Wedding stuff

With 158 days to go, I've been kind of in wedding overdrive lately. Here are some updates:

~Changed the idea for centerpieces, just a little

~Picked bridesmaid dresses (finally!)

~Ordered save the dates to be mailed out on Monday!

~Picked a couple of invitation styles I like

~Finished paying for my dress

~Registered at Bed Bath and Beyond (really fun day)

I do have some very important tasks for the next couple of weeks:

~Figure out baker stuff

~Talk to someone about flowers

I think things are really starting to come together!

2009

So I guess I'll hop on the "Goodbye to 2009" blog post bandwagon. 2009 has been kind of a rollercoaster year for me. They say that three of the biggest emotional events you can go through in life are: Dealing with death, divorce, and moving. Even though my grandma died in October 2008, I think I am still trying to deal with it over a year later. I got engaged, which is the opposite of getting divorced, but still a huge life change. I also moved twice. In March, I moved in with Joe and in October, we both moved into the basement of my grandparent's house with David living upstairs.

We are really liking where we live. We have a beautiful fireplace and there is room for our pets to run around. Sometimes it is difficult to have a housemate, but most of the time it is actually really nice.

In many ways, 2009 was the best year of my life. Joe asked me to marry him. I also became an aunt on November 24 to my wonderful nephew, James.

It hasn't all been wonderful. I've noticed that my anxiety issues have gotten worse. I put in a lot of job applications and went to several interviews with no luck (although, I am going to sell Avon soon, which will hopefully provide a little money until we get married and I can go back to school.)

So, I am looking forward to 2010 (especially June). It's going to be another busy year, but I am excited to see what it brings.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving this year was a very special holiday. On Tuesday the 24th, my sil gave birth to the most perfect baby boy. I am an aunt!

On Wednesday, Joe and I had our annual pre-Thanksgiving dinner. This year we cooked a turkey breast, potatoes and gravy, green beans, and stuffing stuffed acorn squash. The turkey took way longer than expected (as usual) but everything was delicious. After dinner, we made the Thanksgiving bourbon pecan pies because the usual bakers (E and J) were still at the hospital.

On Thursday, I got a call from my mom saying HER turkey had gotten done way early (Why do turkeys have to be so tricky?) We headed over and were soon joined by Joe's mom and brother. We were very excited to share our Thanksgiving with them. Some last minute dinner preparations were going on as the last guests came in the door. E and J and baby James were released from the hospital Thursday afternoon and luckily, everyone felt well enough to come to dinner. James was wearing an adorable Thanksgiving Rocks! outfit. He was so good all during dinner (which was perfect as always). After dinner, mommy tried to wake him up to visit and he got pretty upset.

I am so thankful that we were able to share our holiday with so many people.

Wedding update

I noticed that my last wedding update was from quite a while ago, so here are some updates:

~We got our engagement pictures done and I am currently loading them onto my computer. Next step: Save The Dates!

~We're thinking about finding a new baker. We never signed a contract with the one we met with. We have since tried to get her the contract. We took it to her business and called all her phone numbers. She won't get back to us. We were not impressed at the initial meeting so we're thinking about finding somewhere new. (Maybe Granite Bakery?)

~We have asked everyone who will be in our wedding party.

~I have picked out a color and hopefully a designer for the bridesmaid's dresses. Hopefully I can find a store that carries them!

I think that is everything new. I'm falling just a little behind schedule (based on the checklists I have) but I think I'm doing ok. Next steps: Baker, Save the Dates, and florist!

229 days!

Halloween!

I have a bunch of blog entries to make now that we have the internet again (yay!) but I'm going to start with Halloween. This is the first Halloween that Joe and I have spent living together. David, Joe and I decorated the house and spent Halloween afternoon carving pumpkins. We all got into costume and waited for the trick or treaters. Joe and I had the door and David hung out behind the fog machine waiting to surprise kids as they were leaving.

I've never seen so many trick or treaters. We live in a really great neighborhood for kids. Joe had to make an emergency candy run because we were going to run out. Around 9, the neighborhood quieted down and I popped our Papa Murphy's Jack O Lantern pizza in the oven while Joe and David opened their Autumnal beer. I forgot to go to the liquor store for me so I used what I had and mixed vodka/sierra mist/and orange juice. I called it a "ghost pumpkin" because it was light orange. Also cuz I'm lame like that.

Here are me and Joe. We're a black widow couple. (male widows are brown with yellow hourglasses. They get eaten by the females...which is why Joe is looking a bit nervous.)

David

Joe's U pumpkin

Our suit of cards pumpkin.

More punchkins

Re Post

Just reposting this because it's gotten lost on the second page:

Jessica mentioned that she was having trouble leaving comments. It seems to be working for us. Try writing the comment and then choosing the ID "Name/Url" Write your name and leave the URL part blank. It should work.

Mesquite!

The day after Ben's (wonderful) wedding on August 8, Joe and I left for our Mesquite road trip. The trip didn't exactly run smoothly at first. We needed to drop Bomani at Grandma Connie's house and Kody in Heber before we could even get started. The drive was pleasant and, actually, not very long. When we got there, however, we couldn't get a room at the hotel we wanted to stay at (Casablanca Resort). They had given the last room to the girl just ahead of us. So we headed over to the Virgin River hotel instead. We booked a room for one night, hoping that Casablanca would have a room the next day. Even thinking we might just drive the extra hour to Vegas.

I was grouchy so Joe made me change into my swimming suit to go swimming; what I had been looking forward to all day. It turned out that Virgin River had a pretty nice pool and after a few minutes swimming, I cheered up. After, we went to the restaurant in the Virgin River...the Wagon Wheel or something. We ended up eating there for most of the trip. They had really yummy and really cheap food.

First thing Monday morning, we called Casablanca and they had some rooms available! We made reservations for two nights. However, we couldn't check in right away. We decided to go bowling. The Virgin River Bowling Alley was awesome. Really nice lanes and the cheapest bowling ever. We bowled a couple of games and had some ice cream.

After, we went to the Casablanca to see if they has any rooms yet. The only one available was on the ground floor at the very end of the hotel. It was a really long walk, but I loved it. The room was clean and comfy and our window looked out onto a garden.

We had dinner at my favorite Mexican restaurant ever. It's called Los Cazadores and it's worth the drive to Mesquite just to eat there. Their special is an extra yummy enchilada with green sauce.

We spent most of our Casablanca time at the pool. It was huge and freezing and had a waterfall and a slide. We took books and read on chairs under the palm cabanas. Casablanca was great. I would highly recommend it.

We didn't want to leave right away on Wednesday so we hit the bowling alley again. Joe kept getting really high scores and after my first score of 99 (I had gotten 114 the time before) I vowed not to leave intil I broke 100. 7 games later, I finally got a 109 or something. Joe got a taste of the seriously stubborn part of my personality.

As for the gambling: the first slot machine I saw was called Dolphin Treasure. As soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted to play. I didn't actually get a chance to for the first couple days, but when I finally got to play, I won $13! It was the big win of thr trip, but Joe and I did manage to come away with about $15 more than we played. (which wasn't much)

These pictures are all from the lovely Casablanca pool,where we spent most of our time.

Pool chairs all lined up

The hot tub

Pool in the morning. Before the waterfall was on.

Pool with waterfall

The waterslide

Cute cabanas

Us!