Baking Tip

So yesterday I decided I wanted to make cookies. While I was rounding up the ingredients I realized that the brown sugar, which was in its origonal packaging, was hard as a rock and would in its state at that time would not be usable. While I was talking to my mom on the phone I mentioned my problem with the brown sugar. She said she thought there was a way to soften hard brown sugar. So I grabbed my laptop and began a search to see if I could find any information. WA-LA I came across this website tinput.com/10-ways-to-soften-hard-brown-sugar. I picked one of the methods I wanted to try and it actually worked. Here I was already to throw it away and there was a way to save it. I thought I would share it with all of you because I figured we all could use some tips to help us save money.

Life in Reno

Cabo San Lucas

Ensenada

View of Ensenada from the ship

Leaving San Diego

A wedding pic

I decided that since we are now married that it was time to change the title to our blog. Im still new at this so bear with me. It took us 4 days to drive to our home here in Sparks. For those of you not familier with this area Sparks is a suburb of Reno, NV. The two cities are right next to each other. For those of you in Oklahoma its like OKC and Bethany. Anyway back to the story. After two long days of driving we reached Las Vegas. John's parents graciously allowed us to stay at their house while they were at our house here watching our dog Cheyenne.

Spending the day in Vegas was the best thing we could do. We spent the day relaxing and did a session at the temple.

We got to Sparks late Thursday night, so we went to bed and decided to unload the moving van the next day. I didn't bring that much stuff but lets just say boxes were put everywhere. John even allowed me to put boxes in the garage which serves as his workshop. Hes ready to have it back so he can work on a couple of projects so Im working hard to get everything unpacked. Its been a long process and we had the planning of another reception to add to it. We had a lot of help from two sisters in the ward and I'm greatful for their help. We were also blessed to have my parents and John's parents come stay with us the weekend of the open house here. I'm looking foreward to having my parents come visit again. John's parents should be moved up here by Christmas assuming everything goes through on their house.

I have also been going to the gym two to three times a week, and have started working with a trainer. I love being able to go with John. We each do our own thing but having someone to go with is motivating.

Two weeks ago we went on a cruise to Mexico. It was wonderful and to be honest we didn't want to get off the ship. It allowed us to relax and forget the business of life. We were able to se Ensenada and Cabo San Lucas. The weather was warm and sunny. It was wonderful to wear shorts in November.

I will try to do better at updating the blog.

The BIG DAY is here

Its 6:40 am, and I have been awake since a little after 5am. Im a bundle of nerves at the moment. I'm super excited to get married but I realized that I'm leaving a huge part of my life behind.
John and I took some pictures yesterday and it made me more excited than ever to marry the love of my life. There is a lot of friends and family that are comming for both of us to share in this joyous time. I could not have done any of this without the help of my mom, sister in law Tiffany and many many others who helped yesterday. The church is beautiful for the reception, its everything I wanted it to be.

Getting Closer

So the big day is a week from this friday. My last day of work is one week from today. Interviews are all done, most of the prep is done and its just lose ends that have to be tied up. Im excited to see close family and friends that are making the sacrifice to come see me get married. It means more to me than I think they realize.
One bit of info. I decided for a number of reasons to not get bridals done. I may get them done just not until we take our wedding pictures. So if you were looking for a sneak peek at the dress sorry folks you will either have to come to the wedding or wait till I get around to posting pics.
Have a great day all

19 days

So this past week saw a few milestones. First off the new supervisors they hired at work were so snobbish it gave me the push to put in my notice in at work. Coworkers think I should go work at the counter and I'm not ruling that out but trust me it will be a last option. One cool thing was the head of reservations told me that if I decided to work for Hertz again that he would put in a good word so that made me feel good. Second, my dress and vail are finished. Now I can get my bridals taken. YAY. I have 19 days left, have had three showers and have started doing the final packing. Im getting excited and John..Well he just wants it over with and have me there. There are still several little things I need to do but it will all get done in time. Im excited and nervous all at the same time, and I think its only going to get worse as the days fly by.

1 Month and counting....

One month from today John and I will be married. Things are falling into place. The announcements have been sent out and so far we only have had two come back. What can I say I'm only one person. Last night I went to the temple and walked by the Sealing room John and I will be married in. Im so excited that I wish time would fly by. I am full of so many emotions right now. Im sad to leave my friends and family here but Im nervous about what lies ahead and the big change. Moving across the country is a big deal, but I can't wait to finally live in the same state and house for that matter as John.
My heart is full and there are no words to express the emotions I have right now so I won't. Time is flying by fast,but not fast enough.

OOOPS

How is it possible that after four people proof read the announcements, and I sat and cut them all that we didnt notice until today that there was an error made on the address of the church where the reception here in Oklahoma is going to be. Good thing Mapquest will send you there without the North thats supposed to be in it. At least we all got a good laugh about it. So in case you are wondering YES the announcements are in the envelops and all that is left to do is print and attach the address labels and put the invites to the Sealing and Ring ceremonies. Today was a good day. It will be even better if all my football teams win. I love football season so maybe thats why Im getting married in the fall.

54 Days!!!!!

I know I know I have been slacking off. Not keeping you all updated. Truth is not much has been going on. I did finish making the announcements. I took them to work to give me something to do and got my coworkers to help too. We were not super busy last week and needed something to keep us out of trouble. I'm excited at how they turned out. Im enlisting the help of my family to get them all put together and addressed this weekend. That means daddy has to finish the inserts and address labels this week.
There is still lots to do, make the music playlist, tie ribbon on the bubbles, talk to the caterer, get my dress altered, and vail made. John has been busy planning our honeymoon. I'm excited he hasn't told me much but it sounds fun.
I have three bridal showers comming up. I didnt realize how many people I knew until I had to make a list. Its going to be hard to say goodbye to all the amazing friends I have, but Im so ready for this next chapter in my life. John is anamazing man and im lucky to have him in my life and know hes heaven sent. I cannot wait to be married to him for Time and Eternity. He has blessed my life in more ways than I can even count, and the fact that hes a hottie doesnt hurt either. Who knew that the two of us would be where we are now at this time last year. Prayers are answered, even if you have to wait for a time. So for those of you who haven't found the love of your life and are doing the single thing, don't give up hope, it will happen just not in your time frame but in the Lords.

Moving

Well, I moved one step closer today. I moved out of my apt, with the help of my parents and siblings and spouses. Thanks for the help. Moving no matter how you put it is a royal pain. Its amazing what you can accumulate over time. Both John and I have been working really hard to go through stuff getting rid of stuff we don't need ect. Now that I'm moved I can focus more on the wedding plans.
The wedding invite list for the most part is done. Theres a few people left to add but we have enough of a final count that we can start. The wedding cake and flowers are also ordered. Also mom has the stuff for my veil. YAY!!! Just small details left and believe it or not im not stressed.
I went to a wedding recption of a friend last night and let just say that Im SOOO ready to get married. John is wonderful and I miss him dearly.. Thanks for all you do. Also thanks to all my friends and family for the support you have given me so far. I could not do any of this with out you.

Three Months and Counting

I finally decided that I was way past due for an update. Things in my life are super crazy between trying to plan the wedding and pack up my apt and all the other day to day stuff that life requires. We are in the final stages of the list of who we are sending announcements to. I'm just waiting for my mom to decide who she wants to add. When oh when did I lose control of that one. What I thought would be a small list is growing rapidly. With the help of my sister in law Tiff (thank you thank you, thank you) The announcement design is finalized and all that's left is for them to be printed off cut and then put together. Anyone up for a putting together the wedding announcement party?
Also in the last couple of weeks the wedding and grooms cakes were ordered. The Grooms cake is a surprise for John. Yes he knows there's a Grooms cake he just has no clue what it looks like. Sorry honey. I promise you will LOVE it!! The cakes are being done by a friend I used to work with who did my sisters wedding. He does a great job and I'm excited.
I'm very grateful to have such wonderful friends and family who without I would not be able to pull all this off. You make my life easier. So a bit THANK YOU goes out to all of you.. A special thanks to the most wonderful man around. Thanks for your patience and for loving me and my craziness unconditionally. I know I don't make life easy sometimes.
Next up. The Vail has to be made and the dress altered. OH and the bridals. Hehe

Registering oh what fun!

As many of you know I spent 4th of July weekend with John. I was blessed to finally get to meet his parents. They are very nice people and I look foreward to getting know them better. It was nice to get away from the humidity of Oklahoma and the 100+ degree temps. It was so nice that I hated to leave. If you don't believe me ask John. He will tell you. Yes Eloping did cross our minds, however, I had to listen to the spirit to know that when and how we are getting married is how its supposed to be.
The biggest wedding thing we took care of was doing our wedding registry. Little did we know what a task this would be. I had made a mental note before I left as to what I thought I wanted and didn't want ect. His parents went with us and after we got done at the first store his mom could tell I was hurting. For those of you who don't know, I suffer from Psoriatic Arthritis so being on my feet for 2 hours about did me in. We waited several hours to go to the next store which was both good and bad. There were a number of reasons which I won't go into here. I think John had more fun at the next store than I did. Its amazing at how many things we agreed on instantly. I don't think this happens much so I'm greatful for this blessing I have with him. Im excited to make a home with him and start our lives together.
We are officially registered and although we may make some changes I'm very glad that part is done. YES you can send/buy gifts seeing as my stuff isn't getting shipped till right after we get hitched. I would rather get a gift than a gift card :)
Now the hard part. Waiting till the end of August for our next visit.
PS we also had our pre-marital counseling so we can get our cheap marriage license and passed with flying colors.

And We Have A Dress!!!

As some of you already know I traveled to Utah last week to attend a friends wedding AND to shop for a wedding dress. I am perplexed at the fact that you cannot find a modest dress in Oklahoma City without special ordering it. Come on people there has to be more of us that want to be modest. But alas you cannot find one so off to Utah I went.
I traveled with my mom driving all night. Yes we were both about dead by the time we got there but I'm glad we did the all night driving. My loving John was not happy and in fact didn't sleep at all that night because he was worried about us. Some of you know I was very concerned about finding a dress to fit this NOT so small woman. The dress I found was the second one I tried on and I knew it was the one. So yes you can give me a hard time for stressing out about it. Through this process I have found that you just can't worry about what size you are its all about how you look and feel in the dress.
I still have so much to do but as the days click by I'm getting more and more excited to start my life with an amazing man. Who by the way is jealous he hasn't seen the dress.

Chaos

I have been able to make some major headway on deciding some things the last little bit, while at the same time attending girls camp, trying to decide when to move out of my apt, what I'm keeping and not keeping, working 40+ hours a week and oh finding time to sleep in there somewhere. So far we have the caterer, photographer, wedding announcement design kinda decided, colors chosen, reception and open house dates and times decided and a few other small details. I have to admit that using friends and family for some things has been a huge help. Thanks all you know who you are. Next up a trip to Utah to find the dress. Its the one item Im stressing about. I have been told by John to quit stressing so I'm working on that. There are times I wish I had a fairy godmother who could wave her magic wand and magically have some of this stuff decided, sorted packed ect. I don't recommend moving and getting married at the same time. NOT a good Idea!!!

My cell phone camera my NEW best friend!!!

As I have begun the planning process of our wedding I have realized that doing so when your fiance lives 2000 miles away can make things interesting. Thank goodness there is such things as cell phones with cameras in them. Mine has become my new best friend. For example, Saturday I went with my mom and sister to look for paper for the announcements. While at Hobby Lobby, I ran into a fellow bride friend of mine who told me that all the wedding items were on sale 50% off. I'm all for saving money so we headed over to look at what they had. I found a pair of glasses to use for a toast (sparkling cider only will be used so no worries my friends). I know that my sweetheart wants a say in things so, I take a picture of them and send it asking what he thinks, get a response after some waiting and bought them. The cell phone camera also came in handy today as I picked out my flowers including my bridal bouquet. I much more planning to do so I'm sure this new best friend of mine will come in handy over the next few months as we plan..

Wedding Blog

Ok,
Here is the start of the wedding blog for our Temple sealing in the OKC Temple on Oct 23rd 2009.