No Longer Famous

I was thinking today-what happens after the wedding day? Well duh- the honeymoon, yes. But that's not what i was thinking about. :) Engaged couples, weddings and all that goes along with them is such a HUGE deal to people- as it rightly should be, it's a new start, the beginging of a new life- but what about after the wedding? The excitement meter of friends and family seems to drop to zero after the clean up is over and they are on to the next big thing. But aren't those first few years of marriage the most critical? The years where the new couple will need the most love and support from those closest to them? Why should we think they are no longer exciting? Hmmm...well it will be interesting to see what married life is really like come July in relation to this subject. My life as a sort of 'super star' will end-it's fun being the center of attention, I'm not going to lie, being a bride-to-be is awesome! So what will I do with the loss of the family front page? Well, I'll have a husband to tend to, work, school, maybe athletics, and focusing on making the next bride-to-be feel as special as i do now. :)

But for now, I'm going to soak it all in- your only engaged once!

Wedding Show

I've been really really really missing my wonderful family. It's just not fair to go home for a month and then have to come back to school again. A month is just long enough to be a teaser! but well, here i am, back to the college grind stone.
I was blessed to see my mom and sister this weekend when they came up to Salem to go to the Oregon Wedding Showcase at the fairgrounds with me. We had SO MUCH FUN!!! Not only am i filled with more information and ideas but also with an incredible desire to win the lottery so i can do all of the amazing and wonderful things i saw!

My favorite idea was the photo booth -->
Nikki, Rachy, Mom and me had a great time "testing out" the various company booths.

But, because this bride is on a serious budget, I'm going to have to be a little more creative and personal. So here is my money-saving-entertain-my-guests-photo-booth idea: I'm going to set up a cute back ground, drag an old, vintage dresser outside and fill it with dress up stuff, and have a family friend man the camera so that guests can dress up and be goofy for pictures. I'll set the guest book up with the photo booth so that i can put a crazy picture next to the well wishes from everyone and later I'll include a picture in my thank you's.

So, for you very few followers, there a sneak peak at my big day ;)

Etsy

I have found the wonders of Etsy.com. Yes, my new found craze is keeping me up late at night, browsing through old keys, pictures, furniture, jewelry and wonderfully interesting things! I started off simply looking around for DIY wedding ideas (like this cute garland i need to make and put somewhere!) but now I'm hooked! To me, it's almost better than Facebook (whoa, crazy, I know!) because there's always the unexpected thing, a new idea to try and just wonderfully cute things! I'm a shopper-retail, antiquing, thrift- so things like this make me happy! Here are some of the wonderful things I found tonight-thank goodness there's no class until noon tomorrow!

Antique photo album from the Civil War era!

an antique key that folds

An owl pendent my mom would love :)

Trust God

Last night at bible study i wanted the girls in my hall to think about trust. Who and what do they trust instead of God? What aren't they trusting Him with? I printed out a list of verses about trust (ie: Ps 28:7, Prov 11:28, Jer 17:5-8, John 14:1, etc) and asked them to pick one and S.O.A.P. up. (SOAP is a journaling Bible study method where you pick a Scripture (1 verse or more) make an Observation or two about it, Apply it to your life and Pray about it.) Then i asked them to pray about what god is asking them to trust Him with and sum it up in one word. Some of the girls shared and it was powerful to hear them expound on the word they chose. Then we wrote the word on our hands, foreheads or paper and I photographed them and hung them in the hallway so that not only would they be reminded of trust as they watched the ink fade from their hands but also as they walked by their pictures everyday on their way to class. Here are their pictures:

I SAID YES!

So I'm not very good at this blogging stuff. But maybe I'll be more interesting and catch some followers as I blog about my wedding planning process. :)

My wonderful boyfriend of 5+ years, Jefferson, proposed on August 6th, 2010. We went hiking that day with our families to Tamolich pool up HW 126. I was suspicious that morning- we were going to his self-proclaimed favorite place on earth with both of our families on our last free day of summer, something was up. I watched my family closely for hints and clues, but they gave away nothing. Mom helped me with crafts that morning, dad was talking about how he'd rather go boating, Rachel was normal and Cherry, who I watched the closest-kids give everything away-was neutral too. (No one had told her because they were afraid she'd slip.) So I was content to wait until I saw Jeff, and I watched him for nerves-he was cool, and no more excited for hiking than usual, and i looked for a ring box bump in his pocket but couldn't find one. ( It was hidden under his cell phone. Tricky tricky) So by that time I had pretty much given up the idea because I didn't want to build up the idea so much that I'd be disappointed and ruin a beautiful, fun day. So we drove up there and hiked about 2 miles of beautiful rugged trail to Tamolich Pool. This has to been the prettiest place I have ever seen! The water is crystal clear and so blue! I was awed by God's incredible handiwork. We hiked down to where we could put our feet in the water-which is so cold your feet go numb after an=bout 6 seconds, we timed it. So this is where i should have started to be suspicious, family was sitting on the rocks behind us, mom had out her camera-but then she always does- Byron had out the video camera, and Jeff and I were alone next to the water. But I was clueless. Jeff and I were talking about goofy things like how pretty a site it would be to build a house there, and how would you keep the tourists off your property when he brought up the thought that I could stay in that house with him. I jokingly and playfully returned, "Really, like forever." His face softened and he said, "Well, about forever..." and pulled out the ring as he dropped to one knee and asked me to marry him! Of course I said yes and as he hugged me i started to cry and shake for shock and joy mixed up in a gamut of emotions. It was a wonderful day, it was the start of a new chapter in my life leading up to the big day in July where I'll slip into a white dress, my dad will walk me down the aisle, I'll get my first kiss and change my name. How good my God is! How wonderful are His ways! How perfect are His Plans!