Sneak Peeks

So I know it has been awhile but I will make it up we got some sneak peeks







I love them I can't wait for more what do you think?? I love the lighting and I could just go on and on but I will wait.

Blushing Bride

Signature drinks are all over the wedding blogs and I must admit we jumping on the bandwagon too. There is a drink that is always requested that I bring when I go to parties and what better party is there than my wedding. Also this will be a chance to my grandmothers glass punch bowl that has been past down to be used at all the weddings. The drink includes
2 2L of Mountain Dew
2 2L of 7up
2 2L of Sprite
1 bottle of Cranberry juice
1 Bottle of on Everclear

Yes this is a lot and I know it more of a party mix but really I couldn't imagine not having. It creates this pretty pink so the name would be great. Also when I drink I start to plus and I will definately be having some of this.

My mom came to stay with us for a little last week and we did something I had been somewhat dreading; we tried on my wedding dress. Don't get me wrong I love my dress but lets just say I know I have put on some weight since she bought it for me. I had been avoiding it all weekend but I knew I couldn't avoid it longer so decided to put it on and see how bad the damage was. Surprisingly, IT FIT and zipped all the way up!!!! Yay right? Well I said it fit I didn't I could breathe in it. I am not sure how much weight I have gained because I started gaining weight before I the dress was purchased and the fact that I haven't been on a scale in so long. There is a about 5 month to the wedding which gives time to work out. I really don't enjoy exercise but I this is something I have to do since I don't want to pass out on my wedding day so I start on Monday wish me luck!!

Our special recipe

One of the things that Ryan and I have been doing since we started dating is to make salsa together. Both of us are huge addicts, we can sit down and just eat it for a whole meal. I figured this would be another way we can incorporate a little something of us. We don't have our an exact recipe and it changes each time. Unfortuanely the past couple times it has been almost too hot to eat. This is what it looks like before we blend it.


And this is the finished project




I figure we would just can them in small mason jars and put them in all our thank you bags.

Impatient

That is what I am. We took our engagement photos today and I want to see them now. We ended up doing them at Calico Springs but only because Springs Preserve had a wedding today. Our photographers are amazing, the only problem was they wanted me to do a jumping thing but apparently I am so uncoordinated that it just didn't work out. Lets just say we were lucky I didn't knock us both down. I am already stalking his page to see all the stuff even though they will send us a e-mail when its posted. Tick Tock Tick Tock

Engagement photos

Saturday we are taking our engagement photos even though we haven't fully decided on where. Ryan and I are having a little bit of a disagreement and haven't been able to come up with a solution yet. He would like to get our engagement photos done at Springs Preserve which is where we will be getting married. Springs Preserve is a botanical garden which is huge! There will be lots of different place for photos and it is where we are getting married so it has sentamental meaning. Check my earlier post for a picture.

I would like to have it a Calico Springs

Our photographer seems to be leaning towards this one and it is near where we got engaged. There is greenery, desert, a barn, and boardwalks so there will be lots of variation, oh and its pretty. :)

Hopefully tomorrow we can go look at it to see it and maybe I can convince him that its the place. Who knows maybe I won't like and we will decide to go to Springs Preserve. How did you resolve discrepancies with your fiance?

Water water everywhere

So Springs Preserve allows us to drop off water bottles the night before the wedding and they will put them on ice for the ceremony. This is a great idea since the majority of people will not be use to the heat even though it will hopefully be in the 70s. I figure this will be a great way to add some more personal touches. I found these cute labels that we could put on them instead of the normal ones.



I love the nutritional part and instead of the live laugh love part it would be forever and always. They will also be in watermelon and cornflower our wedding colors. I am really excited I will just have to find some way to get really beg labels.

Pinwheels not just a kids toy.

Don't these look delicious I thinks so; so much that they are going to be our main meal at our wedding. I know its not much but since our wedding is in the afternoon we just wanted finger food. My lovely brother who is actually a chef will be helping prepare them. I actually think we will be having a party on Friday to put all the ingredents together. It should be fun especially since I haven't seen him in forever. Plus I will get to hang out with Katie our flower who is too cute. I haven't met her yet but I think we will have a blast together. I plan on playing dress up and painting her nails. What other fun thinks would suggest to do with a 3 year old?

Vacation

Which is where I have been. We went to El Paso to visit my mom, aunt, and bestie Lucy. It was so good to see them again it had been at least 5 years since I had seen Lucy so it was good to see her again. We had a little bump on the last night but nothing too horrible. Also it was really nice for Ryan to meet all of them.

On to the wedding!!! We met with our photographer and it was amazing. They were fun and upbeat and we just chatted the entire time. I think we will be a good match. She even mentioned she reads weddingbee.com which excites me greatly. She loves all the photos on there and is going to be bringing bubbles and balloons for engagement shoot which will be on Halloween. Now I know you might be a little confused because I said my photographer was Michael Lichtenwaler but his wife does all his buisness so we sat and talked about weddings while Ryan and Michael talked about cell phones and various electronics. I am hoping this will actually turn into a friendship.

Photographer

It seems like planning your wedding make you indecisive. We had found a photographer that had a pretty good deal going on but then I read about a deal on Theknot.com local boards about a photographer who is trying to expand their wedding portfolio. I contacted them and we are doing 10 hours of photography for get ready......$300. Its a steal I know. We also get a DVD enabling us with all the rights for photos and an engagement shoot. His photos are pretty good as well. Check out Mikelphotos.com I am really excited about meeting with them to secure our date.

Once we do that we can set up a time for our engagement pictures. When that time come I will have to go shopping because I would love to get some super cute outfits otherwise I wil have nothing to wear. Once those are processed we can send out our Save the Dates. This will be my first DIY for the wedding and I will be itching to do it. I am sure when the wedding gets closer I will the dreading each DIY project but for now I am optimistic.

Here are some photos of engagement shoots that I love!

So maybe we are a little off-beat here...

So maybe its just me but I think Ryan and I are having a very unique wedding. First off we are going to have two receptions, one in Kansas City and the other in here. The next thing that makes it unique is that our reception that we are having here we are going to have it a house. Not just any house but we are going to rent a house. Before I started this whole wedding planning I didn't even know you could rent a house. I had seen the movie where they switched homes for vacation but I thought that was just part of Hollywood and besides we weren't going to give up our house. Now since we will be at house you may be thinking 'what about dancing' well there will be dancing even if it's just by myself. I plan to also drag my mom and Ryan out to the dance floor we have to have our first dance.
Now for our Kansas City reception I think we are going to host it at a friends house. I plan to wear my dress again but I am not sure just because I know how his house is. We shall see we aren't sure when we are going to have it I was think June so that my family can come and it should actually be warm in Missouri.

Shoes

So after looking for what felt like forever I finally found the perfect shoes.

These beauties are made by Betsey Johnson and called Kantana. They will be the pricest shoes I will have ever owned. Luckily for me They are sold at Zappos so I will be able to get my new employee discount. I am leaning towards the pink but they also come in blue. Originally I wanted blue shoe so they could be my something blue but the pink is so stunning I think I will still with them. I have seen on many blogs the blue I do on the bottom of the shoes which I think is a super cute idea.

So what do you think stick with pink and use the stickers or start from scratch?

Finally

I got a job!!! (insert me jumping up and down) I will now be a employee of

Yes how cool is that!!! It looks like I will fit in perfectly there too. The interview was so much fun I couldn't believe it. We joked around and just talked about everything. He even said my joke is what got me a joke; ready for it... What do you call a Fish with no "i". A FSH. I know its a horribly lame joke but it makes me laugh and apparently it worked for this job. I will also be making a trip to Kentucky to work in their warehouse for a week. It should be interesting I have never been to Kentucky or worked in a warehouse. They feel that since they work so close together business wise that all their employees should know how to work there as well. Personally I think this is a great idea, it makes the company link together even though its on the other side of the country I can't wait!!!

Job Description: People Pleaser

Apparently I am going through a phase I like to call the people pleaser. Granted I know there is no physical way to please everyone all at once but by golly I am trying. I do realize that I need to snap out of it because the one person I won't be pleasing is myself. Here is an example:
Today I went with my FMIL and FSIL to our ceremony site and I expected more out excitement out of them but all they said was that's nice. I wanted them to say 'Its perfect I couldn't imagine anything more' but then I thought to myself, this place makes me happy it doesn't matter about them. The only that should matter is Ryan and I being happy and hopefully everybody else will follow suit.

This week!!!

This coming week is going to be a busy one really its just the first two days. Monday I am showing my FMIL and FSIL the ceremony location as well as put the deposit down on it. Tuesday I have an interview with Zappos. I am super excited about it and if I get hired I get 40% off shoes and clothing. What girl could ask for more though I almost think Ryan is more excited. He spent over an hour looking at things he wants. I guess that will make present buying a lot easier. Also on Tuesday I get to meet with my florist. I orginally thought I would just make paper flowers but then decided I really want real flowers. The first florist I contact has given us a really good quote. I am excited to meet with her and put the deposit down (not excited about the money part but that just makes it offical).

Ch-ch-changes

So scratch the reception; well sort of. We have decided to have a small ceremony and reception then have a larger reception in the summer in KC. We are finally starting to book things so far we have our ceremony and our florist. First I was thinking I would just make paper flowers but I had second thoughts so now we have a florist who is giving us 15% off which is amazing since we have lots of corsages and boutonnieres. Finally everything is falling into place and it coming together. The next step is the photographer. Before I go here is the ceremony place.

Changing plans

So it looks like we might be changing plans. The place I last posted about only offered ceremonies and receptions. So I was ultimatley discouraged. My mom was getting on my case about finding a place and so I sent her a link to a place that was nice but I didn't think much of it. Well looking a little harder this place was perfect. We have use of the kitchen and get to rent for the whole. The best part is it is in our budget. We are going on Thursday to look at it and hopefully everything will work out! Now I just have to change my whole way of thinking and re-plan my wedding.

And the search begins.

For a ceremony location that is. I have always dreamed a garden wedding and hopefully we can find a place that fits. I have found a couple potentials but I am waiting for them to get back to me. This one is my favorite

http://www.ilv.com/rainbowgardens/garden.shtml

There are light on the ceiling and its the first one I really went WOW. I need to run it by Ryan to make he likes it. Hopefully it will be in our price range. Keep your fingers crossed!!


We were going to look at some other sites this past week but didn't want to miss the futon which still hasn't been delivered. I also need to find a park that we can have the reception so we can get that reserved too. It is time to get into wedding mode.

Whew

So the truck came with all my stuff came today and we suprisingly we unloaded everything. We just have to unpack all my boxes which I am not looking forward to. Kailey is might be coming over tomorrow to help but I feel weird having people help me unpack. Maybe it is because I have become really OCD where I have to have everything in a certain place. It would be nice to get some bonding with her since we are going to be sisters in law but it will be weird.
The company that I hired for the truck wrote down that I had use 18 feet of space instead of 10 which was an extra $600. Luckily they were able to find what else they shipped and figured out that there was no way that was right. Thankfuly they are returning the 8 feet.

Welcome Home!

So we finally made it the horribly long 1370 miles. I love the place it and even the animals seem to like it. The ceilings are super high which makes it seem even bigger. We have a huge bathrooms and access to to the pool (yes there is a jacuzzi) and a work out room. We have amazing views of the city and at night it's even more gorgeous.

I was able to fix dinner last night even though it wasn't horribly delicious it was still nice being able to prepare it for Ryan. So far living with him is nothing short than great. It nice to finally have some rest time after the stressful move. Tomorrow, although the truck is coming and apparently we have to park it outside the whole complex which means we have to somehow carry my stuff 3 blocks. I am not really looking forward to it. I can carry some of the boxes in my car but not the big furniture.

So my house is just about empty. I am on the cleaning stages and tomorrow Ryan comes in. It will be so great to see him since its been over a month. I will be able to see him now for the rest of my life now and I can't wait. Hopefully the second week that I am there I will get a job and that will make everything better.
Soon wedding planning will be full swing!!!

YAY/Boo Car

Well I recieved a call from the auto shop saying my car was ready! I was super stoked considering it was was done 2 days early! Well when I saw it I was amazed because it looked like a new car. They had even detailed the inside of my car which means they removed all the dog hair which had to be a hard task.
I am driving home from work and my check engine light comes on. I immedatily freak out because at this point I am suppose to leave in a week. I drove to O'Rileys to check out a reader and learn that its a Code 1 error that means speed and performance sensor is messed up.
I took it the next day to a shop that the auto shop set me up with since they couldn't fix it and waited for 2 1/2 hours. They replace my spark plugs and tell me that the actual sensor will be in either Tuesday or Wednesday (note I am leaving on Thursday). They are going to try to overnight the part to get it here on Tuesday. I am keeping my fingers crossed!!

The Dress!

So we arrived at Davids Bridal right when they opened. My maidton of honor my sister Misty, my mom, another bridesmaid Kelsey, her mom and her friend Patrick. I wasn't expecting such a posse but at the end I was glad each one of them were there. Everyone was friendly and we started to pick out dresses. We came prepared with one of their books and picked out several that I wanted to try on. Actually I tried on a whopping 16 dress, there I really think it was just about every dress they had on. I guess I was the opposite of everyone else because the last one tried on was the one and it was completely different from what I thought I wanted. I tried it on, heared all the gasps from my posse and my consultant and looked in the mirror and I knew it was the one. It was one of those I have to have it moments. Its true I guess when you know you knowplus it being $300 off always helps. :)

So when we last left off my mom and I had woke up to a shooting the next day we learn that my sister had slept thru the entire thing!! I was horribly sore that day but we still had to go try on dresses for the first time. I wasn't completely excited because I just didn't feel that well. We went in and I started to feel better. I found a couple of ok dresses at the first shop but nothing was sticking out yet. All of the second shop dresses made me feel like I was trying on bad prom dresses. Needless to say we pretty much ran out of there. We only had one more day to find the dress ( I will give you a little clue we actually did).

Whirlwind

Lets rewind to last Friday I got into a car accident. Everyone was ok and I only had a few bumps and bruises. They said its going to take 10 days to get it fixed which would leave me with two days to before I move. Lets hope nothing get delayed.
Later that night there was a fight between my neighbor and someone else. I am not sure what exactly happened but I just knew there were two gun shots. I have never actual gun shots I was so scared and was expecting a window to break at any moment. I didn't see any blood when I went outside the next morning.
Luckily my mom and sister came in so we could go dress shopping. They kept me sane the entire weekend. My mom was actually laying next to me when the shots were fired. She stayed calm or at least seemed to be. Needless to say she can not wait for me to move out.

Tick tock

So I am sort of freaking out. I feel like I am running out of time. We need to get engagement pictures done so we can sent out Save The Dates. We can't send out Save The Dates until we reserve a place to make sure a date is solid. We can't reserve a place until I get out there, which wont be until the end of August/September. Ugh so plans are on hold....unless you talk to my family in which that's all they can talk about.

Stress Stress Stress

So this week has been rough, between wedding stress and trying to find a place to live everything seems never-ending. We might have a break thru in the housing situation and wedding stress is getting easier. We have sort of run into a snag with where are reception might be . We are going to have it in a park so my brother will cater (yay) but the one that seems perfect might be in a bad area. Bad areas is one of the problems we have been having trouble with finding a house. Hopefully this week will be bring us some luck!!!

He proposed

Thats right he sure did. It started off as I bad I almost missed my flight and my luggage almost didn't arrive. I wasn't feeling well when I arrived but after 3 cups of tea I was feeling slightly better. We went on a picnic with a cute little basket and matching plates and ate a sandwich from Panera. The whole time he kept saying don't forget about the cupcake, save room for the cupcake. So finally I am done with my sandwich and there is still some left and I say I want my cupcake. He says no because now he has to eat my sandwich and we need to eat out cupcakes together. I get mad and say I want my cupcake but he still make me wait. Finaly he gets out the cupcake and hands me one with a blue dot on it. I open it, and its not mine. He gives me the other one and I open it and there is a beautiful ring stuck in the frosting. He takes out the ring and and he starts to get down on one knee but I stop him and make him sit next to me. In what seems like forever (which he claims was only 3 seconds) bt he asks me to be his wifey. I make some gesture of yes which both of us can't remember what I said. Anyways we are engaged!!!!!!!