Married

Thomas and I got married a little more than a week ago, on October 24.

It was a beautiful, perfect day filled with all the people we love, pumpkin cake and a ton of dancing. And I am officially thrilled to not be wedding planning anymore.  :)

Being married feels completely natural for us. We are happily settling into homeownership, enjoying time with our pets, cooking, and planning for our honeymoon this spring.

We have some sneak peek photos but I am SO excited for the pro pics!

Love, the Heuermanns

Our New Home

Hello, hello!

One month in our new home and I have yet to blog about it. Currently we have all our Halloween decorations up, and I spend every day with our puppy and new kitten working from home. I LOVE it. Best job I've ever had, even if I'm still getting the hang of this freelancing stuff!

I spend my day keeping an eye on the neighborhood, taking care of the pets and trying not to get distracted by Netflix. (Ahem, just finished all 7 seasons of 30 Rock...)

Winnie and Salem! Best friends?

I actually enjoy cleaning now, and I'm trying to get a good chore schedule in place. I'm slowly becoming a daily bed maker, every-other-day mopper and strict budgeter. Baby steps.

Here are some pictures of our new place!

Celebrating like champs.

One month 'til the wedding, a to-do list a mile long and a brand new business to keep afloat. It's going to be a good autumn!

Paranoia, moving and my bachelorette party

Happy Monday!

This week is just...crazy. I say that about lots of weeks, but in a "Oh, I have to leave the house twice this week! Whoa!" kind of way. This week actually is crazy.

This weekend we went to my aunt's small town to pick up the rest of our shower gifts, and we introduced Winnie to the mini horses! She wasn't too excited to meet them.

Sleepy on the way home.

Back to the craziness.

So we might be moving this week. 

Or we might be moving next week. 

Once the owner of our new house is situated with her new house closing, we get to move. No clue when that is. Sometime between tomorrow (seriously) and next Friday. So for now we are just here, packing everything, waiting SO ANXIOUSLY.

On top of that, my bachelorette party is this weekend! So we might move Friday and a few hours later I have to drive three hours away, leaving Tom with most of the moving. And, as petty as this, I packed up most of my clothes. So if we don't move this week, I'll have to do some serious digging to find myself semi-cute bachelorette party clothes. And our wedding invites go out this week. I should probably find those in the sea of boxes...

That means that by the end of this week we could be in our house, and we have no clue yet. But we are excited!

I also had this terrifying dream last night about tornados, so I woke up with inclement weather preparedness on the brain. You better believe I'll be one of those people with plans drawn up for tornados, fires and robberies. I woke up an hour and a half early and couldn't get back to sleep because I was thinking about where our safe spot during a tornado would be, and whether we should install some motion-detector lights. Oy.

Cheers to a new week!

Homeowners!

Remember this post, where I talked about our new apartment? And how we were going to be moving in July 2nd?

Well. Clearly July 2nd has come and gone, and here we are, still living in a basement. But there is a very good reason for that! 

We broke our lease late last month for another house opportunity that came up through people we know. That fell through suddenly, and we were left without an apartment or a house.  Plus, we wanted to be in our own place by our wedding, and because the home buying process takes awhile, we were getting down to the wire. We've been living in the basement for two years saving money, and while I've loved living with Tom's family (seriously, they are amazing future in-laws), we are beyond ready for our own space.

We stopped in to a couple open houses and nothing really struck us as future home material. There was one house we liked in our ideal neighborhood, and we decided it wouldn't hurt to take a look. So we set up a time to tour the house, and instantly we loved it. That hadn't happened to us before. This house had everything we wanted, and we could really see ourselves there for a very long time.

We scrambled to get a realtor - a friend of mine - and quickly put together an offer. The house had only been on the major market sites for a week or so, and homes in that neighborhood go quickly. Luckily, we had already been prequalified for a loan, so the approval process moved pretty simply.

Within two days, we had an accepted offer! The home inspection went very well, so now all we have to do is wait. We will be moving in mid-end August and we CANNOT. WAIT! It honestly feels like it is ages away, but we put that offer in three weeks ago. So the next month will hopefully move fast. 

We started packing in late June for our apartment move, so we are basically surrounded by boxes for the entire summer, but it's worth it. We are really happy to be bypassing the apartment and moving right into our home!

We are lucky enough to have two wedding showers before we move, so we have a place to put our new gifts from family and friends! We also scored some secondhand/vintage furniture a couple weeks ago. Putting an offer in on a house? That felt pretty normal. Buying furniture? That felt ridiculously grown-up.

Here's a sneak peak of some of the furniture we got!

This table and chairs will go in our kitchen (minus the rooster...). We have a dining room table that Tom's dad found on the side of the road, and we bought secondhand chairs for that as well.

And this will be a game table for the basement. It's an old-fashioned card table and I thought it was so cool. We got an awesome deal on it, so we decided to go for it.

And this our current living state, though we did organize it all a lot better last night. This is the tip of the cardboard box iceberg! We were ready well in advance with the jumbo toilet paper and paper towel pack, haha.

Soon we will have more space than we know what to do with! Have I mentioned we're excited??

On Quitting My Job

Via

The day after Easter, I woke up in a funk. Actually, it was more than a funk. It was a full-blown panic attack. For whatever reason, I woke up that morning and it felt like someone was screaming at me to look at my current career, and pursue the one I'd been obsessing over on and off for years.

I've always wanted to be a professional writer in some capacity, but as college graduation loomed two years ago, I looked into possibly doing some freelance writing. Really, I was lost and willing to look at any avenue. But I forgot about freelance writing and decided to accept a corporate job with a real estate company.

After four days, I quit that job with its toxic work environment and went back to my old internship. I figured this would last a couple months, through the summer. It lasted 8 months. During that time I decided to look into some freelance work again. Over 8 months, I didn't land a single freelancing gig. So when I got hired at my last job, that all fell by the wayside.

A little over six months into that job, freelance writing started haunting me again. I would go on long morning drives before work, mulling over my future and whether could work in cubicles for the rest of my life. I woke up well before my alarm every day on steamy August mornings to drive and drive and ask myself that if I wasn't happy with my career, what would it take to fix it?

I was at that job for a year when another company approached me about a position at their company. I accepted that position this past winter. And that is where I was when I woke up one morning practically in a frenzy to get out. It was then I decided to really, really look at my life and my options, and figure out what was next.

It wasn't the jobs, necessarily; it was the fact that even though I knew where I wanted to go with my career, I wasn't going there.

I knew it was finally time to act. I got serious about making my life what I wanted it to be. I set goals. I researched. I listened to motivational speeches. And in less than two months of frantic planning and searching, I put in my notice at work.

It's amazing that I spent 8 months looking for freelance jobs with no results, but as soon as I got serious about what I wanted to do, I took action sooner than planned. My original plan was to leave my job in October. But several opportunities came together at once, and I knew it was time to go.

Now it has been one month on my own. It's a struggle, for sure. But it's the right struggle. It's a daily battle of doing enough, marketing enough, planning for the future and cringing at my bank account, but still waking up every single day with optimism and excitement for the day ahead. That never happened at work before. And it really is an amazing feeling.

I think the craziest part is that this doesn't feel crazy. It feels absolutely natural, like of course this was supposed to happen at this time. That isn't always the case. Other jobs or opportunities have felt completely wrong to me, deep down. My gut was right every time. But I'm grateful for all of them, because I learned great tips, hard lessons and basic business skills.

I can't wait to document my successes and failures here, and to answer any of your questions! Anyone else trying to do something similar? What's your dream job?

I'm back...and I launched my dream career!

Well, it has been quite awhile! And a ton of stuff has happened that I can't wait to document. Honestly, I've barely thought about this little blog until tonight, when I realized all of the amazing stuff happening in my life and how I wanted to get it chronicled for later.

Proof I'm still alive:

This will be a quick recap and I'll be back to give more detailed versions of all of this. So, here is what's been going on since I last blogged!

• Had our first bridal shower
• I QUIT MY JOB!
• I launched my freelance/virtual assistant career full-time. So basically, I am now a work from home puppy mom. AKA my dream.
• We got an apartment. Then broke the lease when a house came available. Then that house fell through so we put an offer on another one and we got it!! We will be homeowners in August!
• I launched another book, too!

Then there are all the little things. The wedding invites, picking out furniture for our new place, doing some honeymoon research, and learning a ton about my new(ish) field.

What an amazing summer it has been! So I plan on posting about each and every one of those things because they're all worth it. But I'm buzzing all.the.time because I honestly don't know what to be excited about first. We finally hit the 100-day mark until our wedding, we have a whole house to decorate, and I've got the job (and puppy! and future husband!) of my dreams. So much to be grateful for!

Meet our puppy!

Two weeks ago, we finally got to pick up our little Boxer puppy, Winnie! She is adorable and feisty and ridiculously cuddly, and I adore her.

She is also a ton of work! Tom was out of town last week so it was just me and Winnie. And if I looked away for two seconds, BAM! She's eating a cord or a leaf or a stick. I am constantly shoving my hand in her mouth to pull out various items. At least she's getting used to it?

We are definitely getting used to her. That first week was tough because we knew a puppy would be a lifestyle change, but it almost felt like we'd adopted a toddler. After a couple weeks, though, we are all in a routine. 

Currently she's sleeping with Tom in our bed, spoiled little girl :) Of course we were all "She can't sleep in the bed with us!" and that didn't last too long. She sleeps in her crate at night, but in the morning we let her nap with us. She's little now, but even when she's a 60-pound adult Boxer, I'm sure we will still be letting her up on the bed.

She also loves to wrestle with the cat, sleep in strange positions, do a special yodeling cry when I leave her in her crate and sit on our laps whenever possible.

We love our little Winnie!

Changing my Thoughts: My first few weeks using the Law of Attraction

Happy Monday! We all need a pump-up on a Monday morning, right? Here's one for you:

The past few weeks have been interesting. I woke up the day after Easter, decided there were some areas of my life where I didn't feel happy, and got to working on making changes; some little, some massive.

A couple days later I did some reading/YouTube watching on the Law of Attraction. The idea is that like attracts like. When you are positive and grateful, more good things come your way. If you consistently feel you are a victim, negative things happen (or you are more aware of them.) Whatever frequency you are vibrating at, other things of a similar frequency will find you. And if you put it out there that you have a clear-cut goal and are working toward it every day, things start to happen.

Within a few weeks, my life has started to change:

• I wake up happier and more excited to start the day
• I feel I am working toward my dream life and making it happen, instead of just thinking "It would be nice if..." or "I wish I had..."
• I have far more patience and deal with tough blows easier because suddenly, nothing feels impossible. Nothing is holding me back.
• My anxiety has diminished drastically.
• I can get through tough workouts, long days and crack-of-dawn working sessions much easier.

I can't wait to share what I am setting up over the next couple months, but I am even more excited about my attitude and confidence shift.

Here are some videos I liked if you want to learn more about it yourself!

• How to use the Law of Attraction
• Without a Paddle
• Celebrities on Law of Attraction

And because you won't hear this nearly enough today, "May the Fourth be with you!"

Weekend Things, and 6 months to go!

Happy Monday!

This weekend was lovely. Tom and I celebrated 6 months till our wedding day on Friday night at Olive Garden. And we saw Age of Adaline, which we both really enjoyed! Definitely a feel-good romantic movie, with some made-up science thrown in. It was fun.

I can't believe we have hit the 6-month mark to our wedding. We started out at 25 months! Yikes. And the to-do list just keeps growing.

One thing on that list is to keep growing my hair. It isn't easy; I usually chop my hair up past my shoulders once a year. But my mother is a hair stylist who happens to love long hair, and she wants more hair to work with for our wedding day, so there you have it. No chopping allowed until November.

Saturday night we made this chicken which was delicious. We've been doing lots of cooking to prepare for living on our own, and so far, everything we've made has been a hit!

And then I made these cupcakes again. Almond cherry. They are ADDICTING. I made 24 of them and six people polished off all of them by the next day.

Yesterday Tom and I took a walk in the woods to find some large branches to make an arch for our wedding. We drew plans all over the driveway in chalk, which was fun, but not as fun as hopscotch.

Hooray for warmer weather!

A nesting weekend, and finding the path.

Happy Monday, friends!

This is the first Monday in weeks that I woke up feeling energized and ready to tackle the week. I am slowly working toward a lot of MAJOR goals for myself and I can't wait to see how everything unfolds. After a couple rough weeks, this is refreshing.

I have been wanting to pick up freelance writing side hustles for awhile now to help supplement our wedding/student loan payments, but for the most part, all I was doing was planning. Now I have an actual goal in mind and things are starting to happen!

Speaking of planning...we spent this weekend doing some shopping for our puppy! We're just about set. We picked up some bowls, a collar and leash, a puppy bed and a brush. Only three more weeks!

We also spent this weekend doing a little apartment prep, mostly gathering supplies we will need and checking to see what we have already.

I'm so excited to decorate our new place. I haven't had the chance to do much decorating outside my room, so I have no clue if I'm any good at it. Tom has good taste, so that helps.

Yesterday I made my favorite homemade laundry detergent, this turmeric chai tea (perfect for the rainy day we had), greek pasta salad for lunches this week and these amazing strawberry muffins.

Mmm....definitely having those for breakfast this morning.

TWO exciting announcements!!

So it's been a whole month since I posted here. *Womp* I have been out enjoying the sunny weather, doing some side work and just living life.

(Random blurry Easter brunch photo to prove I am still alive.)

But I have two very exciting announcements to make up for it!

So the first thing...

We are getting a PUPPY!!

In May, we will be puppy parents to this little Boxer girl, and we are SO excited. We have been researching dog breeds and puppy training for about two years now, so we were finally ready to contact breeders. We went back and forth on breeder dogs and shelter dogs, but because she will be our first dog together, we wanted to know the dog's whole history and exact breed.

We thought we would wait much longer to get a dog. At least a year, until after our honeymoon. But because we live at home with Tom's parents (and his friend Jake) there will be lots of people coming and going to help socialize her and let her out when we are at work.

So now we are working on picking up everything she needs, choosing a name, etc. And it is so much fun!

Back to that timing thing...like I said, it's convenient because we live with Tom's parents. But as of the beginning of July, after living in their basement for two years, we will have our own place!

We will be about a minute from Tom's job, so he can let the puppy out at work. They are very dog-friendly apartments, and the lady who showed us around told us the people who live below her have two boxers of their own. 

Anyway, that is my quick update for today. Lots of exciting things! And plenty of lists to be made, errands to run, payments to make, etc. Oh, and then there is that wedding thing we are doing.

Happy Thursday!

Save-the-Dates

What a beautiful weekend! The weather was incredible, I got to spend time with so many friends, had a super productive Sunday...

...and today I feel nauseated and just generally upset about having to get out of bed. That weekend of greasy, sugary and delicious food did not treat me well. The good news is today will be crazy gorgeous for March in Illinois! 77 degrees and sunny? I'll take it.

Last week we sent out our save-the-dates! That was so much fun and made everything feel a little more real. 

We spent months gathering addresses (p.s. I used the Weddingwire guest list program and it is AWESOME) and thinking about what we wanted save-the-dates to look like and when to send them.

We opted for magnets because they're practical. Seriously, that's why. If they're going to sit on someone's fridge anyway they might as well be useful, right?

The only problem with magnets is they are a weird shape, and we didn't do much searching for smaller, specialty envelopes. We went for the smallest we could find and added a sheet of vellum inside to fill the envelope a little better without weighing it down too much.

I also freaked out and insisted we had to have a pumpkin stamp on the back of the envelopes. I don't know why that was such a big deal, but I had to run out to Hobby Lobby and get one. So I did. And I felt better.

But because I am really not great at any sort of crafting or DIY activities, I stamped the envelopes with the pumpkin, stacked them up and got orange ink all over the front of half the envelopes. Here's a tip: Ink needs to dry! I stared at them, upset at my own incompetence, and finally said "Whatever, it adds character." I don't know if that's true, but at the moment, it was what needed to be said.

My work space. 

So this picture is great because it really shows off the state of my life right now. That is the basement where we currently live, I only like to work on the floor (anyone else?), you can see my ever-present mug of hot tea and I put items from my recent trip home to Chicago all over the table. Also, Girl Scout cookies. 

A random picture from the weekend...my friends and I went out to an Irish bar Saturday night! My face was frozen at this point because we had to keep taking the picture over and over. Yes, we made sure St. Patrick made it into the photo with us.

 Happy Monday!

An exhausting/happy weekend

Happy Wednesday!

I know we're mid-week already, but how was your weekend? We were lucky enough to have some warmer weather. And by "warmer" I mean like 37 degrees. So. That's balmy in Illinois in March.

This weekend I went home to the Chicago 'burbs to see friends and family and have another dress fitting!

I left straight from work Friday and met a couple of my friends at my grandma's house for pizza and a sleepover (my grandparents are awesome.)

The next morning we headed out to the dress fitting. I got us lost for awhile and we were half an hour late...so luckily I have friends who don't mind my total lack of direction?

(P.S. I've got my dress on in this picture! Good work, friends, at blocking the dress.)

After that, I met my mom at her salon to get my hair colored. My mom is an AMAZING hair stylist. She's been doing it for decades. So I'm pretty spoiled. But I still only get my hair colored about once a year because I am lazy. I also like to chop my hair once a year, but my mom squashed that idea because of the wedding. I am definitely going to be a post-wedding hair chop kind of person...

Then we went to Long Grove for lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, the Long Grove Cafe. We used to go there yearly for our birthdays (a week apart) but since I've moved away, that's been harder. We took advantage of the nice weather and went this weekend!

Long Grove is also known their chocolate-covered strawberries (which I forgot to get a picture of...) but here is the inside of the candy shop!

I spent the whole weekend eating. Seriously. Saturday night we went out for Mexican food and I couldn't even look at the food. 

Sunday morning we had brunch at my family's house and then I drove home. It's about a 2 hour, 45 minute drive. I usually get books on tape to pass the time if I'm driving alone. This time around I've been listening to The Apple Orchard by Susan Wiggs.

I got home and immediately took a nap. So much food, so much socialization...I'm the kind of person who needs some serious alone time after seeing a lot of people. That was definitely true of this weekend.

I'm gearing up for another crazy weekend, and I can't wait!