We live in an old house (built sometime in the 1900s) which we absolutely love... we both like to think that we'll be happy here forever! One of the only things that kinda stinks (literally) about living in an old house is the musty old house smell. I don't know why this happens... our house has been repainted and remodeled... but it still sometimes has the potential of smelling kinda musty.

Lucky for us, we have a solution that we are just slightly obsessed with: home fragrance oils!

About two years ago we discovered these little doodads and since then, there's no musty smell in our house... EVER! All you do is put about 10 drops of the oil in the warmer, and light a little unscented tealight under it. For about 3-4 hours, it burns and heats the oil and makes your whole home smell like the scent.

You might be thinking, why is this different than a scented candle? We like those too, but for the most intense fragrance, nothing beats the oil. Also, the oil really seems to permeate the house better, as opposed to a candle that smells the strongest in the immediate area it's in. We have 5 different oil warmers in our house to make sure it is 'covered' completely. When company comes over, we light them all, and you can even smell the 'smell-goods' (as we call them) from outside our house. If we are out of town and are coming home, when we get home, the first thing we do when we walk thru the door is 'light the smell-goods!'

Everyday around our house, we keep 1 lit in our living room and 1 lit in our bedroom, which still keeps the whole house smelling fresh.

Our favorite warmer is the owl one shown here, which sadly is discontinued! Boo! My favorite oil scent is Lavender Vanilla from Yankee Candle, and Luke's favorite is Eucalyptus Mint from Bath and Body Works. We hoard the oil and probably have 50 jars right now! If you catch them on sale they are a great bargain.

So you want one, right? Guess what! GIVEAWAY TIME!!! We're giving a 'starter kit' away! Comment on this blog (be sure to leave a correct e-mail address in the comment form) and we will select one lucky winner to win a new (I'll pick the cutest one I see) oil warmer and 3 bottles of our favorite scents of oil. Let the comments begin! We will e-mail the winner on Monday morning!

As with most of our weddings that allow us to travel, we always want to make sure we make a trip of it and see the sights around us. Chances are, we won't be back to these towns anytime soon, so we really want to go exploring.

While we were in Cheyenne, Wyoming for Kassi and Ian's wedding, we took a trip around the town to explore during the day and try to get a game plan for where we were going to take pictures on the big day. We quickly noticed that Cheyenne is a town that hasn't let go of it's western heritage. To call the state capital a "sleepy little town" may be a little overboard, but not by much. It was one of the most relaxing and easy going places we have been.

As we drove down main street, we loved seeing all of the motel signs. Yes, there were a few modern hotels, but the majority were little mom-and-pop type motels that blended in seamlessly with the beautiful rolling hills surrounding Cheyenne. You can't really appreciate the signs during the day, but at night the motel signs are so cool! So after the party was over, after the wedding reception, Cat and I drove around Cheyenne with our windows down, enjoying the cool breeze, and snapped some pictures of the signs that captivated us so much. We shot all of these on film, and to say I was a little nervous to get the scans back would be an understatement. Thankfully, we were so pleased with how the scans turned out when we got them back.

We will jump at the chance to return to Wyoming for a wedding if we get the chance, but for the mean time, we will just look at these images and try to get back to that cool July night in such a neat town.

I haven't seen too many state capitols so empty at night. It seemed like it was just us alone in the city.

You can bet that when Frontier Days come to town, things will get a little crazy! We may have been able to sneak in to the fairgrounds and get some amazing images of the "Beaches of Cheyenne" but you will have to wait to see those!

I'm learning that when we find we like something, we really go all out. This could be anything: real life examples... Sprinkles Cupcakes (where we order a dozen online and drive literally 1 hour to pick them up), down pillows (if 1 per person is good, imagine how good 3 per person would be), and Bath and Body Works products (if I like the smell of Cashmere Glow lotion, I should probably get the 3 for 1 deal and go ahead and get body wash and hand cream.)

I've been noticing lately that we are just 100% obsessed with anything and everything lavender scented. It all started when we read somewhere that lavender is supposed to be a calming scent. From that point on, we slowly started replacing empty/worn out cleaners, household products, candles, you name it - with lavender scents.

So much so... this is where we are at now.

Here's what makes up our current lavender scented bounty, from left to right.

Laundry Scent Additive, Swiffer Dust Spray, Shave Gel, Clorox Wipes, Swiffer Duster Cloths, a Circle E Candle, Yankee Candle Scented Oil, Fabric Softener Sheets, Bath and Body Works hand soap, Gain Dishwashing Soap, and finally, the best all purpose cleaner in the world: Fabuloso.

After taking this picture, we also remembered we have a huge supply of bulk lavender buds (most of our brides will know this because we send them some!) from Pressed Cotton.

Feeling very calm with all my lavender scented stuff around,
Cat