Plans, Plans, Plans

2009-05-26T14:25:00.000-07:00

5 DAYS!!!

2009-05-19T10:38:00.000-07:00

10 DAYS!!!!!!

2009-05-12T13:08:00.000-07:00

18 DAYS!!!!

Tuxedos

2009-05-04T14:56:00.001-07:00

Oh yeah. Jeff is going to look good in his tuxedo. We are definitely going to have to do this pose.

I promised you a sneak peek.

2009-04-13T18:21:00.001-07:00

Invitations

2009-04-13T16:50:00.000-07:00

I feel like we have been making invitations FOR...EVER!!

I think I still have 30 left to make. So, if you get one that looks haphazard, I'm sorry. I got tired.

Has it been a year?

2009-04-03T13:09:00.000-07:00

A year ago today, Jeff and I first started communicating on eHarmony. Wow, time flies.

These are the pictures we had on our profiles. I spent my short lunch break reading through the first few emails. Crazy.

Invitations

2009-04-02T19:00:00.001-07:00

Still making our invitations. It's a lot of work, but Jeff says he loves that we get to spend so much time together

Bridals

2009-03-29T07:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon I had my bridal sitting. It was a lot of fun. I hate being the center of attention (believe it or not), but I felt so pretty in my dress.

Nicole picked a great place for the pictures. It was an old farmhouse in Pleasant Grove. The windows were broken out, the wallpaper peeling, the floorboards not so secure. It was perfect. The sun was shining and the snow hadn't made the yard too muddy.

I can't wait to give you a sneak peek.

Engagements and invitations

2009-03-23T11:45:00.000-07:00

We had our engagement pictures taken on Saturday- well before the wind, chill and snow blew in. It was a lot of fun. I laughed, I got covered in grass, but luckily not dog poop. (we checked around before hitting the ground). Jeff was working it, like always.

Then, last night, we started the finishing touches on our invitations. Jeff's niece helped us for a little bit. We even got Grandma to let her stay up a half an hour later, with a promise she would wake up the first time she was called this morning. After 10 minutes I think she got bored. She started playing 20 questions with me. Dang! I can't even keep my cheap labor working.

HELP!

2009-03-10T08:39:00.000-07:00

I need to figure out how to get a light in the center of these lanterns. Any ideas? I am having strings of lights drape the ceiling, and these little guys hanging from the strings.

Flowers

2009-03-04T20:50:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday (the 21st), Jeff, his mom, his niece and I went to lunch and then over to Skyline Flowers to pick out my bouquet.

I am so excited about it.

There will be white lilies.

Red tulips.

And red roses.

I knew I wanted tulips since they are my favorite flower. I am excited to see it all put together.

I ordered the bouquet, the boutonnieres and corsages. Jeff's grandmother passed away that night, so we decided that we are going to still get her corsage and place in on her headstone. She was so excited that Jeff found his eternal sweetheart (that is what she always called her husband), and we know that she will be with us in spirit on our wedding day.

Making Invitations

2009-02-20T18:54:00.000-08:00

Spending my evenings creating these babies.

Apartment Update

2009-02-20T18:50:00.000-08:00

Here is our apartment. We will be on the second floor on the east side.

2009-02-18T14:08:00.001-08:00

I picked up my dress Monday. Oh, how I wish I could show you.

2009-02-06T13:45:00.000-08:00

Well, you've heard it a thousand times... on her wedding day, a bride is suppose to wear "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue and a silver sixpence in your shoe!"

Many brides still follow this age old tradition, but what exactly does it mean? And why blue? Well, here's the answer...

Something Old... The "old" must be something which has belonged to a happily married woman. The wearing of such an item insures a lucky transfer of happiness to the new bride and signifies a sense of continuity, tradition and represents the link to the bride's old life and her family. Many brides would wear their mother's wedding gown or family jewelry.

Something New... Signifies hope for the future. The bridal gown can be used here, if it is purchased new - or any other new item purchased as part of the bridal attire.

Something Borrowed... The "borrowed" must be some object of value/significance to guarantee wealth and prosperity in the future. Brides can borrow jewelry or a special handkerchief from a family member or close friend.

Something Blue... The "blue" is symbolic of the heavens and also of true love. It signifies fidelity, purity and love. This is why you see so many garters with blue ribbon or detailing!

A Silver sixpence in your shoe... The "sixpence" or "new dime" must be worn in the heel of the left shoe to insure wealth and prosperity.

2009-02-04T12:16:00.000-08:00

I ordered my cake today. I designed it myself. So, no catalogue picture. Sorry.

IT'S GONNA BE AWESOME!!!

My dress

2009-02-04T09:18:00.000-08:00

My dress will be all finished tomorrow!!!

I'm just saying.

Tasting cakes

2009-01-27T08:10:00.000-08:00

We decided to try three different cake bakers (or whatever they like to be called these days). I called to make appointments. The first place, Granite Bakery and Bridal set up an appointment for Saturday at 1 pm. Schmidt's Bakery told me I didn't need to make an appointment, just to come in. The Cake Lady never returned my phone calls.

So, Saturday we show up at 1:00. They have a separate room for wedding cake tasting, which was cool. There were couches and tables. TONS of books to look through and Styrofoam models of their cakes (all of the ones we see on their website). They are packed. The place was so busy. The girl couldn't find the list of samples I had called in wanting to taste, so she just gave me a new piece of paper to fill out, which wasn't a problem. She brought out the samples, asked us if we had any questions. I pointed out the type of cake I wanted and asked how much it would be. She told me (WAY under my budget- Awesome!!). The boss came over and asked us if we had any questions. They were very helpful. I told him we had a few other places to check out and he was cool about it.

Next we drove over to Schmidt's (who told us to just stop by). We walked in and they just had the counter where they sold their other baked goods. I asked the girl behind the counter who we talked to about tasting cakes. She pointed to the counter behind me and said, "All the flavors are over there." We turned around and there was a paper flier with cake flavors on them. So we picked the same flavors we tried at Granite (almond, chocolate and marble). I went back up to the counter and requested the samples. The girl said, "Ok, I will be right out with those." We looked through the one book they had and all the cakes looked like they belonged in the 80s. We sat down and Jeff whispered, "I liked the experience at Granite better." I agreed.

The girl came out with a tray. On the tray were 6 cupcake wrappers. In each wrapper was a spoonful of something. "Ok guys, we didn't have almond, marble or chocolate with raspberry filling. So, in this cup is the raspberry filling, this one has Bavarian creme, and this one has fondant, that one has butter cream and these last two are just the yellow cake and chocolate cake." She left and we looked at each other and said, "We're going with Granite."

It's all coming together.

2009-01-23T12:07:00.000-08:00

There have been a few bumps, a lot of tears and many sleepless night. But, everything is coming together. I have 127 days until I get married and I have a few things left.

Dress: paid for. Just waiting for the alterations to be done.
Reception: Gym reserved, decorations bought, plan laid out.
Temple: Called yesterday, reserved a sealing room
Caterer: Deposit paid, menu planned.
Photographer: Deposit paid, waiting for confirmation of bridal shoot and enagement pictures.
Honeymoon: Booked (thanks to a generous friend- you know who you are)
Jeff's ring: Bought
Apartment: Put down a deposit on a new apartment (received a discount for signing early! Plus, another one because Jeff works for IHC)

All I have left:
Tuxedos: waiting until April- Jeff wants to lose some weight
Flowers: going in February with Jeff's mom
Cake: Tasting a few this Saturday and next
Guest list: going through daily to see if I forgot anyone.
Invitations: working on wording. Have to make them (yes, I am making them, I didn't LOVE anything I saw)

Writing all this down makes me feel less stressed about things. Am I forgetting anything important?

Send me addresses- even if you think I have it. I want to double check. wecanallshare[at]hotmail[dot]com.

Today is the day...

2009-01-22T11:31:00.001-08:00

We can call the temple and schedule our sealing!!

We registered

2009-01-10T23:23:00.000-08:00

It's over and we survived...barely. It took all day and by the end, I didn't really care what was on my registry.

We started off at Target, then had lunch at Sampan. After that we headed to Bed, Bath and Beyond, where we spent the bulk of our day!

I am so sore and tired. Please, please, please shop off my registry. I didn't do this for my health!

Thank you and good night.

First dress fitting

2009-01-09T11:19:00.001-08:00

Last night I had an appointment with my seamstress. My dress looks amazing, all we have to do is make a few alterations.

Sorry- no pics. You can't see my dress until it is all done.

Registering!!

2009-01-07T16:30:00.000-08:00

I need to do something that other people can't screw up! We are registering this Saturday. Any advice?

I love him

2009-01-05T11:47:00.000-08:00

I called Jeff:

Jeff: Hey, beautiful! What a surprise!

Me: I bought two new bras.

Jeff: Nice, can I see them?

Me: In 4 months and whatever days!

Jeff: Ah, man.

Me: I also got a corset for my wedding dress.

Jeff: Is that the thing that goes on your head?

Me: (laughs) Uh, no. That is a veil. I love that you don't know these things.

Jeff: I am an innocent man.

Me: A corset is something that goes under my dress to smooth out the back fat and give me womanly curves.

Jeff: You're hot no matter what.

I love him!

Disheartened

2009-01-03T21:18:00.000-08:00

Can I be honest? I am disheartened by the whole wedding planning process. I am frustrated, angry and completely worn out. And I haven't even done anything noteworthy.

Today we went to look at a reception site. The patio area was listed online at a VERY reasonable price. I should have known something was up. We get there and get the grand tour and then she quotes the price. It is 3 times what it said online. I told her what was up and showed her the website:

"Oh, I don't know why the website does that. That is our winter price for ice skating."

Needless to say, I got in the car and cried. I told Jeff that if I weren't such an honest, guilt ridden person, I would book the place online for the lower price and then inform them that it was false advertising and get my patio for the lower price.

So, my dear sweet Jeff called about 100 reception sites today. Half of them were already booked and the other half cost as much if not more than my measly budget. We did find one that sounded pretty cool- so we headed over to check it out. Scary. We walked in and felt like we were in an old church gym. I told Jeff that we should just have it in the gym if the only thing in our budget looked like that.

Then, later, we talked to his mom about his aunt doing our invitations (she told me she would do them for free). I hadn't heard anything in over a month. So, she called her in Washington and basically told us that she couldn't do them. I am not angry, I kind of felt in my gut I needed a Plan B and I have one, it just wasn't something I needed to hear today.

Weddings are expensive. I wish my daddy were super rich and I didn't need to worry about how much everything costs, but as it is, I am using my meager savings to pay for everything. I am stressing out, and poor Jeff has to calm me down.

I want to elope. (Not really, but it sounds pretty tempting)

Haircuts

2008-12-22T21:24:00.000-08:00

I scheduled my haircuts all the way up to my wedding. 4! I only have 4 haircuts left!! Jeff says that is no consolation.

Someone called him my husband the other night. He said he likes the sound of that.

We got his ring re-sized. He tried it on and refused to take it off. (By the way, you cannot re-size Tungsten. You have to exchange it for a smaller size. )

The handsome boys

2008-12-19T12:12:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

2008-12-18T15:48:00.000-08:00

Not that I am counting but it is only 163 days until my wedding!

I'm in love

2008-12-03T12:55:00.001-08:00

I am absolutely in love and can't wait to eat off of these plates.

Dilemma

2008-11-20T08:36:00.000-08:00

This is where I want to get married. The view is amazing, it is close to my house, and ever since they announced it, I wanted to be married here. They haven't even announced anything about the dedication, yet. Devin says it will be open, he just knows it. I hope he is right.

This is where I will probably get married. They have already announced the dedication. Jeff and I walked around it a few weeks ago. It's beautiful, but not 100% of what I want. I don't dream about this one like I do Oquirrh Mountain. I know I am being silly, but I can't help it.

This picture was taken November 14- so it is extremely close to being done.

Look!

2008-11-17T11:54:00.000-08:00

We got Jeff's ring Saturday. He is bummed he can't wear his like I can wear mine.

I also got a gift certificate for $100 for purchasing the ring on Saturday. Hmmm...I smell new jewelry to go with my new dress.

2008-11-13T07:42:00.000-08:00

I found my caterer! See, I am not a complete slacker.

Lazy

2008-11-05T17:00:00.000-08:00

I am a lazy bum. I have 206 days until my wedding, and I don't feel like doing anything.

Ah, procrastination- why do today what you can put off until tomorrow?

Wedding Invitations

2008-10-30T13:16:00.001-07:00

2008-10-21T12:27:00.000-07:00

Look for these under my dress.

We signed our lease

2008-10-20T15:33:00.001-07:00

We signed our lease on Saturday!

We got a 2-bedroom, 2-bath apartment. I can't tell you what an amazing deal we got. I don't want you to get jealous!

Love the location. Jeff timed it for me- 15 minutes to work!

How did you spend your Friday evening?

2008-10-19T09:29:00.000-07:00

YEAH!!

2008-10-16T15:29:00.000-07:00

I know it is early, but I am working on our Smith family budget. Jeff thinks I am being silly, but I need to know what we are up against and where we need to cut costs.

We are putting our deposit on our new apartment this weekend. I want to make sure we can make the rent, and have money to save. Is that just the accounting nerd in me?

I put all of our income against all of our expenses as of today. I was freaking out because of what we each spend on health insurance, car insurance and cell phones. Jeff kept reminding me that we will be combining all of those payments. I know I looked at him like a deer in headlights.

So, we pulled out his Employee Benefits book. Oh wow!! When we get married and I am on his insurance, we will be saving so much money. I can't wait to consolidate our auto insurance and our cell phones.

I love that Jeff gets such great deals through work. He is my hero!

Photographers

2008-10-15T16:13:00.000-07:00

I now have my photographers. If nothing else gets planned I don't care. I have my man, my dress and my photographers.

My friend, Matt is doing our engagements. You can see his work here and here.

He recommended Nicole for my bridals and reception. Check out her cute work here.

I am giddy right now.

This is where I want to live

2008-10-12T00:36:00.000-07:00

Jeff and I are apartment hunting. So much fun. Today we checked out San Moritz. They are currently building it. It's going to be so cool. It is where I want to live. I really do. Jeff needs a little more convincing.

I love the open kitchens, the Roman tub in the master bathroom, the mountain views, 24-hour fitness center, the new appliances, it's 5-star energy rated, the fact that no one else has had their grubby feet on my carpet or in my shower, I just love it!

2008-10-02T19:00:00.000-07:00

We are going to San Francisco for our honeymoon. Ideas for adventures? We already know we want to go to Alcatraz, Ghiradelli Square, Golden Gate Bridge. Any other ideas?

Dress shopping- Day 2

2008-10-01T10:18:00.000-07:00

UGH! I am so tired of trying on dresses and getting depressed. Why are the sample sizes so small? The largest size this place had was a 10. I could barely fit my upper thigh into half the dresses, and I don't consider myself a big girl (maybe I am fooling myself).

This dress was cute- again, only a size ten, so I don't have my hands on my hips because I am mad, I needed to hold the dress closed.

Sarah and I laughed so hard at this dress. So we had to get a picture. I don't know of anyone who would want to add so much room for their hips.

Cute, right? And look at my hands. This one zipped up!

Here is a close up. You see that green paper. I was fanning myself. Why do dressing rooms have to be so hot?

Here is yet another dress. I loved the material, but not the form fitting cups. My girls don't need pre-fab boobs, I have plenty of my own.

Well, the bad news is trying on dresses depressed me. (They tell you not to look at the size, but if you try on 100 dresses and can only zip or lace up 5 of them, it is pretty sad). The good news is, I ordered my dress yesterday.

Which one? Well, you'll just have to wait and see won't you?

2008-09-29T22:05:00.000-07:00

I am looking for a videographer who isn't too expensive. Ideas?

To stand in a line, or not to stand in a line

2008-09-28T21:54:00.000-07:00

Jeff and I are talking about the different things we want on our wedding day. He wants a German Chocolate Cake (ew, coconut), so I will be getting him his own personal German Chocolate Cake. Easy, right?

Here is a dilemma. His mother is contributing to this wedding. Which, I do not have a problem with. I have a problem saying no to people. This is my test right now. I am stubborn and have my own ideas of how I want things done, yet I don't like to say no to people, especially when they are paying for a few things.

She wants a reception line. He told her tonight that this is going to be a very casual reception with no line. Her reaction was, "How is my family going to know who her family is?" My answer? Have you seen my family? We are all carbon copies of each other. Jeff doesn't want a line, and neither do I. We plan on mingling among the small throng of people who will be there (we are thinking small. We hope lots of people will come, but we both know we have ditched out on a ton of receptions).

What are your thoughts? Line or no line? Keep in mind, we are not going to do a line. I just want to hear what you have to say.

A walk down memory lane

2008-09-24T13:32:00.000-07:00

Jeff and I met on eHarmony. Well, we were matched up on eHarmony. We met at the 7200 S Trax Station.

I got a text from him today. He asked me to print out our emails. So, I did. Then, I started to read them. They were so cute. I loved reading through what we said to each other before we had ever met.

I love, love, love this guy! I can't wait to marry him!

The first day of dress shopping

2008-09-23T10:34:00.000-07:00

Keep in mind the dressing room was stifling. I was sweating like a pig the whole time. Most of the dresses I tried on made my arms look like linked sausages and my boobs look like bowling balls.

Ha ha! We got special permission because most of my family is in Virginia.

The first dress that I could actually zip up. The room we were in was about 180 degrees, so my makeup has slid off and my hair was plastered to my head. I think my facial expression was heat exhaustion.

The back of the first dress. The train is a little longer than I wanted, but it worked. The dress looks heavy, but is so not!

I like the sleeves on this dress. The length is nice and the neckline works for the "girls."

Here is a close up of the sleeves.

Ok, I couldn't zip this one up, but I liked it. The v-neck works for my issues.

This was a strapless dress, so I had to put on a wrap. I love how this dress gives me a waist. Or defines it, I should say.

Here is a close up of the bodice.

I have an announcement

2008-09-23T10:15:00.001-07:00

Jeff and I have been talking about getting married for a while. I knew a proposal was coming, I just didn't know when.

Sunday he went to church with me and then we went to his parent's house for dinner. After we ate, everyone was sitting around talking (everyone being his mom and dad, his niece, his sister, her husband and their two boys). Jeff stood up and I gave him a look like, "what are you doing?" He got everyone's attention. He talked about how his life had been rough, he had been unhappy and then he met me. This year has been a huge turning point in his life and he couldn't imagine life without me.

He walked towards me and got down on one knee. I hissed, "You're embarrassing me." He just simply asked me to marry him. I said yes!

Tears and hugs all around. His niece and nephew wrote a poem that was so tender and we plan to display it at our reception.