Great Love

via (found originally from Betsy's blog)

Loving this quote right now.

I did my hair and makeup today,

and am about to go grab drinks with my hot husband,

then have dinner with the girls tonight at Scotland's attempt at USA southern soul food.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Our weekend officially starts now.

Have a wonderful Easter friends,

whether you celebrate it for religious reasons,

or because you like candy and fluffy bunnies

(both legit reasons in my mind).

*comments turned off*

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5 things

photo by Sophie

Bridget tagged me in this 5 things post you may have seen circulating the web.

So I am going to play along,

and not just because she threatened me multiple times if I didn't.

So here are five things you may not know about me...
or you may know these things because I tend to recycle the same "interesting" information.

1. I used to teach modeling and acting. Yes. Teach.Modeling.And.Acting. Mainly modeling. How on earth I managed to come up with content to last through two hours of class time every Saturday I do not know. The only information I gave out that I felt contributed to the betterment of society was nutrition; how to keep your mind and body healthy (this was long before I moved abroad and went back to taking comfort in cheetos, coke, and fried foods).  I had some pretty successful students, so I feel like it wasn't a total sham.

2. I think I may have accidentally been involved with a cult. Let me explain. One of my best friends met this woman at some sort of church conference, and this said woman told my friend to bring her friends to their church in Barstow. Have you heard of Barstow? It is not exactly known for being the type of place you go to visit. It is in southern California, in the middle of the desert. A few hours north east (thanks readers for helping a sister out on that one) of LA. Anyway, so my friend sort of rallied our group of friends (all Christians in the entertainment industry... a story for another time) and we drove all the way to this tiny church, in the middle of nowhere Barstow. People had mullets, were playing tribal drums, blowing goat horns, and getting delivered of evil spirits. Don't ask me why, but we kept going back for these 4-6 hour church sessions, in which invisible bow and arrows slayed invisible demons. Now, I am not going to say I am not guilty for returning to this crazy land, but in my defense, I was crushing hard on one of the guys in my group of friends and I thought that maybe by birthing his spirit baby he would love me too. I was wrong. We stopped going after we finally realized these people were wackos, and that we were turning into wackos by being there. We all laugh about it now, like, "hey remember that time where we danced under a gold banner for three hours and stomped on soul ties? ha.ha.ha." Even though secretly I think we are all still traumatized 7 years later. 

3.  I am really sensitive to how people feel. I can spot in a group the person who feels uneasy, and I won't be able to enjoy myself until they feel better. I can tell if someone feels sad, sick, angry, etc without even speaking to them. I think this comes with my INFJ status, which is why we tend to prefer functioning in smaller settings, and recharge by being alone. We "feel" a lot and it can become draining. 

4. I totally wore padded bras in junior high. I went from like a double A to full B overnight with my nordstrom padded bras that my sweet mom took me to buy. Bless her mom heart. It was pretty obvious at school, so I slowly tried to wean them out and go back to my regular boob size. It was awkward for everyone involved. Ironically now, I don't wear bras with any padding, and kind of hate regular underwire bras. And that concludes our discussion of my boobs on the blog for at least the next month.

5. I was nominated for worst case senioritis in high school. Senioritis basically means I never went to school my senior year. My brother and I are both notorious for not going to class...mainly because we don't like getting up early. Shane was worse than I was because he would pretend to get up in the morning when my mom was going to work, and pretend to get in his car to go to school, and then once my mom left he would turn around and go back home to go back to bed. Then, before my mom would come home for lunch, he would wake up, drive around the corner, go back to sleep in his car, then come back home at the same time as my mom as if he was coming home for his lunch break from school. GENIUS. I didn't take it that far, but I managed to have a schedule my senior year that involved very little class time. The ironic thing is, I LOVED high school. I had/have the greatest friends, had so much fun, and I actually did pretty well academically. Although my former teachers and classmates always have a look of complete shock on their face when I tell them I have a masters in neuroscience.  

The end.

This may have been the longest blog post I have ever written.

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Our Wee Wedding: Some Bridal Portraits

helping fix me up...

Liz, 

being the awesome friend that she is,

sent me some of these photos while she was in South Africa.

That is true friendship right there,

sending me photos of myself during her vacation.

It is pretty obvious we just couldn't stop smiling the whole day.
I look at this batch, and they are just us...
having fun,
laughing,
joking,
not really posing,
but just being ourselves.

I see the little imperfections that most brides would have maybe paid more attention to;
my legs are white as ghosts,
there is a stain on his pants that could be mistaken for something sexual,
his wallet is creating an extra large bulge *wink*,
my heels are sinking into the grass,
I still have the ripped off price tag at the bottom of my shoe,
my brooch in my hair fell out and I couldn't be bothered trying to fix it.

and yet...

It is perfect,

because it's us.

Photography by Liz Denfeld

Ceremony Site: Park Circus

Reception Site: Cameron House

My outfit: 

Ceremony dress: TFNC at TopShop 

jewelry c/o Poshlocket  

faux fur coat: Marc Cain (borrowed) 

Leather gloves: H&M 

Reception dress: H&M

shoes: River Island

Stephen's outfit:

Shirt: Target (yay America!)

Vest: Primark

Tie: Primark

Shoes: Next

Pants: Zara

Watch: TopShop

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Breathing

via

I just had this whole whiny post typed out,
complaining about the stressful visa process
(even though things are looking okay for right now)
and moaning about the cold weather...
but I deleted it,
because I kept going back to that quote above,
and let it go.

The sun is kinda out today,
we are on the mend from being struck down with the flu,
I have a cold can of coke in the fridge,
(even though I am not supposed to be drinking coke...don't even care)
and S and I have been enjoying the best days together in spite of the non spring-like weather.

Today I am grateful for an amazing husband,
awesome friends,
loving family,
and that I still have the final season of Friday Night Lights to watch.

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Here and There

Photo by Liz Denfeld

1. Does this photo remind you of anything? hint

2. Immigration finally took the money from my account, which means we are in the beginning processing stages of Stephen's Visa. We have like 5 more stages to go.  They don't mess around and the constant pit in my stomach from visa stress is back and taking up residence. 

3. We are on the FINAL season of Prison Break. Not going to lie, Michael-just-above-a-whisper-Scoffield is getting on my last nerve with his acting skills and I am excited for this journey to end so I can stop dreaming of breaking out prisons, making deals, and running from the company. seriously.

4. We are planning on our second trip back to Italy in May with my bff Ahnika and her husband Grant. They have decided to use the tickets they had bought for our original wedding, to go to Italy instead. Wise move guys...wise move. I am super pumped to go back and bask under the tuscan sun again with  my love. 

5. Stephen and I have been eating our way through Glasgow. I have a post that will go up about our favorite places.

6. Liz is in South Africa for two weeks (hate her) so the rest of the wedding photos will have to wait until she gets back from her glorious trip...even though I, personally think, editing our wedding photos sounds like a lot more fun than traveling through South Africa with the love of your life and getting to wear a bathing suit. But that is just me.

7. I am dreaming of summers in LA and looking at new bathing suits to purchase for the days of laying out by the pool and on the beach. I saw this one on Liz's instagram and want it, and I want this one, and i'll take this one too. 

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A Giveaway for my UK readers!

                                     Ikat cushion / Gold mirror / cashmere blanket / union jack rug / vase

Today I have a giveaway for all my UK readers!

I am so excited to have partnered up with Argos on this,

because Stephen and I have purchased MANY items from Argos.

Argos is offering one reader a £100 GBP voucher towards any item/s in their home furnishings section!

That gives you the choice of mirrors,

rugs,

bedding,

etc. etc.

Just use the rafflecopter entry system below and you are done!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Break

    I thought I would give you all a break from wedding/kissy photos for a minute.
Stephen has a few more days off of work,
so I am going to take advantage of our time together.
We have been doing some serious food hopping,
and trying out new and amazing places.


We ate at a mexican restaurant here in Scotland.
A. Mexican.Restaurant.
It was ranked Glasgow's number one restaurant on tripadvisor.

They were super close to getting it right,
except for a couple of items...
 I don't know if beef chili in a taco shell is Mexican food...?
Tex mex maybe?
I have been gone so long I am starting to forget.


We couldn't go away like we had intended because of the unpredictable winter-like weather,
but we are making the most of our time here in Glasgow,
since hopefully
we will be far away from here in a few months time.

So here are some awesome ladies to keep you entertained...

Amy is inspirational,

Taylor is hilarious, 

and Julie is a fellow expat/travel lover.
You will love them all.

Connect with Amy: Blog // Bloglovin // Twitter // Facebook
I recommend reading this post 

Connect with Taylor: Blog//Twitter//Facebook

I recommend reading this post

Connect with Julie: Blog //Twitter //Facebook

I recommend starting with this post

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Our Wee Wedding: Cocktail Hour

The Great Scotts Bar...it was lively that weekend.

My sweet little Sophie, my first blog friend turned real life friends, we have been friends since we lived in Nottingham 2 years ago. 

Liz's husband Corey and Stephens best friend/best man Greg

Our sweet friend Ella who was in our Masters program with us. She has been through so much with us, and was my first friend in England. We love her. 

It is no secret that our favorite spot is Cameron House Hotel in Loch Lomond.

As soon as we cancelled our big wedding,

we immediately knew where we wanted to go for our small wedding reception in Scotland.

I think this is how it was meant to be all along,

because we LOVE this place.

It feels like OUR place.

I mean,

we got engaged here and everything.

We had a few meetings with the lovely staff of Cameron house before the big/small day,

and they were just the best to work with.

We decided we wanted a private dining experience for dinner (images coming later)

and wanted to do drinks and canapes upon arrival in the Great Scott's Bar.

Stephen and I often come and have lunch in this bar.

It is so picturesque with its giant windows that face out towards the Loch,

its big over sized tartan chairs and couches,

and hundreds of black and white pictures of great British celebrities that have come to stay at this beautiful hotel.

We made sure we had a window side section held for us and our guests,

with champagne and yummy canapes.

We picked dishes that had a British flair,

fish and chips,

mini Yorkshire puddings with thinly sliced beef fillets,

and Scottish smoked salmon on mini bagels with cream cheese

(although that last dish reminds me of my late grandpa who loved his bagels and lox)

From the start of our wedding planning,

in July of last year,

we knew there was one thing we really wanted to focus our attention on,

and that was good food,

and Cameron house never, ever disappoints. 

Coming in a couple weeks: Bridal portraits on the Loch

Photography by Liz Denfeld
Ceremony Site: Park Circus
Reception Site: Cameron House
My outfit: 

Ceremony dress: TFNC at TopShop 

jewelry c/o Poshlocket  

faux fur coat: Marc Cain (borrowed) 

Leather gloves: H&M 

Reception dress: H&M

shoes: River Island

Stephen's outfit:
Shirt: Target (yay America!)
Vest: Primark
Tie: Primark
Shoes: Next
Pants: Zara
Watch: TopShop

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Our Wee Wedding- Post Ceremony

This court house,
or registry office,
or whatever they call it,
was so gorgeous.

 When we booked our wedding date to be held at the Park Circus Registry Office, 

we had no idea what the building looked like, 

and it wasn't until our wedding day that we actually saw the building. 

We didn't care what it looked like when we set our date, 

we just wanted to get married. 

It was like a little extra gift that this building was so stunning inside, 

and that we are one of the last weddings to be held there 

since it has been bought and will no longer be available for weddings. 

 Our friend Hanna and Ella bought the confetti. 

They didn't know each other until the day of our wedding, 

and had gone out, 

separately, 

and bought the same confetti.

 I am SO glad they did, because those are some of my all time favorite photos. 

 Up next: Cocktail hour 

Photography by Liz Denfeld
Ceremony Site: Park Circus
My outfit: 

Ceremony dress: TFNC at TopShop 

jewelry c/o Poshlocket  

faux fur coat: Marc Cain (borrowed) 

Leather gloves: H&M 

Reception dress: H&M

shoes: River Island

Stephen's outfit:
Shirt: Target (yay America!)
Vest: Primark
Tie: Primark
Shoes: Next
Pants: Zara
Watch: TopShop

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New Look

Someone had some work done...

and that someone is my blog.

Thanks again to Bobbi,

for working with me over the past few months in getting her all cleaned up...

I am assuming here we all personify our blogs right?
Her name is Across The Pond in case you were wondering.

You will notice some new things in the nav bar,
I have updated the FAQs page with more recent information,
there is a place for new readers to start,
and

I have officially opened my closet online for you all to shop.

These clothes are not clothes I don't like, 

or old stuff I am trying to get rid of,

I literally cannot take the majority of my clothes back to the states with me due to cost of extra luggage,

shipping,

and lack of room

(one of our four suitcases is taken up by Stephens massive desktop computer, leaving us with only three suitcases to get the rest of our stuff into).

International shipping is really expensive,

and just not worth it for items that are not absolutely necessary to take...

So I am hoping that by selling some of the stuff I have,

it will enable Stephen and I to purchase some new clothes once we are in the USA...

and selling my winter climate stuff seemed less dramatic than burning it.

Keeping checking it,
as I will be always adding new things.

I am using storenvy so that anyone, anywhere can purchase :)

In other news,
it has been snowing off and on again.
Stephen has time off of work this week and we had intended on making a trip north to the highlands or one of the isles,
but had to cancel due to the weather.
We instead will be eating our feelings all week,
watching Prison break
(it is our compromise because he refuses to watch Friday Night Lights with me),
and waiting anxiously for spring.

More wedding photos coming soon..
(it's what keeps me going)

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Our Wee Wedding: Ceremony

we have Scottish, English, N.irish, Australian, and American in this photo. 

Our Ceremony was so intimate..
so perfect.

We woke up that day to the sun shining,
and it did not stop shining the entire day,
a Scotland miracle.

Upon arrival we had no idea what the protocol was,

as we had no rehearsal or run through prior.

The registrar asked us if I wanted to walk in by myself and meet Stephen at the front,

or if we wanted to walk in together.

We chose to walk in together.

This was such a poignant moment for us...

The typical view on relationships and marriage,
specifically in the christian faith
(my faith)
is that we begin our relational journey as individuals,
then come together as one in marriage...

but for Stephen and I,

in our own journey,

walking together as one has been the reason for success in our relationship
(and I don't mean that sexually speaking...ahem)

For many different reasons,
we have had to walk through this life as a joint force.
This wedding was not just about Stephen,
and it was not just about me,
but it was about us,
an important factor that is often forgotten during the process.

We were all smiles as we said our vows in front of our closest friends here in the UK.
Every time I look at that group shot I well up,
because those people,
that tiny group of people,
really made our day so special.


more photos coming next week :)

Photography by Liz Denfeld
Ceremony Site: Park Circus
My outfit: 

Ceremony dress: TFNC at TopShop 

jewelry c/o Poshlocket  

faux fur coat: Marc Cain (borrowed) 

Leather gloves: H&M 

Reception dress: H&M

shoes: River Island

Stephen's outfit:
Shirt: Target (yay America!)
Vest: Primark
Tie: Primark
Shoes: Next
Pants: Zara
Watch: TopShop

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