Bridal Portraits...

Here are a few of my favorites from my bridal portrait shoot! We started out at the Hotel Boulderado in Boulder. This is a historic hotel and has some awesome lights and beautiful wooden staircases! After we left the hotel we went to a lookout at one of the mountains in Boulder. I LOVE the mountain pictures, especially since I hiked from the parking lot to the summit in my dress and shoes... Had to climb up between the rocks while holding my dress off the ground in my heels for the mountain shots!

A shot to show my shoes... yes they are 4 inch heels... on the rocks...

I love how the wind blew my dress up like a parachute!!!

This is too cute! I love the color of the sky and how I look like I am excited that it was over!

We found this bench on the way between the car and the hotel! I love it!!!

Outside of a BAPTIST church... the same church I wouldn't park in its parking lot because it was BAPTIST! At least that is what Ilene was convinced!!!

At the beginning of the photo shoot... one of the few pictures with my flowers! I love how my hair curled... too bad it wouldn't curl on our wedding day!

A picture for Ian... he LOVES orchids... unfortunately Eli broke the flower off the stem, that is how I ended up with orchids in my hair!

My dress in all it's glory!!!

Happy Birthday Babe!

Tomorrow, my fiance will turn the big 32... we don't really have anything special planned... at least yet! We have talked about driving up to Boulder and checking out this mountain where our photographer took me during my bridal shoot but that is about it on the excitement scale!

This week we will celebrate Ian's birthday for most of the week... a brief trip to the valley at the end of the week... a movie with friends on Tuesday... dinner... oh and a honey-do list that I really want to be finished before our families get here next week for the wedding!

It is crazy to think that two years ago I posted a birthday blog for Ian that highlighted 30 reasons why I love him... and after reflecting on that post, I honestly couldn't say that there was anything that I missed when I originally sat down to make the list!!!

I love you and am thrilled beyond words that in just under 2 weeks you will be my HUSBAND!!!!

TWO!!!

Our wedding is a mere 2 weeks away... well now 13 days and something like 22 hours... but still... It is crazy to believe that we are only 2 weeks away from something that we have been planning since September! This past week I set out on the task of completing the bridesmaids and mother's bags... they were from the "Sew Easy" Projects and were pretty easy to make... My friend from work (one of the few friends I had at my previous job) allowed me to come over to her house for two afternoons and take over her kitchen table and sewing machine. Karin had no idea how scared I was of using the sewing machine... I hadn't used a sewing machine since before my grandma passed and using it now made me afraid I would cry! Karin was super patient with me and assisted me in making not 3 but 8 bags... and one of those 8 we made smaller for my youngest niece.

Once that project was complete, I set out to make wedding favors at home, and on my own... This was the majorly daunting part of the process... using my grandma's sewing machine, on my own... I locked myself in the basement for about 3 hours while I cut fabric, ironned it and then sewed it together. After 3 hours I had made all the bags that I could out of the fabric that I had. The hardest part was turning the tubes right side out... I went to a feed store and bought 50 pounds of millet, a small grain that is easier to manipulate than whole kernel corn. I also bought more fabric from the fabric store across the street. After another afternoon in the basement and a few hours the next day, I found out that a 50 pound bag of millet would fill 50 corn sacks... 20 tubes (all about 22" long by 2-3" wide) and 30 bags (various sizes ranging from 5-8" wide and 6-10" long). I now need more millet to finish the project. I am very proud to say that I only have like 25 bags left to fill and that should be a breeze now! (Now that I figured out that I could use my sewing machine to finish the seam that I left for filling rather than hand stitching each and every one!)

Other projects going on that are wedding related. We ordered the guys gifts this week and I am so excited to get them soon! I can't say what they are since there is a chance that one of the guys reads my blog (highly unlikely but you never know)- but I will say that since we have thrown tradition and seriousness to the wind with the wedding this gift will define whimsical and fun...

I also ordered the willow for our center pieces and the sand for our sand ceremony portion of the wedding. Those should arrive early this week! Centerpieces finished... YES INDEED!!!

The last project that we have to complete is assembling the bags for guests at the hotel. We ordered labels for water bottles, neat blue plastic gift bags, and stickers to put on candy last week. These should be at our house the end of the week! Once my nieces get here with my parents we will have them help us to remove labels and replace them with our custom labels, placing them in the bags along with various snacks (with wedding related stickers on them) and a cute label on the bag with ribbon. And we will have them help us to put cute instructions on the favors... I am so glad that we will have help with these projects!!!!

On other news, I am as calm as a cucumber... I know that I will more than likely cry during the ceremony and definitely during our vows... I can't even watch a silly wedding related show without tearing up during the vows! Ian is starting to get a very small case of the nerves in relation to the ceremony. Hopefully meeting with the minister this week to go over the ceremony and etc will help ease his mind! We also have a walk through with the caterer and venue this week as well to determine placement of tables and such.

Here's to a wonderful 2 weeks... filled with appointments, house projects, cleaning house and traveling!!!!

Random thoughts while driving...

So I drove to Tulsa and back to Denver roundtrip over the course of 9 days... that is 21-22 hours roundtrip in the car just to-from Denver/Tulsa. When I got near to Oklahoma, I started to see the wonderful orange cones, barricades, and poles, not to mention the orange detour signs, reduce speed ahead and roads closed... Kansas must think that since Oklahoma is doing so much road construction that they need to follow suite... yea Dear Kansas... just because Oklahoma is doing it, doesn't mean you need to as well...

While on the road I had some random thoughts... first of all, if our GPS has the option to avoid highways, tollways, traffic and main roads, why doesn't it have an option to avoid construction? But on the same random thought, it is probably a good thing that Sami, our GPS, doesn't have an option to avoid construction... she would have told me to turn off my car and go inside when I set the destination when leaving for Tulsa!

Another random thought... you know those little lines you see in groups at the sides of the road just beside the lines in the shoulder... ever wonder what they are for? Well I used to... and the memory came back to me while driving to Tulsa of these ridges being explained to me by one of my close friends in high school... the memory came back to me in the construction zones in Kansas where I was becoming peeved at construction knowing that I would encounter more when I hit the OK stateline... I remembered being in high school on the charter bus traveling somewhere with the band... Shane and I always sat together and I remember waking up one night on one of our trips hearing the "rrrrrr" sound as we approached the turnpike toll gate. I recall sleepily mumbling to Shane something about what made that sound and why. (Sleeping on the bus was a rarity and when I could grab an hour of sleep it really upset me to be woken up, especially by a sound that is so horrible!). Shane's explanation of the ridges and the sound still rings in my head when driving... he told me that night (not sure if he was thinking on his toes or if he knew the real reason) that the ridges are there to wake people up if they fall asleep while driving and drift over the lines...

Another of my random thoughts... if Oklahoma were to take all of the orange cones, barricades and poles that they have placed throughout the state and went around the state, we could totally have an orange border around the entire state with some orange cones left over!!!

More thoughts while driving through Kansas... sign that read, "If you die today, where will you spend ETERNITY?" My initial thought- "Hopefully not here... this would be HELL in my book!" Saw a sign that I had to take a double take after I read it... I swear it said DRUNKARD Brethern Church... it really said DUNKARD...

Driving in and around Tulsa is not fun... I left the movie theater at 71st and Lynn Lane headed back to my parents house in Skiatook... to get home I took 51/64 (the BA) to 244 to 75 to 20... my GPS wanted me to take 51/64 to 244 to 169 to 11 to 75 to 20... does anyone else have the urge to shout out "BINGO" or "You sank my battleship!" right about now? The highways being closed and/or rerouted made going to my dad's fire station quite a road trip! Instead of taking hwy 75 from Skiatook to the 244 curve and back to 75 S all the way there, I had to take 75 S to 244 W to the 244 E/ 51/64 E turn off, exit at downtown because I realized I should have taken the West bound option, drive through downtown until I came to the other 75 S on-ramp (the one m GPS sent me to was closed...) so that I could go a mile on it before being rerouted back to city streets to get back on the highway a little ways up... good grief!!!

Who knows when all the construction will end, but hopefully when I come home in August for the Tulsa reception I don't have to endure all the construction in Kansas AND in Oklahoma!!!

Livin' on Tulsa Time... Briefly...

Last week I finished school on Monday (June 6) and loaded up my car to head home to Tulsa early on the 7th. I had a phone interview scheduled with Jeffco Schools at 11:15 am, so I had to plan my trip wisely so I would have phone signal when my interview time arrived. I left my house just before 9 with the intention of being in Burlington, Co for the interview. I passed the time practicing what I was going to say in response to the questions that they had sent me and listening to my awesome new playlist on my ipod from Tracy. My interview came and I answered the way I had practiced, forgetting a few details that I really wanted to kick myself for forgetting and the interview ended... 20 minutes... no idea as to how it went... I called my mom and while talking to her (about 45 minutes later) I had a call come in that was a 303 area code so I took the call... only to realize that it was the area Sped Director calling me back offering me a job!!!! Uh yes I am interested I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs for all to hear!!! So... I left Denver at 9 am (MST) without a job lined up and arrived in Tulsa at 7 pm (CST) with a job in place with Jeffco Schools!!!

The 7 days I was in Tulsa were a blur! I honestly feel like I didn't stop moving or sleep while I was home, but the trip was a success!!! I was home the 8-14th... during which time, I had a hair appointment, meeting with the seamstress to alter my dress for the Tulsa reception, a first "fitting" with the veil and Ian's mom, a final "fitting" with the veil and Ian's mom, two bridal showers, a dance recital, dancing with my little brother, a bbq, two hair run-throughs with my mom, dinner with Jason's family and a movie, shopping and time with my nieces!

The wedding details are coming along super smoothly! Regina Banks of Arjaybi's Stationary in OKC (and one of my good girlfriends) brought me the thank you notes and programs for the ceremony! They are amazing and beautiful and I couldn't ask for a better person to create our invitations, thank you's, programs, etc than Gina! She was super patient with me and shared ideas with us to make our stationary one of a kind!

The first bridal shower was hosted by the McMahon/Thomas families and Emily Renberg. I have always looked up at Carolyn (McMahon) Westervelt, Mary (Thomas) Trotter, and Martha (Thomas) Cobb as aunts and their children as my cousins... Emily has been like a cross between a second mother and an aunt... and Ms. McMahon, another grandmother figure in my life. These ladies are beyond amazing. The things they have done for me since I was born, I will always be indebted to them for their love and compassion, as well as role models for how to live throughout my life. We received some awesome gifts and I had a great time seeing these women that I have called family for the last 31 years.

The second shower was hosted by my "grandma" Glenda and my mom at the church where I was raised. This shower was mainly high school friends and co-workers. It was great to see so many of my Hornet girls!!! I had a lot of fun catching up with everyone. I will post pictures later as Tracy Smith took a few cute shots of her, me and Regina...

The week also brought McKenzie and Syrina's dance recital which I was beyond cloud number 9 to be able to attend! Both the girls looked AMAZING on stage and performed their routines without error! To think both of my girls are shy!!! Ana got to go with us to the recital to see Kenzie, which was fun for both girls!

Mom and I got our dresses ready for the wedding, took Kenzie's back to be re-altered and corrected the error with Syrina's dress. I am looking forward to seeing them all dressed up, and my daddy in his dress uniform for the fire department!

I also spent 2 different times with Sherry, Ian's mom figuring out how to place the veil in my hair! I am so excited about this veil!!! Not only will I be the 21st (that is unless there are other bride's whose pictures are missing from the album) bride to wear the veil since 1934, the veil is going to be a perfect fit for my dress!!! Words can't express how beautiful the veil is, or how honored I am to have been asked to wear the veil! I can't imagine NOT wearing the veil in the wedding!

I drove home on Wednesday just before Oklahoma and Kansas were hit by thunderstorms all day on Thursday! Thursday, my first day back in Co wasn't the most relaxing... it seems like it should have been... a mani/pedi in the morning... spray tan at noon... lunch with my bestie Ilene, drop off and pick up wedding dress from the dry cleaners, pick up jewelry for bridesmaids, pick up flowers for my practice bouquet and bridal portraits and finally relaxing time with Ian... Friday we got up before the sun (or at least before the sun in summer) and had Buddy at the clinic by 8 am for his surgery... came home, took a brief nap (thank goodness I did this!), started doing my hair, finished my hair with Ilene, had a 3 1/2 hour bridal portrait session in Boulder, drove back just in time to start our jewelry party at my house!!!

I can't wait for the wedding! 22 days until we say I DO!!! Until then, we need to order the willow, finish paying the caterer, schedule our final walk through of the venue with the caterer and event coordinator, write thank you notes, clean house, and pick up our flowers to make the decorations for the wedding!!! No stress here!!!