Monday, April 26, 2010

Life


Well, life has been crazy lately--for the good mostly. The wedding planning is going great! It seems everything is falling into place and I hope that it continues to go this way for the rest of it. Work is crazy as ever and very stressful (there is only so much one person can do in 40 hours a week, and you don't get paid overtime) but pretty good. School is done in a week and a half and I can't wait until it is over. This means that 1) the end of the year party is over, 2) Graduation is done and that party is done,  3) driving to work is only going to take 15 minutes instead of 30+, and the last but the best 4) SUMMER IS HERE!

As most summers-- I have grand plans for this one! Some of the plans are:

~ Go to the pool daily to loose a few extra pounds before the wedding
~ Finish planning the wedding
~ Go to Portland for a good friends wedding
~ Catch up on my Scapbooking--I'm only 6 years behind
~ Possibly attend my 10 year HS reunion (AH! Has it really been that long??)
~ Go to the cabbin at least once
~ Go boating
~ Read at least 4 books, this doesn't seem like that many but I am not a vivid reader like some I know...
~ Visit my aunt in Vernal--she has been living in her home for almost a year and I still haven't seen it
~ Help the Kappas plan an awesome recruitment

And I really think that is all of the plans for the summer and I really think that it is an ambitious one. I will be interested in seeing if I can get these all accomplished!!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Painting the Kitchen

Gram has been wanting to redo her kitchen for a couple of years. Well she has finally done it! The past week she has emptied her kitchen and the tore out all of the cupboards and the counter. When I left this morning it was a pretty empty kitchen and when I came home it was BARE. It was so weird to see the room like it.

Well this evening Scott & I painted the walls for Gram so the whole thing will be nice an new when it is all done. Well we started out just painting but the men tore some of the dry wall so we called dad who had repaired a hole last week to fix the others since they were in spots that would now not be covered by a back splash. That process then moved to removing some old linoleum that was on the walls (?!?!?!). With removing some of the linoleum and plaster that was put over the top of some of it it created some more holes.

Dad needed some more drywall mud  (he had a small jar) so Gram & I went to Home Depot to get a larger bucket (about the 5 lb one). We got home, painted about 1 more wall and dad is out of the plaster and needs more! Gram and I jump back into the car and visit the Depot one more time. The same girl checked us out both times and looked at me like I was crazy when I walked up with a the largest bucket (about 20lbs) when she had checked us out less than 30minutes before with the medium bucket. It was probably a sight to see! Well dad has now used at least 1/4 of that bucket and will use more when he comes back tomorrow to texture part of the walls.

Well by this point in time Scott & my origional goal of painting the kitchen hasn't really happened. We ended the night on doing two coats of paint on two of the walls (where the cupboards will be  put in tomorrow) and the other two walls needing another coat of paint. Tomorrow night those will happen and we are now going to be painting the entry hallway--one has to love how one project leads to about 30 more!

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Bee's Game


On Friday night the Salt Lake Bees had their home opener game. Scott was able to get 4 free tickets to the game from his alma mater who was having an alumni night. Scott, Brian (his brother), Ashley and I went to the game where we had decent seats on the 3rd base line, free dinner, and a new college shirt. The weather was PERFECT for a night at the ballpark. We started out in short sleeve shirts and ended in shirts from the college and there was a storm that went through the valley that completely missed us. The game was pretty good and were up by one in the top of the 9th and ended up evening it up in it so the game went into overtime. In the end they lost but it was a great way to kick off spring.

Important step in the wedding process


Once I knew that I would be needing a dress I went out and bought a magazine that has 850+ dresses. I thought a magazine with that many dresses would help me in getting a better idea on what I would like to wear on the bid day. So I looked through that magazine who knows how many times and marked the dresses that I thought I could wear. From there I tore them out of the magazine and whittled down the list even further. In the end they either were a ballgown or a A-line cut.

This week we started the dress hunt. Most of the wedding boutiques in Salt Lake close at 6pm so the latest appointment they will do is 4:30pm. This is an issue because this week work was crazy so we couldn't leave it early.  Since we couldn't I decided to make an appointment with Davids Bridal. We got there and looked around. The consultant that I got was very helpful and initially brought the ballgowns. These first dresses that I tried on were pretty good but nothing that I thought that I had to have for my wedding dress.

The next round of dresses that were pulled were the A-line styles. I tried on one, I really liked it so I was getting a little more comfortable with the style. I still had two more so I thought that I would put it on to see them. This time the dress I had on I loved and I thought that I would want to possibly get. There was one more dress and I decided that I should try it on since she pulled it for me. I tried it on and guess what? It was (and is) THE ONE! Can you believe it?!?! The first dress shop and either the 8th or 9th dress that I put on was THE dress that I am going to wear to my wedding. It has been such a great relief to have that part of the wedding done. If needed--I can get married today but I can't wait for the celebration coming.

The other wedding event that we did this week was go to a Bridal Show. It was interesting going and seeing what all people are selling there but I have a few ideas for what kind of flower options we have, photographers have been looked at, and some DJ options. It was a great week for wedding planning!

Saturday, April 10, 2010

A week of venue visits

Its amazing how fast two weeks will go and how busy you can be. I hadn't seen my parent since the day we left for San Diego because they went on an anniversary trip while we were gone and didn't get back until last Friday. On Saturday night the fiance and I went over to their place to talk all things wedding. After meeting we decided to go and visit a few venues last week.

We started out having 4 (I think) venues on our list and ended up seeing 6 in 4 days. It is crazy as to how you start to get the hang of asking the questions and actually realizing what you are wanting in a wedding. The first visit was a disaster, this came from both our side not knowing what to ask as well as the person who we met with didn't seem too interested in meeting with us. I was pretty surprised as to the service that we received, considering that the place we were at is renowned for their service. Even with this I walked away thinking, this is the place I want my wedding! (even ask my boss at work, I did say it.)

The next day we ended up going to three venues. It was a whirlwind of a day and meeting with three places was probably a lot to do but it worked out. The first place I was going just to to satisfy my father in the crazy idea he had. After meeting there it was now the top place that I wanted to have it but with some reservations on to the alternative we would have if it rained that day. The next venue was a place that my fiance heard about at work. We walked in an it was a very nice place but we just weren't sure about a place that had apartments in the back of it and not having a cook, we pretty much eliminated this venue. We then went to the 3rd venue of the night. The lady was able to squeeze us in and we had a quick run through the site and talked to her for a bit about the venue. This venue is a beautiful place and the food is pretty good but the place just didn't fit us as a couple.  I walked away knowing that I didn't want my wedding at the first day's place but not knowing what one of the other 2 venues to have it at.

The next day I was confused as to what I wanted to do for a site but we did have another visit schedule. Going into this visit we weren't sure if it would work because none of us had really been there since it was renovated. We visited this site and I loved the space and knowing that the food there would be great. This now became the top of my list knowing that we would have great food and service. Plus the space at this venue was very large and could handle us if we were to have rain that day.

We still had one more site to visit and this is one we were once again unsure if it would work for us. We went and met with the coordinator and saw the site. I have worked at this place before and love the people there and I knew they would treat us well but the space just wasn't like the previous day's but the pictures would be perfect!

We finished the site visit and sat down with our pro/con list of all the spots and ended up going with....


...day 3: the Salt Lake Country Club. Many factors went into this but the ultimate decision was the date that we wanted was open, the service would be excellent, and we would have plenty of room if it was raining that day. So the space is set and we will be getting married on October 9, 2010 (the day after my fiance's Birthday!).

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Emerson Drive

While I was on my trip my good friend Ashley had a Birthday and to celebrate it I treated her to a girls mini-trip. One of her  (and mine) favorite music groups, Emerson Drive, held a concert at the Peppermill Concert Hall  in Wendover, NV. I was able to find an awesome package where we had 4th row seats and  a hotel room for less than a massage price!

So yesterday after work we drove out to the concert and had a blast listening to them. I have gone to their concert 3 times now and each time I have had a great time. I am not a huge fan of the Peppermill Concert Hall because it has a proper feeling and you felt a little weird singing a long and being a little rowdy. Anyway, it was a great concert. Here are some pictures




After the concert we went to the Peppermill's restaurant and had dessert and then went up to the room and looked at a magazine for wedding dresses. We slept in as much as we could (you could hear the water flowing and people talking--those walls are paper thin!) ate a great breakfast and came home. I hope* she had a great time. The next thing is to decide what I want to do for my Birthday, good thing I have a few months to decide on that one!!

*Clarification: she did have a great time

The Engagement

As I said in the previous post I am now an engaged woman. Here is the story of how he proposed...

Scott, then boyfriend, and I flew down to San Diego the Friday before we were to start the cruise. On Saturday we had a few hours to kill before we were to get onto the boat so we ended up going for a walk. He asked if there was a beach near by but we were staying right by the San Diego Bay and there wasn't one. The receptionist of the hotel told us of a walkway that goes out onto Shelter Island that was a block or so away.  We decided to go on the walk and enjoy the wonderful weather that San Diego was having.

Once we got down there the view was great. It overlooked the Naval Base on Coronado Island.


We walked down the path along the shore and took in all the sites. There were sail boats docked along the island and we watched people go out to their boats, locals doing the morning walk, and family's talking a walk. We walked down to a fishing pier and hung out there for a bit. No one caught anything but it was fun watching the people interact and the UGLY pelicans.



We decided to start walking back to the hotel and we came across some shoreline that had some sand (most of it was rocks). We were standing on the shore watching the water (I was watching the seagulls) and the next thing I know I'm engaged. I freaked out a little bit when I realized he was on one knee asking me to marry him but I did recover, eventually. :)

(Scott & I on the beach right after he proposed)

The big day is going to be in October but we haven't set the actual date yet because we haven't gotten a venue yet. My parents got back from their vacation yesterday so the big planning is starting soon! :)