Portland

Check out some scenes from Portland Maine (twenty minutes north of Prouts Neck where the wedding will take place). Some of our guests will be staying in Portland and seeing similar sights.


Sunset in Maine


Exchange Street in Portland

(I found these on flickr and there were more, but I couldn't figure out how to get the others onto the blog... maybe they are private). It's a beautiful place!

Chaser

Chase was going to be a groomsman in our wedding. He had a fatal skateboarding accident on November 9th, and I know that he is dancing the streets of gold in heaven with Jesus, but I miss him. I missed him a lot tonight. I got to talk to his mom this evening who helped Wes to get my engagement ring. Hopefully she will be able to come to Maine with Chase's twin sister, and I think I will see her this weekend. She is going to help me with the bridesmaids jewelry. I love his mom, and I really loved Chaser. He was one of the best friends anyone could ask for. He was Wes' roommate for two years, and I can honestly say he loved people more genuinely than anyone I know. He would cry when you cried and laugh when you laughed. He was the first friend I called when Wes asked me to marry him, and when Wes showed him the ring the night before, he started crying he was so happy for us. His faith was not only the strength of his life, but an encouragement to all those around him. The Lord even used Chase as he lay in the hospital, giving us scriptures through the last email Chaser had sent to his Bible study. Psalm 73:23-28 will forever remind me of Chase and the incredible hope and faith he had in the Lord...how appropriate were those words! It saddens me that Chaser will not be standing next to us on June 23rd, but I have hope and peace in knowing that Chaser is with the Lord he loved more than life, and someday I will stand next to him in heaven. Even still... I miss him.


Chaser


Haug (one of his closest friends) and Chaser... so cute!


Chaser and Haug on top of the world


One of my favorites :-) He loved to dance.

Busy day

Today I was back to planning. I talked to my mom about five times today trying to nail down details about the episcopal clergy who will be marrying us along with how to integrate Dave (our marriage counselor and co-officient). We were working on lodging, transportation, and planning our trip to Maine in March. I talked to Craig again today about details like the tent and other flower arrangements I am thinking of. Also, we think we have found a good cake place that we are excited about, and now we just need to be sure we can meet with them over spring break.

This morning I got to see Teri (Wes' mom). We had lunch and talked wedding, and then she went with me to Bed Bath & Beyond to update the registry. It is so great spending time with Wes' family (soon to be mine as well:-) ! On Wednesday last week and then Friday morning, Wes and I got to see our little Godson, Breydon. His sister, Heather, was in town for the week with the little one. Here are pictures from the visit:


Breydon with Wes


Another with Wes


Me with the little guy


The happy couple :-)

Back from Houston

So it was a short but fun weekend. Wes and I arrived inHouston Friday evening. That night my mom had invited over about twenty family friends. We had my mom's famous lasagna and chatted. Wes has met a number of my family's friends in Houston now, but it was really nice for him to meet more people and get to spend more time with those he had already met. We had so much fun hanging out with Jennie and Hawk Friday night as well. They are so sweet, and hanging out with them was yet another reminder of why they are two of my best friends in the world and always will be. They are two of the most loyal, loving, and just plain fun people I know!

Then on Saturday, we spent time at the gym with my brother, Mike, and then we went to my Grandparents house. Grandmother and Pops are getting older, and they don't leave the house much anymore, so it was truly a blessing to get to spend time with them. We ended up getting the majority of the grandkids over at once... it was a really special afternoon. Then we went to a cocktail party hosted by two couples my parents are friends with and Bess, who I feel like I have known forever. They were so sweet to host the event, and again, it was a great opportunity to introduce Wes to a number of people that he hasn't met yet (and some that I hadn't met or hadn't seen in years).

Then Sunday we to church, and then to brunch for my cousin (and maid of honor) Robin's birthday. After brunch we packed up and hopped back on the plane. We went to dinner with Wes' parents when we got into LA and now here I am, back at school.

As far as the wedding plans go, we tasted a cake from another bakery in Maine that they sent to Houston for us this weekend, and though cream cheese pound cake is not exactly a wedding cake, the cake itself was awesome! This gives us hope for this bakery (I forget the name). We will taste other flavors when we are back in Maine in a little over two weeks. We talked a little about details in Houston, but in the next few days, we are going to start getting together appointments for our trip to Maine like a hair-run through, meeting with the florist, full menu tasting, etc. We are also still in the process of figuring out the lodging situation, and we need to start thinking about transportation. Also, Wes and I will hopefully look into getting our wedding rings after spring break in a few weeks, and in the next few days we need to start getting organized and figure out what exactly Wes and the groomsmen will need to wear. It is time to start nailing down some of these details :-)

Then, we are supposed to get together pictures from growing up/ friends/ family for a slide show by the end of this week... here is one I love of me and my brothers when we were little. Also, here is another picture of my brother, Michael, who goes to school with me, and who I will probably mention more in the future. Love him!


Me, Mike, Richard


Wes, Me, Mike

Don't know why I am awake

I am waking up to take my brother to the airport at about 3:50 am tomorrow morning. Wes and I are picking him up around 4:15, dropping him off, then going to Wes' parents' house. Hopefully we will get to nap before breakfast. We are getting breakfast with his parents and sister who is still in town with our little Godson. Then we are off to Houston! I am so excited to see my parents, and I am starting to gear up for a lot of socializing. We have a casual dinner Friday night, a coctail buffet in our honor on Saturday night, and a brunch for Rara's birthday on Sunday (my cousin and maid of honor). I can't wait to see her! It has been way too long. Anyway, I don't know why I am awake right now. I am not that tired... probably because I had a craving and just made a bannana boat. They are soo good. Whitney told me the recipe. You slice a bannana in half and coat the insides with peanut butter. Then drizzle raisins, pecan pieces, and coconut. Then drizzle honey on the top and put the halves back together kinda and put it on tinfoil. Then wrap the tinfoil up around the bananna (you can leave the top open), cook on 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes, and you have a healthy substitute for dessert! I love sweets, but I am trying to find healthier options. There are a number of other recipes Whitney and I want to try. I will let you know how they go. Hopefully by the time June rolls around I will be better in the kitchen and have a number of good recipes to try out on Wes.

PS. If anyone knows any really great recipes I should learn how to cook for Wesley, do not hestitate to let me know :-) Help is always appreciated!

More pics from the shower

Thanks to Jennie, I have recieved more pictures from the Kitchen shower my bridesmaids gave me in January. Jennie and her mom found the best cake! I don't know where the got it from, but I wish they made cakes like this one in Maine :-) It was so good.

I got to talk to Robin for the first time in a while today. I am really excited to go to Houston with Wes this weekend. One weekend off volleyball will be a nice change. We had a game tonight in Irvine, and I didn't get home until after 12:15 am. Luckily we won, but we took it to five games and had to win by two. I am now a permanant outside hitter. One of our star players tore her ACL (we think) this past weekend, and I went from middle, a postition I have played for my entire volleyball career, to outside hitter. It is fun because I am on the court more than I was at middle because there are four middles and only one plays at once, but I don't get to hit the sets I love. Oh well, whatever the team needs!

I also got to see my Godson today, Breydon. Wes' sister, Heather, asked Wes and I to be the Godparents to her little five month old a few months ago. We were so honored. He was a little fussy today but sooo cute! I hope we continue getting to see him often going forward. It will be great if Chris and Heather move back to LA (from San Francisco). We would love for them to be close!

Anyway, here are the pictures I mentioned:

Jennie again

I can't say enough about having Jennie as a bridesmaid... I think if nursing doesn't work out for her that she will always have a job in the wedding plannig business. Who would not want her involved in their wedding? She is so sweet and emailed me today to get pictures of the potential flowers we will be using. If I could have her in Maine with me going over every detail I would (she would probably get sick of me by then though :-) Jen... you are the best!

An exciting detail that Jennie informed me of today is that four out of my five Houston bridesmaids will be in town next weekend when Wes and I visit. I am soooo excited to see them! The only one missing will be Jane. I know they will be busy, but I can't wait for them to spend some more time with Wes. They are all so important to me, and I want for them to know the man I am going to spend the rest of my life with!

I also had a great talk with Heather tonight, my roommate and bridesmaid (I have quite a few... I am blessed!). It was so good to catch up with her and hear her heart. Even though we live together we are both really busy, so it was great to spend time together tonight after Bible study.

That's all for now. It is almost the four month mark! Exciting!