Moving!

Trey and I have lived in Seattle for the past two years, and my, it's been fun! There are several things we did here - long walks around Green Lake, walks around Seward Park, Mama's Mexican Kitchen, Pike's Place, the picnic at Golden Gardens, and I've spent a fair amount of time at Leschi grabbing iced tea with Denise. And there are all the things we never got around to - the Seattle Public Library, the SAM, and the Triple Door. Alas, we are moving south tomorrow, and I'm realizing these lovely attractions won't be a 10 minute bus ride away any more! As much as I'll miss many parts of Seattle, I am glad to be moving somewhere a little less crowded, a little less noisy, and a little more affordable. Therese something about the business of the city (and especially where we live) that makes me a little anxious - as if resting is not possible and I should always be on the go. It's been a wonderful two years living in the city I have always loved, and yet I keep inching back toward home, and toward my roots and it just feels very natural. Maybe I'm growing up after all!

Tomorrow evening we'll be unpacking my new home in Tacoma, in a lovely "garden level" (read basement) bungalow on a college campus. I think living on campus will be interesting for Trey, yet I think it will be a lot of fun. It doesn't hurt the campus is gorgeous, and my commute to work will be one flight of stairs. It really is a great location, close to shops and eateries, farmer's markets, and of course Target! Then there is the 15 minute commute to my mom's place, which will make for some easier lawn maintenance.

Speaking of the lawn, we were down last week to mow the grass - it was over 6 inches tall! There were some spots where the grass hadn't taken in as well as in others, but overall we were very pleased with ourselves. I have always loved the idea of gardening, and have had a few successes, but I've never taken on something of this magnitude. I'm hoping by the time of our wedding, I might be able to call myself a green thumb.

Pictures to follow once we're all settled - plus a post from Trey on making the aisle/path from the house to the ceremony area. au revoir, ma belle ville!

Welcome!

Hello there! If you've stumbled upon this blog, it is likely that you are friends with Jenni or Trey, looking for an update on their life. This blog will be used to update folks on what's going on in J&T's life, starting with chronicling the process of planning an at-home wedding on a budget - details on how we did it and advice we have. This blog has been inspired from abackyardwedding, a fellow blogspotter, and much of our planning has been inspired from this resource. For our guests wondering for the vibe we are going for - there it is!


As of this writing, the plan is to have the wedding at Jenni's mom's place in Gig Harbor, WA. The location is in need of major landscaping. So far we've been able to hire Mark from Earthcrafters who pulled out some stumps and ferns, and leveled the lower yard. Mark did an excellent job, and was able to get us dirt on a budget. The cost of landscaping was very reasonable, and was taken care of by Jenni's mom, which helped substantially in our budget. If you have a backyard, however, that doesn't need this overhaul, these costs would not be incurred for your wedding. In the pic you can see the size of our space, really it's two levels. The lower level was a mass of weeds, old gardens, ferns, stumps, trees, salal, blackberry bushes, you name it! We tore down a fence to get the bobcat down there, but as you can see the result is an amazing blank canvas for creative lanscaping.



The next step was to plant some grass. After researching several different methods of planting grass, Trey just went for it. We bought some seed (specially blended for shady yards), limestone, and a seed spreader. We rented a rototiller to get the dirt loose. The majority of the work was getting the rocks out of the yard. We were blessed with perfect planting weather - rainy for a week then a solid month of sunshine, 70-80 degree days. Very rare here in Washington in May. That's where we are at now!

Thanks for stopping by, Trey and Jenni (mostly Jenni) will keep everyone posted on the happenings.