We got engaged in March, and since we had been together so long already and planned to keep living overseas, but wanted to celebrate with our families (and a variety of other factors that I won’t bore you with) we decided to have a short engagement. The best option for our short notice and the best location for us ended up being in his parents’ backyard in the town of Olympia, Washington, near Seattle, USA. Their “backyard” is gorgeous and borders on a forest!

It was stressful to have such a short engagement–and to be abroad and unable to plan for a large portion of it–but our wedding ended up nearly perfect and it was one of the best days of my life!

Sometimes I wish we’d had a longer engagement–it’s a special time of your life that only happens once, after all–but now that we’ve been married for six months, I’m so happy to be married and could not have imagined a better wedding day if we had waited (except maybe I would have gotten more sleep in the weeks before…or maybe not because I tend to procrastinate anyway!).

Since it was a backyard wedding, that meant that everything had to be brought in, made, ordered, or borrowed. My extremely talented aunt did our flowers–some of them in pumpkins, that is the dream!–and that helped everything tie together. My childhood friend just happened to be starting her wedding photography business so we snapped her up right away. Two more friends sang us down the aisle (we have a lot of talented friends). A good friend of ours was the DJ. Eric’s cousin married us, his mother (Eric’s aunt) and my mother made the soup, a group of my family helped with the food…it really “took a village” as they say and I’m so grateful for everyone who made our day!

Here are some of the details:

^^In lieu of a guest book, we had everyone sign this globe. It turned out even better than I hoped and I will always treasure it!

^^We had everyone help us make a “bucket list,” too :).

^^The cake had to incorporate travel, too, of course!

^^The flowers in the pumpkins! Also, we made these lanterns out of mason jars, candles, and…you won’t believe it…all-natural cat litter made from walnut shells!

^^E and my sister’s fiancé put up the arbor, and my aunt decorated it.

^^The pumpkin aisle!

^^Taking pictures with our bridal party was one of the highlights–I, at least, had a great time! We also took a shot of Becherovka, a Czech liquor, with the whole party after we were married and had walked back down the aisle. We had to bring a little bit of Prague into our wedding!

^^We had two kegs that E’s dad brought out on a tractor. It was a hit and one of the kegs was Pilsner Urquell, of course!

^^E’s sister and I did chalkboard labels for everything, including the program (no paper for us).

^^I was so nervous before the wedding that I ended up doing other makeup as well as my own.

^^One of my favorite details–E’s dad helped me make these signs to show all of the important places to us, and how far they were from our wedding site. We also used to help guests navigate the venue.

^^E’s dad (a talented carpenter and craftsman, by the way) had these extra wine barrels that we borrowed.

^^A friend of the family happened to have a bunch of lights leftover from his wedding, so we paid him to borrow them and help us set them up. We also found hot-air balloon lights that we hung over the wedding party table.

^^Family photos! We collected photos of us and our lives, as well as photos from our parents’ and grandparents’ weddings. We hung them up with twine and clothespins–easy!

^^We gave out mason jars with the guests’ names for drinks and as favors.

^^We had a grilled cheese bar!!! E’s sister designed our menu and a group of his parents’ friends helped us set up a station and make them. They were delicious! Luckily we also were the taste-testers for the menu…best job ever.

^^Handmade road signs to help our guests find their way.

^^We had a photo booth, too. We set up a Polaroid camera, lent to us by our photographer, and a background, and yet another amazing friend made props. It was a fun addition!

Despite all of the DIY–which I am not a fan of–I loved our wedding and our day and most of all, I’m so happy that many of our favorite people were there to help us celebrate!

All photos by my talented friend, Hannah Traver Photography! 

The post October 3, 2015 appeared first on Amy and the Great World.

Remember me? It’s been awhile. I would apologize but…I was busy getting married and starting my honeymoon! And then, my computer broke, so it was pretty clear that the fates wanted me to take a little break from my blog. even though I did want to do a gushy wedding post, at least. Also, just as I was trying to load photos to this post, the power went out and hence, so did my Wifi. What is up, universe?!

Anyway, I wish I could say I was back for good now, but unfortunately between the lack of internet here, a still-broken computer, and the fact that I am supposed to be relaxing and honeymooning, I can’t make any promises.

My half self-imposed half-forced break from blogging, though, has shown me how much this little corner of the internet means to me. I missed all of you! I missed writing! I have so much to share with you! So let’s get started!

TWO MONTHS ON THE ROAD: BY THE NUMBERS 

ONE PERFECT (WEDDING) DAY that somehow came together after six weeks of crazy planning and stress. Even though we were engaged for seven months, most of the work happened after we came back to the States at the end of August. I admit that by the time our wedding rolled around, I was sick of it and ready for it to be over. And then, our wedding day ended up being totally magical. All the problems and issues (mostly) worked themselves out, the sun was shining and there were some changing leaves, almost everyone we love was there, and E and I got married! Can’t forget that detail. E and I were both exhausted and figured we would be the first ones to leave. The day was so incredible, though, that I never wanted it to end, we were some of the last to leave and now I miss it! All the clichés they tell you apparently are true.

THREE HOURS taking engagement photos in Seattle with our wedding photographer, a friend of mine since we were three! E and I both hate getting our picture taken, but it ended up be really fun and she got some good ones!

ONE EVENING with most of my favorite women. Bachelorette in the house! Did we even take any more photos? This is all I got..

TOO MUCH homesickness for Prague. Homesickness is funny, isn’t it? Our wedding was fantastic and now we are on a Costa Rican adventure, so a part of me feels like I have no right to miss Prague. I’m learning that you can miss something and still be grateful for what you have.

TONS of gorgeous flowers. A family friend of E’s gave us this gorgeous bouquet to celebrate our wedding week, from her garden!, and my aunt did an incredible job with the flowers for our wedding.

ONE FLOWER CROWN worn. I don’t have my wedding photos yet so I don’t have many photos to share…but flower crown!!! I was much more excited to wear this than my wedding dress.

EIGHT DAYS in Costa Rica so far!

TWELVE DAYS of having a husband. This is him:

THREE NIGHTS starting our honeymoon at the gorgeous Tortuga Lodge and Gardens in the remote Torteguero National Park. We saw monkeys from off our back porch, saw an endangered Green Turtle lay eggs, took boat trips in the canals, were intrepid jungle explorers, slept, relaxed, and ate!

TWO humpback whales seen, one of which was a baby! Life is grand.

TWO NIGHTS, so far, at this killer Airbnb in the small village of Dominical on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. There’s a sloth that hangs on right off the deck, views of the ocean and jungle, a bathtub you can swim in, red bananas grown on the property, and more space than we could ever need. Feeling so lucky to be able to recharge here for the next week or so!

One Month on the Road: By the Numbers

By the Numbers: Prague

QUESTION:

Have you ever been to Costa Rica? Would you go there for your honeymoon? 

The post Two Months on the Road: By the Numbers appeared first on Amy and the Great World.

ONE MONTH ON THE ROAD: BY THE NUMBERS 

ONE WEEK with 30 kids under the age of 13 in the Czech mountains.

ONE birthday cake, Czech style. Along with “happy birthday” sung by all the kids and my fellow teachers.

FIVE DAYS in London.

TURNING TWENTY-EIGHT in London!

EIGHT HOURS in a spaceship, a.k.a. the Yotel in Gatwick Airport. A really cool hotel idea–and really comfortable–but also so tiny! Perfect for the airport, though, when you just need a place to crash before and early/late flight.

FOUR afternoon teas in London.

THREE HOURS at the Harry Potter Studio Tour! Maybe my best birthday present, ever.

TWO HOURS eating lunch with the lovely Jessi! My favorite part of blogging is the community, and especially getting to meet these people in real life. So far, Jessi and I have met up in Prague, Cologne, and London! How cool is that?

THIRTEEN HOUR flight from London to Seattle, via Frankfurt. It was my first international flight that wasn’t partially at night, and wow. Don’t want to do that again! Also, the airline we flew on did not give us free movies or TV shows…tell me this isn’t a sign of the future?!

ONE wedding dress purchased after weeks of research and trying on at least ten. I’ll be honest and say I never had that “moment” where I knew it was “the one”–but it was fun, it was on sale, and I was running out of the time. So, goal!

FORTY-FIVE minutes of cake tasting, hands-down the best part of this whole wedding planning experience.

TEN DAYS at home in Montana.

TOO MANY days steeped in wedding plans. As I keep saying, it’s rather hilarious that this completely uncrafty girl is throwing a largely DIY wedding. Things are getting finished, though!

ONE DAY sailing on Lake Washington, near Seattle.

TWO WEEKS of reverse culture shock. I guess it’s fading…until I walk into Target, a mall, or something of the like. It’s akin to the same feeling I had whenever I walked into the Czech grocery store: being overwhelmed and slightly panicky, yet also feeling the strange urge to buy everything and try new things/old things I forgot existed (like PopTarts!! Remember PopTarts?!?).

SIX WEEKS booked in Central America! Hard to believe the next “By the Numbers” post will be written from Costa Rica.

source

THREE WEEKS until I get to marry the guy who wrote this:

Previous By the Numbers:

Twelve Months in Prague (By the Numbers)                                                                                                        Eleven Months in Prague (By the Numbers)
Ten Months in Prague (By the Numbers)
Nine Months in Prague (By the Numbers)
Eight Months in Prague (By the Numbers)
Seven Months in Prague (By the Numbers)
Six Months in Prague (By the Numbers)
Five Months in Prague (By the Numbers)
Four Months in Prague (By the Numbers)
Three Months in Prague (By the Numbers)
Two Months in Prague (By the Numbers)
One Month in Prague (By the Numbers)

QUESTION:

How is your September shaping up so far? 

The post One Month on the Road: By the Numbers appeared first on Amy and the Great World.

Happy birthday (yesterday) to my favorite guy!

E and I met when we were just 19. Our relationship was on and off for a long time–a certain one of us was very dedicated to school, and another one was very dedicated to travel (I’ll leave it up to you to decide who was who) and that wasn’t conducive to a long-term relationship, necessarily. Eventually, we were able to travel and traveling together became our new life mission.

Together, we’ve eaten poutine in Canada and seen whales in the San Juan Islands, we’ve gone scuba diving in Mexico, we’ve road-tripped to the Grand Canyon, we’ve visited Christmas markets in Germany and spent New Year’s Eve in Paris. We’ve been swimming in the Blue Lagoon, we’ve watched an air show in Budapest, we’ve gotten engaged amongst the canals of Venice and sipped health water in Karlovy Vary. We’ve gone rafting in Český Krumlov, spent the night in a botel (not recommended), slept under the stars in Rocky Mountain National Park and drank Guinness in Ireland. We’ve explored castles in Germany, gone roller skating in Belgium and skiing in the Rockies. We’ve explored eighteen countries in Europe, tasted wine in Napa, crossed the Golden Gate Bridge in a convertible, and fallen in love with Prague. We’ve moved away from our homeland, sold everything we owned, and spent about a year abroad. All lifelong dreams for me, dreams that I never planned on sharing with someone.

I don’t really remember a time where I wasn’t dreaming of traveling–although my passion really began on my first overseas journey–but in those dreams, I didn’t really think I would find someone who would want to travel with me, for the long-term. My cousin and I planned to see some of the world together–and we spent two months in Southeast Asia together, so she also wins my favorite travel partner award–and I’ve always talked about traveling with my siblings or friends or other family members. Yet when it came down to it, I knew I wanted traveling more than anything else, and I figured that would have to happen for me alone.

Traveling solo has been getting a lot of press lately–and for good reason!–but for me, finding someone who shares my love of travel is the icing on the cake.

E and I balance each other out, we fight over small things and laugh about them later, we get lost together but somehow one of us miraculously finds the way, one of us will read a sign the other one missed (ahem usually me), one of us will carry the other’s bag when we get too tired (ahem usually E…#bestguyever). We have so much fun exploring the world together and I can’t wait for that to continue after we leave Prague, get married, and start a more nomadic lifestyle.

I’m so glad you were born, E! I count my lucky stars that I met a generous, adventurous, sweet, fun, amazing soul like you. I love you!

^^hope your day was a relaxing and awesome as this moment.

The post An Ode to My Travel Partner appeared first on Amy and the Great World.

First things first.

We are getting married…this October!

Yes, SOON. I am so excited but sometimes I feel like crying that it’s so soon, mostly at the amount of things to do.

This wedding date may also give you a clue about our future. Since we are not getting married in Prague–but in E’s parents’ yard–that means we will NOT be staying for another year in Prague.

Cue heartbreak. I absolutely love this city and there was a huge part of me that didn’t want to leave. The main reason is, unfortunately, financial, directly related to our visas. It isn’t hard to survive here, but our unique circumstances that hardly ever happen to ANYONE had us not making enough money to apply for a long-term visa. It’s strange, because we are doing fine financially–but late paychecks that unfortunately have just reached us had us unable to apply at the right time. It’s complicated, but if you want a longer explanation, shoot me an email :). I’ve held off so long from talking about this, even though we’ve known for a while, because I kept hoping something might change.

But, we are moving on–for now. Prague is not going anywhere, and it will always be on my radar. Also, I’ve absolutely loved teaching, and I don’t plan on stopping that.

So, you might ask–where are we going next??

The answer is…NOWHERE.

And…EVERYWHERE.

We are going to be NOMADS, at least until the beginning of 2016. We’ll be traveling around Europe after our lease is up in July (and our visas end), then back to the States for our wedding and to hop around visiting family and friends. Then, we’ll take an extended honeymoon (TBD) and come back home for the holidays.

We’ll reassess at the new year, and see if we are ready to try someplace new, or ready to stay on the road. I have a feeling I will miss teaching in person–I’ll be teaching online through the fall–so we may decide to move back to Prague or move somewhere else to teach in 2016.

Right now, after our wedding, the future is really, really open.

I’m really terrified and really excited. This is has been a dream of ours and I’m still not sure if we can do this or not, but suddenly the opportunity just fell into our laps. With not being able to stay in Prague, and E finding success working online, and the many online teaching options, it’s almost…serendiptious.

I hope you will still follow along, wherever I go next! Amy and the Great World will definitely still be around. It is the Great World after all, and I still have so much to explore.

For now, I am soaking up our last few months in Prague and the Czech Republic, and have many many more European travels to catch you up on. I am working hard on being present in every moment here.

Thank you so much for your support and for reading as I navigated choosing to come to Prague, adjusting to Prague, enjoying Prague, and ultimately choosing not to stay in Prague. This had been one of the best years of my life, and this blog and the blogging community has been a huge part of that!

The post Finally! A Wedding Date + What Next appeared first on Amy and the Great World.