Giveaway!

Head to my instagram - Katie's Cove: https://www.instagram.com/katiescove to win several gift cards!

overload

Sorry for lack of posts - as I explained earlier I'm still not satisfied with the look of the blog and trying to investigate different designs before I get this up and running fully. I have also started an Etsy shop.

What is making me do all of this? When I first started the blog I explained that while I really love what I do, I would love so much more to be able to stay home and craft. Sounds like a dream right? Others can do it, why not me? Ryan and I will be getting married in 385!!! days and would like to soon start after that and I would love to be a stay at home mom. We still would benefit from a second income though and I would like to make myself useful!

As I have been DIY'ing for the wedding and see costs of items I knew that there was in fact opportunities out there. So far I have only posted what I created for our wedding but would like to be able to customize things for others. I know I have struggled to find decor in our colors - at least decor I like and would love to be able to make it for others at an affordable price. Weddings shouldn't have to cost the price of a car/down payment of a house!

So am I biting off more than I can chew? Planning a wedding, re-doing our home to sell, starting a blog, starting an etsy shop, and making items for our wedding AND the shop? Probably... but I can't wait to see where things go from here!

Please check out my shop - give me some feedback! Also, if you know any good blog design sites, let me know!!

#SocialMedia

I was at a wedding a few months ago and people were on their phones during the whole reception, checking game scores, watching recaps, tweeting and instagramming. It was sad to look around the room and see heads down during most of the celebration. Are people not able to "unplug" for a few hours? Ryan and I have since decided we cannot get married during football season because of this. Seems kind of crazy huh?

Sometimes I absolutely hate social media and feel that generations of the future are going to have no communication skills. Many times I have considered deleting my facebook account... but have I? No.

Instagram, twitter, google+, linkedin, tumblr, foursquare, what am I missing? These are all words we know. Hashtag? I used to refuse to #hashtag - but now it's the only way to get your content to more people.

I remember when I first was able to get a facebook account (you had to have a college email address) so it was kind of a big deal. Now everyone and their mother has it. Literally. Am I mad about this? Nope. I am now realizing the importance of social media and that it is a way to connect one another. What changed my mind? Twitter.

Ryan and I reconnected via twitter. I wasn't even using it at the time and I received an email notification that I had a direct message. We never would have been able to do this without one little application. We never would have talked again. How amazing is that? I met two of my bridesmaids from meetup.com. The internet is a wonderful thing.

People are getting married everyday from meeting online. Friends are being made. Friendships are being kept together. Businesses are growing (which I hope to use social media once I'm up and running). You get the picture. How do you feel about social media? Do you ever have days when you want to shut down everything?

PS. Check out my instagram and facebook @katiescove - just kidding. kind of.

wedding planning!

I'm starting to DIY for my wedding. I'm not entirely sure what I want for centerpieces, ceremony decor, etc. but at least have figured out my colors - I guess the theme is "romantic." It'll be blush pink, gold, champagne, and pearl. With glitter, pearl, lace... can you see it?! I really wanted the popular "rustic" with burlap but where we are having it, it just won't work. I'm super excited to show you the finished products and possibly add these items to my shop!

home.

I'm going to be talking a lot about our house and making it a home. Ryan bought a foreclosure and the people leaving the home destroyed it before they left (more than they did living in it and not taking care of it.) It's a beautiful house and I love making it into our home. We plan on staying here for a few years and revamp it. Check out the before pictures - I can't wait to show you as I make progress! Here are just a few of the rooms.

Master Bath - Now purple w/ black accents

Just a spare bedroom. Still this color filled with crap. Work in progress.

Guest bedroom - this is the one I've worked the most on. It's now gray and yellow. Pics to come!

Our home! We have been working on landscape. Again, pics to come!

Kitchen again - they took a hammer and went to town on the walls:(

Kitchen/Dining room - dining room is now pale yellow. Ryan just fixed drywall in kitchen. What color should it be?!

Living room - now a beige color.

My favorite room - now pale yellow.

Ryan now uses this room as an office. It is painted baby blue. I want to paint it red and make a firefighter themed office <3

This room is now tan colored - another of my favorites.

Outside - still lots of work to do!

blog.

Blog. What does it even mean? Blog is slang for web log; an online diary. Thanks Google! Google is probably one of my favorite things in the world- I have no idea how people lived without it. Google and GPS. God bless technology!

I had no idea how much work it was to set up a blog - I'm still not happy with my layout and plan on making a lot of changes so stay tuned! These first few weeks I probably won't write too often since I'm trying to get the layout perfect. Are there any blogs that are your favorite? I need inspiration!

work it

I love helping people, I really do, but with that said.. social work is exhausting. I come home and want to crash. I considered other things in college but thought I found my calling. I won't deny it, I am good at what I do but feel there has to be more to life. Ryan always says to me that he wants me to find my dream job just like he has found his - firefighting. Well honey, no one is going to pay me to pinterest and drink margaritas by a pool.

I now have Ryan though as a second source of income, something completely new to me. I have been independent so long I never considered any other options than living paycheck to paycheck. I now am having other dreams. I want to have kids and be able to stay at home and raise them but still help support our family. I mentioned Pinterest... I have a new found love for DIY and crafting now that I have a home to decorate that I know isn't just temporary. I want to make pretty things and sell them. What sort of things would you buy from etsy?

Marriage at First Sight

Hello! My first blog post - check out my "About Me" page to learn a little more, well, about me!

I'm currently watching the show, Marriage at First Sight, and was first thinking how crazy it is to have a group of "professionals" decide who you are going to marry based on likes/dislikes/history. I feel love is something that needs to happen naturally and cannot be forced. After watching a few episodes, I realized that Ryan (my fiance) and I are almost doing the same thing. While we weren't set up by professionals and didn't immediately get married, we moved in together and got engaged within 2 months. That's pretty crazy.

Ryan and I met February 2007 at a bar where he was a bouncer - I was only 19 and had a fake ID. Ryan let me in. How could I NOT give him my number?! We dated a couple of months and he started talking about marriage. He is 6 years older than me so it was natural for him, but to me it was insane. I stopped talking to him.

Ryan got in a relationship shortly after and we sent occasional messages through Myspace (so old, I know) and then once that was no longer "in" we no longer had a way to communicate. Due to our jobs, our facebook settings were set so that no one could find us unless there were mutual friends.

Fast forward 7 years - I'm living across the country in Arizona and get a direct message from Ryan. I never use twitter but luckily I was sent an email alert. I immediately signed on and replied. The rest is history. 4/27/14 Ryan messaged me and we started texting and talking on the phone. We started became "official" on 6/25/14 after 2 months of this long distance talking and on 7/3/14 I flew to Ohio to see him, not really knowing what to expect. It was so natural. Ryan came to see me in Arizona in August for my birthday and we started to make plans for the future. We looked at engagement rings. How crazy, right? 11/5/14, Ryan flew again out to Arizona with a one way ticket and jumped in my car and off we drove to Ohio. I quit my job, sold everything that didn't fit in my tiny Fiesta, and decided this was it, I couldn't live without Ryan in my life and he was in Ohio so Ohio was where I needed to go.

Since I wouldn't have a job and to save money, it made the most sense to move in with Ryan in his 4 bedroom home. 12/20/15 Ryan proposed. 5/14/16 we are getting married.

There are a lot of dates throw out there but it's just so insane to me how quickly life can change. My mom thought her only grandchild would be my cat, Taz.

Ryan and I have our growing pains living together, not going through the typical dating period, learning each others habits but we know this is what we want forever. So if Ryan and I are able to do it, why not try and trust the experts with a relationship? Hell, I may have applied for the show had Ryan not messaged me!

Now you know some history and where I'm coming from when I mention Ryan. Have any questions/comments? Let me know!