A wedding!

A Couple weekends ago, my MIL got remarried :) She married a great man in a sweet and simple ceremony that fit them perfectly. There were less than 30 guests and many were around the entire weekend for a weekend of fun, laughter, and good food.

My MIL has seen the pictures of cake pops I had previously made and had asked me to make some for the wedding in lieu of the traditional wedding cake. I was thrilled to make them. She gave me no specific colors, just that she wanted bright colors. I took to the candy color options I had and spent time just figuring out how many different colors I could come up with (in the effort of full disclosure, this *may* have been more about me playing around and having fun than about the cake pops themselves). After being torn between 2 color combinations (and I'm still only 90% convinced I chose the right one), I decided upon blue, purple, and pink.

I was asked to make them with white cake, which was fun since I hadn't done it before. At the last minute, I realized I would need an additional cake so I decided to bake a red velvet cake as well. I'm not sure if I will make red velvet again since myself or my husband didn't like it nearly as well as the other flavors I have made. If I do make it again,  I will need my husband around to take pics because it was quite the colorful and messy experience! The white cake tasted really good.

Here are the pics of the final products...

First REAL Snow of the Season!

I have a love/hate relationship with snow. I think its soooo pretty and love the look of a sunny, snowy day. However, I hate driving in it, dealing with ice on the roads, and being cold :) We did technically get snow a couple weeks ago, but it was only an inch or two. Last Week though, we got a real snow-I have no idea how much fell, but there was easily 6-8 in. on the ground (the ground was warm so lots melted).
Now, this is first snow of the season was the BEST kind of all (in my opinion). Since it had been practically 80 degrees just a couple days earlier, the ground was still warm. Which meant, that when the snow hit the ground, it just melted instead of turning into ice. Let me tell you, when I can get a day where there is snow covering everything beautifully, yet, I don't have to deal with icy roads or it snowing as I drive (it mostly snowed during the night), that is the kind of day when I like snow a lot.

These pics are of our snow covered backyard

In case you're wondering, the days when I LOVE snow are when I don't have to be anywhere and can just enjoy it from the warmth of my home :)

Weddings!

Peter and I had the privilege to attend one of his co-worker's weddings back in August. I have always been one of those girls who liked weddings. I actually didn't have my planned from the time I was 7, but that was mostly because my tastes would change every couple of years and therefore, my ideal wedding changed with it. I can tell you, had I gotten married younger, I most certainly wouldn't have considered a winter wedding (which, for a number of reasons, I'm SUPER happy we did. It was a beautiful day with just a bit of snow on the ground). Had I gotten married before just out of high school or in early college, the main color would have lavender. Mid college till about a year after-it would have been a bright, summery version of blue. As it was, I was torn between a dark eggplant purple and a deep, almost royal but not quite, blue. And truthfully, as unromantic as it sounds, my final decision really was decided based on which venue we choose. Wedding venues often come with a choice of linen colors and therefore, you are sort of limited to what they have. As it was, the venue we chose had a great dark purple linen and therefore, the decision was made! deep purple it was!

As I started to say at the beginning, I've always liked weddings. Since planning my own however, I notice EVERYTHING about weddings! All the little details about a wedding, I pay attention (just think brides, If I'm at your wedding and you are thinking NO one will actually notice all the little details you spend hours putting into your wedding, fear not-at least one person will notice and appreciate!)

Anyways, this co-workers wedding was at the beautiful Stanley Hotel in Estes Park. The hotel was really pretty and neat. see for yourself...

The ceremony was supposed to be outside (which would have been a gorgeous view), but threatening rain kept in inside in a very pretty concert hall. Her main color was also a purple and everything looked beautiful. My favorite aspect of the wedding was her centerpieces, particularly for the head table. They had a very romantic, but kinda woodsy feel to them. I loved them as soon as I saw them. Using floating candles and branches is a pretty popular idea these days. I loved that she used them in a unique way that I haven't seen very often (if ever). (often, branches are used as more of "trees" on a table or put into a vase and frequently there are crystals of some type hanging from them).

Painting Nails

I mentioned a couple posts ago that I spent a week with my family in NC. It was a lot of fun and with 6 nieces and nephews under 8, quite entertaining as well. I love watching little kids minds work and process things. My Sister in law became the instant favorite by painting my two nieces nails,-fingers AND toes. They are 2 and 6 and enjoyed it tremendously.
Check out the picture-

Now take a closer look at the Bethany's (the littlest) hands....Do you see her nails? nope-but in her 2 yr old brain she's doing what I asked-showing them off. I told her I couldn't see her nails and so I asked her to turn them around (and showed her with my own hands). She looked at me and then Mikayla with a very confused expression and after about 30 seconds of moving her hands in various ways, this is what I got

Don't you just love this?