59 days!

An update of the week!

Monday:
Eli and I spent Monday night at Grandma's looking through a HUGE box of pictures. It was so neat to see my family and how we were years ago, and to see my grandparents family when they were young! We ended up with quite a few pictures of couples in our family that we will use for the wedding!
Tuesday:
I was sworn in as a juror on a two week case. It is definately an experience learning how the court system works.
Wednesday:
We had our second swing dance class on Wednesday...we're getting pretty good! And the instructor lady is still crazy! Our invitations are finalized and my wonderful Aunt Jill is printing them! Most of our envelopes are addressed and ready to be stuffed, so they should be going out shortly! Oh and luckily I have an aunt that uses spell check...since I don't...and caught my mispelling of "marriage" before they were printed!
Thursday:
Eli and I worked with Dad and Mom on the backyard! More plants were planted, more pipe was laid!
Friday:
7.5 pallets of sod were delivered to Dad and Mom's at 5:10am this morning. It's going to be a long day of rolling it out! But the entire east side of the yard should be covered in grass by the end of tomorrow! Henry and Brooke are coming today with their trucks...the first step to moving back home! The courtroom I am in is not in session today, so I was back at work.

64 days!

• Dad twisted his shoulder...working on the yard...for us. Not cool, not fun. "Luckily" he is at work, "taking a break".
• Swing dance class was...interesting! The instructor is extremely good at calling out every mistake! Second class is next Wednesday!
• I have Jury Duty next week! I skipped out the last time I got called, but I think it would be fun to get on a Jury!
• I'm working on the details of a trip to either Oklahoma or Texas with Henry at the beginning of May. My Great Uncle Claude is not doing well after his recent accident, and I haven't seen him in so long! He reminds me so much of my Grandpa, I hate that I cannot visit him on a regular basis! He is currently in long term care in Oklahoma, but could be moving to a nursing home in Texas, where his son lives.
• Justice and Chris are moved in to their new apartment in Bakersfield!
• Dad & Mom put down the deposit on the tables and chairs rental!
• I need to hurry and finish the invitations so I can send them out...soon!
• After browsing Target.com I discovered they have a bridal section! And I found a veil for $17!! Which is about the same as making it, just minus the stress and possible frustration! The color was "champagne" and my dress is "ivory". I have no idea how much that matters, I ordered it anyways, I can always return it and stick with the original plan to make it myself!

67 days!

In my parents backyard where we will exchange our vows! By then it will be a patio with columns though!
Old picture from our day trip adventure!
Eli's dove and fish!













Scroll down to the "83 days!" post, I finally loaded the pictures!

68 days!

• Eli and I went back to the boutique where I got my dress to look at shoes and veils (since I get a discount, and no, Eli has not seen my dress!). We were only in there a few minutes before we turned back around. EXPENSIVE!! The price for a veil was especially outrageous (they started around $130!)! So we found shoes at Waltz in the mall for $23 and got the materials to make a veil at Michaels (and spent under $10!). Looking at directions for making your own it seems pretty easy and straightforward, plus it's cheap enough that if I mess up...no big deal! I'll just do it again!
• We went to macy*s to register, but only ended up adding a handful of items. Almost everything they have there is at Target...for a way more reasonable price! But we did get a free tote bag for registering, and she let Eli stand on a tea cup to show us how strong they are!
• Engagement pictures to put in with the invitations are developed.
• I bought Eli's ring!
• My parents backyard is moving fast! Along with new trenches, there are two new planters on either side of the pool, which really pulls the backyard together. There is a TON of flowers and trees and bushes ready to be planted! Sod is scheduled for this weekend!

71 days!

Wedding Planning:

• I've been working on designing the invitations and RSVP cards on the computer...I'm almost finished! They're coming out exactly how I wanted them!
• We're going shopping for shoes and a veil this weekend! And something for the top of our cake!
• Our invitation envelopes meet USPS standards and wont require extra postage. Stamps add up!
• Mom found an awesome quote for wholesale gerber daisies yesterday.
• I'm trying to get together wedding portraits from all of our family members and great great grandparents and such (copies, scans through email, or originals-and originals will be returned as soon as we make a copy!). I want to incorporate them into our wedding! I have a few from my side of the family so far...

What we're up to:

• Eli planted grass seed in the backyard two weeks ago...still waiting for it to grow...
• The chickens are getting bigger! Now we just need a rooster so we can have some fresh eggs! The garden is looking a little wilty, I need to plant more seeds.
• I got my stiches out from my wisdom teeth on Wednesday. Everything is healing nicely and I got my full mouth X-rays and teeth cleaning...twenty two years old and STILL NO CAVITIES!!!! My secret? Brush three times a day, never drink soda, and never floss!
• Eli & I signed up for swing dance classes at Greenacres Community Center, I think my parents might join us as well! They start next Wednesday...come dance with us! Six weeks of Wednesday night classes for $39 a person. 6:30pm to 7:30pm. http://www.norrecreation.org/

Family & Friends:

• The coolest cousin, Justice, is moving back to Bakersfield from Santa Monica soon! Now to get Henry & Brooke back!
• Dad & Mom's backyard is undergoing yards and yards of trenching! Sod soon...hopefully!
• I get to make my friend Meghan's bridal shower cake! wohoo!
• Thanks to all my work friends for all their help with answering random wedding planning questions and giving me ideas! We have four girls getting married on my team of fifteen...it's a wonder we get any work done!

78 days!

For the last week my teeth have been killing me and Eli finally got me to make a call to the dentist. I called Wednesday at 8:20am while at work...they said they could see me at 8:30am! So I left work quickly for a consultation and new patient visit. They took the x-ray, and said they could take out my wisdom teeth right then! Probably good that I didn't get a chance to really think about it...next thing they were poking me with needles and less than half an hour later all four wisdom teeth were gone! My mouth has been pretty sore, I skipped the Vicadin as I am not a fan of taking pills...opted for some childrens liquid ibuprofen instead! It is nice having the rest of the week off from work though, be it in pain or not!

Eli and I got out of the house yesterday and hung out in town, then went to Target and started our registry!

Tuesday with Walker-Lewis rentals was a big disappointment. The consultant there was so rude and pushy, it made it so stressful! So Mom and I went to Best Party Rentals and got a reservation quote from the NICEST lady who was so helpful and made such good suggestions and even went over our list THREE times (she was very patient with all our questions!). And I found envelopes and paper for the invitations at Paper Plus and saved a TON of money doing them myself instead of having them printed! And Aunt Jill hooked me up with a PrintShop Program to design them on! Quite an accomplished morning! All this before noon! Now to catch up on laundry...

And the backyard is still going at full force...hopefully more cement to be poured this weekend! And lots of trenches!

81 days!

We're going to Walker-Lewis Rentals to reserve our tables and chairs and pick out linen colors after work! Fun stuff! Thanks for Aunt Jill for the 411 on a 15% off coupon...this stuff adds up!

83 days!

Dad & Mom had us all in the backyard early Saturday morning to lay the frames and pour FOUR yards of concrete! Dad, Mom, Henry (brother), Brooke (his girlfriend), Eli and myself all teamed together to finish the frames in time for Kevin to come and pump in the concrete! And Stephanie (sister) came later to bring lunch! It turned out awesome!

Countdown!

It looks like we have a wedding date!

June 21st, 2008

That's only 85 days away! It will be in my parents backyard in Rosedale, but there's a lot to do before the yard will be ready! They have been trenching sprinklers and laying cement, and sod is to be delivered in the middle of April! And the wedding will fall on the summer solstice! Now the real planning begins!

A little history from Wikipedia:

Solstices occur twice a year, when the tilt of the Earth's axis is oriented directly towards or away from the Sun, causing the Sun to appear to reach its northernmost and southernmost extremes. The name is derived from the Latin sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still), because at the solstices, the Sun stands still in declination; that is, its apparent movement north or south comes to a standstill.
The term solstice can also be used in a wider sense, as the date (day) that such a passage happens. The solstices, together with the equinoxes, are connected with the seasons. In some languages they are considered to start or separate the seasons; in others they are considered to be centre points (in English, in the Northern hemisphere, for example, the period around the June solstice is known as midsummer, and Midsummer's Day is 24 June, about three days after the solstice itself). Similarly 25 December is the start of the Christmas celebration, which was a Pagan festival in pre-Christian times, and is the day the sun begins to return back to the northern hemisphere.

Easter!

Eli and I had an early Easter on Saturday with my side of the family, then Easter Sunday with his! Oh and we made some awesome spinach artichoke dip!