Six Months

It's hard to believe, but Jake and I celebrated our six month anniversary last week. We didn't really do anything on the day (we were with ten teenagers on a weekend mission trip), but we did look back on the past six months and realized how very fast it's gone. I absolutely love being married to him. I am looking forward to celebrating many many more milestones like this one.

In honor of the occasion, here are a few (ok, more than a few) of my favorite shots from our wedding. What an awesome day to look back on. Jenn from LuvBug Photo did a wonderful job.  Plus, our wedding is ALL OVER her portfolio, so take a look. :)

Pumpkin Cookies

For months before my wedding, I looked forward to one thing...

But alas, we came back after our first dance to find NO PUMPKIN COOKIES left. This was the saddest part of my wedding day.

Luckily, our friend, Annette, heard about our cookie dilemma and whipped us up a batch of her very own pumpkin cookies. I'd like to think they were even better than the ones at our wedding. :)

Annette's Pumpkin Cookies

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 tsp vanilla

Sift: 2 Cups flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp salt

Cream butter and sugar. Add in egg, pumpkin, and vanilla. Then, add in sifted dry ingredients.

Drop by large teaspoonfuls on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until set.

For icing:

Mix together 4 tsp melted, cooled butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup heavy cream, and 2 cups confectioners sugar. Frost cookies once cool.

Enjoy!

Honeymoon Video

Here's a little video that sums up our honeymoon back in October quite nicely. Lots of driving, and lots of very pretty fall views. Oh, and one huge deer head. Enjoy!

Our Honeymoon from Kristina VanDyke on Vimeo.

Photo Tree Display

As you may have read, I recently bought an Instax instant camera. I wanted a creative way to display the pictures that didn't require a frame so that you can tell they were instant photos. I looked no further than our wedding reception centerpieces for an idea. 

I cut down a limb from a willow tree in my grandparents' backyard (much like the ones used at our wedding) and planted it into an over sized mason jar. The branch was too heavy for the container, so I filled it with all of the loose change Jake and I had sitting around to hold the branch in place. If it wasn't in the middle of winter, I would have probably gone outside to find rocks to fill the jar with.

I had some leftover twine from the wedding as well, so I just tied it to random branches and taped the twine to the back of the pictures.

That's all there is to it!

Crafty time

I've been in a huge crafting mood ever since the wedding. Last year I was really in to knitting scarves. This year, it's yarn wreaths. I made them for a few family members as thank you presents for the wedding, and now they've been popping up as ideas for Christmas presents. There's a good yarn wreath tutorial here at one of my favorite blogs. Happy crafting!

(bunting has also been a crafting obsession of mine...just wait for wedding pictures!)

My weekend, in photos

Late lunch at Lil Charlies, a very Christmas outfit, best breakfast ever, huge IU win, wedding thank yous