Sharing & Reviewing My Premier Lay Flat Wedding Photo Book from Snapfish

FYI: this blog post is serving 2 purposes... 1) to share with you my wedding book, and 2) to kind of give a review of Snapfish's Premier Lay Flat photo books since there are ZERO online with pictures. {I know, I looked.} So, this might be a doozy...get ready!!

Last summer, one of my items on my Summer To-Do list was to make my our wedding photo album. For various reasons {#1 being I'm a slacker} it just didn't get done. Fast forward ten more months, and summer is fortunately here again! I've been out of work for about 6 weeks and finally I can say that our beaUTIFUL wedding pictures are displayed to my crazy OCD standards in a photo book that I made my very own self!!

I have previously used Snapfish to make our wedding guestbook. I used pictures of me & Alex  from the very beginning {2002!!} to our most recent engagement pictures. Instead of having all our wedding guests sign a book with just their names, they got to sign our photo book and leave a note if they wished! It turned out wonderful and I still look at it from time to time. It makes my heart smile. It's a great little treasure of mine.

Wedding pictures were SUPER important to me. I had a great photographer, Kerri Crutchfield, and from the moment I saw her sneak peek on Facebook I just knew I was going to love my wedding pictures!

This is what I knew:

-I wanted a {nice} photo book

-I couldn't dare pick out "just" 100ish pictures for my book

-I am too particular and would be super annoying to someone if they were trying to make a book for me

-Therefore, I wanted to design the book myself

-I hands down prefer Snapfish's photobook-making software over any other company's

-I needed to make this happen for as cheap as I could... {do y'all know my husband?!?!}

So obviously the thing to do was make another Snapfish book. I knew I wanted a 12"x12" book. I wanted it bigger than my 8"x11" guestbook and thought 11"x14" would be a bit "much." Luckily for me, Snapfish just came out with their new Premier Lay-flat Photo Books, which apparently is different from making a custom book and upgrading to have the pages lay flat. This new book is described with the statement, "New seamless lay-flat binding, extra-thick premium pages, and a deluxe matte cover make these books perfect for celebrating weddings, vacations, and life's sweetest moments." Sounds good to me!! I just wanted thick pages and lay-flat binding in a 12"x12" book so this worked perfect for me!!

Anyways, I worked on my book when I felt like it and got it all nice & finished. I had a question because I was being super particular, wanting to make sure the cover would be perfect. I used Snapfish's "Chat with us Live" online customer service option {which I always use with companies...way more efficient than calling a toll-free number!} and after chatting with the representative, they gave me a coupon code for 50% off my book!! A previous rep had told me you can only get 20% off the Premier Lay Flat books, and typically 50% off coupons I see do exclude those. I was SUPER happy to see that the new coupon code worked and I saved **$82**!!

Don't tell Snapfish, but I would have paid the full price for the book, I love it that much. ;) I was happy with the 20% off coupon. So yeah, ecstatic about the 50% off!

Anyways, I ordered my book July 28 and received it in the mail on August 2nd... that is a FAST turn-around time! My tracking showed an expected delivery date of August 8th, so my package was 6 days early! Just another reason I love Snapfish.

So far, in looking at my book, there are only two tiny issues. One Snapfish can work on in the future, and one I am currently chatting online with a customer service rep about.** My one beef is that there's nothing to keep it in. I know that's not included in the price and they never said it did. I just wish I had something to kind of wrap it up in or keep it from wearing with time. Y'all know what I'm saying?! I might have to make something. {HAHA! Just kidding!}

And my other beef is that my book preview showed that I filled all the pages up, but when I received my book there is a blank two-sided page in the back (shown below). It doesn't look too bad, just looks like I didn't put anything on 2 pages. And I would have, had I had known the page was added. Just sayin'! {SEE THE UPDATE AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST REGARDING THIS ISSUE!}

Okay, so, now for the big reveal...

Happiness Within is right!!

the front cover

the back cover

A piece of tissue paper/vellum/whatever it's called in the front

Page 1 :)

One thing I will say is that I knew I was gonna be pushing it with fitting all my pics on 100 pages. {I am not crazy. I promise.} I didn't want to smoosh all my beloved pictures onto a small amount of pages. I wanted the photos enlarged so you could see all the smiling faces, little details, and the beautiful backgrounds. Surprisingly, I actually ended up fitting almost all my wedding photos on 85ish pages, which saved me a little bit of money! 

nice & thick :)

trying to get a good pic of the thickness of the pages

And here's just a couple snapshots of some of my favorite pages...

{excuse the blurriness of my photography!}

the details

the dress

"what might have been" / our "Plan A" ... thanks, rain! 

Pawpaw got a full-page spread!! ♥

me and my beautiful bridesmaids

love the pops of yellow all throughout the book!

special moment with my Dad

the kiss

Will cherish these pictures of my Pawpaw crying happy tears forever ♥

"and they lived happily ever after..." ♥

As you can tell, I ended up not going with any single picture full-page spreads. That's probably the purpose of the lay-flat books, but I did not necessarily have any picture I wished to enlarge to 1 ft by 2 ft. Haha! I did do several pages with just one picture, and that was big enough for me and my book. I personally just wanted the lay-flat pages to keep it clean and professional looking, as well as to be able to see all of any page that had pictures right up to the edge. 

**UPDATE: I chatted with "Yeshwanth" online, telling him/her about my issue. At first, they said it was "just the cover" or something like that. I was politely adamant that no, this was an error. I did not ask for anything specific, just wanted to make them aware of the issue and see if there was anything I could do about it. Yeshwanth had me upload pictures of my issue with the book {shown above} to confirm it. After confirmation, the conversation went a little something exactly like this...

Yeshwanth: Nicole , I have just now checked the snap shots and i see that the extra page has been added to the book . Please accept our sincere apologies for the extra page.

Yeshwanth: Shall i resubmit the order for you for free of cost?

nicole mullen: Would I need to send the 1st book back
nicole mullen: ?

Yeshwanth: No need of sending the book back to us.

nicole mullen: Oh my gosh, well then Yes, that would be marvelous!

Yeshwanth: Please give me a moment.

Yeshwanth: Just now I have re submitted your order with 2 day shipping to the above address at free of cost.. You will receive a confirmation e-mail from us within few minutes.

nicole mullen: I appreciate it so much

Yeshwanth: It was a pleasure assisting you. Is there anything else I can help with today?

Now how is THAT for customer service??? 100% customer satisfaction is what I am talking about!! That right there is what keeps customers coming BACK. Can I get an Amen?! 

So, as you can see, the photo books are definitely worth their price, especially to commemorate such a special occasion. I think the cost right now is $79.99 for the Premier Lay Flat photo books. However, that's just for their standard 20 pages! I think it's $2.79ish for a set of two extra pages {so 4 pages including front & back} after that. My book ended up being like $164 in the end, but remember, there's usually a 50% off coupon you can find/use! {Try retailmenot.com or chat online with a customer service rep ahead of time to get a code!}

Hopefully this post will give future photo book makers a better idea of what they're doing and investing in. If you have any questions, leave a comment! :) 

At the end of the day, I just loved the thing & wanted to share my great experience doing this! Now, onto the next thing on my summer to-do... only 2 weeks left of summer! {OMG!}

♥,

Nicole

Oh, and in no way did Snapfish ask me to do this or pay me to say these things. But I'd so advertise their stuff {obviously} ;)

Recipe: Low-Carb Dark Chocolate Truffles

This is another recipe that I got from LowCarb4Life on YouTube. I just had to find  me a way to incorporate chocolate into my low-carb diet, so this was an easy way to do it. Her videos aren't too long and show you how to make the entire recipe, so I {being the non-foodie that I am} really appreciate that. However, she doesn't actually list out her recipes. So I have done you a favor, watched the video, written down the recipe, and counted the carbs for you!! {You're welcome!} Here you go...

Low-Carb Dark Chocolate Truffles 

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp. butter
• 1/2 tsp. sugar-free vanilla syrup
• 1/2 tsp. almond {or vanilla...I chose vanilla} extract
• 2 tbsp. heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup sugar-free chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Melt butter & chocolate chips together in microwave, stirring every 30-45 seconds.
2. Add whipping cream, extract, and syrup to your buttery chocolate mixture & stir well.
3. Spoon approx. 1 tbsp. of the mix into mini cupcake liners {I just used regular sized ones}. 
4. Freeze cups for 30-45 minutes.

THE END. SO EASY!

This makes about 10 truffles. I just stuffed the cupcake liners filled with mix anywhere I could sit them in my freezer. I also kind of rolled the liner around until the mix filled the entire bottom of the liner, if that makes any sense. Just make sure that you don't remove from freezer/fridge until you're about to serve them...they melt/soften fairly quickly!! 

They taste like fudge, give you your chocolate kick, and are only ONE net carb per truffle!! Amazing! The entire recipe was 10 net carbs, so divide that into however many truffles you want to make, if you want to make them larger or smaller than 1 tbsp. each. :)

And here's the video if you want to watch...



Enjoy!!

♥,
Nicole

Progress Summary: Low Carb Round 2 - Week 2

Well, week 2 is over! As you can see, in week 1 of  "Low Carb Round 2" I lost five whole pounds. I really tried for a whole two days to continue tracking everything on here, but in pure Nicole fashion, that just did not work out. I have a few minor {and I mean minor} cheats throughout the week, and did not work out as much as I did during week #1. Last week I worked out {cardio & weight lifting each day} for five days. This week it was both for two days, cardio another day, and weight lifting another. I blame that totally on my gym partner leaving town! ;) It really does make a world of difference having someone meet you there & go through the motions with you. She also decided to "do low-carb" with me! What a pal!! 

So, since I didn't track everything like I did last week, let me just tell you what I've been eating and some of my to-go-to low-carb options for the week. 

Basically this week's dinner consisted of whatever concoction of hamburger meat we wanted to eat. It was either a burrito bowl or a low-carb pizza for lunch and/or dinner most nights. Salsarita's burrito bowls were definitely my inspiration and they are so easy and cheaper to make at home! 

I know that is definitely not Pinterest worthy, or appealing to the eye, but YUUUUUM!!!! It's lean hamburger meat with taco seasoning, shredded cheese, sour cream, guacamole, and pico de gallo. 

And here's a non-Pinterest-worthy pic of our low-carb pizzas....

We use large low-carb tortillas for the crust. Pizza sauce, Italian seasoning, lean hamburger meat (no taco seasoning this time), shredded cheese, onions, and red and green peppers for toppings! Cook for 6ish minutes at 350 degrees and voila!! You have a super yummy low-carb pizza option!! Alex asked for these two nights this week!! Warning when making these: We cut ours into four slices each, then you have to fold and hold each piece because the bottom's kind of flimsy. Either way, YUMMY! 

As always, my Premier Protein shakes came in handy when I was on my way to the gym and hadn't eaten since brunch. 

Premier Protein Shakes (2 net carbs)

EGGS!! Hard boiled, soft boiled, scrambled, you name it! At 0 carbs per egg, I definitely fill up on them about every morning!! 

And every morning I have to have a non-water drink! HAVE TO! My drugs of choice are...

Dr. Pepper really makes the only drink with "diet" in the name that I will drink!

 and...

DEFINITELY better than Diet Coke!! 

I have left these in my car since I always want a snack in the car... About 28 nuts is only 2 net carbs!! 

Nothing super special this week...just keepin' on keepin' on. 

I lost another 1.8 this week!! 

I know 1.8 isn't a lot, but five last week was, and was honestly surprising. I am okay with just going continuing to go down every week, even if it's in small increments. 

Today was my cheat day & by the end of the day I was ready to vomit. :( Eating low-carb has made me feel better for sure!! I also think I'm gaining energy while staying full, which is always a plus!! Maybe it's sleeping in a little, but I haven't wanted to nap at all this week, except today when I was in a carb coma. :/ 

So tomorrow starts week 3, kinda. Today should have started week 3, and I should have cheated yesterday, but that just means I waited even longer to really cheat. And it was really hard when my mother-in-law made this Oreo dessert for dinner on Sunday. She graciously gave me a piece to-go for my cheat day the next day though, don't you worry! ;) 

So "week 3" starts tomorrow. I guess my weeks will be 6 days long instead of seven and I plan to cheat a little one day per week, just to keep myself from feeling deprived. I definitely am going to try to avoid this carb-induced yuckiness feeling though...a feeling I think I am thankful for!! 

Have a great week!

♥,

Nicole

Progress Summary: Low Carb Round 2 - Week 1

Okay, here's the deal. I thought I was going to totally going to track these carbs like a pro this week. I tried really hard and did alright. I am not eating a ton of times so it's kind of easy to remember what I had yesterday. The real kicker was recipes, which is totally normal, right? It wasn't until the week was over that I really counted the carbs in my three recipes I made, and, well, that was a no-no. Thank goodness my chocolate torte {pie} was only 3 carbs per piece, but my two others could get a little high in carbs if I didn't watch it. And I didn't watch it. Totally my fault. Lesson learned. Will do better next time!!

Now, here ya go! My week. My carb intake. As well as what I did for exercise. My goal was 15ish carbs per day. You can see that some days were spot on, some better than I expected, and some, well, went a little pretty overboard {by accident}.

Day 1: Total Net Carbs: 15 12
Breakfast:
3 eggs (scrambled) - 3 carbs total* 0 carbs
1/4 cup of Kraft Three Cheese shredded cheese - 1 carb.
1 tbsp. of "Real Bacon Bits" - 0 carbs
1/2 a can of Diet Dr. Pepper Cherry - 0 carbs

**Depending on your resource, eggs vary in their number of carbs, anywhere from 0.4 to 1 each. I know that's not a HUGE difference, but it's the difference in 2 for 1! To be fair, I just said each egg was 1 carb and called it a day. 

Edit: I have no idea where I got 1 carb per egg for these eggs. The nutritional facts under the carton lid & My Fitness Pal both clearly say 0 carbs per egg. So... I guess I did better than I thought!! :)

Late Lunch/Pre-Workout Snack:
1 Chocolate Premier Protein Shake - 2 net carbs

Exercise:
30 minutes on the elliptical at levels 5 and 10
Biceps and Abs for another hour, rotating with my new gym buddy, Whitney :)

Dinner:
Small-sized Low Carb Wrap - 5 net carbs
with Ham, Mustard, & Mayo - 2 carbs
Salad: sliced almonds, bacon bits, shredded cheese, EVOO, & red wine vinegar - approx. 2 carbs?

Day 2: Total Net Carbs: 15 11
Breakfast:
3 eggs (scrambled) - 3 carbs total* 0 carbs
1 Slice of American cheese {tasted better than the shredded cheese yesterday} - 2 carbs
1 tbsp. of "Real Bacon Bits" - 0 carbs
1/2 a can of Diet Dr. Pepper Cherry - 0 carbs

Lunch:
1 pack of Starkist single-serve Light tuna....add mayo - 0 carbs

Pre-Workout Snack:
1 Chocolate Premier Protein Shake - 2 net carbs

Dinner:
Texas Roadhouse's grilled chicken salad {chicken, cheese, eggs, & bacon**} - MAYBE 7 carbs {I would have said 4 before I added the ranch dressing but I do enjoy me some salad dressing!}

**I took off the tomatoes due to preference, and the onions and croutons to lessen the carbs. However, the amount of onions I would have had on there would have been "low carb," since 1 "medium slice" (1/8 inch thick) is 1.3 carbs and I don't douse my salad in onions. Nonetheless, the hubby was thankful! ;) 

Day 3: Total Net Carbs: 21 {higher than I'd wish}
Breakfast:
1 Chocolate Premier Protein Shake - 2 net carbs

Lunch:
Salad: Lettuce, cheese, ham, turkey, chicken, tomatoes & ranch dressing. - Maybe 4 carbs?
Coke Zero- 0 carbs
1 single "Everything" flavored Pretzel Chip - 2 carbs... had to try just one, and I promised I would count it in my total....not worth it.

Exercise:
30 mins on the elliptical, at levels 5 and 1
30 mins on the treadmill at level 10 incline

Dinner:
Creamy Salsa Chicken Breast - 4 carbs guesstimate
Salad: cheese, bacon bits, almond slices, & leftover "cream" from the chicken recipe as my dressing - 6 carbs guesstimate
1 slice of my new Low Carb Sugar-Free Chocolate Truffle Torte - 3 carbs

Day 4: Total Net Carbs: 28 25 {Oops!!}
Breakfast:
3 fried eggs with bacon - 3 carbs 0 carbs
Diet Dr. Pepper Cherry - 0 carbs

I think I was full from my late breakfast, or forgot to eat lunch or something...

Snack:

1 slice of my new Low Carb Sugar-Free Chocolate Truffle Torte - 3 carbs

Exercise:

30 mins of elliptical, primarily on level 1... I was beat! 

30 mins of biceps

Dinner:
Shredded Buffalo Chicken w/ Mexican Cheese & sour cream - 14 carbs guesstimate {total low-carb mistake}

Brocolli & Cheese - approx. 5 net carbs

1 slice of my new Low Carb Sugar-Free Chocolate Truffle Torte - 3 carbs

Day 5: Total Net Carbs: 21 {dang it!}
Breakfast:

6 sausage with maple syrup links with mustard- 4 carbs

Coke Zero - 0 carbs

Lunch:

1 slice of my new Low Carb Sugar-Free Chocolate Truffle Torte - 3 carbs

Exercise: 30 mins of cardio, then weight lifting {abs & legs}

Dinner: some more of that buffalo chicken from Thursday night... - Guessing another 14 carbs :(

Day 6: Total Net Carbs: 39 {toooo many!}
Breakfast:
Leftover buffalo chicken {don't judge me...it was brunch!} - Guessing another 14 carbs :(

Lunch:
A burrito bowl from Salsarita's {beef, cheese, pico de gallo, guacamole, sour cream} - approx. 5 carbs?

Exercise:
NONE

Dinner: Outback Steakhouse: 
A side salad with honey mustard dressing {no croutons} - probably 15 carbs? Honey Mustard dressing will get ya!!
9 oz. sirloin - 0 carbs
& the best broccoli & cheese I've EVER had. So sad that they quit selling green beans.. :'( Those were my favorite!! - 5 carbs?

Day 7: Total Net Carbs: 7
Breakfast: 1 Chocolate Premier Protein Shake - 2 net carbs
Lunch: Salmon & mayo mix {not my best idea} - 1 carb
Snack: Smokehouse flavored almonds - 2 net carbs
Exercise: NONE
Dinner: 2 bacon & cheddar-filled burgers {YUM!!} - 2 carbs

It will be a miracle if I can keep this up, the logging. I am not handing out false promises today, so, I will just try to do a summary of what I ate...and you trust that it's low carb. How's that sound? I'll try to guestimate the number of net carbs I eat in a day. Sometimes it's hard with recipes you're making with ingredients and serving sizes and blah blah. But I WILL TRY. But if I don't, don't judge me. But as you can see, I did not starve. And I'll be honest, I didn't really miss carbs that much. Until I passed Cold Stone Creamery, and a pizza restaurant. That is mostly thanks to my new love, Coke Zero. It makes me temporarily forget Mello Yello exists.

But, nonetheless, my low-carb diet was well worth week #1. I will definitely be keeping up the good work. Why, you ask? Because the scale was at onenumber on Monday when I was chatting with Whitney at the gym, and on the morning of day #8, the number of the scale was onenumber minus FIVE POUNDS!! Not even joking. I think it was a low-carb miracle.

So, wish me luck in week #2. At the end of week #2 I am having me a cheat day of all cheat days. Not that I think of it often or anything... :)

Have a great week!

♥,
Nicole

Recipe: Low-Carb Sugar-Free Chocolate Truffle Torte!

I posted a Facebook status and later an Instagram picture of my new favorite "low-carb chocolate pie" and afterwards had several people asking for the recipe. The recipe was found on LowCarb4Life. It's amateur videos of a normal person making yummy low-carb food in their home! So relatable! I haven't watched all her videos yet, but plan to watch more soon. She stopped making videos in 2008. I really wonder where she is now. The video is at the bottom of this blog post if you're interested in watching! This is my to-go-to this week as I begin my low-carb journey again. It's sugar-free, low-carb, and will most definitely give you your chocolate fix with just one piece. LowCarb4Life doesn't listen a ton of nutritional value in her videos, just uses low-carb ingredients, so I did the homework myself. Each piece of this yummy goodness is only 3 carbs! Try it for yourself!

Ingredients:
6 oz. sugar-free chocolate chips {WalMart sells Hershey's brand...Harris Teeter doesn't have them}

1/2 cup butter

1 cup Splenda {I used the Walmart's Great Value brand....same ingredients, way cheaper}
3 eggs
1 tbsp. of cocoa powder {I used Hershey's brand}

2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp. vanilla {I think vanilla extract, but I didn't have any, so I used Torani sugar-free vanilla syrup}

Steps:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Put chocolate chips & butter in a bowl & melt in microwave, stirring every 45 seconds.

Whisk in the cream, vanilla, cocoa, Splenda, and eggs. {Make sure it's stirred up good!}

Grease "torte/truffle" pan. {I used a pie pan}

Pour mixture into pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. {It'll be jiggly on the inside when you take it out of the oven.}

Let chill in fridge for at least 30 mins.

Here is the video if you are interested in watching:

Entire recipe is sugar-free and each piece only has 3 carbs! ENJOY guilt-free!! :)

♥,
Nicole 

Here I go again...

personal thinspiration from our honeymoon
(April 2013) 

Last year, for a solid 5+ months, I "did low carb." Of course, getting married will kick any undisciplined person into high gear & the result of my dedication and sacrifice was a much needed 25 lb. weight loss. After the wedding & honeymoon, Alex and I kind of climbed off the carb crazy train, just tried to "eat better" and continued to exercise-- a.k.a. we introduced carbs back into our life. Please hear me when I say that introducing carbs back into our diet did NOT backfire. I often hear people say, "You can't go on a low carb diet successfully because when you stop you will gain all the weight back," and then some people finish that sentence with a, "Plus more." Yes, I kept exercising. No, I didn't gorge myself in sweets. I maintained a 20 lb. weight loss. But it wasn't until I went back to work, which was extremely stressful, and ate like straight up crap for weeks and did not exercise one time that I gained not only a few lbs. back, but every single pound that I had lost.

LESSON LEARNED. 

It's high time I get back some discipline. I did it before and I can do it again. I know the efforts will be worth it, I just need to get to work. And by get to work, I mean plan, and track, and avoid, and tell myself no. And pray for God to help me find the strength to not have Mello Yello or sugar. Sounds like a drag but I know I can still have foods I love, and I know I will see some results. I won't have to worry about calorie-counting, or SUPER restricting myself. So.... I am thinking positive thoughts! :)

In the mean time, I will be looking for new low-carb recipes. If you have any suggestions, or websites that give some *easy* (y'all know I'm no pro in the kitchen) options, please send them to me! And wish me luck!!

PS: I realize I said I was starting "Round 2" last August, but that's when I started my new position at work and started hating life SO- like I said... It's high time I get back some discipline. For real this time. I had an xL Mello Yello last night, and I am READY. Get ready for some #lowcarb all over the place.

Alyssa & Joe's Wedding Video

Before I say anything, I want to say scream THANK YOU to Alyssa for being super patient with me. Her and handsome Joe got married October 26th and here we are, eight months later, and she finally gets to watch her wedding video! I started this "venture" last summer, having absolutely NO EARTHLY idea what I was doing. I had a "great" idea, a camera, some awesome editing software, and some time (then). I didn't think that booking 3 weddings would consume my time and emotions the way it has for the past 10 months. Yeah, I said it... TEN months!! To try to make myself feel better, I have only been working on Alyssa & Joe's video for less than two months (43 days to be exact). And that's not bad, right? :/ Yeah... again, I am sorry for the delay y'all!! I hope the wait was worth it when you see your video!

Okay, to the main point of this blog... Alyssa & Joe's wedding video is here, and done, and so so sweet!! Can I just say... Alyssa might watch this video & be like, "Is this the Joe Show?!" and the answer is yes. It kind of is. I say that because Joe was working it on his wedding day!! That man was a big ball of emotion and who doesn't want to watch a groom wipe tears away and laugh with his beautiful bride?? I love how mommas and bridesmaids and, again, the groom cried happy tears about the whole time! Alyssa, way to keep it together, girl! At least for the camera. ;) When they weren't laughing, they were crying. It was absolutely precious. And oh how I loved how the bridal parties prayed over the bride & the groom before the wedding. It was truly precious. I know I just said "precious" twice, but that's just how darn precious it truly was!! I can't wait for Alyssa & Joe to watch their raw footage. There was 2+ hours of footage that had to be cropped and fit to music. So much awesome footage "didn't make the cut" and that kind of made me sad. There were sweet clips of Alyssa's late grandfather, full footage of fun dances, and, of course, audio. :)

This couple loves them some Jesus and I loved filming their big day for them. Their wedding day was perfect and they are a blessed couple!  It's been eight months, but I still have four months of well wishes to send you, Alyssa and Joe. I hope the first year of marriage is treating you well and you continue to fall more and more in love with each other and with Jesus every day. Y'all are an inspiration. Keep on keepin' on!!

Without further ado, here is Alyssa & Joe's wedding video**...


Joe & Alyssa Martinez {10.26.2013} from Nicole Mullen on Vimeo.

**As always, view in HD, if you can, to improve image quality. Enjoy!! :)

Holly & Clint's Wedding Video

3 down, one more to go!

I know Clint and Holly are glad to finally hear me say, "Your video is ready!"  They have been sooo patiently waiting on me as I worked on videos to do before theirs and ya know, did life in the mean time. They have been SUPER understanding and, for that, I want to shout a big THANK YOU to them!!!! 

Clint and Holly were my first paid "clients" so I wanted to do 110% for them. I knew I could/should not rush through editing their video to get one more thing off my plate (which is another reason this has taken me so long). As I started watching and cropping their (then 2+ hour) video footage, I fell in love with their wedding day. I guess I couldn't "take it all in" the day of, just because I was "working" and stressed about doing a good job, especially since they paid me. I was there as the girls began to get ready and left mid-reception once my lighting ran out. (Don't forget, I'm an amateur!) Therefore, I got to see the roller coaster of emotions throughout the day and love love loved that I got to capture most of it on video. 

First of all, Clint and Holly had the good Lord above on their side on their special day. They got married at Vesuvius Vineyards in Lincolnton, NC ..... which translates to: they had their ceremony outside. Now, doing so in the late afternoon in July is 100% a risk. A risk I know all about, seeing as how I had just gotten married outside in April. It rained on my wedding day, resulting in us having the ceremony under the tent we planned to have our reception under. While my special day was imperfect, yet still beautiful and amazing, I didn't want Holly to have any regrets. About 45 minutes before the ceremony was to begin, the bottom fell out and it POURED rain!! As you will see in the video, Holly looked a little worried/stressed out/whatever you want to call it as she looked out the window, but like I said, the good Lord above was on their side and knew they were meant to have their ceremony as planned, because about 10 minutes before 6:00, the rain stopped and the sky cleared. The staff at Vesuvius Vineyards got to chair-wiping and we all reminded Holly to breathe, as her big moment was about to happen!! Holly, I want you to know just how blessed you are!! Clint, you too, but you could have probably cared less, haha! 

Second, Clint and Holly get the award for The Couple Who Kissed The Most On Their Wedding Day!! Have mercy!! :) You could tell they were madly in love and by gosh, that's what it's all about! 

And I love Holly's choice of music for the video. She picked music from their wedding for the video and I love her taste in music! While HelloGoodbye's "Here In Your Arms" is always fun, it made it a challenge to include her father-daughter dance as well as her stepsister's touching speech while it sang about lips touching and liking how you sleep next to me, but, my crazy perfectionist self made it work! (I told you...110%!) 

Without further ado, here's a link to Clint and Holly's wedding video... Enjoy! :)

Clint & Holly Hennessee {07.20.2013} from Nicole Mullen on Vimeo.

PS: I shot and uploaded the video in HD. The option was set to automatically view in HD, so you can see the video in its best quality. If you are viewing on a device that does not support HD, the video may appear a bit distorted- and that's why! 

Year #1: A Reflection

Today, as I reflect on this past year, learning to be a wife and to do life with someone else, I realize how beautiful of a day it is. I know someone's getting married today, and probably outside because they were a risk-taker like myself.  Well lucky for them, there's a 0% chance of precipitation today in this part of North Carolina. {As much as I want to "get over it," it's still hard. BUT} somewhere someone is getting married outside today and it will rain. First of all, I hope you have a plan B. And second, I hope your plan B is as beautiful as mine was. My plan B wedding was beautiful, but what made it the most beautiful was the people there. I will never forget that day as the day spent with all my loved ones, supporting Alex and I as we began our life together. The efforts from those who had to move things around at the last minute, get wet in the rain, and stress for me did not go unnoticed and I will forever be grateful. I promise you that. 

But, today I am not really reflecting on our wedding day, but the crazy year following that wedding day. 

They say the first year of marriage is hard. I'm scared to say it's the worst, because you never know what the future holds, BUT-- I can see how some people say it's the worst. As you may or may not know/care, Alex and I did not live together before we were married. So it went a little something like this: You have the hustle and bustle of wedding planning, followed by one of you moving (for us, it was me...fun), and then all of a sudden you have a roommate, who is not only a boy, but is now your HUSBAND! That's a lot to do and a lot to figure out in a short amount of time. The good news is, we have the rest of our lives to figure it out.

This past year, a lot has happened:

• I moved (like I said) for the 11th time in eight years. (No joke. I am not a fan.)
• We spent a week honeymooning in paradise. (We highly recommend Sandals Grande Riviera in Ocho Rios, Jamaica.) 

• I finished my first and (little did I know) last full school year doing school-based therapy at Bessemer City Middle School. I really miss the staff there and most of my kids. ;) That had the potential to be an amazing job. 

I spent two months taking a break from life, work, and stress. I consistently worked out, slept well, ate carbs again, and didn't gain any weight back from my pre-wedding diet. I had lots of girl time with my gal pals and spent lots of time at my in-laws' pool. It was amazing.

I started a new position at work in August. I absolutely hated it and unfortunately, it showed in and affected every area of my life. 

In September, we had less than a week to decide if we were going to move. An opportunity arose for us to invest in another fixer-upper and we jumped on the chance. I say that lightly, but putting our house on the market, fixing a house up for a month, and then moving (for my now 12th time in 8 years) was taxing. Taxing, but worth it. 

"Before"

"After"

• By November, I was looking for a plan B. I signed up to take the Praxis so I could obtain my school counseling licensure. Working in mental health was not what I thought it was going to be and I couldn't let the negatives of my job continue to affect the rest of my life. I wasn't even seeing clients anymore, so I didn't have much left to miss. 
• I learned a great lesson. I learned that no matter how perfect something seems, if it's not God's will, you need to be able to walk away. I had the most amazing job interview. I nailed it, or so I thought. We laughed. I answered all their questions promptly and with ease. We discussed start dates and me having to put in a notice at my current job. They told me they valued my integrity. They complimented me often during the interview. And more importantly, I had connections. I was told I'd hear from them within 2 days as I was their last interview. I waited patiently to hear back. Christmas break came and went. I never heard another word. As perfect as it had seemed, I had to let it go. I was still miserable at my current job, but knew God had something better in mind. As perfect as I thought that job opportunity was, it obviously wasn't. (Note to employers: Don't say you'll notify an interviewee either way if you don't plan on doing so. That's just mean.) It's a perfect life lesson to take with me in all aspects of life: Just because something seems perfect, doesn't mean it's for your best. Let God do the working out; you'll thank Him later. 
• We celebrated our first holidays as husband and wife. We've been together many-o-holidays in the past 10ish years together; however, we've never actually celebrated all holidays fully together. It was awesome and different and a learning experience. I am grateful we have so many loved ones to visit. Balancing how to see them all in a decent amount of time without going crazy will be something we hope to figure out in years to come. :)  

Merry Christmas from the Mullens!

• I started my new job at the end of January. Saying "see you later" to my life working in mental health, and to my amazing co-workers was tough, but I knew it was necessary. I didn't worry about seeing my co-workers again. Almost all of us have left now and we get together on a regular basis to have girl time. Real friends stay in touch. I value my time, experience, and relationships formed from working in mental health, but now it's time to start new experiences and form new relationships. 
• I have yet to complain about my new job. It may come in the future, but it's 10x better than the day-to-day I previously faced, emotionally speaking. It is absolutely draining to hate your job. Once I started my new job, I had to figure out how to get my life back. I (of course) had gained back every pound I had previously lost. (Stress and depression will do that to ya.) I had to get back to eating better, getting rest, exercising again, and trying to be the wife and friend I knew I could be.  That's tough--knowing you need to do better in 10+ areas of life and trying to improve in them all at the same time, knowing it's what you and your husband deserve. That alone is stressful, but I am thankful for the opportunity to be able to try. I am super grateful for Alex being as supportive as he has been. He is so thankful for my new job as well, and he tells me he sees a difference in my mood, spirit, and energy since changing jobs. He was there on days I needed him to give me a lift. He was there for me on days I needed him to hand me chocolate and just let me wallow. And that's reason #261 why I love being married, and love being married to Alex. 
• We just spent our last week of year #1 in Mexico, celebrating our one year anniversary.

...and Alex started his new job the day we came back from vacation.

That's a lot of big changes. That's a lot of transition, which brings lots of emotion. Learning to juggle those emotions with learning how to live with a new person and BE MARRIED is tough stuff, which probably has something to do with the fact that people say the first year is the toughest. But man oh man, I wouldn't trade it for the world. I am eternally grateful to say that I am married to my husband, to his family, and to our life together. I am no longer me, I am part of an us. A for-real, legit, committed, signed and sealed official, and ready-for-the-long-haul version of us. That's scary but so awesome at the same time. I am no longer responsible for just me (which I have always struggled with), but I am also responsible for half of us (and sometimes both of us, haha) and that's something I need. It's good and healthy for me to learn to live, grow, and be with my favorite husband. It's good to have someone you can be 100% vulnerable with, and I think it's even better that we chose to wait to figure life out together until we were married. This way, there's no exit option. ;) Haha.... but really, we chose and vowed to not only live life together, but to figure out how to do it in a way that's best for us and hopefully glorifies the Lord along the way. We have learned a lot about life, each other, and what it means to be married this year. But all in all, we know we have a LOT left to learn. We are newbies at this. We WILL mess up but we WILL figure out how to fix it, some how, some way, at some time. We are in this together and for that, I am pretty excited to see what year #2 holds. I'm sure it'll bring some sort of transition. Each year seems to do that. But togetherness is what it's about. I am so thankful for the other half of my us. I feel secure knowing he tries to make every decision with my and our best in mind.

I always hoped I'd get to marry my high school sweetheart; he had a lot of great qualities. Thank God we're not who we were in high school, but as we grew up, still gravitated towards each other. I thought I liked him when I was in 10th grade...but high school Alex has nothing on adult Alex and I am so thankful I got to marry adult Alex!! Like I said above, "Just because something seems perfect, doesn't mean it's for your best. Let God do the working out; you'll thank Him later." 

Staying tuned to see what favor we'll experience and lessons we'll learn together in year #2..... ♥

Finally, Mark & Delora's Wedding Day Video!

It's here! It's here!

To make a long story short, my spare time and energy was completely non-existent for a (longer than I had wanted) while, so I unfortunately have taken WAY longer than I had expected to finish my first video. I recently began a new job (which is going AMAZING by the way) and my prayer is that I will regain my life, energy, time, and positivity very soon for my next two brides awaiting their videos!

I know I said this was my first video, and it was, but I have just finished my first video from scratch! I did the shooting AND editing. So, it's technically MY first. I am proud of it yet realizing where to improve with future videos.

Alright, so... Delora was the bride of the first wedding I shot. I have to give a shout out to Delora for allowing me to be a part of her big day! I did not charge her because I had no earthly idea what I was doing, but the experience was definitely needed and I now have one more video under my belt! :) And thank you, Delora, for being so amazingly patient with me! I hope your video is at least something you can keep to help you reminisce whenever you want about one of the happiest days of your life. :)

I also want to give a shout out to ANYone who does videography (or even photography) as a hobby or a part-time job. Man oh man oh MAN did I underestimate the insane amount of TIME that it would take after the big day. I was with Delora from the time she began getting ready until my camera died (lesson #1) pretty late into their reception. I had a few hours of film to review, crop, edit, and put to about 15 mins of music. Seriously, one of the hardest parts is cutting so much footage. I will definitely be giving her the raw footage so she can hear her guests' comments/well wishes & seeing what isn't included in the video.

Without further ado, I present to you my first made-from-scratch wedding video, the video of Mark and Delora Benfield's very special day!


Mark & Delora Benfield {06.08.2013} from Nicole Mullen on Vimeo.

Please let me know what you think- while remembering...
I'm not a professional.
I had no idea what I was doing.
This is solely a hobby.
& I am open to any advice! :)

Also- I have yet to figure out why the video, which was shot in HD, looks grainy the bigger the screen gets. I haven't tested it on the TV yet, but the bigger the player (for example: straight off of Vimeo's website) the worse the quality looks. If anyone wants to help me with this, I would sure appreciate it! I've Googled it a lot and it appears that my settings are what they should be (94% sure of it) but the quality still looks worse in bigger video players! :( I am sorry about that! AND, I apologize for any darker scenes... the lights are typically dimmed during receptions and I don't have an additional light. (Reminder: this is just a hobby for me!)

If I can get the problem solved I will re-upload the video & let you know! :)

♥,
Nicole

Lightening my load...plus extra random tid bits on my mind

Sometimes I find myself creating a really long, random Facebook status/post about five different things. Sometimes I actually do think before I post and delete, telling myself: A) that was going to be way too long & B) who cares?

Sometimes I want to post like five different things back to back. I guess that's what Twitter is for. But I just cannot manage the 140 or less character limit. Nor can I stand checking Twitter. And I don't know who I actually know that's on Twitter that isn't my Facebook friend. Facebook's way easier. I really don't even know why I have an Instagram. (Oh wait, yes I do) - because everyone I know posts their IG pics on IG & on Facebook. And then there's those 2 friends who are on IG but not on Facebook (hey Ashley & Julie!)

Anyways. I'll resort to vomiting my random thoughts/feelings on HERE instead of on Facebook. That way, only those who stumble upon my blog will read it...and if you're this far into the post & still reading, it's because you want to. I may or may not post a link on my FB wall to check this post out *if you want*.. get it? That way you can only say you know because you went that extra click to see what I had to say. Because you care. Or because you're super nosey, but whatever.

I can really get off topic. What I was GOING to say was... (a few different things I feel like bullet-listing today)...

• I am so thankful for a day off work. I put my notice in a week ago and it felt SO good. Only ONE more day of evals & 4 more workdays! Thanks be to God! I had a nightmare last night about doing evals...and how my 1 eval turned into 1 with their 3 kids (making it 4 evals) and I had an allergic reaction and my mouth and tongue swole up and I could hardly breathe. And I was told to figure out how to get them all done anyways. Even knowing I'm on my way out and I'm still having work-related nightmares. This is not okay. 
• On that note, I am so excited to start something completely new and challenging. A healthy kind of challenging. I am so eager to learn and get my feet wet. I am so excited that I get to begin my school counseling career at a high school. While I would have taken any job and made it work, high schoolers are my thing! Don't get me wrong- I loved doing therapy with my middle schoolers last year, but I kept finding myself thinking, "I'd love to talk to you in three to six years." :) 
• I am off work today (I think I said that already) but I am doing what I can to take some weight off my shoulders....and the rest of my body. I am letting this unhealthy breakfast settle (don't judge) and then I am getting my butt to to gym for workout #1 for the day. Then I plan on coming home, parking myself at the dining room table (where I feel I will be most productive) & getting as much wedding video editing done as possible today. I hope to reveal my 2nd video to you super soon! Here's mine/my first. :) THEN I will be attending my first ever yoga class this evening! More on that later...
• And I have to figure out how to drug myself & with what to get myself asleep at like 9pm tonight so I can get on my new crazy sleep schedule. I'll have to be at work at 7:15. While means I need to leave the house at 6:45. Which means I need to wake up at like...5:15 to be safe. Which means I need to go to bed at 6pm. (just kidding....but seriously, have to figure this thing out or I will die.)

So many thoughts...so little time! I hope you are having a wonderful day, whatever day you read this! Do something today to lighten your load...your physical or your mental load. Either way, weight's hard to carry. 

♥,

Nicole

Starting off 2014 a little more positive

So the last time I blogged I think I was having a nervous breakdown. I was completely overwhelmed and that was mid(?) November. Fast forward to mid January. It's 2014. It's a new year. And I am working very hard to make this year better than the last. I think that should be a general rule: Try to make this year better than last year.

I think some work-related depression coupled with my anxiety just spun things out of control. Any small task seemed like the end of the world and when I'm overwhelmed, well, good luck. I am glad I am a therapist and know "the secrets" of what to do in situations like that. Not that I readily use said skills, but I know what to do in case I want to do what's best. Sometimes I just want to close my eyes, or sleep, or cry, or just watch The Mindy Project on the couch with my favorite husband while I eat whatever I want. And that's okay!

But this is 2014 and I'm doing things differently like everyone else, right? Fingers crossed! I got together with some work gal pals a few weeks ago and it turned into a self-help group. We all work(ed) together so we felt each other's pain and could vent and laugh about our frustrations and just how low things had gotten. We made a self-help plan if you will, which we called Operation 4-3-2-1. This was primarily for me & one other gal pal, and the other two used their therapeutic skills to help us make realistic, small, obtainable, measurable goals...because that's what you do as a therapist. Right? Right! I was supposed to make sure I did the four things however many times a week I was supposed to. Well, so far not so great but dang I'm trying! I have increased my exercise, cooking, vitamin-taking, and ... other things :) & that's what matters! I am on my way! Wait on me...I'm coming!

I really do want 2014 to be better. 2013 was my best year yet. SOOO many amazing things happened in 2013. God rained down blessings upon me & for that I am thankful! 2013 was also pretty difficult for me and I could have done some things better. I really shouldn't beat myself up, but when you have anxiety brain like I do...guilt and shame typically follow. I am working on it!! :) I just started the book Grace For The Good Girls: Letting Go Of The Try Hard Life by Emily P. Freeman. A local church just began a Bible study on the book last week (& I missed it! Ugh!) but I plan to join them next week. The book was recommended to me by a few friends after they read my last blog post/meltdown.

I am extremely thankful for my gal pals that have supported me lately. I have felt the love, y'all. You ROCK!

As A-MAZING as 2013 was, I have a feeling 2014 will be even better!! Don't ask me how because it's got some big shoes to fill! But a new job, having my summer off (and all other school scheduled breaks), celebrating our one year anniversary, turning 2-7 (yikes), and whatever else 2014 has to offer won't hurt!

{Insert your thoughts about the fact that 2014 may include a baby Mullen....you all do that to me any time I talk about good things happening, haha.}

Hopefully with the new job I will have some more time to do life. I already have a pending to-do list and have made the executive decision to not add any un-needed responsibilities on my plate until I get my life back together. That's a start, right??

Wish me luck!!

♥,
Nicole

Insert random pic of me & my favorite husband ~ Happy New Year!