any ideas...?

i am currently in the process of trying to find somewhere for a reception here in utah...and not having a lot of luck yet. i have vowed never to do it in a cultural hall, but that is essentially what i want- a space that will let me do my own decorating, food, etc. the wedding is in october and so it is too risky to plan something outdoors i think...we want something that is between salt lake and spanish fork that doesn't cost a fortune or make us use their caterers, etc...any suggestions?

a quarter of a century only comes four times!

Nicholas turned 25 on the 24th. We made orange pecan french toast for breakfast and then headed up to Park City. We strolled along the little main street and browsed a few art galleries- we also got a key lime pie caramel apple at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory...yum! We stopped and took pictures with a giant moose and bear statue too. We drove around a little bit before coming home. When we got home we barbequed some steaks and made some potatoes and such and had a really nice birthday dinner at home. We changed and ran to Chase & Christy's wedding reception and then jumped in the hot tub when we got back. Nick didn't know it but I had a little surprise party planned and so when we "went up to get the cake" there were actually a few people there that yelled "surprise". More people showed up throughout the hour and it was nice to have Nick be able to mingle with a few friends- past roommates, ex-home teachees, etc. I made a "Skittles" cake as is tradition for Nick's birthday. It didn't turn out exactly how I imagined though and I felt so bad so I decided to try and make a Krispy Kreme cake too...it didn't really look like anything more than just a stack of donuts, but at least he had 25 candles to blow out! After the party we went to Nick's apartment and opened his presents...it turned out to be a really nice birthday!
Today I bought a wedding dress...pictures to come when I get it in a week or so. It will still need alterations and such, but I think it is going to look really nice. It is very simple- no beads or lace or anything- but it fits with my whole idea of a simple yet elegent wedding :)
We also decided that I am going to go home in August...we won't love being apart, but it will be good for me to go get a head start on setting up an apartment and moving one car and one load and junk already down there!

two weeks is long enough!

well, i have been engaged for two weeks today and i am tired of it! not tired of nicholas, my ring, or the thought of being married- but just tired of trying to plan and control and predict everything for "the wedding"...that word is beginning to leave a bitter taste in my mouth! i don't really care about lots of the traditional wedding things, but it seems that people are not happy with my unconventional ways...i am not running away and eloping; i am having a wedding- isn't that enough? so it may be a little different...that was supposed to be so it could not be a big stressful event- but my plan may not be working.
registering was fun though and i am fairly sure i know what dress i want...it will probably be another unpopular decision, but nick and i like it. we are close to a fairly accurate invitation list and monday starts a serious search for the place for our utah reception.
last night our ward had a "drive in movie" in the parking lot. we used cardboard boxes to make fake cars and then had popcorn and milkshakes while we watched Back to the Future...a movie that i had never seen. we actually backed radlee into the parking lot and sat in the back of him with tons of blankets. the moon was gorgeous last night!
tonight is katie mayer's birthday and i am responsible for distracting her from 5:30 to 6:30 so she will be surprised when she gets home to a party. then nick and i are going up to the 35th ward reunion at the becks...it should be fun!
oh, i almost forgot- yesterday i attempted to give nick a haircut...my very first one. it took a really long time and i accidentally shaved off one of his sideburns- then i had to shave off the other one to match! it is a lot shorter than he wanted, i am sure, but his roommate chris helped him blend it around the ears so it doesn't look as terrible. i couldn't love him any more as he is very patient with me!

Target, here we come!

Nick and I are officially registered at Target! It took us two trips to get it all done, but we wandered around the whole store with that little red scanner gun in hand...occassionally getting verbal advice from older couples. We are trying to keep our new home in the black & white theme that we are using for our wedding...except we are going to accent each room a different color- red (and silver) in the kitchen, khaki in the living room, and teal in the bathroom...so far. The one funny thing we registered for was some swedish fish...we heard about a couple that registered for a snickers and then almost every gift came with one and they were set for a long time! Wouldn't that be nice? Like many couples, we registered for camping equipment...perhaps sadly, I am pretty sure we are going to use it! It was it really fun and created a lot more discussion than I anticipated...it was great :)
Other than that, we have been spending a lot of time at the pool and hot tub...it is really nice to have one close and we go for a bit almost every day. We went to the Springville Art Museum yesterday- it was really fun to look around for awhile! We also made london broil yesterday for dinner...Nick did a great job cooking it on the grill outside.
We are planning on moving to Houston after the wedding and I am very excited! I am going to miss the mountains and snow and I am almost sick knowing how much Nick will miss them too- but we are planning to go on as many skiing trips as we can. I am going to be helping Tara with the Dancebeat paper...I am heading down there in a few weeks to get all set up so I can do it from home-woohoo!
As for today, I am going to continue to work on the guest list, reception ideas, and a great tan out at the pool!

22 is going to be a great year!

For my birthday, Nicholas took me up to Salt Lake to see the new-ish Joseph Smith movie that I have been wanting to see for awhile now. Afterwards we walked around the temple grounds a bit...just think that in four months we will be going there to get married! It was the nicest day and we walked down to the Gateway mall and walked around a bit until we ate at California Pizza Kitchen. I chose to eat outside since it was so lovely. Then we came home and had the Pistachio "Next Best Thing to Robert Redford" dessert and Yoda Soda...something I have been jokingly asking for for awhile. The only candle I could find was a Halloween tealight, so I lit it on my gas stove and let Nick sing to me...kind of a sad birthday party but all that I would want :) Another special treat was that when I answered the door (Nick dropped me off and ran home to get the Yoda Soda) Nicholas was wearing a toga! (Yet another inside joke that has been going for awhile.) He quickly changed, but not before I snapped a picture for future blackmail. :) It was a great birthday!

sorry boys...i am taken!

nicholas proposed to me this morning and i accepted! we went on a long hike today and it was fabulous! my ring is gorgeous and huge and really sparkly...especially in natural sunlight. we jumped in the hot tub when we got back to soak our tired legs for a few minutes and then continued in the calling-to-let-everyone-know process. we took a break to run and grab some barbeque from the Smokehouse for dinner. we are both so excited!

we are hoping for october sixteenth, here in salt lake. it is a thursday...hopefully a crisp autumn day with lots of colored and falling leaves. i am very, very, very excited to spend my life with nicholas...i love him very much :)

martha freakin' stewart

so i baked bread yesterday...from scratch, like with yeast and everything. it was my first attempt but i just followed my mom's recipe and it turned out pretty well. it smelled like home and i even got sentimental a few times throughout the day when the smell was strong. nicholas made home-made split pea soup to go with my bread and it was a great meal. i was so proud of my bread :)

today i continued to venture out into the world of just following recipes i have never made before and baked my first pecan pie. there was an activity tonight where everyone was supposed to bring something that represented their home town and i figured pecan pie, even though it is nothing i eat regularly, is very texas. it turned out just perfect and tasted great.

i have also been cutting up grocery bags to create my own "plastic yarn" with which i use to crochet a bag that i can take to the store over and over again instead of using new bags each time...all part of my master plan to go green.

i finished quilting a baby blanket for my cousin's daughter and have been working on a painting project for "the bees". i am getting so many projects done i almost feel like i am not doing anything productive in a day anymore! tomorrow morning though i am going on a hike with nicholas, past the Y, and am looking forward to doing something different :)

defeated

that is how i feel today for no one wants to hire me, even for jobs that i am way over-qualified for. i am irritated that i spent four years meeting deadlines and researching topics i had no interest in and walking up that rotten hill in the snow only to be offered a job at tacotime. well, they did not even offer me a job, but their sign says "now hiring" and i figure they would at least have to give me an application if i asked. finding a job is hard. and not having one is not really that fun either without marae. i missed her so much yesterday that i cried...i guess i was kind of just in a crying mood though and those happen frequently enough so there is no need to be alarmed really. but the point is still this- life isn't as fun without marae.
i went to target this morning out of sheer uncertainty about life...i feel like going to target would at least give me some sense of security however my panic was only compounded by being there and realizing yet again that i have no income. that is scary for sure but the one thing that is even scarier than that is that there was nothing i was really dying to buy- i dont know who i am if i am not strong feelings about nothing and everything. i am not a fan of the melancholy feeling.
i am hoping it will pass quickly as saturday is my birthday. however, i am somewhat skeptical as this will be my first birthday away from home...or at least away from my mother. i have a few gifts stacked in the corner of my apartment which i will open and nick is trying to get me to think of something fun that i want to do that day...but both of us are income-less and don't really have a whole lot of monetary freedom to go have fun with. i am planning on making a "next best thing to robert redford" dessert for myself...that will give me some sense of stability, right?
it is sunny today but only in the seventies, which is nice except that i would like to go sit by the pool since i currently have time to but i might freeze in a bathing suit in that type of weather!
oh and one last thing i thought was interesting. i got a wedding announcement from a friend today and he is having his reception on a tuesday and then getting married on wednesday. isn't it kind of odd to one, pick those days and two, have your reception before your wedding? whatever works i guess!