The Final Countdown

So apparently going to school full time while being engaged and traveling to and from Utah every other week makes it difficult to be a consistent blogger. Who would have guessed? 

March went out with a bang, Matt and I really enjoyed watching March Madness Basketball games together since both BYU and VCU (Virginia Commonwealth University where Matt will be attending dental school) were in the tournament. To our surprise and delight, the underdog VCU made it into The Final Four. That made it especially fun to watch and we got a jump start on our school pride. Matt's mom, Karen, sent us matching VCU Final Four T-shirts. I knew about it, but Matt didn't. When he showed up to my apartment that weekend I had the T-shirt on to see if he noticed. He did the second I opened the door and h was so excited like a kid on Christmas. 

In between sessions of General Conference, we were able to watch the VCU Final Four game. Unfortunately, they did lose, but it was really great to be able to share that together and get excited about the school he will be going to. 

The same day, I got a text with a picture of my nieces in the dresses they will be wearing for the wedding. 

Adorable? Absolutely. I have also been working on hair accessories for the little girls on both sides. 

Please excuse my ghetto work surface. And all the crap on the periphery. I may have gone a little overboard since there are not that many girls in the family. My plan is to have the girls wear the ones that are the light pink roses and then give them the other ones, too. Since there are two girls whose hair may be too fine (or just not enough), I made a couple that are ribbons so they can just be tied around their heads.

Carrie, Lillian, and I went to Roth's to do some cake tasting as well as to show the baker and decorator what I wanted the cake to look like. It's going to be a small one layer cutting cake since we are doing sheet cakes for the guests.

This is the inspiration cake

This is a couple of practice roses on the testing cake

As you can see, we have been busy with the final wedding preparations. Matt is on his way to Virginia after finishing his last final, on which he did very well, and has about an other day and a half on the road. I miss him like crazy, being apart is so difficult. I can't wait for him to get here next Monday! Seven days until he gets here, twelve until we get married!

Oregon and Engagement Photos

So I realize that it has been a whole month since Matt and I visited Oregon (was it really that long ago?) but I thought I should give an update anyway. We had a great time there! We were able to eat at Chevy's (yum) upon our arrival before going to Crate and Barrel to finish registering. It was great but by the end we were so tired, all we wanted to do was get to Salem and relax. The whole family got to meet him and I know that set them at ease considering he's whisking me away to Virginia. They got along great, not that it surprised me, but it's nice to see it anyway.

I also had another dress fitting which also went well. No alterations need to be made, thankfully, but we are having a band around the waist and little spaghetti straps put on the dress for comfort since there will be a jacket for modesty anyway. We paid for the dress and told them when we will pick it up- about a week before the wedding.

One of the most fun parts of the weekend, though, was our engagement photos!

Our local photographer Katie Brown was absolutely FABULOUS and so much fun to work with! The best part was that Matt and I were totally at ease and were able to be ourselves and I really think that translates into the photos. You can see us featured on her blog here. To see our whole shoot, click here and use my last name as the password.  But here are a few of my favorites.

The announcements have been sent and I feel like we're on track. I can't wait to finally be married to Matt. Only 44 days now. I pray every night for the time to go by quicker.

Birthdays and Bridal Showers

Last weekend in Rexburg, Ashley and I found ourselves celebrating for three consecutive days. On Saturday, Ashley's friends threw her a bridal shower. In attendance were several of her friends from the interior design program at BYU-Idaho as well as some of her other friends and roommates.

I was not there, but I did see Ashley before and after the shower and she looked absolutely beautiful. You can see for yourself in the pictures both above and below. As part of the shower, Ashley shared the story of how we met, which you can more about in earlier posts on this blog.

Ashley got lots of different gifts including ones that we won't put pictures of on here. At any rate, she got lots of cool stuff.

Later that night we went to dinner at Red Robin in Idaho Falls. I got the Banzai Burger, my favorite, and thanks to Ashley tipping off the wait staff, I also got a free ice cream sundae. The only catch was that I had to "wear" these two balloons while the servers sang to me. Fair trade.

The next day was my actual birthday and Ashley made me a delicious breakfast of orange rolls, eggs, and sausage. After church, she made chicken salad for dinner.

After dinner, I got to open presents not only from my family but from Ashley as well. And as an added bonus, she showed me some of the gifts she received the day before at her bridal shower (but once again we wont put pictures of those up).

I'd say it was a pretty good weekend...and I haven't even gotten to Valentine's Day yet. We're a little behind on uploading those pictures but we'll add another post as soon as we can.

A New Suit? Yes Please!

Early on in the wedding planning, Ashley suggested that instead of renting a tuxedo, I should instead buy a new suit to wear for the wedding. I really liked this idea because I currently own four different suits, two of which I wear regularly and only one that I actually think fits me properly.

Suit #1

I got this solid navy blue suit to wear to homecoming my junior year of high school. That means it was purchased in the Fall

of 2000 and is therefore ten years old. I guess I may have been a little heavier back then because this suit is WAY too big for me now. This suit actually remained at home while I was on my mission in Japan. It's in okay shape but it's so big that I tend not to wear it.

Suit #2

I bought two new suits for my mission: one solid navy and one solid gray. When I bought the suits, I was 40 pounds heavier than my usual weight thanks to a rather generous meal plan during my freshman year at BYU. I managed to lose that weight fairly quickly and neither of the two suits fit that well. When two bike accidents destroyed the solid gray one, I needed a new suit. I couldn't find any in my size in Japan so I had my mom order another one from the store where I had bought the first two suits. They used my previous measurements when finding a new suit and sent me one that was way too big and fit just as poorly as the one it was replacing. When I got home, I think I had this one tailored in order to fit me better. It still is too big and as Ashley pointed out this weekend, the seam between the shoulders and sleeves make a weird shape.

Suit #3

This is the only suit that wasn't purchased for me and ironically, it fits me the best. My former roommate Alan Seawright bought this suit and had it tailored to fit him when he was in high school. He bought it in Hong Kong and the inside label is even written in Chinese. While we were roommates we discovered that we are roughly the same size both for clothing and for shoes. That led to us sharing quite a few articles of clothing. At some point, we noticed that I really liked wearing this suit but Alan didn't. Meanwhile, he really liked a pair of my shoes that I never wore. We decided to make a permanent trade. Even though this suit was tailored to fit Alan, it looks really good on me. I wear it very frequently but since navy blue is not one of our wedding colors, it was not an option for the pictures.

Suit #4

This was my newest suit. It's black with very narrow white pinstripes. My parents got this suit for me as a christmas present back in 2007. I can't remember whether I tried this on before I bought it or if I just guessed at my measurements and had my mom order it online. In any case, like my mission suits, it somehow ended up being a lot bigger than I would have liked. Nevertheless, it is new and it is the only black suit I have so I probably wear it almost as frequently as suit #3. Still, I always feel like I am swimming in it because it is so baggy. This was a viable option for the wedding since our colors do include black, but Ashley convinced me that we could look for a new suit that looks and fits even better.

The first place we stopped to look was Macy's at University Mall in Orem. We decided that gray was probably a good idea since I already had a black suit that I wore frequently. We narrowed the options down to two suits: a gray pinstripe Tommy Hilfiger and a sort of shiny gray "Calvin Klein Body" suit. I eliminated the second one pretty early on because the pants were REALLY tight. I guess that's where the "body" portion of the name comes in: the suit is supposed to really hug your body.

The Tommy Hilfiger one fit much better: it wasn't too baggy and it wasn't too tight. Here is a picture I took in the dressing room (ignore the green plaid shirt I just happened to be wearing at the time):

When I came out of the dressing room to model the suit for Ashley I couldn't help but grin because I was really happy with the suit. I was especially excited that there was the option to buy a vest with the suit. I've always wanted to own a three-piece suit but never found an suit that included one and was also inexpensive.

Despite liking the suit so much, I was hesitant to get it for some reason and we put it on hold. Thankfully, both Ashley and my mom talked some sense into me and I went back with Ashley the following day to buy the suit. It was already on sale but thanks to a promotion at Macy's this week, I got an additional 20%. As Ashley pointed out afterwards, it would have been wrong NOT to buy the suit at that price.

So here are some shots of me in the suit both with the jacket and without it.

Ashley brought up the possibility of me wearing a pink tie for the wedding since our colors include "raspberry" and "blush". I told her there was no way I would wear a pink tie. Fortunately for her, we found a paisley tie in a tie shop that not only had black, gray and blush in it but that I also said I would be willing to wear. The tie in the above pictures is a different paisley tie, but below is the tie I will be wearing at the wedding.

I'm excited to get to wear this ensemble at the wedding. All I need now is a new pair of "stylish" black shoes. Maybe when I find a pair I like I will devote another post to them (after all, Ashley already did that when she bought her shoes). As if I didn't already have a million reasons why marrying Ashley is the best decision of my life, the fact that she is already helping me improve my wardrobe is a gigantic plus.

The Proposal

Okay, so I'm way behind on my blogging, surprise surprise. But I want to get caught up and I know that there are many who want to know the story. Luckily, I have a video of the actual event (and pictures), thanks to Matt's family. So here's how it went...

Stacey, Matt's sister, was getting married in San Antonio and so I flew down to Texas for the weekend in order to meet his whole family and celebrate the nuptials. Matt had flown in the day before and the plan was that he would come get me at the airport with his parents, Kara, and Kara's daughter, Grace. I honestly didn't think that the proposal was going to happen that weekend. Matt had told me that the ring wasn't going to be finished until after we got back from Texas, considering the fact that he's a horrible liar, I believed him. If you know Matt, you understand what I mean when I mention his inability to lie, let alone do it well. I was disappointed that the ring "wouldn't be finished," but I was so thrilled to meet his family and be with him that it overshadowed the disappointment that the proposal would take place at a later date. I landed in San Antonio and as we were taxiing to the gate, Matt and I were texting, and he told me that he was at the bottom of the stairs to the baggage claim. I hurried off of the airplane and made my way to the baggage claim. As I headed down the stairs, I saw someone dressed up in a suit, holding a rose. I was pretty sure it was Matt and all I could think was that it was so sweet of him to do all of that for me. I honestly didn't think that anything else was going on. This is how it went...

I was so thrilled! It was the perfect surprise. It turns out that he had been stressed all week about the fact that he had been lying and keeping it from me. Right away, I was congratulated by his parents, Karen and Bill, and his younger sister Kara, as well as Kara's daughter Grace.  Kara was the one taking the photographs of the goings on. Thanks so much to the Stringhams for making sure that we had this event documented! I love the shots of Matt waiting, especially the one where he is watching the stairwell, you can tell exactly when it is that he first sees me coming. It was the perfect beginning to the weekend!

Thanks to Matt's sister Ashby for taking this photo! 

Proposal Album

Weekend Love and Inspiration Boards

Note: This post was written on Wednesday the 5th of January but not posted until now.

This past weekend (New Year's Eve) with Matt was definitely our best thus far. I think much of that had to do with the fact that neither of us had to stress about school or callings, instead, we just got to really enjoy each other and being together. True to form, however, we took about one picture. I know, we need to get better about that, but I have enlisted my roommate, Amber, to be our paparazzi. She was more than happy to do the job. So at least we have one for when we are here. Now we just need to find one for when we are in Provo. Matt has assured me that this coming weekend when we are in Texas, there will be numerous cameras flashing all around, so it's likely that we will make an appearance in at least a few photos. Then when we go to Oregon in February, we will be taking engagement photos so I'm sure there will be a few to choose from. Ironically, the picture of the two of us from this past weekend was taken the last day that he was with me in Rexburg.

Nothing like waiting until the last minute. I'm also not a huge fan of this picture because I look terrible in it, but something is better than nothing. It was so great to be able to spend New Year's Eve together. Definitely my best yet. We had a lot of fun cooking together and spent a lot of time talking, enjoying actually being together, and watching the first season of the TV show, "Community," which Matt had received for Christmas.

Community Cast

That show is absolutely hilarious! And no, I didn't get paid for that plug. On Saturday, we talked to Frank Hadry, the owner of Main Street Diamonds in Rexburg who had come in specially for us because they were closed, again about an engagement ring and there were two that I loved, then I left the rest to him. He went back on Monday to "exchange goods," gotta love capitalism, but he told me it may not be ready until the following Friday at the earliest. Since we would be in Texas for the wedding of his beautiful sister, Stacey to Cade Foust, we wouldn't be able to get it until the next time Matt came to Rexburg. So much for getting engaged that weekend or before. I was kind of disappointed but I know it will happen eventually. I guess I'm just not that patient. I think it's a pretty universal emotion that once you have decided to get married, you just think, "Oh my gosh, get that ring on my finger, STAT!" Not because the ring is what it's all about, but because of the commitment it symbolizes.

It was difficult when he left on Monday, but we will be in Texas together soon enough for the wedding. I'm thrilled to finally meet his family in person!

Now, I have put together a couple of inspiration boards to show the look that I am hoping to achieve.

Can you guess what my colors are?