getting around to posting our wedding photos three months after the fact, will be blamed on him!
Our wedding took place on October 1, 2009 and the location was our own home. I couldn't think of a better place to marry Eric, since he himself built our home and it is a beautiful log home with great atmosphere, to boot! Present for the ceremony were our parents and our four children. We wanted this ceremony to be intimate and magical and to be focused on our new family and the bond we were promising them. The day was MAGICAL  to say the least. It was relaxed, intimate, beautiful and full of tears of joy and laughter. I couldn't have asked for more.
We will be having an outdoor reception this May to include our extended family and friends and to celebrate our marriage with all of them. I will be posting soon about that, and will be recruiting your input on the decor, etc...
Since we hired the photographer for the May reception and really wanted to keep the October wedding as private as possible, we simply gave the camera to the kids (hence the reason many of the photos seem to be taken from a shorter perspective!) and the kids did a wonderful job of capturing the wedding.
As you look around our home, you'll notice that some doors are not yet hung and the kitchen is still being built. Eric is building the center island and kitchen cabinetry himself and as we all know, these things take time. I would actually be surprised if we are able to complete the kitchen within the next year, as raising four active children and running two companies tends to leave us with a lack of time for construction! So please keep in mind that this beautiful home he built for us, is still under construction.

 

Exchanging rings (Ethan was "ring bearer")

One of the kids turned on the TV trying to find a "crackling fire" screen saver, during our first dance.  Leave it to kids to interrupt the romance!

Time for a toast!

 

Dancing with our kids was so much fun!

 

We had to laugh at our wedding cake! The "lacey" frosting on the sides of the cake started to droop! 

 

Funnier yet...the Judge dated our marriage certificate for October 1, 2010 and we didn't even realize it until the following week when I took it to attempt to change my name on my driver's license and social security card. The certificate wasn't valid and so I had to run to the JP's office to get one with the correct date and start all over again!

Enjoy and thanks for visiting!