Jason and Francie

Are you a boy? Or a girl?

2011-10-16T21:20:00.001-04:00

My dearest baby,
Last night, your Auntie Rachael offered to give us an ultra-sound so we could see if you are a boy or a girl. I called your dad, since he was still at work, to see if he could get off work early, and thankfully, his co-worker offered to come back to work, so he could come to the ultra-sound (of course he wanted to be there, so if he couldn't, then we would have had to wait until today, but I didn't want to wait anymore!)
So, your Auntie Rachael, Auntie Nay-Nay, cousin Mason and I met your daddy at the office to check you out!

One of the first things I heard was "It's a BOY!" And the first thing out of my mouth was "What?!? It is???" I guess I really thought you were a girl! And your dad was just ecstatic! He hadn't realized just how much he wanted a boy!

And then... "wait a minute..."
After looking at you for quite a long time, none of us were really sure... so it has been determined that it's just too early to know for sure, one way or the other. To me and your dad, it was extremely hard to really know what to look for and what we were looking at!

Thankfully, your Auntie Rachael said she would check again next Sunday, October 23rd when you're 17 weeks along, because then we should know for sure!

Jason and I are so happy we were able to see you though! It's been a little over 6 weeks since we last saw you and you have grown so much since then! Last time you were like a gummy bear, but you really look like a mini baby now! We saw your adorable profile and your cute little nose and ears...
One of the pictures we have of you looks like you are holding your hands together, just above your belly, which makes me smile because your daddy and grandpa Ron both do that, all the time! It officially a family trait! Haha! It's so amazing how much personality you already have, my baby, and I'm so thankful that God has blessed us with you!

Can't wait to see you again in a week! Love you!

I heard your heart beat today!

2011-09-28T19:11:00.001-04:00

Little baby,

I got to hear your heart beat today! It beat 152 times a minute and it sounded awesome! I recorded part of it for your dad and in only 7 seconds, I heard 17 beats!

Our next chance to see how you're doing is in four weeks and we're already looking forward to it!
AND thanks to your Auntie Rachael we'll get to find out if you're a boy or a girl, sooner than the standard 20 weeks, and then we can start getting your bedroom ready and fine tuning your name!

A lot of people have been asking if I want a boy or a girl and I tell them that I just want a healthy baby. You are such a miracle and we thank God, every day, that He has blessed us!

By the way, a huge shout out to your Auntie Nay-Nay for sending me "The Belly Book" so I can document all the exciting things about being pregnant, and she also sent me "The Baby Book" so I can document your entire first year! Just as soon as I find a good pen, I'll start filling out what I can.

I love you, little baby.

Baby name Do's and Don't's

2011-09-27T20:11:00.002-04:00

My little baby,
Today, your daddy and I shared the news about you to your cousins, Kristen, Jack and Ben. Katya was at gymnastics. We took the three kids to DQ to celebrate and they had some pretty interesting ideas for your name!
A couple that I remember were Kate-aria and Patty (followed by Patty Fatty, so that's definitely out!). Kristen actually came up with a good name for you: Charlie! And it's funny because ever since we knew about you, your dad has called you Charlie! ;)
Since we love all their names, we had a little fun with combo names such as Back or Jen (a mix between Jack and Ben's names). By the way, they prefer Back or possibly Beck. Bristen was another cute idea, and actually sounds like a common name too! However, Batya, sounded more like a disease! So that's out.
Don't worry, kid, we'll find a cute name for you, even though all my siblings took a lot of the better names already!
So far, if you're a boy I like the names Jake, Zachary, and Jason Jr (Or Jason Ryan). Or if you're a girl, I like the names Annie (after your great grandma), Jacqueline and Jocelyn (although your daddy doesn't like those last ones).
Your dad likes the names Liliana, Lily, Emily and Allison. And Andrew, Jacob, Mason (which your auntie Nay-Nay stole already), Lucas, Jackson and Alexander (but he knows I wouldn't go for that one.)
We still have about 6 months to decide, so I'm sure we'll be narrowing it down by half at least when we find out if you're a girl or boy!

Dear Baby - if you're a girl...

2011-09-26T17:18:00.000-04:00

September 26, 2011

Dear Baby,

If you're a girl... I'll REALLY need some practice with doing hair!

I remember playing with Barbies when I was a little girl, and I couldn't do their hair at all! I'm horrible at doing my nieces hair, and just today, I tried to tie a bow with ribbon today and it just looked horrible!

So, I just want to say that I hope you have a really tough head, because I'll be gentle, but it may take multiple tries for me to make it look good!

Although, on a good note, you'll have two aunties in town that both have girls and we could always head over to their house for help, if needed. Luckily!

188 days until we get to see you, little one!

Love you!

13 weeks and baby bump pictures

2011-09-25T20:25:00.000-04:00

September 25, 2011

Dear Baby,

Today you are 13 weeks old, in my belly, which means you are the size of a peach. About 3 inches from the top of your head to the bottom of your bottom. Oh! And you're getting your fingerprints today too! I thought that was pretty cool! (Both my ring finger tips have swirls on them, so I'm curious if you will have anything similar to mine!)

Your dad took my first baby bump profile photos today, which was quite eventful... first I had to find the skinniest clothes to wear so I could look as skinny as possible! I figure it'd be good to see where I start, how I progress, and where I end up to be, before I hold you in my arms. So, anyways, I found my skinny pants and gave your dad my phone to take the picture on. Then we headed into our room with the darker turquoise walls and I stood sideways so he could take the picture. And I stand there, and I stand there, and then he FINALLY takes the picture! But it didn't turn out, because he was too close, so I tell him to get on the bed, so he's further away, but then he stands on the bed and takes a photo from too high up, which was a really bad angle for me! Haha! So then I tell him that he has to sit or kneel on the bed, so he can get a profile photo from right in front of me. As I stand there waiting and waiting for him to figure out the camera, again, I'm like, hurry up! I'm standing there, sucking in my belly, so I can look skinny, holding my breath, and he's taking his sweet time! Grrr! He finally got a good photo, though!

And let me just tell you, he's going to be such a good daddy! He's so patient and loving and he shows that to me every day!
Very true, Lori... okay, I've added one of the photos, although it doesn't really show anything! LOL Apparently, I can hide a peach pretty well! But, baby, you're in there! And I can't wait to hear your heart beat again this Wednesday!

Dear Baby - 09.24.11

2011-09-24T10:53:00.002-04:00

September 24, 2011

Dear Baby,

This morning your dad said to me, "I just hope we have a healthy baby and that it looks like me!"
"And what about me?" I asked him.

He said, "just take a look at my baby pictures... I'm just sayin'"!

He then recanted and said that if you are a girl, then you could look like me...

He's too funny!

We love you, little one.

P.S. Tomorrow you'll be as big as a peach!

Dear Baby...

2011-09-22T19:12:00.001-04:00

08.09.2011

Dear Baby,

Your daddy and I saw your heart beat for the first time today. It was like the fast beat of one of the little baby frogs that stick to our back windows, only a million times more beautiful! There is nothing more amazing than seeing you via that ultra sound! Of course, we asked for pictures, and we now have three pictures of you on our refrigerator door.
Right now you are 6 weeks and two days old, in my belly, and you look like a little booger! Haha. When you see the picture, you'll know what I mean, of course, everyone at the Dr.'s office said you look like a diamond and I told daddy that it was more beautiful than the diamond ring he gave me last October.
We love you so much.
BTW: You're due April 1st! 04.01.12

Just a few wedding photos for the blog

2011-04-27T21:21:00.000-04:00

My mom took this photo and I just love it!

We had a chance to take some really great pictures in downtown St. Joseph after the wedding and before the reception and this is one of them!

Natalie hand made the cake topper for me and it was the most beautiful, most perfect topper ever! Nothing else would have been better!

One of my friends took this picture of me as I sang "When I look at you" to Jason.

One of the biggest hits at our reception was the photo booth! I loved it so much! We really got so many awesome pictures of our guests because of this booth!

My friend, Christiane, took this picture of Jason and I as we exited the Church and it's one of my favorites too! I made all these red flags for our guests to wave as we walked out and it was so pretty!

My bouquet with our rings. The vibrant reds of the roses and berries and the burnt orange calla lily's were so gorgeous. I started crying when I first saw them in the church!

Jason and I at The Whitcomb, St. Joseph.

Jason and I with the new carousel in the background.

At the Millcreek Barn. Loved that location!

Yes. Me and my red shoes!

This is definitely my absolute favorite picture! Love all the smiles and genuine reactions!

Little excitements

2011-04-27T20:55:00.000-04:00

Sometimes it's the small things that just make me so excited! For example, we have finally ordered an over-the-range microwave and I just picked it up today! We have it in the house now, but have to wait for our buddy, Jimmy, to get a chance to get it installed for us! I'm really excited though! There were only two appliances missing from our house when we bought it, and this is the second thing. And now, our house will be pretty much complete! Oh, wait a minute... I forgot about the dishwasher we don't have. Jason does a pretty good job, but a dishwasher would really be best!

Mini marriage update

2011-04-26T21:21:00.000-04:00

Just a few random tidbits...
Married life is great! Jason is the best husband ever! I've started a new job at Whirlpool that I love and instead of working 4-10 hour days with Friday's off, I now work 7:30 to 4 p.m. and I've been working out after work and making dinner, so we aren't eating so late anymore!
We've really got hooked on Glee and American Idol this spring, they can be so addictive!
Jason loves salads and we both love home made pizza, so that's what we had for dinner tonight. I'm in charge of the grocery shopping, but I'm also on a budget, so that's the bummer part of it, but we've been eating healthy and it feels great!
Lori and Todd usually invite us over for dinner about once a week, and it's great! Lori makes great meals and I go over and help play with the kids while she cooks, sometimes I help Lori cook too, though. We love those kids so much! And of course, Todd usually entices us to stay longer with a bonfire! Or at least Jason! They seem to be BFF's! Haha!
Until next time!

26 days to go... so busy!

2010-09-15T06:32:00.002-04:00

We've been so busy with the wedding planning that it's hard to get it all written down! Luckily, we already have the engagement photos in our possession so we can do whatever we want with them! Yay!
Natalie has been the best Matron of Honor, I don't know how I'm going to ever thank her for all her help with this wedding!
We're making the programs for the reception out of brown paper bags, which have turned out to be so adorable! And time consuming!
This weekend, is my wedding shower, and I'm so excited! It's a brunch style and I love waffles!
These last weeks are going to be so hectic!

I'm so excited and happy to share this day with so many of my family and friends!

Wedding updates: shoes, cake topper idea, chatterbox, and checkerboards

2010-08-19T15:17:00.004-04:00

I've been looking for a cute pair of red heals to wear on my wedding day... And I FINALLY found them! They had to be cute, the perfect color of red, open toed, sling backs, not too high or low, and I wanted a pair that had a super cute something on the top. And here they are! Yay!!!
This is the inspiration for a wedding cake topper... Natalie said she thinks we could make it ourselves... (but I'm pretty sure she'll be the one doing it, since I have a different type of creative talent and painting is definitely NOT one of them!). So cute!
Chatterbox: I'd like to have these chatterboxes on the tables and fill them with cute little facts or tidbits about Jason and I. Just another little something for our guests to do.
Checkerboards: I saw this idea in a magazine, I think the Better Homes and Gardens magazine to make these checkerboards out of felt and then role them with a cute ribbon. Then Natalie sewed a cute patter around the edge to show a more finished look. I was thinking of making them for each of the kids, but then I'm not sure how many kids they'll be, so I think just one a table would be nice. I made red and white checkerboards and chocolate brown and white ones.

Engagement Photos!

2010-07-13T17:32:00.002-04:00

Last Sunday, Jason and I got our engagement photos taken! Take a look!!!

Registering and Tux shopping!

2010-06-28T21:29:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, Jason and I took a trip to the tux shop to check out the options and to see what we could come up with for our wedding! Little did we realize that we have quite a lot of men that need tuxes in our wedding party!

Jason, 5 groomsmen, Jason's two dads, my two dads, my brother, and Ben and Tony as the Bible boy and ring bearer!

You know, it's actually a lot of work!
Collar: should the collar cover the sides of the tie, or not? Yes.
Buttons: should the tux jacket have two, three, or four buttons? Three? I don't know!
Cuff Links: 1st option, silver or gold? Silver. 2nd option, white or black cover? Well, black if they show, but if not, does it matter?
Color of the shirt? Ivory or white? Ivory.
Ruffle on the shirt? Or smooth? Smooth.
Color of tux? Black. Okay, then do you want a pin stripe? Regular stripe? or plain? Um... regular, I guess!
Then we have to decide what to do for the vest, and the tie.
Bow tie? Or neck tie? I think we're going to go with neck tie, but I don't like what they have, so we may have to buy new. I'm not sure yet! And I think we may go with the black vest and a red tie, but I want to see what it would all look like together before I make my final decision! This is crazy! But it's still fun!

We then headed to Olive Garden for lunch then to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to start our registry. The lady that helped us, made the experience so easy! I really had a great time! We even set a makeshift table setting so we could see what everything looks like together! I love what we picked out and I'm so excited to make our house a home! And now, I can start painting the house to coordinate with everything!

This really is a lot of fun, and a lot of work, and I'm really enjoying it all!

New Wedding Idea: Ring Pillow?

2010-06-28T18:56:00.003-04:00

I was searching online for a really cute idea for a ring pillow and while I was looking, I found some cute ideas. I figured if I found a really cute pillow, I could copy the picture and have my mom make me one just like it!

But then I saw a small truck with flowers in the back bed and the rings in the truck. It was so cute, but I realized that it wouldn't mean anything to me or Jason to have it in a truck.

Then I thought about having a football with a ribbon around it and the rings on the pillow, since we both love football, but figured that may downplay the ceremony...

So then I came up with a super awesome idea! A small tree, planted in a decorated pot, with the rings hanging off one of the branches. Then we could use that as one of the centerpiece at the reception and then we could plant it in our yard as a momentum of our wedding day! (Of course, we would probably keep it in the pot until Spring and plant it then.)

Yes! I am so excited about that idea! I'm going to research what I can for it, and see what I can come up with!

Florist #4

2010-06-22T15:12:00.002-04:00

Actually, I really should be counting today's florist as number 3 since that first one was such a joke! I'll try to post something about the experience after Jason and I meet with her after work today. This is the one that Natalie used for her wedding, so I'm really looking forward to this meeting!

Wedding cake tasting!

2010-06-14T21:22:00.003-04:00

Natalie, my matron of honor, and I headed to the cake lady's house this evening and tried a few cake options and fillings and icings. The cakes included Chocolate, White, German Chocolate (Jason's favorite), and Carrot (my favorite). And the icings included butter cream, cream cheese which was totally awesome, and pecan/coconut for the German chocolate cake which tasted so freshly made!

Here's a picture of my wedding cake inspiration:Of course, I'd have red flowers on mine and I'm in search of a cute topper, haven't found one quite yet. For my cake, I plan to have the bottom layer the carrot cake with the cream cheese filling, one layer with white cake and either apple filling or a pumpkin cream mousse filling, and the other layer with a spice cake and either the apple filling or a pumpkin cream mousse filling; one or the other, but I haven't decided which one yet.I am in search of a cake base like this one. I'll have to find one that's at least 18 inches in diameter so there's an inch on each side of the cake... hopefully, my step-dad Bob can find something for me in his back yard!

As for the groom's cake, I'm going to have two layers, smaller versions of the top two of my cake with chocolate butter cream icing and German chocolate cake with the pecan and coconut filling. I think it would like nice with the chocolate icing, a few orange flowers and a cool Chicago Bears something on the top! Jason likes the idea too! And it will look cohesive next to mine too!

Jason planned on going to taste the cakes, but Natalie and I remembered her cake tasting and how she was able to bring home the cake and try it at home, so we thought it may be the same way, so I called him and told him I'd bring some to him. Then, when we arrived at the lady's house, she had the cakes and icings all beautifully placed on white square plates for us! She was very nice about placing the cakes and icings in a box to take to Jason though. She's a very sweet lady and I really look forward to working with her on my cake!

Oh, and Jason tried the cakes and the icings and naturally loves the German chocolate cake and the filling. So, we're good to go! Let's get married!

Florist #1 - no thanks!

2010-06-03T07:34:00.003-04:00

For Natalie's wedding, she used a florist that worked out of her home, but Natalie couldn't remember her name, only where the location was, so I looked in the phone book, found this lady, and called her. She worked in the same area, and I found out that she works out of her home! I asked her if she was my sisters florist, and she asked for the last name, then told me that she didn't have her records with her, but that it was probably her! So, I made an appointment to meet with her.

I called Natalie, excited about the meeting, then found out it wasn't her, but another place. But since I had made the appointment already, I figured, why not?

My best friend, Betsy, who I've added as one of my bridesmaids, along with my sisters, joined me last night as I met with my first florist.

First Impressions:
70's or 80's style decor, fake flowers, dust, mixed with the stench of stale smoke... I should have walked back to the car, but I felt bad, didn't want to be rude, so I figured I'd see what she had to offer!

The meeting:
I had pictures, ideas, flowers, and numbers of how many of everything that I would need for the wedding.

She had a screen saver on her computer and another TV, behind me, playing with a variety of pictures of flowers that she had done at weddings. Half the pictures were out of focus, and the other half were of the entire room, with the ONE SMALL flower arrangement in the picture that we could barely see.

At one point, I told her about these really cute yellow Billy Button flowers and how I thought they were cute, when she then proceeded to tell me about this OTHER flower that was similar to the cute fully round billy buttons that I liked, that she called Kermit-something-or-other and was green, then pointed at one of the pictures on her TV, behind me to tell me that was the flower in the picture, which looked nothing like the billy button and more like a small YELLOW-ISH mum! I told her that it looked yellow, and she said that it may look yellow, but really it was green... um... thanks for the information, but that's not what I want. Which I should have told her at the beginning, had I known she was going to bring up that Kermit flower about 3 more times, before I finally told her that I didn't want that one, because if it's supposed to be green, but looks yellow in the pictures, then I don't want to risk the look of my bouquet. (And yes, she even brought it up one more time in the conversation!)

At this point, I really just wanted to stand up, gather my things, and tell her that what I want for my wedding does not coincide with what SHE wants for my wedding and leave. But I didn't want to hurt her feelings, and I couldn't figure out a way to tell her that in a nice way. So, I stayed.

Then I showed her a cute picture of a bouquet that I wanted and she proceeded to tell me that she thinks that I should have a bouquet of roses... I told her that I didn't want a bouquet of roses and that I wanted the one in the picture, with only a few roses, for sentimental reasons, since my Grandma had them in her bouquet. She then proceeded to tell me that when she orders roses, that she has to order them in groups of 25, and that if I wanted to stay within my $500 budget (my budget is a bit higher than that, but I wanted to think low, just in case) then she thought it would be best if I have a bouquet of roses! BUT I DON'T WANT a bouquet of roses! I thought it would help, if I gave her a random reason why I didn't want them, by telling her that unless they were freshly grown in some one's back yard, the smell of roses, reminds me of funerals and I didn't want to smell that on my wedding day! Unfortunately, it didn't help, so finally, I said, "Okay, well, let's go with your idea of roses, then!"

At this point, Betsy was thoroughly bored looking! Lounging in the chair, messing with her phone, then just as she put her phone back on the desk, my phone started vibrating, and I knew that Betsy had sent me a text to tell me that we needed to get the heck out of there! I almost started laughing, but tried to finish our meeting gracefully.

Back to the flowers, I was asking questions, and trying to get the information that would be necessary, if I were desperate enough to go with this florist when the florist told me, "Look, I need to take control of the conversation now!" What? Another missed opportunity for me to get out of there! So she then started telling me prices... And you know what? The prices she gave me for the amounts of everything that I needed added up to almost exactly $500!

Sorry, but she's not getting a penny from me! Actually, I'm NOT sorry! And I should ask for a refund for the wasted 20-30 minutes of my life, that was only worth wasting for this story!

Betsy was pretty entertaining throughout the entire meeting too, helpfully going along with the florists ideas saying "So true" from the movie 27 dresses, then as we were leaving, she was telling the florist, "no roses, Francie doesn't like red roses, no roses!" In a very dramatic concerning voice.

We barely made it to the car straight-faced!

Table number holders

2010-05-28T09:01:00.002-04:00

Browsing through random magazines can really help with creative ideas! I found an idea to slit a piece of wood on the top for the tables and use them as holders for the table numbers!

I showed my cubemate, Sandy, at work, and she said her husband, Jim, could make them for me! I knew that Bob could do it too, but since he's in New York, I figured it would just be easier and more practical to have Jim do it for me, since he lives super close!

Sandy went home and told him what I wanted, and she came back the next day with this!

It's so cute! And so perfect for the reception location! he even sanded the top of the wood and beveled the side of the cut as well! It looks so finished! And just beautiful!
He said he'd use different types of wood for variety and I think it's so perfect!

Then yesterday, I thought of trees and thought about when people carve their initials in them... and how cute that would look, Sandy went home, told Jim about it, and came back with this one today!
He's going to cut a slit on the top for me and we can use this one for our main table! SO CUTE!

Loving the new house!

2010-02-23T17:50:00.002-05:00

Jason invited people over for dinner tonight in our new house! Come on! Who invites someone over to a new house, when you're still in boxes and don't have decorations out? (Chuckling to myself.)

Luckily for me, Jason is making his one and only meal: Fettuccine Alfredo with mushrooms, pea pods, and other veggies with garlic bread, and salad with bleu cheese. Yum! He's been off work today, so he's busy getting everything ready and I don't have to do anything!

Of course, I'll probably have to quickly pick up the house when I get home and make sure it looks nice before they get here. I worked ten hours today and will be taking my hour lunch from 6-7 tonight, so ten hours straight and then headed home. It's been a long day!

Oh! And I got my new range today! Maytag, double oven, with a flat top and five burners! Can't wait to see it when I get home! Can't wait to take pictures and show you all!

Ah... the joys of owning a home!

2010-02-15T18:18:00.002-05:00

So, I go in the bathroom and attempt to wash my hands... I turn on the water faucet and instead of all the water coming out of the faucet, I hear a waterfall underneath the sink! It was gushing every which way under the sink and in the drawers under there! I quickly turned off the water and then there were pools of water, which then started leaking all over the floor! I had three of Rachael's kids at my house so I yelled out to them "Get me a towel! Quick! Hurry! I need a towel! Hurry!" After a little while, Kristen moseys on in the bathroom with a huge grin on her face and a teeny-weeny little washcloth in her hands and said "here's your towel!" Ha-ha, very funny! (NOT!) I finally got it all cleaned up and the kids decided to help too. There was a bucket of something the home sellers left under there and about 10 extra tiles under the sink, so I put the bucket in a bag and put it next to the door to throw away and left the tiles on the floor, then had Jason put those in the laundry room. Then my friend and her husband came over and he figured out that the pipe was loose and tightened it and it's fine now, but man! That was crazy!
While my friends were over, I had Jimmy check on the water heater, since we couldn't figure out how to turn it on... pretty soon, he says, "okay, it's on now!" And I told him I wanted to see what he did, just in case I need to know for future reference and very nicely and non-condescending-like he says "you see this switch that says 'on'? Well, it was 'off' and all you have to do is switch it to 'on' and you're ready to go!" Full with visual aids of how to turn it on and off. Oh, so THAT'S how you turn it on? It was pretty funny, but he was really nice about it and didn't make me feel like a retard! (By the way, Jason was at work while Missy and Jimmy were there or else he may have been fixing it all!).
Then the next day rolls around and I get up early to head to my apartment to pack and move more stuff. I pick up the bag from the bathroom to put in my trash bag to take to the apartment (since we don't have trash set up yet) and when I turn around, I realize I have drips of blue/green paint on the floor! I run to the door where it was sitting all nice and realize there's a huge pile of this blue/green paint that matches the bathroom, ALL OVER MY TILED FLOOR IN THE KITCHEN! And yes, I freak out! Luckily, I had Clorox wipes and grabbed those and ran to the pile... it all came out! Lucky for me! I would've been so mad! AH!
Oh! And then to top it off, for that day anyways, I go the refrigerator to grab my Diet Dr. Pepper to take with me for my breakfast, and realize that it's not cold! Yup! the food I had brought over for my refrigerator and the few freezer items that I brought over from the apartment and the groceries I bought the day before had been sitting in a refrigerator all night and part of a day, that was plugged in, with the light on, but not turned on to cold! AH! Come on! Really?
Oh! And then, of course, our water softener isn't working right, because our water smells like rotten eggs! Sulfur! Horrible! So, hopefully Jason will figure that out tonight so I can take a shower in the morning and not have to take one at work, the Y, or my old apartment!

Ah! The joys of home ownership!~

02.10.2010 HOMEOWNERS!

2010-02-11T18:32:00.004-05:00

Jason and I are homeowners! Here's proof!

In front of our first home!
Not just snow, but freezing cold and super windy! Great moving weather!

(Anyone notice the beard?)

We become home owners today!

2010-02-10T07:35:00.002-05:00

Last night I said, "Jason, tomorrow, we will be homeowners. And in exactly eight months, I'll be telling you, 'Jason, tomorrow, we will be married!'"

Thanks to all the snow... we may not be moving all my stuff to the house today, maybe this weekend, but probably not today. This morning, I heard on the radio that it's the biggest snow storm since the 1800's, but when I got to work and looked online, it looked like it was mostly on the East Coast versus here in Beautiful, Unpredictable Michigan!

Jason and I will walk through the house this afternoon and then sign the paperwork at 4 p.m., then get the keys to our house.

Pictures will be taken, and they will be posted!

A Closing Date for the House? Finally!

2010-02-04T22:49:00.002-05:00

Sounds like next Tuesday or Wednesday could be our closing date on the house! I just can't believe it! All I have to do is get yet another copy of my bank statements (which I've done more than three times already!) Hopefully, I can figure out what the difference is between a list of bank transactions and a list of bank activities... so annoying!
Either way, this is the best news we've had in a while regarding this house!

Will you be my Flower Girl?

2010-02-02T11:13:00.004-05:00

I made this little book to send to Grace, my brother's youngest daughter, in New York. And I'm going to work on making a cute postcard for her to send back to me, with the same questions and a column of "yes" with boxes that she can check off. That way, I get to keep something too!

He said "Yay!"

2010-01-30T08:05:00.003-05:00

Jason and I are getting more wedding oriented lately, and we're trying to line up who we want in our wedding. I have all four of my sisters as my bridesmaids (matrons - since they are ALL married already!). I'm planning on having Lori's two kids, Tony and Bella, sit in a wagon (which my mom will be making a cute cover for) and having Ben, Rachael's son, pull the wagon down the isle. I've already asked Lori if I could have her kids in my wedding and she said yes. So, Thursday night, Jason and I headed to Rachael's house to see if Ben would be willing to be our Bible Boy/Ring Bearer.

Once we reached the house, I walked in the door and the kids all said hi, and then Jason walked through the door and Ben, who was sitting on the couch, jumped over the couch and ran to Jason to give him a hug! (yes, I am chopped liver... ha-ha)!

We told Ben that we had a series of questions to ask him. So we had him stand on one of the kitchen table chairs, so we were more eye-to-eye. Then proceeded to ask him questions.

Are you strong? yes

Are you strong enough to pull a wagon with two kids in it? yes

Would you be willing to dress up in a tux? What's that? It's like a really nice suit that you would wear to church. But I don't have one. Oh, it's okay, we'll rent one for you. Okay.

Will you be our Bible Boy/Ring Bearer in our wedding? Um... I'll be the dog! Well... we're not having dogs at our wedding. I can still be the dog! No, Ben, there won't be any dogs at our wedding, but if you want to be our BB/RB, you can!

Then Jason said, "Ben, do you wanna be the big dude's, little dude?

And I said "Yay? Or Nay?" What's Nay? It means, no. "YAY." (just said matter-of-factly) and I picked him up and hugged him real tight and said "YAY!"

So... we have our little dude now. Who, we told him, would look just like Jason, but a lot smaller and with less hair! (Especially now since Jason has a full beard!)

Now, I am working on getting the Flower Girl lined up. I plan to ask my niece, Grace, who is my brother's daughter in New York.

More Flower Bouquet ideas for my wedding

2010-01-26T14:24:00.003-05:00

I love this bouquet idea, for me. With the wispy-like stuff around the flowers.
These flowers are beautiful and the colors too!
I just have to have these berries in my bouquet!
And the Green part in this bouquet is perfect!
Yet, another idea for my bouquet.

I talked to my mom about the flowers and getting a florist and we've decided to order the flowers we want on-line and put them all together ourselves! I think that will save a ton of money, and look even more adorable, too!

Ideas I like for my Bridemaids' bouquets

2010-01-26T14:21:00.003-05:00

I've been thinking of ideas for the wedding lately and found these ideas for my bridesmaids! Of course I would use more fall-ish colored flowers that fit for the season, but I love these cute floral -balls!

This one is probably my favorite of these pictures (the one above).
But I love the ribbon on these bouquets!

Dress shopping adventures

2010-01-26T07:47:00.003-05:00

This past weekend, I've looked at and tried on so many dresses! My friends Tina and Betsy helped me and my sister Lori and her sister-in-law Lisa came to help too!

The first place we went was a small boutique. The lady was a little put out that I hadn't set up an appointment, although there was no one else there... I didn't feel bad, though.

It was a little annoying though, because I had to strip down, while she got the dress ready, then she helped get the dress on. Afterward, she'd help me out of the dress, then hang it up, but instead of getting the next dress ready and putting it on me, she let me stand there, half naked, while she put the dress in the plastic cover, zipped it up, let the extra air out, then zipped that last bit of it, then put it on another hook, then got the next dress and took her time doing it! I was so annoyed and completely uncomfortable!

At one point, there was a dress that didn't quite fit, so she helped by holding the dress in front of me, so I could see what it would look like, while she pressed her large body against my back side (and yes, I was still just in my under clothes, so that was REALLY uncomfortable!) I think she was just trying to hold the dress tight against me so I could get a good idea of what it looked like, but I think I wouldn't have liked the dress if it were the best dress in the world, simply because of how uncomfortable I was!

We left soon after.

The next place we went was David's Bridal. Oh, just so much to say about that place! I walked in with a vengeance. There were a ton of people there, so I thought we could just go find some dresses and start trying them on, but no. They made me fill out all my information first (and I was in such a bad mood, that I used Natalie's old phone number instead of mine! ha ha!), then wait 20 minutes for someone to help me. I was not happy. Then I go into the fitting room, and Jeniece comes in there too. No dress. Just us. I'm backed in the corner. In this small fitting room. No mirrors so it was even smaller. She shuts the door. And suddenly I am filled with the worst case of claustrophobia ever! Then she starts telling me that I should just calm down. That this is all about me and that she's here to help me and will do anything for me and will do whatever she needs to do to help me find the dress of my dreams and so on and so on... and suddenly, I'm comforted and happy! LOL I mean, after all, it really IS all about me! Isn't it? Ha-ha! Then I had a good time! And I think I have found the dress! I'm just a bit hesitant because I found it there and I don't want someone else to have my dress! And they mass produce there, so the likelihood is high... so I'm a little bummed about that. Lori said she'd try to look online for something similar, now that I've found more of what fits my personality. Simple. Sweet. Cute. and Fun. Just like me! I'm not sure if I want to post pictures, but let me know if you want to see, and I'll email them to you! I just don't want it to be "out" there for everyone to see!

What a relief!

2010-01-20T07:59:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, I finally put the deposit down for the Cake maker I want and for the Photographer! What a relief! I've been so sucked into the house buying stuff, that I've really put everything else on the back burner!

Kim, my work friend, has offered to help coordinate all this hard stuff for free! Which is so helpful, because I'm just having the hardest time getting this all together!

New Years Celebration!

2010-01-01T12:43:00.007-05:00

Jason and I joined a bunch of our friends and extended friends at a mansion close by last night/this morning to bring in the New Year.
The house was amazing! And when we walked in, there was a huge spread of food, I thought it was all catered, then found out that the lady of the house made everything! She's Greek and makes all her own authentic Greek food, which of course was absolutely amazing!
Danny, Jason's friend, and grooms-man trying to spoil a good picture! Ha-ah. Oh, well... we'll have to work on that in ten months and ten days!

10 more months! Oh, no!

2009-12-10T18:22:00.002-05:00

So, I haven't blogged in a while, because Jason and I are working a lot towards getting this house... and I haven't really had time to do any fun wedding stuff either! But I wanted to post because I realized that I only have 10 more months until I get married! For all of those that said, "it'll go fast" once I got engaged... well... it did, and it has, and now I need to get stuff done!

Who will help me???

More Wedding Dress shopping fun

2009-11-13T13:52:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, my mom, Lori, and Bella and I all headed to the wedding dress store that my little sister, Natalie got her wedding dress at about two and a half years ago.

I think I tried on about 10 or 12 dresses at this place and had the lady write down my top five for me, so I could look them up online.

My favorite one, the Allure W242 in Ivory was so beautiful and simple and didn't have all the glittery shiny stuff on it. It really stood out from the rest and I loved it! But it's strapless and I really like the look of something to break up the areas between my arms and neck.

There were a few other dresses that I liked a few things about, but not the entire thing.

I'll have to keep trying them on to see what looks good, as I continue to lose weight!

Wedding dress pictures - Jason, you better not be peaking!

2009-11-11T21:00:00.003-05:00

This dress was the last dress I tried on today and my favorite one too!

As you can tell... this boutique also sells lingerie! You would think they would move it away from the mirror where people just might be taking pictures of themselves in wedding dresses to remember forever! LOL

I'M A BRIDE!

2009-11-11T18:35:00.005-05:00

I had so much fun today! Once I got off work, I headed over to pick up my mom and we headed to the closest wedding dress shop around. We were a little hesitant because a co-worker of mine told me that when she went there to try on dresses for her wedding, they made her cry! The reason was because they had asked her what her budget was, and after finding a dress that she absolutely loved, the lady told her that it was too expensive and would have cost too much for her to get altered, going over her budget... then she took the dress away! YES! She took the dress away and grabbed a few other dresses that my friend had picked out, and took them away too because they wouldn't have been in her budget!

I told my mom the story and she couldn't' wait to go there and see what they did! My mom is so fearless, she wouldn't have let them do that to me! But we had a POA: go in there and tell them we didn't' know what we liked, wanted, or what our budget was, so that we could look at whatever we wanted! And it worked!

We had such a fun time! I was able to wear one of their corsets for trying on dresses, which worked perfectly!

I tried on five different dresses there and I loved it! There were three that I really loved and I will post pictures as soon as my mom gets back from taking Katya to gymnastics and gets me the cord to attach the camera to the computer (I left my camera at Lori's house and tried to have my mom get it this morning, but she forgot). Anyways, the dresses I loved the most were not white.

The first one I tried on, I loved. It's a Mori Lee #2182 and this is the description from the Internet: "Crystal beaded lace overlays the sculptured strapless bodice to the empire with asymmetrical draping over the midriff. Full A-line skirt with soft draping and a border of lace surrounding the hemline. Chapel length train." This is what I thought of it: It was ivory and sleeveless and had a beautiful sideways wrap around the middle (pictures would be nice right now). But it really was beautiful! And everyone I talked to said that it was the first dress they tried on that they loved! I thought it was a little funny, but it was true! I just loved it!

The second dress was white with capped sleeves. It had a see-through type fabric over the main dress and parted in the middle, under the belly button, and I didn't like that at all! The only think I did like about it was the sleeves and even then, it felt like they were going to fall off my shoulders.

The third dress was white and had the bumpy draping on the bottom of it, but the top part was too busy, and I wasn't liking it.

The fourth dress was the Casablanca #PR1795 and was my and my mom's favorite dress at this boutique. The Internet description: "Strapless gown with lace trimmed empire bodice. Lace trimmed pleating falls from the empire waist down into the softly draped and tucked skirt. The back is fitted with lace up ties and billowing semi-cathedral train." This looked very slimming on me too!

The fifth dress was the Bonny #853. The Internet description: "Strapless gown with lace trimmed empire bodice. Lace trimmed pleating falls from the empire waist down into the softly draped and tucked skirt. The back is fitted with lace up ties and billowing semi-cathedral train." This dress wasn't my favorite, but I really loved how it wrapped and draped around. It looked good on me too!

Needless to say, we had a really great time there and they were so helpful! I had so much fun and all the dresses looked absolutely beautiful on me! I couldn't believe it! I was glad I took the time to curl my hair and do my makeup and shave my legs and paint my toes so I could look and feel like a beautiful bride!

We tried to see what other local places there were, but weren't able to find anything else too close so we headed to a town about 20 minutes away for another small boutique and there wasn't much there at all! She kept pulling out stuff that looked old to me, like from the 90's or the 80's even! Like the dresses with the long sleeves and lace... um... no! She pulled out about three dresses for me to try on and the first one was just horrible. It was white and a little plain and had a beaded design on the front, oh and the main top part did that ugly little pointing down thing and I will not be wearing something like that! The second one was so big, a size 30! She had to pull it really tight and pin it in the back so that I could get somewhat of an idea of it could possibly look like and she said it looked slimming on me, but even though she had it pinned, it made me feel like I was swimming in it. Yuck.

The third and final one that I tried on was so awesome! This one we will call the "Cryer" because it made my mom cry! It was ivory, sleeveless, had a beautiful beaded design and then had a veil of some in the back that wrapped around the waist like a thin belt (but went perfectly with the dress) and then it was a train in the back. Then she put this adorable veil on my head and I just looked like a princess! It fit me so perfectly and it wasn't very expensive either! If I didn't have more weight to lose, I'm positive I would've gotten that dress!

I'm really looking forward for tomorrow's wedding dress adventures! I'll keep you posted!

Wedding Dress shopping! Yay!

2009-11-05T09:13:00.003-05:00

My mom is coming into town and I have off work for a day and a half next week. We are going Wedding Dress Shopping! Yay! I haven't looked in a store, or tried on anything yet, and I'm very eager to get out there and start feeling like a princess! If anyone has any tips on where to go, or not go, or what I need to do to prepare, LET ME KNOW!

We're taking our time

2009-10-31T22:59:00.003-04:00

Didn't mean to not update you all, they came back with a counter offer, but then we felt we should wait and take a little more time and maybe buy in the spring. Which means, I can start making more wedding plans! Yay!

And we're waiting...

2009-10-28T13:57:00.001-04:00

Jason and I signed the paperwork on an offer for a house yesterday and we're waiting for an answer... so far, we don't have any news, so to us, it's probably not good, but we're okay with it, either way.
Keep you posted.

Well... we're going to keep looking.

2009-10-16T16:24:00.003-04:00

We're going to keep looking for house options. After another view of the house with critical eyes and sisters, I realized that there is actually a lot of work that would need to be done with the Blue house inside... so we're going to keep looking for options.

It's the blue one!

2009-10-15T13:35:00.002-04:00

Yes, we're going to put an offer on the blue house tomorrow and see what happens! I think the realization of being a home-owner has hit and I'm really excited! (And nervous!) Lori is going to look at it one more time with me tonight, and Rachael too, if she's not delivering a baby tonight.
Jason and I both got pre-approved for the loan!

So far, I am planning on living in the house first, which is great, so I don't throw away $500.00 every month on rent! We'll have to make updates slowly, but I'm really looking forward to it!

It makes me a little nervous, because I'm used to coming into work at what I call "on-time" which is really 15 to 20 minutes before I actually have to work, just to make sure I get settled, have my computer on and ready to go, and have my coffee fixed with creamer. Once I move into the house, I won't be 2 miles away from work anymore, and obstacles aren't as easy to predict! I'm sure it'll work out just fine, because there probably aren't too many people that live two miles away from their place of work anyways, and I still get up really early in the morning, so that won't be a problem either. But it still makes me a little nervous!

Jason's going to meet with the realtor tomorrow to draw up an offer. We don't want to lose this house, since we've both agreed we love it!

I'll keep you all posted on that!

Also, only 22 more days until my mom comes into town! You know what that means? I can FINALLY try on wedding dresses! Yes! I think I will try and get a day off so we can go! Are you ready, mom? You better be!!!

Adventures of House Hunting

2009-10-13T13:51:00.004-04:00

Jason and I have looked at 10 houses so far. Each one has its own personality and each one has a distinctive memory ingrained in my head.
The first two we looked at were promising, because we really wanted to live close to my sister Lori and her family.
They didn't work for us.

The White Picket Fence House:
The first one with the cute white picket fence and the nice yard, wasn't very nice on the inside. Looked as though he renovated the upstairs all by himself and did it really cheap too! Probably three or more different levels of flooring upstairs! Very weird.

The Block House by the trailer park:
The second house we looked at was pretty big and although not in a great location, we thought it would work out and Jason even put an offer on it, but things happen for a reason and the house went into foreclosure the day after we put an offer on it, and apparently before they were even able to see what our offer was. Oh, well.

The Blue House on the Corner:
This house is awesome! Has woods and a creek from the side of the house to the backyard, four rooms inside (enough for us to have at least 3 kids!), two bathrooms, two car garage attached to the house, another garage out back and a huge shed, just perfect for a playhouse for the kids! Downfall? It's on a corner of two roads, and although the front yard is pretty big, the back yard is cute short because of the creek. But I really love it!

The Manufactured House on the nice land:
On our way to this house, Jason and I were really excited because we really thought this one was "the" house! And to our benefit, we didn't know it was a manufactured house, until we were inside it, because they didn't disclose that information to us! We were really bummed! This house had great land and a huge wooden back patio, great for entertaining! Also had a gazebo and a large shed, the size of a small house!

The Nice Clean Small Expensive House:
This house was awesome. While only 1500 square feet or so, this house still had 3 bedrooms and the owner really kept it nice and clean and tidy. He was a meticulous man, and had all the information available to us, when we entered the house, he had a spreadsheet of the electric bill and pictures of the house, since he's lived there! That was pretty impressive! And the yard was just beautiful! He really took care of that place and it showed! However, it was pretty expensive!

The Dirty, Stinky, large house, with the people still inside the house, when we looked at it:
Yes, the owner lady was in the house when we went to look at it. That's just weird! It was really messy inside too! Food all over the kitchen, smelled like nasty meat mixed with dog smell (they had two inside dogs). Oh, and we couldn't' even look at one of the bedrooms because someone was sleeping in the room! So... there were four bedrooms and full basement (with three holes in the floor for the sump-pump). Definitely a NO!

The Apple-Orchard House:
This house was so cute! It was right next to an apple orchard, had a fireplace, a two car garage and could have been three car, if there was a door for the very end of it. Had a cute red brick on the outside and nice big oak trees in front with beautiful fall leaves! However, we were a little early (because the previous house was a quick in and out) so the tenants were still there. They gathered their dogs and people and left so we could take a look. The first thing that I noticed, when walking into the house was that it smelled like smoke, really bad too! Yuck! That would mean new paint everywhere and new carpet and whatever else! But it was an option, other than that!

The Empty-old-dated House:
This house really had potential! It was empty so we didn't' need to worry about the owner being there when we looked at it, but it was really dated! The living room had bright, and I mean, super bright pink carpet! I have no idea why! All the receptacles had just the two holes in them. And worse of all? The light switches were so old, it was actually two buttons and one pushed for "on" and the other one pushed for "off". Really weird! It would've needed a LOT of work! That's for sure!

And that's it!

So, I think we might look into the "Blue house on the corner" and see about putting an offer on it! I'm really excited because I really like that house! I love the idea of a lot of rooms to grow in, and all the space and storage, and the woods and the creek! I'm really excited! And I'll try to keep you all posted!

Jason's 10-year high school reunion

2009-09-29T09:22:00.005-04:00

This last weekend was Jason's 10-year high school reunion. Lucky for him, he went to school close to where we live, so we could attend. As most of you know, I went to high school across the country in Washington state and wasn't able to fly out there for the weekend reunion this last spring. But I was really excited about coming to his reunion! I actually am friends with a few people we went to school with, so it made for a really fun night!
Not too many people came to the reunion. Apparently there were around 100 people that they graduated with, but only 20 or so came to it, but it was a larger crowd because they all brought someone with them.
It was pretty funny when we pulled up to the restaurant, because you could almost tell there was a reunion going on inside because everyone brought their best vehicle with them! Hummers, BMW's, or family cars... you know what I mean?
Oh, and I have to tell you too that Jason was so cute! Apparently, he was telling everyone about us getting married and I'd have random people coming up to me asking me about my wedding and wanting to look at the ring! It was really funny, and cute!

Wedding updates: caterer and photographer

2009-09-15T10:16:00.003-04:00

There aren't many updates to the wedding, but I did want to keep tabs on what's going on.

Caterer:

So far, we only have the ceremony and reception location confirmed. Jason and I went to the best Italian restaurant to find out what we need to do to get them to cater our reception, but as they know my sister Lori's in-laws, all they said was "no problem" although it was a little comical because the sister-in-law of the owner of the restaurant has a very strong Italian restaurant and a little on the older side, and kept giving me a hard time because the wedding was over a year away and "not even the same year!" Ha-ha [but not really] because I want to figure this stuff out before someone else does and takes all the people we want for our wedding! The owner, Bruno, is really funny and kept talking to us, while we ate the best lunch ever, and when we were done eating, the lady told us that she put our name down for 10.10.10 and then said, "that was in November, right?" and I must have had a funny look on my face, because she was just teasing me and started laughing at me, but told me that she had it down and that we didn't need to worry! But we did leave without knowing any pricing or anything, so I'm not sure how we're supposed to not worry, when we don't know how to budget without knowing how much it will cost! Oh, well, I'm sure they'll give us a good deal. We'll just have to go there when the man in charge of the charging part is there so we can find out more information on how much it will cost. Also, I think we'll have them make homemade bread for all the tables and then have mostaccioli spinach stuffed ravioli, and a chicken Parmesan or mostaccioli with meatballs. Again, it's all up in the air still until we get more details on cost.

Photographer:

I've only met with one photographer and I really like them! Two people, somewhat local and very comfortable to talk to and tell them what I want and what I don't want. Unfortunately, they are on the pricey side, but I think they're still reasonable. $2,000 for 8 hours and $2,400 for all day long, unlimited. The only thing is... that my friend Laura recommended them, she is getting married next June and is only paying $1,200! I don't know if she got a different plan, but that's quite the difference if you ask me!

There are other options I've looked into but they go around 3 and 4 or even up to 7 thousand! Oh, but I did ix-nay on one photographer... I checked out her online blog and found not one but TWO pictures of the bride with the maids bouquets laying on the bottom of her dress, somewhat as a frame! WHAT? I DON'T THINK SO! NO WAY!

There is so much to figure out! I need help!

That's all I got for now... so... who wants to help me???

Our Tree

2009-09-10T14:15:00.004-04:00

Jason and I finally got a chance to go back to where he proposed and take some pictures.

Here's the tree he got me interested in, while I got the ring out...
I think this picture would've turned out a lot better if I had a nicer camera and focused on the actual ring and not the tree! But still looks kinda cool!

And here we are in front of our tree... we hope it'll be there for a long time!!! Apparently, someone owns the property it's on and we're only allowed to be in the water, technically... Either way, it was pretty cool to go back and take those pictures, since we didn't have a camera on us when it actually happened!

Our three year anniversary!

2009-09-09T17:33:00.003-04:00

Jason brought over a huge mum plant for me, for our three year anniversary and it's so beautiful! We celebrated 3 years of official dating on August 31st! I just brought the plant to work today and it still looks brand new! I love it! Thanks, Jay!

Oh, and Jason pointed out to me today that we have one year, one month, and one day until our wedding!

An alternative to guest book

2009-09-04T10:28:00.004-04:00

I love the traditions of weddings; however, I'm really interested in doing things differently for mine. Just not the same as other weddings and spice it up, but not too weird... you know? I want whimsical, unique, and original for my wedding. Since today is really slow at work, I've decided to do some online research on alternative ideas to the wedding traditions. Such as the post before this one. If we can pull off having our centerpieces look like cute pumpkin carriages, it would be adorable! Very different then having flowers or pumpkins! And yet, still super cute!
So, back to the guest book. I've been thinking of guest books, and wondering what I would do with mine, after the wedding! I mean, I don't remember ever looking at another person's guest book, or seeing theirs displayed anywhere in their house, which means to me that they probably have it in a box in the basement or up in the attic... I am in search of something different! If anyone has an idea, LET ME KNOW!I just found this website with a really neat idea for the guest book. Have all our guests write well-wishes for us, and put it in either a bird cage or large glass vase. It would be simple to DIY this project, cutting paper in just the right size and having multi-colored pens to make it colorful and then assemble them throughout a wedding scrapbook or something.

I also found an idea on etsy where they have a box, and paper inside where the guest can put their addresses and other contact information on it and also leave a little message for the Bride and Groom... which sounds pretty cool! Although we'd most likely already have their mailing address, if they were invited! But having all the other information and all together would be nice and make thank you cards go a little easier!Does anyone else have any other ideas?

A pumpkin Carriage! And other cute ideas!

2009-09-04T08:27:00.006-04:00

I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner, but I finally thought to google these pumpkin carriage ideas and look what I found! And I'm sure we could make it not so dark and creepy, but it's really cool!
I love the metal embellishments on the top of the large pumpkin, around the window/door areas and on the wheels! I think that looks so adorable! And If I use a white or orange pumpkin for the large one, it will look more wedding-like. Also add in some wire with curls in it, that will look so cute!
Here's another one I found online, though not as cute.
Here's another cute idea:
And here's another one:I think my sisters, friends, and family are going to be working really hard for my wedding!

Aww... Isn't he sweet?

2009-08-27T17:05:00.002-04:00

This coming Monday is our three year anniversary! I'm not sure how we're going to celebrate, but I thought it was pretty cute when Jason suggested we celebrate our "pre-wedding-anniversary" this year on October 10!

Where did I find this guy!!!???!!!

Decoration ideas!

2009-08-24T11:10:00.002-04:00

Natalie and I were at Hobby-Lobby last week and saw these cute things for ideas!

We could do something with letters and then put stuff around them...
Make clay leaves for give-a-ways???
Make something like this...
Or like this for the center pieces with real pumpkins!
Any ideas?

Email confirmation

2009-08-18T13:57:00.002-04:00

I got the email confirmation from the reception place! What a relief! I love the date we're planning to get married on, but because it's so cool, we have to make sure we get everything lined up as early as we can!

I think we'll be looking at caterers and photographers soon. I sure hope I'm not forgetting something!

The Barn is official!

2009-08-14T16:03:00.002-04:00

That's right! This ordinary blue box became the official place to send out the contract! I filled out all I could and then drove over to Jason's work and had him sign everything then we sealed it with a nice chunk of change inside and sent it out!
I would've taken more pictures of me putting it in the box, but I was by myself and Friday afternoons are pretty busy and of course, I didn't want to look a little retarded taking self-portraits of myself sending a letter! Ha-ha!
This will just have to do!

Three years! and other updates...

2009-08-12T13:46:00.003-04:00

Last week marked three years since Jason and I met. Our two friends that made us tag along with them for their date haven't seen each other since... oh, well. I'm sure they are better off anyways!
Jason and I spent the evening watching movies and I made pasta for dinner to celebrate. I think we'll celebrate our three year anniversary in a couple of weeks a bit more, though. At least we better! Although, saving for a wedding really cuts deep in extra spending cash! I actually considered not going to the "Y" and/or not going to Weight Watchers anymore to save money, but my sister Natalie told me that it's worth it, so I am going to make sure I get my money's worth and work out at much as possible (which I already have been doing) and I'm going to eat better and lose as much weight as possible too (don't worry, anorexia is not even close! haha!) Although, I do have to honk my horn for a moment and let you all know that I've lost 31 pounds already and I am totally stoked! My short term goal, now, is to get to 50 pounds by end of October. Which really is beneficial in many ways, especially since Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner!
Lori is joining me tonight to go look at the "barn" again, and help me by asking as many questions as she can, that I just can't think of and/or feel too embarrassed to ask. I like doing that part, when it's not me in this position, and she's always been good at asking those hard questions!
I'll keep you all posted!
BTW: Don't worry, for all those who are wondering and aren't asking... I can grow my hair out before the wedding!

Flower ideas and colors

2009-08-05T11:46:00.003-04:00

I was in JoAnn's the other day and noticed these flowers and how vibrant they were! So, I took a couple of pictures so I would have an idea of colors and styles that I liked for the wedding.I really just like the berries on this one... I'd like to incorporate leaves somehow for the reception, but I'm not sure how. Anyone have thoughts?

I think I found the place!

2009-07-28T10:50:00.005-04:00

I found the spot for my wedding and reception yesterday! My friend Betsy and her daughter came with me to view it, and help me ask questions that I can't think of. It's so beautiful!To the left of this sign is the picture below where the ceremony will be held outside. There's seating on either side.Here you can see the building to the right, which is where the reception is held and then the ceremony on the left of the picture.This is the inside of the reception hall. The door on the left is the door I'll be walking out of for the ceremony.
The building is extended for the dance hall with a small bar area and stage for the band.Wouldn't this counter top be just perfect with huge glass jars of punch and lemonade???
And this is a perfect this area for s'mores!

At the fair

2009-07-27T13:57:00.003-04:00

Jason and I decided to go to the local festival downtown last weekend and ended up meeting Rachael and Derrick and the kids and Todd, Tom and Tony too!
I guess that's what happens when you have a huge family, right?

(not my) MIL-zilla story

2009-07-23T09:50:00.009-04:00

I am very grateful of my Mother-in-law-to-be [MIL]. Brenda is very kind and sweet and I know she won’t be a “MIL-zilla” at my wedding.

However, a co-worker of mine told me a story from one of her friends, whose son just got married.

In the words of Monk, “Here’s what happened”:

The bride’s mother was a pistol and tried to sabotage the wedding wherever she could.

1. She stood when the bridesmaids were entering instead of when the bride comes down the isle.

2. She shooed her ex-husband away when he came up to light the unity candle with her.

3. She put the flowers in the freezer instead of the cooler.

4. She only put meat in about 2/3 of the sandwiches. So the guests were getting empty buns.

5. She then told one of the guests to go to the kitchen to get meat for his sandwich!

6. Before the wedding, she was planning on selling the “extra” meat in baggies at the reception. (The bride put an end to that).

7. While the newlyweds were visiting with family, she had their table cleared of everything! And they weren't done eating! Basically, booting them out the door.

Can you imagine???

Ring nightmares

2009-07-23T09:19:00.005-04:00

Right after Jason proposed, I had starting having nightmares about my ring! And I base the blame solely on one of my co-workers, Cherie.
About a few months ago, Cherie and I were chatting about rings and she showed me hers and asked me what kind of ring I wanted... She then proceeded to tell me that her diamond in her ring has fallen out three times! Yes! She lost the diamond in her ring, three times!
Can you imagine?

So, of course, after Jason gave me the ring, I started having nightmares that my diamond was missing, or fell out. It even haunted me during the day. If I was driving, I'd quickly look at my ring, just to make sure it didn't just fall out. Or when I washed the dishes, I would take the ring off and put it across the room on a hook, but every now and then I would look back just to make sure it hadn't fallen or that the diamond was still intact!

When I came back from my vacation, I told Cherie how she has traumatized me! She laughed at me and then told me it was only because she only had three prongs and that now she has 4 and it's fine! (I have four prongs on mine, so I'm in the clear!)

Oh! And another co-worker of mine told me this story about her ring:
She lost her ring about three years ago, and thought that her dog, a puppy at the time, had eaten it. So, yes, they had been looking in the backyard for quite some time and had never found it there, but she just knew it was there! After all this time, they never found it… in the backyard! Yes, just recently they found it! Want to know where? Well, apparently, when the dog was a puppy, it would hang its butt over the bed and poop! Gross. I know, but that’s a puppy for you. And would you believe it? They had just recently moved the bed, and found a ring in dried poop, on the metal bed frame! Can you imagine??? That would be just awful!

So, do any of you have any ring stories to share?

The Jar Idea

2009-07-22T09:18:00.003-04:00

I found this picture on a blog this morning and wanted to post it, because it's almost exactly what I want for my table center pieces, minus that flower, plus a lot of red, orange, green, and yellow type fall flowers/wildflowers.

The Wedding Freak???

2009-07-22T09:06:00.004-04:00

My loving little sister, Natalie, also known as my Matron of Honor is a brat! If you check out her blog, you'll notice on the right side bar, that there is a blog that she keeps track of that she has nick-named "The Wedding Freak". And that person would be me!
Here's my defense:
1. I am not a wedding freak.
2. I am only getting married once, so I want to enjoy and share this excited experience.
3. I thought a blog would be nice to have so that Jason and my family and friends can read about the latest planning updates.
4. I want to remember all the fun and interesting and sometimes bizarre experiences of actually planning a wedding!

And furthermore, it's my wedding and I can do whatever I want to! Hahaha!

So... There!!!

(This post is dedicated to my little sister, Nat the Brat.)

2 in 1 - Ceremony/Reception option

2009-07-21T13:46:00.002-04:00

The Blue Dress Barn: Option # 1, 2, and 3

My sister Natalie had her wedding reception here, and Jason's friend got married and had their reception here too.

Of all the places I've looked so far (either on line or in person) and any other places I've heard of, this place is the place I imagine it all happening!
It has the texture, the ambiance, the colors, and just the right size and location for what I want!

It's a barn.
A barn that has been redone and is absolutely beautiful!
I can have my wildflowers in antique Mason jars as center pieces here. I can have my pumpkins and apples, and other fall-ish colorful type stuff here and it will be amazing!

I have plans to look at it this week, and I can't wait!

I wanted it from the beginning, but because of the amount of $ it is to have, I thought it wouldn't be an option.
When I spoke to Jason last night, I told him that it was my 1st, 2nd, and my 3rd choice of locations and that I loved it so much, so he told me to look more into it and see what we have to do to hold it!

I'll keep you all posted!

Ceremony and Reception location options

2009-07-19T15:26:00.000-04:00

My friend Betsy has been helping me with my wedding plans by setting up appointments for venues for either the ceremony or the reception. This last Friday, we were able to look at two different Bed and Breakfasts. I've been wanting something a little different than the usual, so I thought B&B's would be a good place to look.
The first one we went to was absolutely beautiful! The scenery was perfect! Just what I wanted! Green. Trees. Nature. Beauty. Simple. Perfect!
Here's the gazebo where we could get married. We could even potentially have chairs around in a circle for something a bit different. I was also thinking maybe a tent, just in case it rained (or snowed, since Michigan is famous for such indecisiveness when it comes to weather!) Here's a quick picture I took of part of the house, and the inside was something out of a magazine!

Just behind the house, there's another smaller gazebo.

When Betsy and I arrived at the house, we were both very impressed! I took these pictures so that I could show Jason later and see if he wanted to come and look at it with me too! The couple that owned the place were very cordial. We discussed wedding plans and such in the kitchen (which was huge!) and I really wanted to go outside to see the grounds, since the house wasn't large enough for a wedding. When we stepped outside to view the grounds, we were suddenly hit with a wall of mosquitoes! It was horrible! I think I might have gotten one in my eye, and if I wasn't careful, I'm sure I could have swallowed a few, as well! It was awful! The place was absolutely beautiful, but I just couldn't think of anything other than those mosquitoes! As we walked behind the house to the smaller gazebo, I noticed this:

A beautiful little man-made pond full of over a thousand Japanese goldfish and lily pads (and most likely the root cause of why there were so many mosquitoes!)
I just knew this would not work for me. Especially not with this breeding pond behind the house, because they'd never go away! Then it started raining, so we all ran inside the house and sat down on the adorable comfy couches. She asked me if I had any other questions, and I didn't, because the only thing on my mind was: if I get married here, my wedding's going to smell like Citronella candles and I'll have to give "Off" away as favors! I DON'T THINK SO!

We left soon after for the second B & B which was just down the road. As soon as we pulled into the parking lot, we knew right away that this would not work, but felt we should go in just in case. As we walked into the office, the owner (a younger version of Rodney Dangerfield type) greeted us at the door and before heading off to the "honeymoon suite" he showed us the room where they eat breakfast, which was somewhat of a smaller replica of a nursing home cafeteria. We then headed to one of the cabins to view one of two rooms that were available to view. As we walked in, we were hit with that smell. You all know that smell. An old cabin. A little mildew. Grandmother's attic. Linens kept in a cedar chest. Can you smell it? Add that with "antique"-ish type furniture and quilts that were old, not vintage and a tiny TV in the quaint little window seat with a nice set of bunny ears! Lucky for us, he got a phone call shortly after we walked in and Betsy "reminded" me of all the other places we had to view that day and how we may have "over-booked" ourselves, and probably should leave and then plan on coming back another time.
No.
And.
No.
Better luck next time, right?
And we drove away, still itching from all the mosquito bites!

Jason and Francie

Are you a boy? Or a girl?

I heard your heart beat today!

Baby name Do's and Don't's

Dear Baby - if you're a girl...

13 weeks and baby bump pictures

Dear Baby - 09.24.11

Dear Baby...

Just a few wedding photos for the blog

Little excitements

Mini marriage update

26 days to go... so busy!

Wedding updates: shoes, cake topper idea, chatterbox, and checkerboards

Engagement Photos!

Registering and Tux shopping!

New Wedding Idea: Ring Pillow?

Florist #4

Wedding cake tasting!

Florist #1 - no thanks!

Table number holders

Loving the new house!

Ah... the joys of owning a home!

02.10.2010 HOMEOWNERS!

We become home owners today!

A Closing Date for the House? Finally!

Will you be my Flower Girl?

He said "Yay!"

More Flower Bouquet ideas for my wedding

Ideas I like for my Bridemaids' bouquets

Dress shopping adventures

What a relief!

New Years Celebration!

10 more months! Oh, no!

More Wedding Dress shopping fun

Wedding dress pictures - Jason, you better not be peaking!

I'M A BRIDE!

More posts to come, but for now...

Wedding Dress shopping! Yay!

We're taking our time

And we're waiting...

Well... we're going to keep looking.

It's the blue one!

Adventures of House Hunting

Jason's 10-year high school reunion

Wedding updates: caterer and photographer

Our Tree

Our three year anniversary!

An alternative to guest book

A pumpkin Carriage! And other cute ideas!

Aww... Isn't he sweet?

Decoration ideas!

Email confirmation

The Barn is official!

Three years! and other updates...

Flower ideas and colors

I think I found the place!

At the fair

(not my) MIL-zilla story

Ring nightmares

The Jar Idea

The Wedding Freak???

2 in 1 - Ceremony/Reception option

Ceremony and Reception location options