Hello Again! I'm back.

 Marriage, vacation, and holiday preparation have kept me very busy! 

Here is a strangely unorganized recap of our vacation to Mexico:

After a few long days of travel, constant work, and post wedding jitters it took us a while to wind down. It was a strange adjustment to go from constantly serving at the coffee shop, bookstore, and church to being served all day every day for doing nothing at all. We grew to appreciate all of the wonderful people there that took such good care of us and allowed us to truly experience rest. 

I think this is my favorite picture of Garrett from vacation. He just looks so content with being in paradise.  

Finally, after bring "stuck" at our resort for a few days we realized it WAS possible to leave and walk down the beach past the Marina to see the sunset. It felt like we had been let out of jail a little. A really nice jail. 

Not sure if anyone else really knew they could leave either. Therefor there wasn't really anyone around to take our picture....which led to a large amount of selfies. 

Oh yeah. That's nice. 

When we did ask someone to take our picture it turned out like THIS, so really there was no winning. Good effort though! This was taken at the really nice restaurant at the resort. I am eating pizza in this picture, but I assure you this wasn't a childish choice. There were mushrooms on it. That's pretty grown up. Right?

Casual endless drinks and sunshine. It was not the worst. 

Garrett got food poisoning one night from that really nice restaurant. In the process, he broke all the blood vessels around his eyes and a few inside. Gross.

This was definitely a low point of the trip, but hey, that's as bad as it got!

Anyway, that was the last time we saw the sun. Now we are back in Indiana where there has been NO sun in over a week. Stop kidding yourself Indiana, you're no Portland. 

#langebartelswedding

Hey people!!

So if you have not caught social media or for some reason know nothing about my life, I got MARRIED this weekend! There will be more pictures to come in a month or so! For now, I will give you a quick recap:

IT WAS AMAZING. 

Seriously, It was one of the most incredible days of our lives. 
1. The people that were there ROCKED the dance floor. So much so that when they got hot...they just danced outside for a bit. (Mr. Yount)
2. I changed out of my dress half way through the reception...which in theory is heartbreaking...but in real life was THE BEST decision i've made thus far in life. 
3. We had all of our closest friends and family in one room and they said SUCH NICE things ALL DAY. 
4. My friend Kelsey Walsh who is professional dancer choreographed a dance FOR US!

That doesn't seem like enough bullet points to describe the day. 
We are so thankful for all the people who drove from crazy places and took off work to be there. You are all beautiful! 

Love,
Shea & Garrett Langebartels
#marriedlife

Pre-Wedding Festivities

Party Ambiance.

The Party Planner herself. She's pleased with her work.

Just incase we forget what letter our first names start with. Just incase.

These are some of the best. 

Two Weeks from right now I will be at the rehearsal dinner for MY wedding. Woah.

I would like to take this opportunity to share some fun pictures from some of the parties that were thrown for Garrett and I along the way. The people in all of these pictures and the dedicated friends and family that planned each party really know how to do it right. 

Some things that happened during one or some of these parties: dancing, sharing stories, dropping drinks on dance floors, hanging "panties" on my apartment wall, and some  high class hospitality shown to me by the best people on the planet. 

Thanks Morgan Judge for capturing the photos taken at my Aunt's BEAUTIFUL house. 

This is a bit of a crazy long post filled with pictures and brief descriptions. So...hopefully you're into that sorta thing. 

 The Hosts of Bachelorette Party Numero Uno in Logan Square, Chicago

Maid of Honor: She bought me this awesome white romper from TopShop. She's a real hospitable gem. She also provided fresh cookies and milk around 1 am and paid for nearly all of our necessary and unnecessary uber rides around the city. Sorry for forgetting my ID...once again. 

Morning after Chicago Bachelorette Party.

Pardon my crappy Iphone pictures. This is right after I realized I forgot my ID. We got tacos to go and ate them on the couch at my sister's apartment instead.

The manicure I got at the Beauty Bar at midnight. (That Amanda ALSO paid for. Have I said how great she is?) Shortly after this my drink was spilled all over the dance floor due to an aggressive booty bumper. (aka Macayla haha)

...and let us not forget getting out of our cab just so we could capture this picture with two complete strangers. 

My future sister in laws! Yes...all of them! Yay for  getting the big family experience I never had! This was at the very FIRST party of the season back in September in Indianapolis. 

Yeah that's right. I have a soap dish. Welcome to adulthood, Shea.

Friends from Pre-school. Friends forever.

Family.

Now please enjoy the final segment of the longest blog post ever: 

The picture montage of me in my blue dress with other people. 

Rest assured that during every picture I debated whether or not I should put my hand on my hip or not in effort to appear "more girly."

Nicole, she set Garrett and I up.

Morgan, she took these photos. 

Steph invited me to sit with her at lunch my
first week of high school. 

Kaitlin, the best roommate on planet earth.
I mean, i'm sure Garrett will a pretty
good roommate too. 

                                           

                 

Alex, just the best. 

Macayla, the boot bumper. 

Mom. Mom's Mom. Mom's Sister. They cute. 

The End. Let's get married. (bridal party + Morgs)

High Spaces

So...fifteen foot ceilings. 

They are TALL. 

We were at a definite loss when thinking of how exactly to decorate such a large space. Everything that we put on the walls just looked so itty bitty, and frankly still kind of do. The solution that we have come to is to make a collage of assorted shelving, letters (mostly the letter L), and pictures. That way, the little things have their place but they also have company. We are all about good company in the Langebartels Loft. 

Target Rich

The faces of those who just spent money like it was going out of style. All in the name of storage and proper lighting.

 No bed. 

Bed AND lamp!

Garrett, building us an island. Yeah... a whole island. 

I know, we are SO rich.

The past few weeks have been all about making our apartment feel more and more like home with each new day. It's been so great. There are shelves and mirrors on the walls, a bed on the floor, and a kitchen island with storage! Which means we no longer have to put our extra dish clothes, cook books, and food all in the same cabinet. We also have somewhere to eat meals! Although, we did still eat lunch at the couch today. Ha. I guess we will have to change some habits. 

In other news, both of our wedding bands came in this week! We absolutely love them. All of the invitations were due last week and I have my last dress fitting on Friday. This wedding is RIGHT around the corner; and we are in the mindset of celebration!

Dream World VS. Real World

Dream World: 

Garrett and I live comfortably in our new apartment. We enjoy the finer things like a good glass of wine every night and the occasional HGTV on our latest and greatest flat screen TV. When we go grocery shopping we only pick from the expensive cheese at the front of our local Meijer. I have completed my fall capsule wardrobe because my very easy and effortless job pays me more money than I know what to do with. All of the pieces in my wardrobe are from Madewell and I just got to buy 6 new pairs of shoes and a rockin new dress for our vacation to Mexico in November. (Okay, the vacation part is real.) The best part: Even though we have a wedding just around the corner we have just enough money leftover to make our new apartment fully functional and picture perfect. 

Ha. 

Real World (Flirty and not quite 30): 

Garrett and I live comfortably in our new apartment...when we can find time between work and dog sitting. We enjoy a coffee mug filled with Meijer brand Cookies n' Cream ice cream every night on our couch, because we don't have a kitchen table yet. Instead of watching Hulu plus, we develop future dreams together and ways to love people and each other better. When we go grocery shopping we buy ALDI brand lemonade that we water down to last longer. Sometimes, we even get to buy an 8 dollar bottle of wine. Watch out, kids.
Even though I have not started my capsule wardrobe, I have purged about 40% of my wardrobe since the beginning of the summer and will now be more prepared for the day I that do get to start on that artistic endeavour. Even though hourly jobs can be financially stressful, Garrett and I work for a wonderful company who cares about joining like-minded people together to help make Marion a better place and to give creative people a place to dream...and we're into that.

 So what's your point? 

My point is that our life isn't culturally ideal. We are about to enter into a stage of life that neither of us know anything about. We have days like everyone else on planet earth. Days where it feels like all you do is wake up just so you can cook a few meals, go to work, and then go back to bed and do it all over again. But actually most days, our day to day life is extraordinary. Free coffee from Abbey Coffee Company every day, doing life together, and coming home to a hella dreamy apartment where I can eat ice cream until I puke. I won't, I promise.

Our Humble and Very Unfinished Home.

Our moving process: 

Welcome back! A lot of people have been asking me what the apartment is looking like and how it is coming along. It's been a little tricky finding time for the apartment between our work schedules and house sitting/ dog sitting for our friends. 

Here is the process so far:

Basically, every time we go to the apartment we try and take over a few bags of bridal shower goodies from Garrett's house to our new home. Since we don't have huge gaps of free time we figure it's better to bring it over little by little then to use some of our only time together and time to rest going up and down stairs with heavy boxes. 

Things you may notice: 

The bed is on the ground. The bed is made of mostly air. Are you two really going to be sleeping on that thing? Ha. No. To be honest, I'm not even sleeping on it now. I have committed to nights on our couch until we have time to go to Indianapolis to get our bed. 

Oh yeah. How's that going, Shea?

Actually, surprisingly well! Who knew a couch could make such a great bed? Not I. 

Shea, what is all that stuff covering your living room window?

Valid question. We are going for that really grunge look. 

Ha. Just kidding. 

They are sheets and pillows. I'm just making everything look like a bed. It's my new thing. 

HA. Just kidding again.

We actually have a HUGE light post outside our window and it's basically like sleeping in the daytime in there. We aren't willing to spend on curtains right now so instead we used our extra sheets. 

Comforter: Tickling Stripe Duvet (Coming Soon)

Sheets: Peach Rose Polka Dot

Pillow Covers: Large Stripes

Lamp: Here

Chair: Knock off version of THIS. Donated by our good friend, Joseph. 

Moving Out to Move In

Hello, my name is Shea; and this is my fiance, Garrett. 

First things first: play this to create correct vibe and to satisfy your music mind with some Billy Joel. or this...not for the song though. Just for the part at a minute thirty where Taylor Swift gives you the most unrealistic version of moving ever known to man. 

Yes. I have officially moved into my new apartment...slowly, but surely. 

The apartment is a New York style loft that somehow found itself stuck in the middle of Indiana. 

Originally being from the Chicago suburbs, I like that I can get a little city and a little small town all in one. (I'm sure there is a country song about that.)

I will be posting pictures and blogging as our apartment transforms, our wedding arrives, and as I try to learn to still live freely within a budget. 

This is a new and fascinating time of life filled a lot of heavy lifting. We start this journey together as a married couple on November 21st. Only 49 days away. 

Now excuse me while I go hang all my favorite pictures in a forest and then spin around by them for a while. (you had to watch more than 5 seconds of the taylor swift video.)