Home Tour!

Since we're moving in a few short weeks, our landlord asked us to take a few pictures of our place so that he can begin looking for new tenants. I realized I never even took pictures of our place since we've lived here and it might be nice to document our first Pittsburgh residence.

I found our current apartment on Craigslist and after being toured shady, run-down apartment complexes, I jumped on this one. It was in our price range, was newly remodeled and had a perfect back porch for gardening. It will be bittersweet to leave this place that has been our Pittsburghian Home-Away-From-Home. But we're moving onto bigger and better things, and need a place that will cut down on our crazy work commutes (it literally takes me two hours to get home from the time I leave work!).

Our budget hasn't allowed us all the decorating I'd love to be able to do, but we've made the most of our small bedroom and limited closet space and are ready to say "Adios!" 

Here's a brief tour of our Pittsburgh Pad:

I took this picture the day Chuck's mom and I toured it and handed over the security deposit. We've been inhabiting the first floor of this historic building for the last year.

A couple weeks later, we packed up our belongings...

...and with a few hiccups along the way (including losing our mattress) drove the four hours from Wilmington, Ohio to Pittsburgh, PA.

My first big purchase for our new place was the couch. I lived in this apartment for about 3 months with absolutely no sitting area in the living room. It was awful. I finally purchased a beautiful, leather couch from a chain furniture store but the movers couldn't get it through our door. I ended up going to a new place, American Freight, and settling on this one because of the low back and it's worked out wonderfully!

A couple months later we went back to American Freight and picked out these coffee/end tables as well as our dresser and night stand. The TV, I bought for $15 at Goodwill and it's been perfect.

You'll notice the dresser and nightstand as I mentioned above. What you won't notice is the clothes rack to the left where all Chuck's shirts currently reside because our closet is so dang small! We were fortunate enough to receive this bedding set from my Grandma off my Bridal Shower registry, and Chuck's parents also bought us the much-needed bed frame we've been longing for- now we're just waiting for it to be delivered. Finally, no more sleeping on the floor!

Our bathroom is nothing fancy. But it looked even sadder a month ago without our bath mats. They were another Bridal Shower gift!

Lastly, our kitchen. This will probably be the thing I miss the most. Horror of horrors- our new apartment doesn't have a dishwasher. I've become so spoiled by having one, I don't want to return to a life of rubber gloves and Dawn dish detergent! #Firstworldproblems

This was such a great place to spend our first year in PA. But I'm so looking forward to the new chapter in our lives and our first newlywed home. Three-ish weeks until our move and almost one month til we wed! 

Praise God for all this goodness!

On My Mind

Gosh! I feel like my life is going by a million miles a minute. I wake up for work at 5 AM, get home at 6:30 PM and any spare time I have at that point goes to sorting out wedding details and/or finalizing our move. I don't know if Bridal Brain is a thing, but if it is, I've got it bad. 

I'm so thankful I have this blog to come to though. There's something so cathartic about writing these here-and-there updates that help me to keep everything straight. Since there's so much on my mind, I thought I'd do my best to relay it all for you.

Today, I'm thankful for... Chuck's Mom, Sherry is here visiting with us. Her reasoning being that she wanted to help us clean and pack in preparation for our move (which we've now thankfully pushed back to August 15th! Hooray!), but mostly we just needed a good night of Jack Daniels-fueled conversation and giggles. We had a wonderful summer night outside on our back deck last night and have plans to go to this place tonight...

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Hofbrauhaus Pittsburgh. 

Oh. My. God. So. Excited.

Wurst. Schnitzel. Beer. I'm going to be in German hog heaven!

Today, I'm anticipating...our move! We finally worked things out with both our landlords and are set to move in a few short weeks!

Today, I'm dreading...Chuck's bachelor party next weekend. I never thought I would be the girl who was concerned and laying down rules for Chuck's night out with his guys. But as they say, boys will be boys. And  this particular group of boys has "trouble" written all over them!

This actually makes me feel better.
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Today, I'm excited for...my gay BFF/second boyfriend, Matt is coming to Pittsburgh next weekend. I need something to distract me from the mischief Chuck will inevitably be getting into and what better way to do that by celebrating one of my best friends' birthdays at a gay bar?! Woohoo!

He totally stole these Playboy tube socks!

Life is good and I am crazy amounts of blessed! I'll try to keep y'all in the loop!

A Daddy-less Wedding Day

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There won't be any pictures like this at my wedding.

Because my Daddy won't be there.

I haven't talked about my Dad on here in some time so I imagine there's a lot of people who don't know the whole story there. When I was 10, only a handful of months after my Mommy told me she and my Dad were getting a divorce, he suffered a massive stroke.

It left him a crippled shell of the Daddy who played us funny songs on his guitar, was the worst tickler you ever did meet and taught me how to ride my bike. He walked with a limp, couldn't say our names and was completely devoid of any distinguishable personality.

Fourteen years later, I invited him to my wedding and received a call from him saying he just couldn't make the trip.

I thought I would be okay with it. My Dad can be a pain in the ass. But as it turns out, it felt awful hearing my Daddy repeat over and over again "I'm sorry. Don't cry." Don't cry. The same words he spoke to me when I fell while rollerskating and skinned my knees. The twenty-something, almost-married lady in me tried to fight back the tears. But the buck-toothed, freckle-faced and wounded little girl in me won.

A girl is supposed to have her Daddy. To walk her down the aisle. To give her away. To share an emotional and heartfelt Father-Daughter dance with. 

I don't. 

And it's hard.

The silver lining is- I have a wonderful, supportive and amazing step-father to do all those things with and I am so blessed that he's a part of my life. 

But there will be a small part of me that will be tinged with sadness when I stare into the crowd at my wedding ceremony and wonder where my Daddy is.

What Have I Done?

It's been driving me crazy that my blogging has been so sporadic and barely readable lately. 

But it doesn't appear that there's an end in sight for a little while. 

We put in a deposit for a new apartment this afternoon. 

That's right. 

In the midst of planning our wedding and starting out my new big girl career 

(not to mention the start of my second year of grad school), 

we're moving. 

And we're moving this weekend. 

Oi vey! 

Remember when I said I thrived on stress and feel bored without it? 

I may have gone a little overboard. 

Maybe a little boredom wouldn't be so bad after all.

My current coping mechanism: complete paralysis.

Answered Prayers

This week has been...awesome. 

As I mentioned, the wedding is really starting to consume me so it's been such a relief that things have just been falling into place. 

Bachelorette party plans have been drawn up, a tentative itinerary established and details put into place. 

This is what our wedding week is going to look like...

Thursday, August 30th 

4:30 PM. Get off work and drive our hindquarters to the little town of Wilmington, Ohio.

Friday, August 31st

9:00 AM. Wake up, get our marriage license and start making last-minute preparations.

3:30 PM. Pick up my bridesmaid, Whitney, from the airport and drive to Columbus to meet up with my other girls for my Bachelorette Party!

5:00 PM. Check into our downtown hotel suite and get dolled up for my last fling before the ring!

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Saturday, September 1st

11:00 AM.  Wake up and try to get my hungover ass back to Wilmington before check-out! Set up our seating and decor for the ceremony.

4:00 PM.  Check into the General Denver (place of our reception!)

5:00 AM. Wedding rehearsal at the farm!

6:00 PM. Rehearsal dinner at Chuck's parent's house.

8:00 PM. Head up to the General Denver to watch Chuck and his brothers play and turn in to get some beauty sleep.

Chuck playing with his brothers, Rob and Lonnie
circa Thanksgiving 2011.

Sunday, September 2nd

9:00 AM.  Head to The Beauty Bar Salon with my girls and spend the day getting pampered and pretty-fied!

6:30 PM. Take a stroll down the aisle.

8:00 PM. Celebrate my marriage with all my best friends and family!

Photo by Dani Byrd

Monday, September 3rd

6:30 AM. Wake up bright and early and head to the airport- JAMAICA HERE WE COME.

Oh yeah...did I mention? 

WE'RE GOING TO JAMAICA!!!! 

An answered prayer.

Operation Bridal Mode

I am a lover of perpetual change. 

Why else would my longest time at any one job be one year? 

Or why did I decide to move to the city, go to grad school and get engaged within a month? 

Or why did I begin a new job and plan to move yet again within two months of getting married?! 

Variety is the spice of life. 

And I, my friends, am anything but bland. 

I think I have this underlying fear of complacency and monotony. 

And I think it's why I've always been so terrified by the thought of marriage. 

ONE person for the rest of my life? 

Putting down roots? 

Being ordinary? 

Ahhh!

But that's a whole other can of worms. 

The moral of this story is I have officially gone into Operation Bridal Mode 

And will likely be stressed to the max for the next few weeks. 

But I've made my peace with it. 

I think there's a weird part of me that functions really well under pressure. 

I always waited until the last possible minute in college to start writing my papers

...and you know what? 

I rocked them all. 

Without stress, I think I'd be really bored. 

Needless to say, there is quite a bit separating me from boredom until September 2nd!

To-Do:

♥ Finding and buying the groom and groomsmen's attire ♥ 

♥ Buying our wedding rings ♥ 

♥ Finishing my flower girls' tutus ♥

♥ Making final payments to our photographer and Pastor ♥ 

♥ Getting Chuck's passport and our marriage license ♥

But with all that is left to do, 

I've also managed to get lots accomplished the past couple days, 

including...

♥ Making my Daddy's hotel reservation ♥ 

♥ Sending out my bridal shower Thank You cards ♥

♥ Picking out a cupcake stand with my Mommy ♥ 

♥ Picking out the fabric to cover up our ceremony straw bales ♥ 

♥ Buying everything for my bridesmaid's gifts ♥

♥ Buying my wedding earrings ♥

In 47 days, 

I'm going to be united in holy matrimony with my best friend and the sweetest boy you ever did know. 

Life is good. 

Bring it on wedding gods. 

I got this.

50 Days and 50 Reasons

Today marks 50 days until I marry the love of my life.

In honor of our impending nuptials, here are my...

50 Reasons Why I Love You

50. You wrote a sign to remind yourself not to put my bras in the dryer.

49. You make me laugh like no one else can.

48. You always open the car door for me.

47. You support me in my career.

46. You respected me enough to wait.

45. You let me take ridiculously cute blackmail pictures of you.

44. You were the first and only boy to make me fall in love.

43. You carry me around like a joey ;)

42. You're so passionate about learning how to play the guitar.

41. You're terrible at surprises.

40. You fell in love with Cape May.

39. You give me a hug the instant we meet up after work.

38. You love music even more than I do!

37. You kiss me and say 'I love you' every morning.

36. You want to travel.

35. You are the corniest person alive.

34. You let me tickle you much longer than I let you.

33. You love being outdoors.

32. You renewed my faith in marriage.

31. You quit smoking.

30. You're a cuddlebug

29. You let me pick your ears.

28. You love food as much as I do.

27. Your family means the world to you.

26. You gave up your job and followed me to Pittsburgh.

25. You went from full-time carnivore, to full-time veg-head.

24. You love watching Christmas movies.

23. You constantly tell me how beautiful I am.

22. You love to learn.

21. You're going to be an amazing father.

20. You read every one of my blog posts.

19. You want my Mom to teach you how to sew.

18. Your smile.

17. You are God's fated choice in my love story.
16. You aspire to live a healthy life.

15. You're lovingly taking on all my debt.

14. You love my Mommy and sister like your own family.

13. You love people.

12. You're much better about keeping up with the laundry than I am.

11. You dance with me in the kitchen.

10. You love Jesus.

9. You text me every day.

8. You're content just to stay in bed and watch Friends with me.

7. You let me bite you.

6. You always help your Mama when she needs you.

5. You're pure of heart.

4. You're selfless.

3. You make road trips 10 times more fun.

2. You're patient with me me when I'm cranky.

1. You're my Mikey and I'm your Gretchen.

Disclaimer: This is not an exhaustive list, as the boy in question gives me new reasons to love him every day.

I love you Charles Stuckert.

I hope these next 50 days fly by, because I can't wait to be your wife.

Pray for our Honeymoon

I feel so silly writing this, but I'm exhausted and I think it's caused any sense of shame to go right out the window. For our wedding, Chuck and I decided on a Sandals Honeymoon Registry. There is no way we could afford a honeymoon on our own so we thought we would ask our friends and family to help send us on a dream trip to Jamaica. The deadline for final payment is fast approaching and suffice it to say that we don't have nearly enough to afford the trip.

We've made our peace with postponing our Caribbean vacay, but the bridezilla in me is having a difficult time accepting that a honeymoon may not be in the cards for us. I know that it will do me no good worrying and stressing over something I have no control over, but I'd just like to ask for a few of your prayers.

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Dear God,

Because of our history of You showering me in abundant grace and blessings and me completely taking it for granted, I have yet another request. Could I please have a honeymoon with my husband?  

Love,

Kaity

Music Touches Me

I love music. I mean, most people enjoy a good jam session or a spontaneous dance party in the car. But music touches me, convicts me. On my way to work this morning I popped in my copy of Crosby, Stills & Nash's Greatest Hits. The last track on the album is Daylight Again. I've heard this song dozens of times before, but this morning, I really listened. I repeated it at least 8 times before reaching the office and each time it left me in awe. The harmonies, the melancholy lyrics and the heartfelt prayer being uttered by the vocalists.

I hope this song speaks to you as much as it did me.

A Very Merry Un-Bridal Shower

Work and a 3 1/2 hour round trip commute every day is kicking my butt! It was so tempting to keep putting this off, but I promised a Bridal Shower recap and I want to deliver. Without further ado, I'll let these pictures do the talking...

The Hannaford House Tea Room. Such a good location!

A Mad Hatter Tea Party!

Alice...before the guests arrived.

Channeling my Alice-ness next to the buffet table.

My Mommy, the Queen of Hearts

My friends totally dressed up for the occassion.

Baby Gabby stole the show!

Tea partying.

Playing the Mustaches and Tiaras game. So fun!

Present opening.

So excited about bath mats!

Happy Bridal Shower to me!

I have to admit, I did not handle being the center of attention while opening presents very well at all. I couldn't stop shaking and sweating until my Mom-in-Law put a Jack & Coke in my hand after all was said and done. I'm painfully shy! Otherwise, I couldn't have asked for a better shower. The Mustaches and Tiaras game was a huge hit and I was so pumped that so many of my friends and family dressed up for the occasion. It was a wonderful day in Wonderland, for sure! 

54 days til the big day!

Blogging Sins

I like to think that over the last few months, I've evolved into a more seasoned blogger. I love stumbling upon new blogs and know right off the bat whether it's going to be a blog match-made-in-heaven or I'm never clicking this link again. 

My criteria?

Design/Layout

I like a layout that is well-organized, cohesive and easy on the eyes. In fact, it's driving me crazy that my own design is not anything like I would like it to be. I'm trying to hold out until after the wedding so I have some pretty, new pictures to add. I've already scouted out my designer and am constantly on the lookout for more  design inspiration!

These are some of my favorites:

See fo yo self.

See fo yo self.

See fo yo self.

Pictures

I'm always drawn to blogs who give their readers a glimpse into their lives. After all, isn't that why blogging exists? I appreciate well-taken photographs, and even a couple blurry Instagram shots so I get an idea of my favorite bloggers day-to-day lives. 

This is something I am also seriously lacking. In college, I was such a camera whore- I don't know what happened! But I am hereby resolving to take more pictures and let you all in on my terribly fascinating life :)

Font

This is huge for me. If your font is too scribbly, tiny, or just plain illegible- I'm onto the next one. One of my biggest pet peeves!

Extended absence

If you haven't blogged in weeks, it's a huge turn off for me. I know that life gets crazy, busy, hectic and blogging is usually the first thing to fall to the wayside, but I like to invest in people who keep me up to date! Blogger friends mirror real-life relationships in that way.

Cats

I'm a dog person. And you should be, too.

Lack of substance

I'm a Pinterest troll, but if that's all your posts pertain to, I'm moving on. The best posts are heartfelt, emotional and genuine words. Written by honest, authentic and beautiful people. I always try to squeeze in posts that generally reflect my current state to break up the superficial, trivial, "fluffy" stuff.

These are all things I vow to work on as I continue my journey to Blogger Extraordinaire!

I'll be committing one of my own cardinal sins over the next few days: being absent.

But I promise to be back next week with all kinds of bridal shower porn for you to feast your eyes on. 

See you then!

Our Fourth of July

This is what our idea of a good fourth of July looks like...

Our day consisted of some light cleaning, some major bumming and a bucket full of popcorn while we watched Horrible Bosses. And IT WAS AWESOME! Hope your Independence Day celebrations were just as fun as ours turned out to be!

What I'm Loving Wednesday v8

Happy July Fourth, everyone! 

On the anniversary of our nation's independence, here is what I'm loving...

Job!

The first two days of work went well. Great co-workers, invaluable job experience...and did I mention? I'm actually doing something that I'm interested in and passionate about?! What a blessing!

Bridal Shower

Holy moly! I've been so busy concentrating on the new job that I just remembered my bridal shower is in 4 days! My Mom has been busy planning games, decorations and her cute little outfit. My main priority is to show up and look pretty! Can't wait!

Trial Hair Appointment

I also managed to forget that my appointment for my wedding hair trial is Saturday morning. I've narrowed down the style I want, but the jury is still out on whether I'll incorporate any headband, ribbon, headpiece,etc. Only time will tell!

I do love me some T. Swift!
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Wedding Accessories

These are my recently purchased selections that will be with me as I walk down the aisle.

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Baby Fever

Yep, I've got it! All my favorite bloggers are preggo and beautiful. One of my friends gave birth to her second, a son, yesterday and I just found the most adorable boho mama blog that I spent all last night stalking. Her name's Jess- seriously, go check her out! I'm obsessed!

Baby St. J #2

If you happen to see Momma St. J today,
be sure to congratulate her on the birth of her brand new baby boy! 

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Welcome to the world, Tristan Paul! Much love to you and your beautiful family!

The Evolution of a Profile Picture

Every once in a while I catch myself on Facebook, wasting away the day by glancing through albums of ancient history. Although nostalgia can be a bit bittersweet, I'm so grateful that I have a way to re-live my high school, college and post-grad days. So for your viewing pleasure, here is my evolution since the inception of my Facebook account...

December 2006

Location: Freshman dorm room

Scene: Just about to leave to go see Panic! at the Disco in concert with a college friend, Laura. (Little did I know this would be the night we discovered how much we loved each other and set the stage for her becoming one of my bridesmaids). 

Details: My first profile pic! See that arm brace lying on the bed behind my leg? I should have been wearing that (after recently dislocating my elbow in a nasty cheerleading fall), but decided I looked much too cool to sport the "bionic woman" look.

December 2007

Location: The basement of a music venue in Allentown, PA called Crocodile Rock

Scene: At one of the stops of the Raisin' the Bar Tour (Featuring Bucky Covington [above], Jason Michael Carroll and Cole Deggs and the Lonesome) I purchased a ticket for a Meet-and-Greet with Bucky!

Details: The meet-and-greet was really poorly organized, but it worked out well for me because I got to hang out with opening act, Cole Deggs, who took a liking to me. Later, during one of his songs he picked me out in the crowd and gave me a little wink. It made my life! I also got Bucky to record a message for one of my friends who was serving in Afghanistan at the time. He also remembered pulling me on stage at a concert my sister and I were at a couple months before. He's seriously the sweetest guy alive.

September 2008

Location: Valley Forge Park- PA

Scene: Taken shortly before we started dating by my college boyfriend Josh, we had just been caught in a torrential downpour while hiking and found this beautiful little waterfall that fed into the river

Details: It's kind of a shame that Josh and I weren't dating yet on this particular day because it would have been romantic as hell! This remains one of my favorite pictures of all time because it's completely candid and I'm so in my element. Josh and I are still friends to this day and this is one of my best memories of him.

January 2009

Location: Just outside my dorm building in Uganda!

Scene: This was my first experience hand-washing my clothes and my first profile picture since I had left for Uganda.

Details: All us American girls were complete spazzes about hand-washing our clothes. Not that we didn't want to, we just didn't know how! Luckily, our Ugandan friends taught us and laughed at us for being so completely clueless.

July 2009

Location: Bedroom of my apartment in Philly Chinatown while doing a summer internship

Scene: Just about to leave to go to CrueFest 2009 with my friend Steve and wanted to document my hot, rocker look

Details: This summer was not a good one for me. Upon returning back from Uganda I was holding in a lot of hatred toward Josh (we broke up sometime in February/March), I was experiencing really bad reverse culture shock and felt very isolated living in Philly and not knowing anyone. I cut and dyed my hair in an act of rebellion because Josh never wanted me to go blonde and got my first tattoo. Don't regret the decisions, but it was not an easy time for me.

April 2010

Location: Sidewalk outside the U.S. Supreme Court

Scene: Shortly before graduation, my fellow Constitutional Law classmates, our professor and I drove down to camp out in hopes of getting seats to hear the oral arguments for Christian Legal Society v. Martinez

Details: This experience was incredible. I got to bond with fellow Poli Sci kids at Eastern and made some great friends. Camping out was miserable- it was freezing cold and I was the only one who didn't bring a sleeping bag. At 2:00 AM and 3:00 AM the sprinklers went off on us so we were wet, cold and sleep-deprived. However, it made for a great story and I was so glad I went!

February 2011

Location: Elk's Charity Ball in Wilmington, Ohio

Scene: Chuck's sister, Joni, me and Chuck sat at the "kiddie table" getting ridiculously hammered until the music started and we danced the night away

Details: Chuck and I hadn't been dating very long at this point and this was the first picture taken of the two of us together. We had such a fun night dancing together and pretty much amused everyone in attendance by our blatantly obvious drunkenness.

September 2011

Location: The Rusty Nail outdoor patio in Cape May, NJ

Scene: The night after our engagement! We had an awesome dinner with my Mommy and sister and just soaked up the end of summer.

Details: One of my favorite pictures of us <3

My last couple pictures have been seriously lacking, but I'm willing to be in about two-ish months I'll have some great pictures to add to my ongoing archive. Just more motivation to start taking more snapshots of my amazing life!