2010

I cannot believe the year is over. This past year went by so fast, and so many amazing things happened in 2009! I got enaged ,my sister got married, my cousin got married, my other cousin had her second little girl, my best friend found out she was pregnant..and then found out she is having a girl(who I cannot wait to spoil), T got a promotion at work, T & I got our "first place"! It was a busy year. But I am really looking foward to 2010.


My sisters wedding


The proposal site

T and I are getting married, and what better way to start off the year?! Then right after our wedding we get so spend 7 amazing days on our honeymoon. We are both really looking forward to spending those days together, just the two of us with no work, no phones and no internet!


We get to spend one glorious day here in February


I am hoping that 2010 will bring two other fun aspects to our life. T and I are hoping to get a transfer at his work approved so we can move out of California. I have talked about this a lot on the blog and my insecurities, but I think I just need to bite the bullet and do it. I worry that fear is starting to run my life, and I just need to face my fears. God willing the transfer will get approved and we will be on our way. I am really looking foward to this opportunity and what this new adventure will bring to our lives and marriage. And it won't be forever, we can always come home. I just feel like this is something I need to do or I will forever regret it.

Secondly, I am hoping by the end of 2010 T and I will be trying to have a baby! Obvisouly we will need to see where we are at financially and in our marriage, but I am really praying that we will be in a position to make it happen.

I have a few resolutions for the new year, and hopefully writing them down will help me to keep them, and my friends can hold me accountable! Here they are...

1)Get in better shape and lose some weight. This is important not only for health reasons, but I want to be healthy and a good starting weight when we start trying to have a baby.

2)Find a "home" church for T and I. It is really important to me that we find a church where we feel at home and can really grow in our walk and create frienships with other believers.

3)Pay down my debt. I have a lot of debt and I want to start paying it down now so we can eventually buy a house.

4)Chill. I tend to be a very high strung person and I don't know how to just sit back, relax and go with the flow. I am going to work on this, or else I may have a heart attack by my 27th birthday.

Happy New Year everyone! Here is to 2010 and all that God will bless us with.

30 Days and Counting

HOLY CRAP. Where on earth did time go? How did the past four months just fly right by? I have spent the past 4 months waiting for January to be here, and not it is and I want to go back in time! I still have so much to do. Heck, with only 30 days to go I still need vendors! Ahhh...

I certainly never thought I would be the bride who was waiting until the last minute to do this. Infact, I could never understand those brides who waited until 30 days before their wedding to make decisions, I HAVE BECOME THAT PERSON. I totally understand it now. While stress has paid a large part of why things have not gotten checked off the list, finances are the main reason. Weddings are just so darn expensive. My parents work very hard, but they shouldn't have to go broke just to pay for my wedding. Infact, I feel really bad about this wedding. I feel guilt that my parents are spending their hard earned money on me. I could have simply gone to the court house or eloped, but I just had to have a wedding.
Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining about my wedding. I feel so very blessed that my parents are working so hard to give me the wedding of my dreams, I just feel bad at the end of the day.

But with 30 days left I am most looking forward to being a Mrs. I have been dreaming for over 3 years about the day I got to marry T, and now that day is only 30 days away! All the stress and anxiety is starting to subside and pure joy and excitement is taking over. I can't wait! Let the countdown begin...

Why Wedding Planning Blows

Dearest Wedding Industry,
i always thought the day I would be able to utilize your professionals would be the happiest day ever. I dreamed of wonderful, creative, one of a kind things for my wedding. All those things have gone right out the window and you have crushed all of my dreams. Now I understand you have to make money and you have bills to pay too, but look around, we are in a recession.

I think I speak for the masses when I say engaged couples can't spend what they would have two years ago. Brides have to watch every dollar they spend. At least I do. And maybe I am just too cheap but I seem to find wedding vendors extremely overpriced. A wedding officiant is $400...four hundred dollars to show up at my wedding for maybe an hour at the most, and actually "work" for 20ish minutes of that hour. You charge $400 for that? For all I know you spent $30 and became ordained online, and now you are charging $400 for your services. And then the church I attend, you won't even consider marrying me because you don't think I am "involved enough" in the church. (Those were your words, not mine) And then you really said no when you heard I was not getting married IN your church, but outdoors. Let me just say, this has left a nasty taste in my mouth, and I'm not sure how you plan on getting me more "involved" after our ever-so-welcoming chat.

My next beef would be with bakeries. I know wedding cakes are a piece of art, and many of them will take your breath away. However, I am not having one of those cakes. I do not have an extra $1000 laying around to spend on water, flour and eggs. I do not want a nasty fondant cake, yes I understand you can create amazing designs on them, but I don't enjoy peeling what looks and feels like already chewed gum off my wedding cake. I simply want some plain butter cream frosting and fresh flowers on my cake. But $4 a slice seems insane to me. I could make an entire box cake for that much. And if I had the time and sanity to learn how to make butter cream frosting, I would be making my cake myself. In fact, if I can scrape together some sanity, I just might learn and save myself the $164.50 I have been quoted for a cake.

Going down the hit list would be the makeup & hair vendors. I did find an amazing makeup artist and she is very reasonably priced. So why on earth can I not find a reasonable hair dresser? Please, please tell me why it will cost me upwards of $100 to have my hair done. I don't want anything crazy! Your supplies consist of bobby pins and hairspray, so $5 goes towards supplies. You are now making $95 for an hour of work. I'm clearly in the wrong profession. Tack on the additional $75 per bridesmaid, after 3 hours of work you have just made at least $250 before tip! I would like to make that kind of money.

I have said it once and I will say it again, if I could go back in time I would have never run right out and put down a deposit on a venue. I would have waited a few days and really let the wedding stress sink in. And at that very moment I would have booked a cabin in Lake Tahoe in January, called our family and told them when to be there. We would be getting married in front of a roaring fireplace with the snow falling outside. It would have cost 1/3 the price and I wouldn't be spouting grey hairs as fast as women Tiger Woods has slept with are appearing.

Bottom line, ELOPE.


~This would have been lovely

I'm Gonna Be In BIG Trouble

I have mentioned it before; I tend to buy things I don't necessarily need right now just because they are an amazing deal. I will buy said item if I know at some point down the road (at least within 1-2 years) it will be handy and I know I am saving a crap load of money. So, today I was wondering around and stumbled into a second hand children's store. I was looking around, and there it was, staring at me. The Svan Bouncer, an modern baby bouncer (although it doesn't really bounce) used by several celebrities! I had to have it. My extensive baby gear research kicked in and I knew how much this thing was, at least $100 brand new. Since I had seen other products in the store that retailed for roughly the same price but were priced at $50+ bucks I didn't think much at first. But I picked it up to realize it was still in great condition, and the fabric part snaps off, so all I had to do was purchase a new fabric piece. Then I saw the price tag... $15! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!? I knew right then, I REALLYhad to have this thing!

I got home with my new purchase (which at this moment T still doesn't know about, oops!) and did some more research. Sure enough, it retails for $120! The fabric that came with it is in good condition, but I would like to eventually buy a new fabric piece in the brown/orange combo they make. The fabric piece brand new is $45..not too bad! So, when you think about it, I really saved us $60, which in my book is a good deal!

I'm pretty sure T is not going to be too thrilled by this purchase since we have A LOT of other things the money could have gone towards, but for $15 I would have kicked myself later had I not bought it!

P.S. I do have some self control.A few weeks ago I found a crib I loved, and it was on Thanksgiving clearance for only $63!! And I didn't buy it. The real reason I didn't buy it thought was because I had nowhere to store it until we need it. But I still used self control, because trust me, I was trying to think of places to store it in the meantime...Grandma's house, my parents house, a storage unit. It took ALL of me not to buy it. And since this post is all about babies, no I am not pregnant, and probably won't be for at least 10 more months (6 months if I have any say in it!)

Here are some pictures of it!

This is the fabric colors I bought it with
*Picture from Petit Tresor


This is the fabric I would like to eventually get
*Picture from mbeans.com

My Most Favoritest Month of the Year

I absolutly, positively LOVE December. I love everything about the month, especially Christmas. I love the cool, crisp air. I love the smell of Christmas, the cinnamon pinecones and Christmas tree's. The decorations are amazing. For the most part people are in a great mood. I love driving around looking at houses all decorated while listening to Christmas music and drinking hot cocoa. There is just something about little while lights EVERYWHERE that makes me so happy. I listen to Christmas music all year long, but in December it is acceptable.

This Christmas will be a little different for T and I. We are both so broke right now, and with him moving into our new apartment just 10 days before Christmas, and our wedding 5 weeks after Christmas, we have no money for gifts. Although, T has already given me the best gift this year, he asked me to marry him! I know this Christmas is going to be just as awesome, if not even better than all the previous one's. T will be in our apartment at Christmas, and I fully plan on decorating, even if it is just him enjoying it! I can't wait to spend our first Christmas together and start our own traditions! Only 24 days and counting..


*This was my tree a few years ago when I lived on my own. I had to cut the top of the tree because it was bent on the ceiling!


*T and I a few years ago in Texas just after Christmas


*Now this is a Christmas tree