London Baby

So as most of my Fall 2009 London Study Abroad buddies have noted it has been a year since we all arrived at the BYU Centre at 27 Palace Court. I really can't believe that a year ago I was climbing the hundred stairs leading up to the attic for the first time.... or meeting my attic buddies for the first time!

First, I miss the friends I made in jolly ole London.

I miss the coach rides with Tony- even with Dr. Paxman and Tony talking pretty much the whole time about endless facts.

I miss Costa's with Jenny.

I miss the Tube.

I miss strange guys hitting on me and Jenny by telling us we are fit.

I miss seeing exciting sites and going into a bookstore in almost every town.

I miss walking to Subway almost everyday.

I miss walking around with Jenny.

Running in Hyde park.

I even miss the Wandsworth ward and teaching Gospel Doctrine!

Oh yes and I miss Lion bars!

I miss EVERYTHING about LONDON!

It's strange that a year ago I was traveling across England soaking up as much as I could and now I am planning a wedding - a year sure seems like a long time!

Here's to you London! I can't wait to go back with Matt and show him my favorite spots!

Engagements

A couple weeks ago Matt and I had our engagement shoot! After a minor freak out with our photographer we realized she was not the one we wanted for our pictures and luckily a friend of my mom offered to take our engagements and my bridal pictures! It was so nice of Deanna Fiveash (the new photographer) to step in and help us out since we had to get the engagements done!
We went to the Roswell Mill one afternoon to take some pictures- I wanted a fall theme to the photos since our wedding is in late Fall. Although, it is hard to pull off late Fall when it is mid-summer in Atlanta and 100 + degrees and 100% humidity! We were both in pants and heavier shirts and by the time we stepped out of the car we were already sweating!

This is when Deanna told us to do something cute where we preceded to just laugh

I feel like we took hundreds of photos but here are the highlights- I know there is an album on facebook but these are the ones I love the best! And please feel free to note how freakishly pale I am compared to Matt!

I love this one- but I didn't want to choose one with just my face showing
This was the pinnacle of us being so sweaty and hot- I had to pull my hair up! But I do love this one! Plus, everyone that knows us knows we really are just a t-shirt and jeans couple- shoot lets be honest a t-shirt and sweat pant couple!


I saw this idea in a magazine and I think it turned out very well

Anyway, there are the highlights- hope you enjoyed! And many many thanks to Deanna Fiveash- these pictures turned out great. I don't think you can tell at all that I was sweating like crazy!

Oh and funny story about the shoe one on top- I looked at it and I said, "Matt, you stand like I do!" And he said, "Oh, I just saw your feet were turned in so I did it." And I was like oh hmmm well I can't really stand normal in pictures! hehe Jenny you should know all about that!

Welcome To Hawaii

As most of you know Matt and I will be moving to Hawaii after we get married to finish school. So with moving to Hawaii means dealing with HOUSING in Hawaii...

Which means sketchy property managers... or sketchy landladies.... or even sketchy landmen....

Since April we have been searching for a little place near Laie so we can live near campus... and since April we have found nothing and nothing and nothing!

Our requirements were a full kitchen (since a partial kitchen in Hawaii means a hot plate and mini fridge)... washer and dryer.... internet... and parking
and to be honest I can live without internet as much as it pains me to say!
I mean our list is not that big and should not be a big deal.... but again you must remember we are dealing with HAWAII!!!

Finally, two weeks ago we found a place and seemed great- it had everything we wanted. So we called and George (the owner) sounded cool and said he was going to send the contract... but then he didn't. So of course I followed up and then he said he was going to send the contract for real this time... and he did... and we had it signed and overnighted within a day... and then I followed up.... and then he e-mailed me and said he had gotten a deposit from someone else so he will be sending our check back....

AND THAT IS HOUSING IN HAWAII!

So we lost the house and still have no place to stay! BOO

Countdown Update

Here is an update for my many blog readers and by many I mean Jenny!

There are FOUR months until Matt and I get married!

Which means in 120 days we will be married!

Woo Woo we have reached the HALF WAY MARK!

(Also means in approximately 118 days I get to see JENNY!)

FIFA

Since June 11th I have been stuck to the t.v. with a strange obsession with the 2010 FIFA World Cup! Now for those that really know me or have ever heard me talk about soccer or futbol you know that I HATE HATE HATE soccer- I thought it was boring and the players were more actors than athletes- I thought it was ridiculous that the players found it near impossible to get a small ball into a huge net with just one puny goalkeeper trying to stop them! Well my friends those opinions are now a thing of the past!
I started watching it begrudgingly when Mike (Dillon's dad) kept wanting to check the score on opening day... so I figured okay I can watch soccer for a day- Little did I know one day was all it took to be slightly addicted to soccer! You see for me not only did I realize that not only are these athletes great- it is nerve racking to see how close they come to scoring! It really is great! And then another thing dawned on me- this is another world wide sporting event that I can watch.... again if you know me you know I LIVE for and LOVE the Olympics and so I realized this is big event for soccer fans and players and now I am hooked!

I have watched the US being cheated by goals and then being knocked out with Ghana, England not playing as a team, yellow cards flying, the occasional red card, the Dutch knocking out Brasil- which was great since everyone knows I hate Brasil! I have fallen into mini crushes with the hunks of the sport! Including Coach Bob Bradley of the US :) (you know I love older men!) I have wanted and almost bought a Vuvuzela just to use it while I am watching the matches! And I think the coolest thing about the World Cup is the fans... these people live soccer and it's great to see how dedicated and slightly crazy they are!

So needless to say I am watching the Paraguay Spain match and really pulling for Spain. Really I just need the strongest team to go against Germany because again you know I hate Germany as well! But looking at it all I think in the end I would love Uruguay to take it all... but I would not be upset with the Dutch just for the fact they took down Brasil! There is really no reason I am loving these teams- again I am a novice futbol groupie.... maybe by 2014 I will be able to make my own bracket and know the ends and outs of futbol!


Something I though you would find funny the final is next Sunday July 11th- which is Matt's birthday and I told him well I hope you can handle watching the game... and he goes "what time does the game start" and I said, "2:30... Oh well I guess we can't go to church!" (since ours is at 1:30.... and he just gave me this look hahahaha oh well!

Planning, Planning, and More Planning

I have found my calling- not really surprising to anyone that really knows me but I LOVE PLANNING MY WEDDING! I have been engaged for almost three months and already I have so many things accomplished. Of course, I have to give credit to my trusty sidekick "The Bride's Book of Lists" which is pretty much my timeline and organizer. This book keeps me not only sane but cool as a cucumber!
-So far we have the temple booked for November 26 at 9:00 am! We will be sealed in the Birmingham, Al temple since the Atlanta one is closed for right now.- The reception site- The Trolley Barn in Inman park in downtown Atlanta. This is such an awesome open space that really is perfect for us. It has sort of a loft feel to it and looks really really nice.- All wedding stationary is ordered
-Save the Dates have been sent out
-Bridesmaid's dresses picked outThe girls will be in Marigold with a Charcoal sash. They also have extra fabric for those that need to add sleeves. I think these are really perfect dresses!
- Men's wear picked out
-My dress bought
-Caterer booked. Which our caterer is also doing our flowers, and linens!
-Bakery selected
-DJ selected
-We are registered at Target and Macy's (this was my least favorite part. I thought I would enjoy it but it turned out to be very stressful!)
-Photographer selected
- And the rehearsal dinner is being planned!
So far so good! No one has gotten too stressed out and I think I have been the perfect bride :)
We have chosen shades of yellow and gray for our colors with Marigold, Slate Grey, and Ivory the main colors.

Dress Shopping

This post is a little late... but late is better than never!

So as most of you know Matt and I got engaged on April 4 and just a couple weeks after that my mom, Abuela, and Maid of Honor, Beth went wedding dress shopping! I mean the planner and book I have say the first thing to do is to find my dress so I had to do what the books say! I want to stay as calm as possible during this planning process and for me that means sticking to a organized plan so first things first the dress!There are only a couple modest dress shops in Georgia so on the 20th of April we tried our luck at the first one called "Lorna's Bridal and Formalwear". This was all the way in Loganville- which is about an hour away from my house and trust me it was the longest ride ever! Once we got to the town it really did not look promising- it was a really small boutique and when I looked at the dresses all I saw was rows of sparkle.... and I am not one for sparkle! It was funny because Melissa- the owner- asked me what I wanted and liked in a wedding dress and I was like "Well I don't know." Which is strange because I knew I had an idea I just couldn't think of it... but then she asked if I knew what I didn't like and of course I had a long list of what I did NOT like! That is just so typical of me- since I am a wedding snob I know what I hate but can't put in words what I love! But Melissa was super nice and let me just go through the racks and pull whatever I thought I liked.... and at first I had only pulled out a few and she just told me to pull as many as I wanted even if I didn't think I liked them because they might look different on. It was good that Beth was there because she pulled some for me and was really really helpful- although she said she was a little scared because I was so picky! :)
After I pulled out what felt like 30+ dresses it was finally time to try on! Here are some pictures of the dresses that I did not get!

This was the first dress I tried on and I didn't like it at all! (Also, please get used to the weird arm placements and facial expressions... I can't seem to stand normal!)
Here is one that was in my top three I did like it.. but did not love it!

I did like this one it was also in the top three or four I think- the picture above is the back and below is the front- at this point I think Abuela told me they had been taking pictures of just the dress not my face so this is what I thought of that! Here is a dress that really looked horrible on me- hahahaHaving fun in the dressing room! Beth having fun while I am trying on one of my many dresses!

Needless to say- my dress looks nothing like any of these dresses that are pictured above. But I must say I LOVE MY DRESS! I really have never seen anyone in anything like it! Of course you can't see it... but here is a little LITTLE sneak peak! Enjoy!