We just got back from our week-long honeymoon in Hawaii, and while looking back through my camera roll for this month’s edition of ‘laura loves’ I kept thinking to myself “that seems like it happened SO long ago!!” Christmas was not even a month ago? It seems like last year! Ha. Ha. :-)

1. My 31 Bits bracelet – I have been admiring this company for some time now, and I just purchased my first piece from them this month! And my favorite thing about them? They now started a wedding shop!! Makes me want to get all new jewelry and dress up in my wedding gown again!! :-)

2. Homemade Christmas cookies from my mom – she and her friends get together and have a ‘baking day’ before Christmas every year. They make all different kinds of cookies and candies, and then take home a little of everything. Lance’s favorite: peanut butter balls. My favorite: Grandma Braun’s date pinwheel cookies. And spritz cookies. And peanut butter balls. I like Christmas treats, so what?

3. Camera gloves!!! One of my wonderful 2012 couples sent me these gloves – perfect for taking photos out in the cold!!

4. Fixing puzzle – This is only the second puzzle I’ve ever fixed *mostly* by myself. Lance will walk by and pop a few pieces in place once in a while, but this one was tough! It was a painted scene from ‘Gone With the Wind’ and there was no ‘full view’ of the image on the box. Edges were cropped off, and there was a ‘Gone With the Wind’ logo covering the top left. Since I couldn’t figure out that final corner by color, I had to organize all the pieces by shape and go down the rows until each piece fit. We finished the puzzle just in time to leave for…

5. Our honeymoon!!! One week in Kauai, Hawaii, 70-80 degree weather every day, beautiful drives, awesome hikes, great food, breathtaking views. This is the last photo I took before I wiped the sand from my toes and put on my cold weather clothes for our flights back to South Dakota and below freezing temperatures.

I am so excited, thrilled, and honored to share this with you!! Trevin + Audrey’s wedding has been featured in the newest issue of Black Hills Bride Magazine!

And Audrey is their new cover girl!!

Trevin + Audrey drove all the way across South Dakota yesterday to be one of the first to see the new 2013 magazine at the launch party last night. It was awesome to see them again!! We only had a little bit of time here and there to catch up as we were mingling with the creators of Black Hills Bride Magazine as well as other wedding vendors. It was a whirlwind of an evening, and it was so wonderful to share it with these two!

Audrey couldn’t help but pinch herself to make sure this wasn’t all a dream, and towards the end of the night, Trevin said, “Walking in here tonight and seeing Audrey’s face on the magazine just brought back all those wonderful, magical feelings from our wedding day.” I promptly turned to Audrey to let her know she married a good one. :-)

Trevin + Audrey – Thanks again for being such a wonderful couple to work with! It was so great to see you again and I can’t wait for our cupcake date in Sioux Falls!! :-)