My Plan (208)

I think I have it figured out. I needed to do this to help me visualize it though :P Unfortunately, my parents still aren't giving me much input. Why do I have to be such a planner?! I hate uncertainty! :P

Honeymoon Thoughts (209)

I would consider myself to be a pretty organized person. However, I'm not so great about organizing and planning a vacation. I'm trying to plan out our honeymoon, but it's not going as well as I would have liked. We're still thinking that we would love to go to Disneyland, but then we have to think about how we'll get back to Fresno in time for the reception. Hmm. We won't have a car, so would a train be a good option (from Anaheim to Fresno?)  Have any of you taken Amtrak? Is that a good option? What hotels near Disneyland are good options?  Anyone know how to fly two people from Omaha to John Wayne and then Fresno to Omaha for under 800 bucks? I'm clueless. On days when I have to do things like this, I feel like a clueless 12 year old. I'm just a baby! ;)

Indoor/Outdoor (210)

Outdoor weddings and receptions are so incredibly popular right now. Who gets married in a church? I've been looking around online trying to find some good pictures of indoor receptions and weddings to get an idea of how I can set things up, but every single picture I find that I like is outside! Don't get me wrong, I love outdoor weddings - in fact, I think I would have loved to have one if our wedding was in May or June - but I want inspiration for an INDOOR wedding...hmph.

7 Months! (212)

Just 7 short months till the wedding! I'm SO ready for it! I probably look like an idiot anytime I talk about anything wedding related. I get this goofy grin and get all excited and happy :) I'm just totally in love with my man and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with him! :)

Hair (213)

Marriage Advice (214)

Noel Piper recently posted this on her blog - Wisdom for new brides

• When there’s trouble, it’s not because there’s something wrong with you or with him or something wrong with your family or his–it’s because God made you different than each other.
• Marriage is for sanctification.
• Remember no one will love him like you do.
• Read the Bible together every day.
• Pray together.
• Hold onto Jesus.
• Remember that all marriages are cross-cultural.
• Laugh a whole lot, especially when things are crummy.
• Never criticize him in front of other people.
• Let your behavior be respectful even when you don’t feel like it. Politeness like “please” and “thank you” can help clear the air.
• Be patient.
• Do things together, and time alone is important too.
• Appreciate each day. Don’t let things hang over from the past and don’t worry about the future.
• If you’re not feeling well, let him comfort you, and don’t go hide under the covers.
• Keep pursuing each other and learning each other.
• Make room for silliness.
• Stay friends.
• Learn how to celebrate together. You live close to your families, but make your own celebrations too for Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc.
• Be as crazy as you can at home, then when sober times come, you can be sober. I hope you’ll have more than 62 years like we have.
• Let him be head of your house, and Jesus be head over all.
• Know every day about God’s sufficiency–not just in hard times, but all the time. I pray that God will lavish future grace on you.
• Go on the mission field. That will put everything to the test.
• Pray. Hug. Laugh.
• I wasted too much time wanting my husband to be what he wasn’t. Your husband is who you’ll know best from here on out. Enjoy who he is.
• Read out loud together.
• Launch out and be your own family, but remember you can call your mother anytime–and any of these friends too.
• A threefold cord is not easily broken. Please keep Jesus as the third strand in the cord of your life together.

Save the Date! (215)

Michael said that we can't use this because Arthas Menethil is dead :P I still think it would be funny to order a few and send them to his friends :P

Groom's Cake? :P (216)

For the Alliance!...I think? :P 

Candles (217)

The Knot (218)

Within a few days of getting engaged (well...after my first visit to David's and they got all my info :) Haha :)) I started receiving snail mail, phone calls and emails about wedding stuff. One of the first things that I heard from was The Knot. I didn't really want to sign up for anything, so I just deleted everything. Now, after almost 6 months of being engaged, I decided to finally sign up for The Knot. Oh my. I love it. It's really an amazing resource. If you're engaged, you really need to use this. It's great for staying organized and keeping all your information in one place. :)

Why? Why did I do this to myself? (219)

Dear young girls who are addicted to thrift stores,

Please take my advice and make sure that you're not going to get married to someone who works half way across the country before collecting anything large for your new home. You will be kicking yourself when you put two and two together and realize that you have to get all your junk over there.

I thought I was so smart collecting all this stuff. A couch, a table, 5 chairs, a bed, 3 dressers, a desk, a huge trunk, coffee table, two side tables, dishes, picture frames, mirrors, books (tons and tons and tons of books,) baskets, rugs. Eh. I'm sure that I'll be glad that I did this when we actually move into our house or apartment or whatever, but for now while I'm trying to box things up and arrange moving plans, it's a real pain in the neck.

Worship (220)

I realize that every Christian wedding since 2002 has used this song in their wedding, but I want to use it so badly! It's such a wonderful, powerful song with such amazing lyrics! I get chills every time I hear, sing, or read these lyrics - so much truth packed into one song. Who cares if everyone else is using it? I want it too :) 


In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm

What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand

In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless Babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save

Till on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live, I live

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again

And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From a life's first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny

No power of hell, no scheme of man
Could ever pluck me from His hand
Til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I stand

Rectangular tables (221)

It's not that I have anything against round tables, but I don't understand why everyone uses them. I find rectangular tables to be more space efficient, easier to sit at and easier to set.

Wedding Videos (222)

I love wedding highlight videos. They make me cry every time. I am not a crier, but every time I see a wedding highlight video, I tear up. It doesn't matter if it's a stranger's video (cause I see plenty of those...I realize that I'm a stalker, but whatever) it always makes me cry. I would really love to have one for our wedding...something that we can watch over and over again and show to our children and grandchildren. I want something that captures the mood of the entire day, my bridesmaids putting on my shoes, my handsome hubby to be just chilling with the guys waiting for every thing to start, candid clips of our parents, our guests laughing, my little brothers stealing candy from random tables, kisses, tears, my daddy, little girls dancing in their frilly party dresses. Every thing needs to be set to some sweet poppy love song. Sigh...I'm such a sap.

Do I really need...? (223)

As much as I complain about how big my guest list is, I really do want to have a lot of people at my wedding. I am willing to cut corners in other places in order to accommodate the extra guests. I'm already sorry that I printed save the date cards...while the cards were relatively inexpensive at first glance, there's postage, address labels...oh yeah, and the fact that I need 600 of them to consider - which made them pretty pricey.  Here are some things that I'm considering cutting out in order to save money...

-  Programs. Are they really necessary? What happens to them when the guests go home? My guess is that at least 80% of them get thrown away within a few days. 

-  Favors. Is this tacky? I'm just saying...how many wedding favors have you actually kept? Do you need another trinket with our names and a date on them?

-  A guest book. What happened to the guest book from your wedding? Have you looked at it since? I think it's just another thing collecting dust...I do want to keep track of who was at my wedding, but can't there be a more interesting way of doing that than just having them sign their name in a book? 

-  Full meal. This has been decided, so don't expect a hefty meal at the wedding :P We plan on serving cake, cheese and crackers and fruit...enough to fill you up, but still relatively inexpensive. 

I'm sure there's more, but I'm too tired to think. Off to bed I go :) Night night all :) 

The guest list rant (224)

Today I've been working on the save the date cards. I would love to send them out pretty soon, but I have to have my guest list complete before I do that. I always used to think it was funny that brides had so much trouble with their guest lists. I mean, come on, how difficult can it be? Sigh...it's not fun AT ALL.

When we made our first draft of the guest list for the reception (I was just naming people off the top of my head and writing them down) we had over 600 people on the list. After we went through address books and directories, we had over 700. That obviously wasn't going to work. Right now, we're at 450 for the reception. I think that's as small as it's going to get. I'm just not sure where to draw the line. There's the whole family member thing. I have people on this list that I'm pretty sure I've never met in my entire life. But if they're my cousins and my mom was close to them I'm supposed to invite them. How many generations am I supposed to invite? My mom is still in contact with her third cousins. Do they get an invitation? When they get it in the mail will they say "I'm so glad I was included!" or "She just wants a gift."  I don't want to make people feel uncomfortable! If I'm close with 3 siblings and acquainted with the fourth, do I invite them so that they don't feel left out? What about my friend's boyfriends/girlfriends do they get their own invite or do I just invite my friend and say that they can bring a guest? Kids? I'm inviting some kids...is it okay to not include others? How do I tell a parent that I don't want their kid there? People from work? Do they get invited? Old friends? My parent's friends?

You know, Prince William and what's-her-face only get to invite 15 people each to their wedding. I think that might be easier. If it's good enough for the prince of England, it should be good enough for us, right?

Arghejkwe,fjansof[weilfnaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh.

I know that everyone says "This is YOUR wedding! Invite who YOU want to invite!" but that's not really how it works out. I can almost guarantee that there will be hurt feelings if I do that. I DO NOT want to hurt feelings!

Maybe we can elope?

Where's the Focus? (225)

I really want to make it known that the focus of this wedding is not on us. It's on Christ. It's so easy to get caught up in all of this bridal stuff. Everyone wants to make sure you know that everything is about you and what you want. I really want to stress that it's not about us - especially in our ceremony. I would like to have some kind of congregational worship song, communion (just for Michael and me) and a short gospel presentation. I'm not sure how to put it all together though. Does anyone have any ideas for an order of ceremony?

Cuteness :) (226)

I love tiny things :) I wonder how much it would cost to make these teeny tiny place card holder thing-a-ma-jigs? I'm sure we could put them together, and they would make a great favor...but I'm not sure if I really want to make 500+ of them.

I'm baaaack...and wedding bands :) (227)

Well, I'm back in Fresno. :( It was super sad to leave, but it's encouraging to know that in just a few short months, I'll be with Michael for good. :) I'll actually be going back in less than a month for Valentine's day (our first one together :)) so it's not too bad. I've been talking to my mom about when and how we're going to get all of my stuff moved out to Nebraska. I thought it was really smart to start collecting furniture and household items, but I didn't stop to think that I would have to move them half-way across the country. That complicates things.

I've been looking at wedding bands lately. I honestly have no idea what I want, or what "goes" with my engagement ring. I'm really terrible at that kind of stuff. Here's my ring...

I can't decide if I want a plain band like this -

Ooooor something with some sparkle, like this -



What do you think?

Bridesmaid Dresses (231)

We bought the bridesmaid's dresses yesterday! :D

Black dresses and green scarves :) They'll probably be wearing green shoes for the wedding :)

I also got Michael's ring finger sized last night, so when I get back to Fresno I can buy the ring from my neighbor :)