10.2.10

So this wedding thing. Ya know, the planning that consumed my life for about a year?? Yes, I should finally mention it. I was waiting until I got some of my professional photos before I posted. I have them now!

Really, im sure everyone has seen the photos from me or on facebook, but I figured I should blog about how I remember it. (hopefully I can look back and re-read this when im older and reflect:) )

So, leading up to the day, lots of people say “it goes by so fast” “remember to take the time to take it all in” “its so fast you’ll barely remember it”. Maybe its because I had so much warning, but I did NOT feel like it went fast. It didn’t go slow either! It is easily, the happiest day in my life so far! I was up at 4:30am to 2am the next day, so that could ALSO be why it didn’t go “fast”. I was able to take in everything constantly. I let things happen and it was great.

Spending the night before, with my best friends and having “girl time” to leaving the bar Fado at 2am and getting a cream cheese hotdog in my wedding dress on the way back to the hotel was all AMAZING!

I really enjoyed having the time to see all my friends and family and everyone who flew out to be with us. Their traveling really showed us they cared and we were so blessed to have them near us as we make a lifelong commitment to each other. We learned in our engaged couples retreat, that although love in a component in marriage, its not the key point. The point is the commitment you are making to yourself, your new spouse and God. Knowing that before I said my vows, was very important to me.

There was so many smiling, laughter, chatter, bubbles, and fun that I couldn’t have asked for anything more! I didn’t have a problem with any of my vendors, everyone went above and beyond! There was nothing I was disappointed in. But of course, things happen and it makes the day interesting. 

Lastly, now that I’m married and truly confident in the decision I made in a spouse with Cole, people ask me “so how’s married life?”. I know what they are wanting to hear “same ‘ol, same ol!” or “great, how’s your life”. But to seriously answer that question, married life with Cole, is heaven. Everyday, I come home to him and he looks better and better than the day before! I feel so blissful and connected to him. I really thought that being engaged was enough and there is no way we could be any closer. That nothing would change from engaged life to married life. But it does! I’m his family legally and in the eyes of God now.

Okay, I understand not everyone may feel this way and may say I’m over dramatizing it. Or it’s the “honeymoon stage”. But, its so often nowadays that you see failing marriages and people hating each other so much they can’t look at each other after they got married. I just want to be grateful that I don’t have that and that right now, we’re happy!

Okay enough of that, and here are some pictures!

all Photos are from the AMAZING Azzura Photography!

AKA my cousin Sharon

I realize this blog was meant to record some of the exciting things happening with wedding planning, and a year long engagement at that, BUT as expected, thing just got so busy and out of hand before the wedding that I wasnt able to update.

So im going to be skipping back and forth through the past and present things that have been going on. Now that this is really a "newlywed" blog :)

so.. where do I re-start? :)

I think I am going to start with the present!

just 2 weeks ago today, my BFF and cousin, Sharon, was whisked away to a thrilling evening with her long time boyfriend and long distance traveling compaion, Jason. He took her to Teatro Zinzanni in San Fransico, then to an evening along at the Westin in SF Union Square. Im not going to get into more details, as this is really their story to share, but the point is, late that night, he popped the question :)

My Shar-long-ee (a nickname) is engaged!!!!!! I had no idea when he was going to do it, so it was a more than pleasant surprised to get a call at 11pm on a thursday (note: I fall asleep at 9am usually) to hear her say "sooooo.... are you ready to be a maid of honor!?"

I was soo thrilled and to this day have continued to be so excited for their wedding!! Her sister auny (Jennie) and I are her maids of honor... which made me realize, Im actuallt eh matron of honor and Auny is the maid of honor. The next morning, I get an evite to a previously planned "welcome home" party turned into a "welcome home and happy engagement" party!!

since Sharon wasnt able to celebrate with me on my pre-wedding events due to her trip to asia, I definitely didnt want to miss ANY of hers!!! So I looked all of the internet and found flights for $49 each way from Seattle to SFO! So on saturday morning, Cole and I went to the airport and flew to SF :)

First off, I love SF. Its probably my favorite city in the world so far (next to london) and to celebrate with my cousin on this occasion meant SO much to me! but to make it better.... we decided to leave that detail out when calling sharon to chat. She had no idea we were coming! Cole and I coordinated with Auny and made our way over to the party!

It took auny and I, 45 min before we found a parking spot, and when I say found... I mean it loosely. What actually happened was it was a construction spot that you couldnt park in until 5pm. We were circling for so long, it finally became 5pm and took the spot! So we grab our stuff and make our way to the house... auny goes in first and then turns to the side as we hear sharon coming up saying how shocked she was that it took her so long to park!

Then turns the corner, does a triple take at me and starts jumping up and down in place!!!!! I was sooo excited and so happy to see her! It was surreal! Then she hugged me, and sharon... let me tell you, sharon rarely cries. She can tear up, but rarely cries. She just ahs an amazing ability to hold it together!

But she didnt this time :D (haha I got her!) she was hugging me crying... which of course made me cry. It was a nice moment, that will go down in the books.. or blog. or whatever :D
As it turned out, it was Oct 30th and the day before halloween, so everyone was celebrating. Cole and I came prepared with costumes.. I was a vampire (again) and Cole was a mexican (again). haha we got ready, and everyone came over. Auny pulled out the champange and then mini speeches were in order.

I had a suprisingly hard time with this. I was shaking so hard the champange was spilling out of my glass! Everything I wanted to say wasnt coming out in complete sentances and suddenly, we were in that moment.

people say "oh every little girl has dreamed of their wedding at least once" but I never did that, when I was young. BUT when I was older, I did! I specifically remember a time, Sharon and I were in college, and we meet to hang out at a CPK between Vallejo and Santa Cruz, and we talked about how we would be each others maid of honors and how we wanted little parts of Monica and Chandlers wedding from the TV show friends....

Now back to the party... we were in that moment, and I realized, this is something we had talked about and its happening! Sharon's getting married and I am SOO excited and happy!

You're probably wondering... why havent I said this about my wedding and didnt I have this feeling at my wedding? Yes and no. Its different. When I got engaged, sharon was JUST leaving for asia and I saw her for maybe in hour in vancouver and it was more of a "Im going to miss you!!!" thing. We didnt get to do the pre-wedding celebrating or anything like that! But at my wedding, I felt very divided and I had to do a lot and see a lot of other people and divide my attention.
But this wasnt that way. It was a smaller group of us, toasting to my friend/cousin/getting grounded from each other/driving to SF on a school day/making up jazz dances/going on strike just to have a sleep over/always there for each other no matter how far/ be each othter "soulmates" cause we werent sure we'd ever find our Leonardo DiCaprio, sharon and her amazing fiance Jason.


well, needless to say, my speech wasnt very good and I trailed off with crying. But I know that Sharon knew what I was trying to say and that at the end of the day, it was their engagement bliss that mattered. Not my speech.

So now, I get to help my "soulmate" plan her wedding.... stay tuned!


oh and in that last picture.... I can't remember, So I can;t explain :)

Quick... ish update!

Its been about a month and a half since I have written anything. Not due to the lack of action, but because I have been going going and going. Its been nuts but fun!!!

I will have to go into more detail when the wedding is over since, I have to make this short.

So first things first: VEGAS

Vegas was amazing. It was perfect and I couldn’t have asked for anything more. Well, okay, one thing was missing. My cousin, Sharon. But, we’ll just have to make up for it during her party 

Here’s a couple teasers to start it all off.

Actually, this is a little out of order, but that’s okay. The weekend before Vegas(July 25) we went to Cole’s cousin’s (Shannon) wedding at Newcastle Golf Club in Seattle. Its an absolute beautiful venue and I am so jealous! The wedding was beautiful and fun. They had it on a Sunday and when I think back to all the wedding planning, having a wedding on a Sunday is a great idea! You have 2 great days of the weekend to lead up to it and even getting done at 11pm on a Sunday night was not that bad for Monday!

The weekend after Vegas(August 7) we were in Fresno for another one of Cole’s cousin’s(Katie) wedding. They also had a lovely wedding in a catholic church in Fresno. It was the first time I had been to a full catholic mass wedding. It was long, but not dreadful like most people tend to describe catholic weddings. I actually thought it was really beautiful and lovely! I loved the traditions that were done and so nice to be indoors, especially in comparison to the Fresno heat. I was over 100 that day.

The next weekend Cole and I decided to take some much needed time to ourselves and went to the first preseason Seahawks game against the Titans. We got really good seats and the hawks won! Woo hoo!!! That next weekend we went to the next preseason game against green bay for Courtney’s Birthday! We enjoyed the game, okay… we enjoyed about half the game before we all met up and decided to move on. With that, we went to Cowgirls inc. I don’t know what it is, but theres something about that place. I LOVE it! It’s kind of trashy, but I always have a good time there! I think because its fairly easy to get tasty drinks, the expectations aren’t very high and they play country music! After a couple hours of that, someone…. I didn’t know the guy, convinced us that there was a club “close by” that we should go to called Republiq. We walked so far, in our Seahawks gear, that we all sobered up, when we got there. Then told the cover was $20 per person…. WHAT!?? Who charges $20 per person in Seattle? Anyways, needless to say, it was a great night.

The following weekend, our friends Stephanie and Matt hosted a Couples Shower for us at Newcastle Golf Club. There were great drinks, great food, great company and fun games! It was extremely well organized and Cole and I had a lot of fun! It also was great because Newcastle is just up the road from our house so it was nice to not have a long drive home after a night of celebrating 

Since then it has been wedding planning and more wedding planning.

We have had a break also to celebrate Taylor’s birthday a little early. Since things will be hectic with wedding planning, we decide early is better. With the idea steming from our friend Amanda, Taylor, Brody, Nutmeg and Eli were able to participate in Pawswalk at Magunsen park!!!

oh and we brought dog ice cream..... brody's new guilty pleasure :)

Tid bits, here and there

Caution:   this is about nothing in particular.


Cole and I are finally home from a great trip in Portland,Or. Although, I have a new found love for Portland and want to see more of it, it wasn't just the city that made the trip so great. The trip had a rough start since we both had a hard time being prepared to leave. The trip kind of snuck up on us since we have been so busy with Dance lessons, wedding appointments, planing, preparing for other people's weddings, other people's events and work. All the typical stuff and nothing out of the ordinary for most people. But once we finally got to Portland, it was a great time! We went for work related reasons for Cole, and I met his VP/boss. We stayed at the Benson Hotel with our dogs and walked around the Pearl District. It was nice to have the dogs around and to do a little family trip.

One of my favorite parts was on friday night we went to a Builder's Dinner at Kell's in Portland and it was beautiful! It was such a great place and had amazing food! They even had irish cloggers and gave us Kell's Sweatshirts! which I loved! The next day we went to the barge christening for the Crowley barge 455 9.They even announced us!

Later that night we went to Dukes Country bar and met with Courtney, Cheryl and Cheryl's friend Sarah. It was nice to go out there and try to  line dance! I was in need of some cowgirl boots though :) So on our way home the next morning, Cole and I stopped in Centralia and I got my first pairs of boots. and I Love them!!! I can't wait to wear them in! One of the hardest things in Portland was to not get too carried away with shopping due to the lack of sales tax! I tried very hard to justify buying things, but Cole reeled me back to reality that if I managed to shop and spend $100... Im saving only $10.....which, yes money is money, but that I shouldnt just spend... to spend. It was a diffcult thing to control. Good thing Cole was strong for me :) He did let me get some very needed eyeliner :D

Well the reason I bring up portland, is Cole and I really needed a break from our lives and the wedding. It was a nice getaway that wasn't too far away and we got to spend a lot of time alone and relaxing, without the pressures of "cleaning the house" or "running errands" or "making appointments".

So here's a random thought... maybe a bit sad, and I'm just feeling sorry for myself at the moment and need to snap out of it. But...so my bachelorette party is in 2 weeks... and I'm really excited. I am! But Im having a hard time getting myself to be outwardly excited. :( I don't know why....

maybe im being selfish and sulking about it cause I feel stressed and I have to much to do to really allow myself to have a vacation, or maybe I feel like I forced everyone to go on this expensive trip to vegas, or maybe... and this is the WORST, is that I don't feel like this is a bachelorette party for me? or that is should be for me? it just feels so selfish....:( and my schedule with everything has just been so busy, that not only have I been unable to ask anyone else to go shopping with me, I havent been offered any plans to go with anyone else. I took Cole shopping for his clothes cause he asked... does that count? and I found something for myself cause I stressed) Okay... I know that sounded bad. And it was... gross...I need to snap out of it FAST! like I said... its only 2 weeks away! The point is, I love Cole and we're awesome... but because of all the planning and everyone having busy schedules as well... I feel a little like a lonely bride... friend-wise. Yes, this is coming from the person who has 16 girls coming to vegas for my bachelorette... I guess just the leading up to it is lonely...friendwise....cause of my busy schedule :( Granted... at times I am reminded that not everyone is coming to celebrate another "last fling before the ring"

Well, I still have some time... and I still need one more outfit. If I dont find the time to shop (or the money for that matter) then I have stuff in my closet that will suffice.


One thing I was worried is that I have heard a lot of couples fight a lot during the wedding planning then dont make it to the vows because their differences showed during the planning. I am happy to say, Cole and I are NOT one of those couples. We have bonded even more.... if that was even possible... and really been there for each other and even though I have these times where I feel "lonely...friend wise" Cole reminds me that he will always be here for me and he will be taking a vow so be my friend forever....

This went from a positive post to a negitive post. So I need to bring it back around!

So on happy note... a few actually! I have been dieting and working out a lot and feeling like my heard work is starting to pay off. I am far from the flawless body of Jennifer Anniston or Rihanna, I am still proud of myself for sheding an inch or two :)\

Also! Cole's cousin Shannon is getting married in exactly a week!!! at Newcastle in Seattle! its going to amazing and beautiful! I can't wait!

Okay.... so obviously my posts for the last couple months have been a little stale and lacking in personality or emotion, so I thought I would do one of things on my mind and the up and downs being engaged... at least for me.

ps... I am VERY aware that my downs are silly and I am just being down. But I would hope that for whoever reads this can just remember, everyone has their bad days. Although not everyone will think that my lows are founded, to me they are and I have to live with them

Invites are Out!!!

So much is going on lately, I don’t even know where to start!




First off, my invites went out!!! Woo hoo! And here they are!

The design is by Tanya Williams at www.designbytanya.com



And she did an amazing job! The concept is of a story book! This all started when Cole and I were having a hard time finding beginning “wording” for the invites. We found one that said “Boy met girl, they fall in love, move in together and get a dog” which we loved. But we didn’t want to copy it right off the bat. So we had it changed  It seemed like a story and it sparked the creative genius in Tanya, and here is the product 

I also got my hair comb in! yay!! As well as belt for my wedding dress! I was so excited to see the belt on my dress that I made Cole stay downstairs while I tried to put on my wedding dress to see the belt. It LOVE it! Exactly how I wanted it  Once I was done and had put everything away, I saw a rhinestone on the floor. My heart dropped!!! It had obviously come from my belt!

So I had to take the belt out and I noticed another one came loose! I brought it downstairs for Cole to examine and we decided this could be hot glued on (even though everything else was hand stitched on). So I decided it would be best to put glue on the rhinestone, then the rhinestone on the belt. Cole decided it would be better to put glued on the belt, then put the rhinestone on. Well…. Just take a little guess as to which rhinestone turned out better ;)



The rhinestone that Cole and his giant engineer hands put on had too much glue that globbed everywhere. We had to let it dry and carefully cut off all the globs. It looks great now, but you can only image the horror on my face when I saw my belt, with rhinestones….but also with TONS of hot glue 

Everything is much better now :) Now I await the RSVP's..... now the REAL planing begins..... :)