Tuesday, July 31, 2012

2001 Page views!

Dear Friends and Family,

I'd like to take a moment of your time to thank you all - since Sam popped the question back in January, and I started this blog, we've had over 2000 page views

That's stinkin awesome!

You probably have no idea what this means to us, but let me tell you - it just proves how lucky we are to have such a wonderful support group backing us up - physically, emotionally, and technologically - we are surrounded by your love and support, and it makes us that much stronger as a couple. 

So, THANK YOU!

That being said, if you caught yesterday's blog post about my Dad's adventure with Kickstarter.com, the campaign offically began this morning. Here is the link to the campaign, please take a moment to watch the video and read about the product. He's thrown his heart, soul, blood, and sweat into this project, and we've got 32 days, beginning today to get this thing funded! So LET'S DO THIS!


And here's some pictures from our day trip this weekend, Sam and Kona and I went berry picking!

I had Sam cut me a nice log to cut into rounds to use at the wedding... in 11 days!



 And Kona helped me pick wild raspberries.





And then it started to rain, so I got to go test out my new rain coat that Sam gave me as a random gift - Thanks Babe!
 

It worked!
 

Now that we have all these berries, about two pints, Sam has requested that I bake him a pie...except with my non-existent baking skills this is a daunting task! Any suggestions or recipes you can recommend for a first time berry pie maker?

Happy Tuesday, and don't forget to check out KickStarter.com!

Monday, July 30, 2012

KickStarter.com

Welcome to Monday Folks!

Have you heard of Kickstarter.com?

No?

Let me tell you all about it!

Kickstarter.com is a website that allows people to set up a campaign for a product, business, idea etc, that they need help attaining funding to get them...Kick Started!

Basically, people make a video explaining what they want to do with the donations they receive and how awesome their product is, and KickStarter gives you a period of time to campaign for the amount of funding that they need.

In return for sending a donation, the person with the campaign will compensate your money by sending you something related to the product they are trying to Kick Start. 

When/if the product receives the funding that they need via donations, the money is then spent by the campaigner to get their product soaring!

If the campaigner happens to not make enough funds, then the donations are returned to the donator. 

Pretty awesome right?

The campaigner wins because they now have the funding to fund their dreams! And the donator wins because they get something cool, and they got to help in making someone's dream come true! 

SWEET! 

Well, my father, Sam's Future Father-In-Law, has just launched his own campaign! Starting tomorrow, July 31, the Patio Farm, which you've seen  a few of in my previous posts, is asking for your help!  

Tilt your head to the right to view photo correctly :)
So here's what I'm asking:

  1. Go to Kickstarter.com
  2. Type in "Paso Robles, CA" in the search box at the top of the page
  3. Look for Patio Farm!
  4. And decide if you want to be a part of helping out! 
For more questions about KickStarter.com, leave me a message or email. 
 
Let's do our part to help KickStart an American Dream! 




 

FYI: A Patio Farm is made up of Agro Towers - what you see in the pictures above. A Patio Farm includes the ability to grow plants hydroponically, or with regular soil, and a self watering system. 









Friday, July 27, 2012

How am I doing?

2 weeks from tomorrow I will offically become Leah Whitney Heffelfinger.

Craziness.

I've been getting this question a lot: Are you nervous?

Answer: No. I'm 100% ready to become Sam's wife. Yes. I'm nervous excited to see the plans that we've made for our wedding weekend come together. 

I think it's a good thing that I'm more nervous about the actual day than the lifetime that's ahead of us. 

Is Sam nervous? 

I think he would say the same thing - though I don't think he will care too much if the flowers are the wrong shade of pink or a groomsman forgets a tie...


So, other than the fact that my new signature looks like a 5th grader is signing my name, I'm doing great! Sam and I are ready to commit ourselves to each and to God, and begin this new chapter in our lives. We've got the love and support of our families and dear friends. And to add a cherry on top, we're each others BESTIES! What better way to spend a lifetime than with your best friend?! 

I'm rambling...I was thinking about writing a post about my feelings about getting married, but all that I could come up with when I sat down at the computer was... I'm Fine! I'm not nervous. I'm so excited! I LOVE Sam. And he LOVES me. And we're GETTING HITCHED in 16 days! 

HOLY. CRAP. 

Once we get married, I do have one slight problem that I'd like to share with you... the name of this blog is Sam and Leah Get Hitched...do I change it to Sam and Leah GOT Hitched...? Doesn't really have a nice ring to it. 

I've been brainstorming some ideas, but I'd love you advice. 

I want to continue this blog after the wedding to document our adventures, show you what we're building, post some awesome new recipe that I found, and of course add to all the ways that Kona sleeps. 

So, how about you give me some ideas, huh? That's a great idea! Lots of brains are better than just mine! 

Alright, let's wrap up this mumbo jumbo of a post with some pictures of the week, shall we???


1. We're makin' stuff! Before and Afer pics to come soon!
2. I taught myself some basic embroidery skills so I could use some of those Pinterest ideas.
3. Date Night with my #1 Man! 
4. Beverages.
5. Oh, he forgets his name, so he wears this shirt :) Isn't he a cutey!?
6. Sneak Peek: the ties for the wedding!
7. The 5th grade version of my signature - good grief is it long!
8. Oh, didn't you want to see this picture twice?? Sorry about that!

Have a fun weekend everyone!




Saturday, July 21, 2012

Gardening 101

Sam and I moved into our new home in early June, and if you are an avid gardener, you probably know that's a little to late to start a veggie garden. But we thought, what the heck, might as well give it a shot - thanks to a few fine folks that gave us some Home Depot gift cards, we were able to plant some pretty flowers and some starter veggies. And thanks to my Dad for supplying us with a handful of Agro Towers!



Agro Towers were designed to increase the growing power of a plot of land by allowing the grower to grow his produce vertically as well has horizontally - more fruit per acre of land = more $$$. But the other sweet thing about these stackable pots, is the ability to create 3-dimensional arrangements that can be rearranged anyway your heart desires. 

Sam created this little corner piece with some yummy blueberries, marigolds, and bell peppers. The stack on the right contains chilis, cherry tomatoes, and squash. 

Let's cross our fingers for a warm fall so we can actually get some yummy veggies and fruit from these plants before winter! 

And for those of you that are interested in getting your own Agro Towers check out my Dad's website:


And for your viewing pleasure, please check out this bad boy - soon to be seen worldwide on Kickstarter.com 

 



Friday, July 20, 2012

Can you count the ways...?

That Kona can sleep? 

 1. On the couch. 2. In a folding chair. 3. In your lap. 4. Behind the front seat. 5. Wrapped around your head. 6. On your suit cases. 7. On my bed. 8. Ok, not technically sleeping, but can your dog do this?

Monday, July 16, 2012

California Dreaming...

Good Monday Afternoon to everyone! Sam and I and Weston and Kona spent a glorious weekend in sunny California visiting my parents and attending a family reunion. We left Flagstaff at the butt-crack of dawn to get to Paso Robles in time for my dress fitting. The good thing about leaving that early was this incredible view:


We're getting down to the wire in terms of days left until the wedding, so we took this time in Paso Robles to visit our photographer, Cindy Franklin, check out the Loading Chute (wedding venue - since Sam hadn't seen it yet), have a final dress fitting, and meet with our pastor. 


Kona and I had the pleasure of sharing the backseat of the truck.... not the most comfortable 10 hours of my life, but what can you do??

Saturday was spent in Morro Bay with the family for kayaking and fish tacos. For fear of losing my camera and/or phone to the Pacific Ocean, I didn't take any photos, but I know someone did --- Hey Family! If you have photos of this weekend can you share them with me?? 


That's dog beach, north of Morro Bay. Gorgeous day, but the family reunion was on the schedule so we didn't get to stop. 

The reunion consisted of:

card games
tacos
sausage casserole
tidepools
wedding shower
and quizzing Sam on all the new faces 

Lots of fun!

 
We even had some time to lounge around my parent's house with their dogs, Rusty (right) and Honey (left) that's Kona in the middle. And yes, they are professional beggars, not spoiled at all :)

And finally, the weekend had to come to an end.... I taught a 6am cycle class this morning, and got to work by 8. Time to get back in the groove of things until the wedding. 27 more days! 

But on a brighter note, I got to bring home my old friend! It's been a while since we've been together, so we're planning on getting reacquainted this weekend!


And the question of the day:

Once Sam and I are officially HITCHED, what should we change the name of the blog to?

Leave a comment at the bottom of the page!


Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Buy Local!

Hey everyone, this is a random topic today -  it was fueled by two things: 1, this awesome blog, E Tells Tales, and 2, my father. (He's awesome too!)

So number 1, I follow a handful of blogs (which sparked the idea for this blog) and it's funny because, I feel so attached to these woman whom I've never even met. They write so true to their lives, it's like I really know them. Anyway, E Tells Tales has some beautiful writing, most recently a story about how her husband lost his family owned grocery store in the small town they live in because WalMart moved in right across the street. Seriously, how many times do family owned businesses have to be shut down by WalMart before we realize that WalMart is KILLING us? (Target is not much better!) E's family poured their heart and soul into this business to put food on their table, and now their house is on the brink of foreclosure.  If you're anything like me, you'll love reading her blog, so check it out, and think  about the damage you're doing when you buy from those big box stores. 

And number 2, my Dad is the most creative person I know, and like the family from the blog I mentioned above, he owns his own business and is slowly getting squashed by China. What ever happened to American Made Products? Oh, China can make it cheaper....NOT A GOOD EXCUSE. What about the American families like mine and E Tell's Tales family - we're Americans and yet we have bend over backwards to find Americans to buy our products! 

Ok, I'm ranting, I apologize. The point is - please, pay more attention to the places you shop, the products you buy, realize that if we want this economy to turn itself around we have to stop giving our money to foreign countries. The American dollar HAS TO STAY IN AMERICA! 

Ok, for real. I'm done ranting. 

Happier things:

1. Kona, learned how to "give me 10!"... you know, like high fiving then you, high ten?? 
2. 32 more days till the BIG DAY! 
3. Monsoon season finally began!
4. My wonderful cousin, Kylie, just landed in Australia for a semester abroad! Check out her BLOG!
5. Sam and I bought a new TV --the flat kind! We're so old school...
6. And we bought TOOLS! A miter saw to be exact (proud of me babe, I remembered what it's called!)
7. Some very blog worthy events are happening this weekend, so be on the lookout for a picture heavy post in a week or so! 
8. My dear friend, and bridesmaid, Bethany, got engaged to our good friend and groomsman, Chad, last weekend! Congrats guys! We're so happy for you!
9. We met our new neighbors, turns out they are wonderful bakers! Yummy cherry and apple empanadas! 


10. My shiny new toy:
Thanks Sara! 

BTW, if you have a fancy schmancy phone, follow me on Instagram! #leahheffelfinger
Happy Tuesday!

Sunday, July 1, 2012

40 days and other things.

Yikes, I'm a slacker - I guess between moving and being out of town last weekend, it's been a busy 2 weeks. And we haven't had internet at the house until Monday - so I've got some catch up to do.


First off, we're officially all moved in as of last Tuesday, such a relief. And we are pretty much all unpacked too - just some storage issues to work out and little things like that. We purchased a BBQ on Friday night, and enjoyed some yummy pork chops last night....anyway, before I start rambling, here's the run down of the past week or so:


Sam and I went our seperate ways last weekend - He took some of his man-friends up to Mancos, CO for a bachelor/boys weekend, and I went to Phoenix with my lady-friends for a girls weekend - we also met up with Chris, Sam's Mom, and Aunt Sarah, for a pseudo bridal shower brunch. With all of our friends and family living so far away, and the wedding sneaking up on us (40 days!) plus moving into our home, and all that comes  with a new home, we decided against any formal bachelor/bachelorette party and wedding/bridal shower -- so this worked out nicely. I don't have any pictures from the boy's trip, but here's a few from my girls weekend:






Oh, we stayed at the Biltmore Hotel - Ashley (MOH) planned most of the weekend with the help of the other girls - they are all sooo incredibly amazing - couldn't ask for better friends! That's Steffi and I hanging by the pool.




And here we have Bethany and Ashley... unfortunately Emily couldn't make it this weekend...but she was there in our hearts! 



The pool had a swim-up bar, so of course we had to take advantage of that - Pina Colada's - YES, PLEASE!






Ashley crafted these adorable shirts for the girls (Emily, I've got yours here, if I get time I'll mail it to you this week). On the front they said "Bridesmaid" and on the back they have their name. Mine said "Bride" on the front, and the back said "Soon to be: Mrs. Heffelfinger"! And Ashley also decked me out with a sash and a boa. We went to a piano bar --- cause we're super classy like that. 


Ok, I'm out of pictures from the weekend, but here's what's been going on around here:







Sam is such a sweetheart - he bought me my very own sander! And I took it straightaway to my coffee table and then I coated it with an awesome bright teal paint! LOVE IT! I added the beautiful tray that Grandma Ellie (my Dad's mom) gave Sam and I for our wedding (it's actually a carving board, but with the lack of storage in the house, and for how beautiful it is, it needed a home in a special spot) I added a picture of Kona, a succulent, and a book on travel --- to show our worldly we are :) haha. 


And the back yard needs some TLC, but we've been playing ladder ball out there most evenings - practicing for the wedding - you should start practicing too, cause Sam and I are getting pretty good! (Though I've yet to actually win....)







We've got a cute little park around the corner from the house, and conveniently it's also near where Weston is living for the summer, so we met up there this week. The boys played some 2 on 2 and Kona learned that she can't fetch a basketball. 




I've been crafting it up this week too - my cousin, Kylie, is leaving for a semester abroad in Australia in a week, so I sewed her a little clutch in her fav color - orange! I also ordered some chalk pens (awesome stuff!) for some wedding projects. 






And finally, this weekend we decided to hold a yard sale. Since we combined both of our stuff, we suddenly had two of lots of things. We did pretty good - paid for about 1/2 of the BBQ that we bought, or about 1/3 of the TV that we want to get haha. I also put my green thumb on and planted some flowers and a tomato plant.


My next project is to finish decorating the living room - any suggestions? 


Also, we'll be in Paso Robles on July 12 for the weekend, if you want to hangout, let us know! 


Leave us a comment too!!