A few things

The save the date cards finally arrived yesterday after being engaged for four months, or so I was told. We didn't really think we needed one at first because we aren't inviting as many people to Maine as we will the reception in Houston after, but we quickly realized we were wrong. The most important informaion on the save the date card is the link to the website where all the flight, lodging, and logistical information is located.

I am continuing to exchange emails with the florist and event coordinator in Maine. Wes and I might actually get to taste cakes sent from Maine when we go to Houston in a week and a half. Exciting! That will be one of the first wedding planning things we have done together. I think Wes is going to play a bigger role in shaping the ceremony. Unfortunately we still have not found a summer clergy who has preached at the church to marry us yet. A woman from Maine is working on finding out who that will be, but we can't do much to plan the ceremony until we know what role the Episcopalian minister will play and what Dave Congo, Wes' brother-in-law's dad, can do. He will do the message part of the ceremony, but we don't know what exactly that entails.

That's pretty much it for now. I can't wait for June, and I can't believe that the wedding is just over four months away now! Exciting!!

This Weekend

This weekend was so fun! I got to spend a lot of time with Wes which, of course, I love! Friday night we had dinner with Travis and Nikita, and then Saturday night we went to Marie Calendars, Golden Spoon (in Torrence... who knew there was one so close? :-) , and then to the movies. It was our first ever alone date to the movies, which I have to say is pretty good for having been together for over two and a half years. We have rented many a movie, but never gone to one in the theater together. Wes' mom, Teri, gave us two free passes at AMC, and we saw the Pursuit of Happiness, which I recommend almost as much as Freedom Writers. We saw Freedom Writers last week with Randy and Teri, and it was sooo good! I don't know if I just found it inspirational because I want to be a teacher and was encouraged by the story, but it was really good. Then, today I had a volleyball game at UCLA which we won. My dad is in town and came to the game. We also got to take a long walk with him and my brother on Saturday. It is so awesome to be spending time with Wes and my family. We have made it a priority to spend time with my family whenever they are out here, which seems to be a lot considering my parents live in Texas, but it is just so great to be able to talk about the wedding together and have everyone's one hundred percent support. My dad is so excited, and I can't tell you what a blessing that is!

This afternoon Wes and I got to play some tennis, go grocery shopping, fix dinner, and watch a movie at my house. I told him tonight that it is so aweosme to be in love because I get to do my absolute favorite thing in the world practically every day... which is to spend time with him (I am cheesy I know, but I mean it). Anyway, I better get some sleep, I have a paper to start working on tomorrow.


Me and my dad

June Weddings

Doug and Steph are our two friends getting married June 9, two weeks before us, in California. They started dating about a month after us and got engaged a few weeks after we did. Doug is in our wedding, and Wes' is a groomsman in Doug and Steph's wedding. It is so fun to have watched each others' relationships grow over the past few years and to get to go on double dates together. Steph and I took the boys skydiving for their birthdays two years ago which was unforgettable and the most recent double date was to a glow in the dark mini golf course. It was the boys idea...very different and fun! Hopefully we do more together in the next few months.

The update

I just got back from a family (future that is) dinner at Travis and Nikita's house. Travis is Wes' brother, and he married Nikita in South Africa over Christmas (she is from Joberg). Wes' parents were there along with some of Trav and Niks' friends. It was great to spend time with them. Niks wanted to know all about the wedding, and everyone from California seems to be initially a little suprised about the attire. My brother, Mike, wondered about how Californians would interpret the dress code. He questioned whether or not some Southern California locals would show up to the black tie affair in a regular suit and a black tie. In Texas there is no question that black tie implies a tuxedo, but it seems that it is quite rare to wear a tux in California. In fact, Hauger, one of the groomsmen, had never heard of a cumberbun until I told him what he would be wearing to the event. He asked me the difference between tails (what he will be wearing) and a tux. It was so amusing to me that he was clueless on this subject after growing up seeing my dad and brothers wearing their tuxedo's fairly regulary to functions such as the family dance every Christmas, proms, weddings, formal parties.... Our wedding may be different from the norm here, but I am so excited to have a traditional wedding in a little chapel that I grew up in.

I better get to bed. I am taking the CBEST in the morning and though I am confident in my abilities to pass the test, I really need to pass it before I can apply to any credentialing programs for next year and the next possible date I could take it is in June right before my wedding. I know that the Lord is faithful to provide for whatever path He has for me, so I am really not that concerned. I just always like to put my best effort forth, and I haven't prepared as extensively as I would have if I had been aware I would be taking the test a little earlier. I have heard it is really easy, but who knows. It is a good thing it is all in the Lord's hands.

Details from today

Today I have been looking over the information that will be on the CBEST. I am taking it this weekend so I can apply to credentialling programs for next year. I don't know much about next year except that I will be married and hopefully pursuing a career in teaching. It is exciting to know that a lot will change and yet have little idea of what exactly life will look like post-graduation. Now is a great time to continue learning what it means to trust the Lord :-)

My mom and I went over some things for the wedding today. I am supposed to contact a hairdresser in Maine and have been for the past few weeks, but somehow my memory continues to fail me. Hopefully I remember to do that tomorrow. My mom and I also talked about what candles should be used at the reception, who will be coming to the reception in Houston, when we should arrive in Maine, ane what we can accomplish when I go to Houston with Wes in a few weeks. It still seems like we are either ahead of the game or there isn't that much planning to be done. I expected to have so much to do, and I guess we have had a lot until now. Maybe we are just transitioning between larger things like booking a band, place, getting the dress, etc. and the details that I am sure take a while to work out. We shall see...

Flower girl

cousins
Originally uploaded by aweeks.

Eliza is older one in the pinky purple. She is my cousin, Will's, daughter. The two kids with her are Everett and Gretta who are my cousin, Katherine's, kids. I see them every summer in Prouts (Maine), and I called Eliza about a month or two ago and asked her to be our flower girl. I am so excited to have her in the wedding!

Trouble finding a cake...

My mom, Craig (the event planner and caterer), and I tasted cakes a few weeks ago when I went to Maine to work on the wedding plans. I have arguably one of the biggest sweet tooths ever, yet not a single cake was to our liking. Half of the pieces we tried had this tasteless white frosting that we had to scrape off and none of the cakes were fluffy or rich... so I have been looking up more cake websites. Before we looked at Cakes Extraordinaire and another baker that I can't remember right now, and I just found two more websites of cake places in Maine. One in New England Couture Cakes and the other is called Pink Ladies Classic Desserts. Some cake flavors that sound good are: golden vanilla butter cake with chocolate or vanilla buttercream frosting, chocolate truffle with peanut butter frosting and chocolate ganache filling, red velvet with vanilla buttercream frosting, carrot cake or apple spice with cream cheese frosting and filling, yellow cake iwth chocolate frosting or the dark & moist chocolate cake. These all sound good. Hopefully they taste good also. I sent an email to my mom and Craig with these new websites and preferable flavors. We are going to do more cake tasting over spring break. Hopefully we will like what we taste in March better :-)