Pictures From Our Trip To Iowa

Since I don't have a lot of time to write all about our trip back to Iowa last week, I thought I would post a few pictures of our time back in the Midwest. I promise, in the next day or so I will take time to sit down and tell you all about our the wonderful time we had back home! Till then...here's our week through pictures. ENJOY!

Hickory Park in Ames...Yummy!


Scott and I eating at Hickory Park in Ames

Scott, his mom Jane and sister Stephanie

Scott and I at his Mom's house

Scott with his Mom, Sister and Step-Sister Hillary at my wedding shower

Scott and I at my wedding shower...he didn't attend, just stopped by to say hi to everyone

My cousin Danielle (my Maid-of-Honor), me, my Mom, Aunt Clare (who hosted my shower) and Danielle's daughter Kate (our Flower Girl) at my wedding shower

Opening gifts at my wedding shower

Well, there you go! Just a few pictures of our great week! Like I said, I will write all about it in the next day or so! I hope everyone is doing well! Miss you all!

Love,
Heather

Who decided that the days should only be 24 hours long???

Time has flown by and once again I failed to write last week like I had promised. It is my life goal now to someday live a normal-boring life because right now, my life is INSANE!!!! I thought that once I was done with grad school my life would calm down and I would have time to relax. Boy, was I wrong! I honestly think I'm more busy now then I was when I was in school, seriously! Maybe I just have more time on my hands and I'm able to fill it up quickly? I don't know. Whatever it is, it really needs to stop!!! I wish I could say that I see the end in the future, however, I'm really not sure if this busy period of my life will ever end. I'm sure I will find something else to keep me busy after the wedding is over. BUT someday, I promise you, this blog is going to be so boring (because my life has slowed down and I have nothing to write about) that you will stop reading it. Believe me? Yeah, I don't either!!! ;-)

I'm really not sure where March has gone, I can't believe it's already the middle of the month! Our wedding countdown is at 79 days!!! YIKES!!! We are busy busy busy trying to get everything ready for our big day! On the First day of March Scott, my Mom, my Aunt Clare and I went to Estes Park to do our final wedding walk through at Della Terra. We now know: how many tables there are going to be, where they will be located, what our bartender will be serving, the schedule for our whole wedding day, what color of table linens we will have (probably one of the hardest decisions I have had to make for our wedding...no joke), when we will be doing our first day, where the cake will be displayed, how the cake will be cut and served, where the food will be located, what time we need to get there on Sunday, what time pictures will be and finally what color of napkins we will be using. I think I made more decisions on that Monday then I have this whole time we've been engaged! It was a long day, but we got so much done that now I'm finally not stressing about the day of the wedding...it's just everything else that is still stressing me out! :-)

Another big task we've crossed off our list is the invitations! Who knew DIY (do it yourself) invitations would cause so much stress! (Please stop laughing at me, I honestly thought this was going to be easy and in theory it should have been!) Picking them out and buying them was the easy part!!! We had planned on printing them with our own printer, HA! We were wrong! For whatever reason our printer just didn't like the paper so we were unable to print them at home. We thought that the next best thing would be to take them to Kinkos and have them print them. It wasn't going to cost us much and it sounded like a good idea on Tuesday. Wellll.....Kinkos didn't like our paper either. For whatever reason their printed decided not to print our invitations either. After I got the call yesterday, saying that "You're paper killed our printer" (yeah, friendly people they have working at our local Kinkos) I didn't know if I should cry or laugh...so I just sat silently at my desk until I thought of a Plan A and a Plan B. Plan A was to take them one last place to see if we could get them printed somewhere else. Plan B was to take them back to Iowa with us in a week and print them at my Aunt's work...this plan would put us about 2 weeks behind of when we wanted to send them out. Not bad, but still if you know me you know how I like my plans to all work out! So after work last night Scott and I went to Kinkos, picked up our blank invitations and headed to Staples. After taking the wrong exit (my fault) we found no Staples store in sight, but we did see an Office Max! Let's just say, Office Max will get my business from now on. The guy at the printing counter was great and got our invitations and RSVP cards printed in 10 minutes and it ended up costing us less then what Kinkos had quoted us!!!! Now, I wish I could say our invitations are ready to be put in the mail, but they're not! We still need to tie the ribbons on them, put them in the envelopes, put the RSVP cards in the envelopes, lick and stick the envelopes and put stamps on them! But that's the fun part! Sunday I am having a Invitation DIY party at my house. A couple of my girl friends are coming over to help. :-) We are hoping to have them in the mail by next Wednesday!!!

So besides all of our fun wedding stuff, Scott, my Mom and I are getting ready to head back to Iowa in a week. We'll be home March 23 - 28! We are so excited to go back and see our family and friends. It's been a full year since we've been back so it's time for a visit. As always our trip is already packed full of plans and we haven't even begun driving east! We are planning on spending time with Scott's Mom, Step-Dad and Sister, my Mom's family and my Dad and his family, John and Vicki and as many of our friends as time will allow! My Aunt and Cousin are hosting a wedding shower for me while we are home and Scott's partaking in his bachelor party Saturday night. We will barely have time to sleep while we're back, but since we have a limited time with our loved ones we want to spend every minute with them that we can get. It's going to be a lot of fun! When we get back from Iowa Scott's Dad is coming to visit the first weekend in April. After that weekend we have one awards event to go to for the AIA and that's it until the wedding!!!! I am going to make it a priority to relax and slow down in the month of April. It's going to be hard, but I think it will be much needed!!! Wish me luck with that! :-)

Well, that's what's been happening in our lives. Besides being way too busy, Scott and I are doing great! I think we are finally over being sick! The weather is starting to warm up so we have been spending time outside trying to enjoy it! I'm still job hunting and hope I will be able to give you all an update soon! Scott had his annual review at work this week and got excellent scores! I am so proud of him! I hope you all are doing well! We miss you and hope to see some of you while we are back in Iowa!!!

Love,
Heather

95 Days To Go!

Whew! What a month it has been! Scott and I have been busy as usual, although, we've also been really sick!!! For the past month or so, we have both been hit several times by different cold/flu bugs. They just don't seem to leave our house! As soon as one of us gets well the other one starts to get sick. It has been a repetitive cycle for weeks now! But, the good new is, we are BOTH finally feeling better this week. :-) Hopefully we got all the germs out of the house and our systems.

Even though we've been sick, we have managed to get a lot done for the wedding. I thought we were getting closer to getting everything done, but as soon as I cross something off my "To do" list 3 more things get put on the ever-growing list. I'm trying not to get overwhelmed by the multiple pages of things to do in my purple note book, but I'm not always successful at it. We are now getting into the little details of the wedding...
- What color napkins do we use? (black, white, pink, a mix of colors....do I really even care?)
- What music do we want to have playing during the reception? (Nothing cheesy...more classical romantic stuff)
- What song do we want to have playing as we walk down the isle for the first time as Husband and Wife? (Nothing "traditional" is all I know!)
- What color of table linens do we want? (black over white, white over black, a mix of the two...again, do I really even care?)
- What beer and wine do we want to serve our guests?
- What style of ceremony do we want to have?
- Are we going to write our own vows? If so, we should probably get on that. If not, we should probably start looking for pre-written vows.

And the list goes on and on....The best part is, I am not doing this alone! I have many people by my side helping me make all of these decisions. I am so thankful that Scott wants to have a part in the decision making for our wedding and is willing to give me his input on all the small details as well. My Mom has also been a big help! She's always willing to offer her advice and opinion, but understands that the final decision is really up to Scott and I! She's thought of things that I hadn't even thought of yet, which is a huge help when it comes to all of these little details that really make the wedding day special! My Aunt Clare has also been amazing. Even though she is in Iowa, she is only a phone call or email away. She has been named the official Ludwig/Greenfield "Wedding Coordinator". I am so lucky to have her helping me out! And of course there are my wonderful friends who make this so much more fun and so much more manageable! Without them, I think I might loose my mind. They are always there for me and offering to help in any way!

Even though there are still questions that have remained unanswered and details that still need to be figured out, we really have managed to get a lot done in the past few weeks. I took my wedding dress in for alterations (I hate being short) a few weeks ago. It was really exciting to put my dress on again, I haven't had it on since I bought in back in Nov. 2008! It's more beautiful then I remembered! :-) I am going in for my final fitting this Friday, hopefully everything will be done and I can take it home. My bridesmaid Amy and personal attendant Tiffany are going with me so they can "learn" how to get me into my dress...it's a process, trust me! I also figured out how I am going to do my hair for the wedding. It's funny how a dress can dictate how one should have their hair...but I knew instantly how I wanted it to look as soon as I put my dress on! I can't wait to see how everything comes together on my wedding day...dress, hair, make-up...everything! Besides my dress, Scott and I did decide on what wine and beer we are going to serve at our wedding reception (I guess I should go ahead and cross that one off my to do list...). Della Terra hosted a wine tasting event at the chateau last Saturday. It was a snowy morning, but a beautiful (slow) drive up the canyon! Both Scott and I were recovering for our most recent colds, which limited the abilities of our taste buds, but we were able to select a few wines that we thought would appeal to us and our guests. They also had a local caterer and baker there with samples! Wine, food and cake...Scott's favorite things! It was a great way to spend a snowy Saturday! Della Terra looked so beautiful all covered in snow....I guess that's good to know b/c it could be snowing on our wedding day (let's just hope it doesn't!). This coming Monday Scott, my Mom, my Aunt, our caterer and I will all be heading back up to Della Terra for our FINAL walk through! This is where all of our unanswered questions will be answered and the small details of our wedding day will be planned out! Scott and I are so excited for this day! I think after Monday we will feel like we are just that much closer to getting everything done! Check back for an update next week!!!! We have also been meeting with our Pastor, Kevin, on a more regular basis now. I wouldn't call it "marriage counseling" but more "marriage/life mentoring". Scott and I really like Kevin as a Pastor and friend and are very excited to have him a part of our lives. It's nice to have a someone on the outside asking us questions and encouraging us to engaging in different conversations that we might not have had prior to getting married. Scott and I love each other so much that we want to do whatever we can to keep that love strong and healthy for the rest of our lives. We already know marriage isn't easy and you have to work at it everyday, so it's nice to get all the advice and as many pointers before hand that we can get! :-)

Well, I believe that gives you an update as to what's going on with the Ludwig/Greenfield wedding planning and preparation! We are down to less then 100 days to go...which just doesn't seem possible! I am getting more and more excited for the actual wedding day! I know it will be here and gone in no time, so I am trying to relax and enjoy each minute of it from now until May 30th!

Love,
Heather

Life Update

I had hoped to be able to write more on our blog after the first of the new year, however, that just hasn't happened yet! To be honest, Scott and I have found ways to fill up our new free time together. In the last few weeks we have filled up every weekend by trying to cross things off our every so long and growing "To Do" List. Who knew planning your life took so much time! :-)

After the first of the year Scott and I got really excited about our future. Not that we haven't been excited about until now, but we finally feel like we are at the point where we can start planning our next chapter. With school behind me, we are looking forward to our wedding, being married, buying a house and kids....hopefully in that order and not all at once! ;-) Since both of us are not from Colorado, neither one of us knows any of the surrounding towns and communities. I only know the Boulder and Fort Collins areas well, the rest of the Front Range is much of a mystery. So, after talking about the fact that neither one of us knows much about our options for a community to call "Home" one day, we have decided to take the time and go "Community" hunting. It's much like "House" hunting, but on a slightly larger scale. We figured, if we find a place we'd like to live one day, it might be easier to look for a house when that time comes.

So, we have been actively looking for the past couple of weeks at our options. We have both decided that most likely we will both be working in or around the Denver area for the next however many years, which helps and doesn't when it comes to looking for a place to settle down. Denver is a big place with lots of suburbs surrounding it. We have both agreed that raising our future children in the city isn't something we want to do. So that leaves us with the 'burbs! It's not my first choice....oh come on, does that really surprise you? Mrs. Architect here doesn't want live in a development that has the houses so close together and everyone's house looks the same it's just painted a different shade of bage? But, I will do it for the safety and better life style for my family! Besides, newer developments have much better architecture then the ones built in the 80's and 90's!

Okay, so a couple of weekends ago Scott and I headed straight East about 20 miles from where we currently live. We ended up in a town call Brighton. Friends of ours just bought a house there this summer, so we are slightly familiar with their neighborhood. We drove around and around...without a map...and eventually found the town. As much as we love where Jake and Melissa live, the actual town of Brighton didn't excite us. We headed home deciding to keep looking, but to revisit the neighborhood in the next year as they were starting construction on a new retail area which often leads to more development.

The following weekend we decided to head South West about 35 miles from here. At work I was given a project to research the town of Littleton and everything I read about it made me love it more and more. So, our next stop was Littleton, CO. Now, this town of roughly 45,000 people impressed us. It felt like home in the sense that besides the 360 view of the mountains, we could have easily been in Iowa, which is a nice feeling. The town has a ton of open space, multiple lakes, great schools and friendly people. We found a local pizza place to eat at for lunch and decided that we should keep Littleton on our short list.

So far, we have enjoyed our weekend adventures to different towns around the area. Maybe it's been the 50+ degree weather or the sun shine or just the excitement of our future together, or maybe a little bit of all that has made this a great experience. We aren't done yet! There's still plenty of neighborhoods for us to explore. I'll keep you posted as we continue our adventures.

The rest of our time has been spent thinking about wedding stuff. I can't believe it's 4 months away!!!! It just doesn't seem possible! I feel like we still have so much to do....yet, when I look at my list I realize how much we already have done. We will be busy these next couple of months getting the rest of the stuff accomplished, but so far, I am confident we won't have to be panicking the week before the wedding....at least that's what I'm praying for. :-)

The rest of my time has been spent looking and applying for jobs. My current internship ends in May, so the pressure is on to find something else before then. I am still praying that a job in an architecture firm opens up, however, I am being realistic in that fact that I am applying for other jobs. I'll work 3 jobs if I need to....but it would be nice to find something full time with benefits. Hopefully something good will come up soon. :-) I feel like that is the missing part in my life right now. I would like to know I have a steady, full time job by the time we get married. I can't imagine what it will be like to have us both working full time jobs!!!??? I will have to say though, that this experience has been very humbling. It has made me look at the big picture of life and realize that I (and we) are not as bad off as others. I have a roof over my head, food in the refrigerator, gas (barely) in my car and I do have a job I can go to every day. Scott and I may not have extra money to go shopping, buy a new flat screen TV or go on a vacation, but we have managed to save a lot of money for our wedding, pay every bill on time and still treat ourselves to Chinese take out once in a while. This situation has allowed us both to realize that we can live on (almost) nothing and still be happy. It's not the ideal situation, nor is it one that I'd like to stay in forever, but we've shown ourselves that we can make it through and come out the other side happy and still madly in love with each other. And for that, I have to thank God for showing us that we can get through anything as long as we have each other.

Well that's all for now. I should get to bed so that a new day can start tomorrow! I hope you are all staying warm, safe and healthy. We think about you all often and wish we could see everyone more!

Miss you all!

Love,
Heather

Happy New Year!

With 2009 behind us, we are in highest spirits around here! 2010 (twenty-ten is how we say it here in the Ludwig/Greenfield residence) has already been better then the whole year of 2009 was! 2009 was a tough year, probably the toughest year yet! But, I am happy to report that Scott and I (and our family and friends) managed to make it through!

However, the year did end well for us! Scott and I spent our first Christmas together here in Colorado. We decided not to travel over the holiday this year to save money, and it's a good thing we decided to stay put given the harsh weather that hit all over the country over Christmas...had we tried to travel we may have had to spend Christmas in a hotel somewhere in Nebraska! We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in Fort Collins at my Mom's house. We all enjoyed our time together! It was a quite weekend, but just what we all needed! We ate a ton of food, watched movies and relaxed. New Years Eve was just as quite. Again, trying to save money, Scott and I decided to forgo the wild and crazy Denver New Years Eve scene. Instead, we went over to our friend Stephanie's house and hung out with her and her two little boys. We ate a great dinner, played yatzee and watched the ball drop in New York City from the comfort of Stephanie's couch.

And with that, we began what will be one of the best years of our lives! I know that is a big statement, but how can it not be one of the greatest years? Scott and I are getting married in 5 months!!! I think that right there proves that this will be a great year! :-) Now that the holidays are over and I am finally finished with grad school, we can devote the next 5 months to our upcoming wedding! I just ordered my bridesmaid's dresses yesterday, bought the programs for our wedding ceremony and have started finalizing the menu with the caterer. With all this free time I have now, I am in full "wedding mode"! :-) I love that I can now focus entirely on our wedding and enjoy the next 5 months! I know this time is going to fly by and then it will all be over, so I am going to make a point to enjoy every minute of it. I have really enjoyed having my Mom close by so that she can be a part of the planning and excitement too. It just wouldn't have been the same if she was still in Iowa and I was left to do this all my by myself. Who would have gone dress shopping with me? Or gone to Michaels and spent hours in the wedding section (folks, there are only 2 isles dedicated to weddings in the entire store...and yes, we tend to spend hours there...only a Mom would do that for her daughter!) and David's Bridal 100 times with me? Or gone to all those bridal showers? I have to think it was destiny that she moved out here just 4 months before I got engaged.

There are still plenty of things on my "Wedding To Do" list! But I look forward to checking them off one by one in the next few months!

Love,
Heather

Graduation Day!

Well, I finally did it! I graduated from Graduate School with a Masters in Architecture! I started this journey 2 years ago, and at the time, never thought I would make it to graduation day! The past 2 years sure did fly by! It hasn't sunk in yet that I am done with school, and I'm sure it won't for a few weeks, but it is a great feeling! :-) Here are a few pictures from graduation:

Before the Graduation Ceremony

My Mom and I

Scott and I after graduation

Love,
Heather

Life Update!

I know, I know...I didn't finish my list of the 100 things I am thankful for before Thanksgiving. I tried, I really did but life just got in the way! The last two weeks have flown by! The week of Thanksgiving was busy for Scott and I. Scott worked Monday-Wednesday while I stayed busy working on my final studio project. By Thursday, we were both ready for a much needed break! For Thanksgiving, we joined my Mom at the Silvandale Range in Loveland to have dinner. Since it was just going to be the 3 of us this year, we decided not to cook a big dinner and instead enjoy a home-cooked buffet provided by the Ranch. The food was amazing, but I think the best part of the day was that it was 65 degrees outside! Yes, I said 65 degrees and sunny!!! After being at the Ranch for dinner and desert, Scott and I went home and put up our Christmas tree! We spent the rest of the evening laying around and enjoying some down time.

On Friday, Scott worked from home in the morning and I went shopping to cash in on some Black Friday deals! I didn't get up at 5:00 am, but still managed to get some good deals at Target later that morning. I really didn't have an agenda, I just went to get into the holiday spirit. However, I did find some deals that were too good to pass up, and left the store with a large shopping bag! :-) That afternoon Scott, my Mom and I went up to Estes Park to enjoy the Lighted Holiday Parade! We ate at Village Pizza (yum!) and shopped downtown before the parade began. The weather was nice and warm that day, but cooled off after the sun went down! We enjoyed hot chocolate to stay warm!

On Saturday, Scott surprised me with tickets to the Nutcracker for that night as my birthday present! I love love the Nutcracker! We went out to dinner in Downtown Denver before the show and then went to a bar that is located on the 27th floor of the Hyatt hotel in downtown that has a spectacular view of the city afterwards for a drink. The night was wonderful and exactly what we needed! I have the worlds greatest Fiancee! Sunday, my actual birthday, we spent the afternoon in Fort Collins with my Mom. She made me triple chocolate cake and we ordered pizza for dinner. I had a wonderful birthday and I have to say, it feels really good to be 26! 25 wasn't my best year, so I have high hopes for 26! ;-)

This week was another busy busy week for me! I had my final studio presentation yesterday, so all week I was preparing for that. My presentation went really really well and it's such a relief to be done. I can't believe I am done with studio forever! For the 6 years I have been in school, studio was always my first priority! Stress, tears, blood and all-nighters were a part of my studio life and for it to all be over is a little bitter sweet for me. Some of my favorite memories from college are of pulling all-nighters with my friends, watching movies on a screen we rigged up, listening to music loud enough that I could be heard from outside the building and sleeping in the carpet garden for an hour every 32 hours. I know it sounds more like slave work then fun, and it was, but I always managed to make the most of it. Had it not been for all the hours I have spent in the studio, I would not have the life long friendships that I have today! And that's what has made it all worth it!

Anyways, studio is done and over with and I have one test to go before I am officially done with the semester! Graduation is next Saturday at 9:00 am....why do they do that!? My Mom and Scott will be there in the audience cheering me on as I walk across the stage! Afterwards, we are going to have lunch at the Walnut Brewery in Boulder. The first time my Mom and I ate at the brewery I told her that I was going to apply to CU Boulder, that was in September 2002. By September 2003 I was attending CU Boulder. After that first time, my Mom and I continued to eat at the Walnut Brewery each time she'd come out to visit. It only feels appropriate that we go there to celebrate an end to a journey that started 7 years ago.

My list continued......
61. My parents for allowing me to follow my dream of becoming an architect even when it meant supporting my decision to attend the University of Colorado
62. The Alabama Christmas Album
63. Scott for supporting me and loving me through this last year
64. Snow!
65. My Aunt Clare and Cousin Danielle for always buying me such cute clothes for my birthday
66. Coffee (I'm sure it's already made the list, but I really love coffee)
67. Being able to work in the same office as my friend Tiffany, I probably don't get as much work done but it makes each day at work more enjoyable
68. Having 5 great years with my MacBook before it died....it was a sad day!
69. Staying in touch with old Friends
70. Friends (the TV show)...so many life lessons can be learned from just watching an episode!
71. Christmas Cards...one of my favorite things about the holidays!
72. Graduating with a Masters of Architecture degree in a week!
73. Being able to spend the holidays with both my Mom and Scott this year
74. Dance!
75. Friday afternoons

Well, that's all for now! I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season and is remembering what this time of year is truly about!!!

Hugs & Kisses,
Heather