The Turner Wedding

Bachelorette Party!

2009-06-15T09:32:00.001-07:00

Hopefully I'll get a couple of the guys pics too. But for our Bachelor/Bachelorette Parties this past weekend we each went to dinner, minigolf, and gokarts. But separately. We had a ton of fun!

Our Wedding Party!

2009-06-11T11:46:00.000-07:00

Blog 30

2009-06-11T06:56:00.000-07:00

I'd say it's time for a new post wouldn't you?

Can you believe this.... we'll be married in 9 DAYS!!!! How exciting. What have I been up to? Talked to all vendors to finalize everything, which felt very good. Finished the wedding day timeline. Been preparing myself mentally to laugh everything off that could go wrong. Speaking of things going wrong, I was supposed to have my hair trial last night and at the last minute I thought... I never got a confirmation call. I called up there... my stylist is in cancun! I was still on the books though?? Good thing I called I guess, sheesh. Luckily!!! I'm taking off work W-F next week so I'll be able to go in Wednesday morning. So, crisis averted.

So, what else... tonight I will be going to the reception hall to test out my picture slideshow on their equipment, because, hey, you never know. And this Saturday is the Bachelor and Bachelorette Parties, yay! We are both going to Branson but separately. Since we are both Far from being party animals. It will be dinner, go karts, and mini golf. But it will be so fun just hanging with friends.

Last night (since I didnt have a hair appt) I organized allll my wedding stuff. I had stuff in a bunch of separate tiny boxes.. I had so many boxes from all the stuff I've ordered, so last night I condensed and now my office doesn't look like a train wreck.

I feel like all the planning is where it needs to be. Just a few more people to call and invite to the rehearsal dinner.

Turner Bridal Shower

2009-06-08T06:51:00.000-07:00

We had a Great Weekend!! It was the final shower. Jake's Stepmom and Aunt, Stephanie and Lori threw it. It was so nice. It was at a tea room and there were a lot of family there including my mom and future sis-in-law that visited for the weekend as well as a ton of Jake's family and a couple friends. Here are some pics, I may have more to post later. The ones where I am embarrassed and laughing... they wrote down everything I said while opening gifts and then read it off as what I will say on my wedding night. LOL.

We got our Marriage License today!

2009-06-04T09:53:00.001-07:00

Personal Shower!

2009-06-02T10:58:00.000-07:00

First off, a great big thank you to everyone who put together and came to my personal shower!
It was so nice. We had it at Big Momma's CoffeeShop. Here are some pic

Blog 29

2009-05-26T09:17:00.001-07:00

Is anyone else as excited as me!?!?!? 3 1/2 weeks! Thats it! For the longest time when I tell people how much time is left they tell me it will fly by to that I say Hogwash! The last 15 months have crawled! But finally I feel like this point on will fly! I still have stuff on my to do list so that will fill up a lot of time plus I have some fun parties ahead of me! Personal Shower this Sunday (ooo la la!), Turner Shower next Saturday and Bachelorette Party the following Saturday.

I feel like we haven't done a lot lately but when I really think about it we kind of have. We met with Pastor Randy and we have written our wedding vows! Also as I've mentioned before, on our to do list was 'finish landscaping' and although we have the tiniest bit of tweaking to do it is done! (see picture). Last night we practiced dancing... figured that might be a good idea. Then we wrapped some gifts. Theres still plenty that needs done but I can handle it. Just one thing at a time and it'll get done.

Sullivan Bridal Shower!

2009-05-19T10:58:00.000-07:00

*The horizontal pictures got cut off, if you click them you can see the full pic.

Blog 28

2009-05-11T12:46:00.000-07:00

It's wedding season! I feel like I've hit the final countdown! My first shower is this Saturday and I couldn't be more excited.

So... what's been going on? Jake gave me the best birthday ever. It started with him surprising me in my work parking lot my bday morning and I got awesome presents then we went to dinner and a movie that night. Then Saturday he threw me a great bash at our house that I think went over pretty well.

Wedding stuff?? Well Jake and I have just been over the top excited for our honeymoon. It's becoming more real that we are going to spend a week at an all inclusive resort on a tropical island!!!

I have a long list of a lot of little things that need done. So I am on a mission to get it all done this week/weekend.

Well I felt like I needed to update but obviously not much to say. I'll be sure to post pics from the shower!

China!

2009-05-05T08:03:00.000-07:00

Here are pictures of the China we got from Nana (my grandma).

Blog 27

2009-05-01T14:08:00.000-07:00

Well, my mom got in town yesterday and I met her after work at Shannons Custom Florals for our final appointment. We changed some things up and I can't WAIT to see how it all comes together, it will be perfect!!! Shannons doing our reception decor and then obviously all the flowers, boutienneres, bouquets, etc...

Then Jake came over and we opened 6 gift boxes my grandma sent and they were 6 of the Lenox Opal Innocence Carved Place settings we wanted! GORGEOUS!! My mom took pics of us opening them so I'll post those soon.

I took this morning off from work and went and watched my amazing cousin Deana (my MOH) graduate college and crazily enough my bro-in-law-to-be, Buddy was graduating too! Congrats to both!!!!

For the rest of this weekend I'm not sure of our plan of action, just get organized and make lots of lists and schedules.

One last fun thing... as of today I can officially say, we're getting married next month!!!!!

DIY

2009-04-28T06:32:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple DIY projects done by me and my mom. The cage is for people to put cards in and the baskets are obviously flower girl baskets. I think it all turned pretty cute =) (again sorry for the poor quality I took it with my phone)

Landscaping

2009-04-26T16:03:00.001-07:00

Check out the progress we made this weekend on the landscaping! The first picture you can play Where's Waldo (or actually where's Roxie) see her? So now it's all gutted out and ready for much prettier plants and much less weeds!!

Blog 26

2009-04-23T06:48:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's been a little bit since I've posted. The thing is I've only done a lot of little things lately, nothing really worth writing about. However, I finally uploaded a couple pics from my phone so here they are...
Sorry for the poor quality, again, it's from my phone.

The first picture is the dress I bought awhile ago to wear to my June 6th Shower! And yes I took this pic in the dressing room.

The Second picture is of a sign I made last night. It's just one of those "garage sale" signs. This one will stick in the ground outside the reception hall. And tonight I plan to make another one but with an arrow, for people driving from the church to the reception to help them know where to turn.

What else.... last night Jake came over and it was actually for the purpose of working on wedding stuff! I wasn't totally happy with one of the songs we picked for our wedding video so we picked a new one. So now we have all the songs picked out for our video and I need to burn them to a disk and mail them to our videographer.

This saturday Jake and I are finally starting in on the back-breaking task of relandscaping in our back yard. We will start by pulling up all the old stuff, trying to kill off the mint thats taken over and then plant all new pretty things=) This is the last home improvement I want to make before the wedding, bummer its a big one!

Lastly, we are at around 45 for our RSVPs so far!

Blog 25

2009-04-14T11:13:00.000-07:00

It's official!! The invitations are in the mail!! It was hard to let them drop in the drop box. It was kind of like I was extra possessive of them and didn't want to let them go. Silly I know. Now I can't wait to get the RSVP's back!!!

Last night I was really productive. First off I checked and double checked all the invites. So hopefully there are no mistakes. Then I had to lick and seal them all myself. I couldn't help but be glad George Costanza didn't buy those invites! Then I completely finished Jake's Growing Up slideshow and published it to a DVD. And I scanned the remaining pictures of me and about finished all the editing on my slideshow. Also yesterday I started to make this master list of every little thing I need to do between now and June 20th. It felt good to get it all out of my head. Oh and yesterday my mom finished lining the FG baskets and the bottom of the card cage.

Tonight I plan to finish my slideshow and clean my house for my brother and Bethany's visit. Oh and I made an "appointment" with Jane (Kari's mom) to have her alter Ayishas dress on Thursday.

A lot of random info but there you go. Lastly... speaking of invitations. Here's a picture of what ours look like...

Blog 24

2009-04-13T06:21:00.000-07:00

We had a great weekend in O'Fallon with my family!!

-I got fitted for my rehearsal dress alterations. I forgot how cute that dress was! We got it over a year ago.
-We addressed all the invites! Got the stamps for them and I sent out a test invite just to make sure it sends okay. So I will send the rest probably tomorrow!! I'm excited!!!!! A big thank you to Bethany and my mom for the help addressing the invites=)
-Also I got an early birthday present since I wont really be around all my family again until wedding time! And it was exactly what I wanted!!!! I'm going to wear the outfit the morning of the wedding and then I plan to take the jacket on the honeymoon and wear it on the plane and stuff I'm so happy I got it!!! Here it is!...

Blog 23

2009-04-09T08:16:00.001-07:00

-We have our first dance song picked out. We had to edit it though because there was talking at the end. So thats taken care of.

-An appt has been made for the end of this month to meet with our flower/decoration lady to finalize everything.

-I should start working out more but I just feel I dont have the time with everything else there is to do. But starting the day after my birthday I am going to work out like no ones ever worked out before! That gives me a month and a half to tone everything up and define those muscles!

-Its official! We have an officiant!! We were going to use the pastor that more or less comes with the ceremony at Elfindale but now that we've gotten so plugged in at Stonebridge, our assoicate pastor is going to perform the ceremony. Thank goodness! Something a little more personal!

-I'm getting my regersal dresses altered this saturday I'm excited, its SO pretty!

Things I'd like to do tonight...
-burn a cd to be played in the "get ready room" at the church.
-make a file folder of songs for the honeymoon.
-make a list of makeup that i need to buy
-burn cds of the songs to be played at the church.

My Precious Ringbearers

2009-04-07T07:56:00.000-07:00

Mason and Dayton

Blog 22

2009-04-06T08:04:00.000-07:00

Heres whats new...

-I decided to go a different route with my birdcage card box. I was going to thread ribbon all around it. But I tried it a million different ways and I did not love it. However, I had these great pink flowers from Hobby Lobby, I tried putting a few of those on there and wa-la! I loved it. My mom also suggested adding one more thing to it and I think I will. So... bummer I cant call it done! But I'll probably take it to StL with me this weekend and then she can finish it from there.

-Kenna and Ayisha (flower girls) now officially have the dresses in their possession. I think Kennas will fit okay just a minor adjustment or two will be needed. But Ayishas, well its pretty big on her. Shes so tiny! But her mom, my MOH Deana, sent my some pictures of her in it and shes gonna look great! Like a little lady. I havent seen Kennas on her yet but theres no doubt she'll look beautiful!

-So I was reviewing our registries this morning (WalMart, Bed Bath and Beyond, Target) and seeing as how we originally set those up a year ago I think we need to do some updating. I mean we have a million times But I think I'd like to do one last run through of the items while in the store before showers strat and the wedding day gets closer.

-Speaking of gifts, my grandma asked for a suggestion on what I would like from her. I suggested this amazing china by Lenox and she loved it. So that is what we are getting! I can't believe it!

-This week I will do one final run through of the guest list. We'll see if we can squeeze any one else in and also update addresses. And then this weekend my mom and I and maybe Airika (bridesmaid) will address the invites and next week I will mail them off!!!! SO EXCITING!!!!!

-Deana got her shoes and went in for alterations. So thats exciting. One down two to go.

-Oh and I totally just remembered my videographer called and asked us for a time frame. I said I'd have to get back with her. So I'll email her tonight. I'm also going to burn a cd for her of all the songs we want in our video. The sooner I get em to her the sooner I get my video. She said some people wait awhile to give them to her. Thats crazy! She will definitely get ours before the wedding Because I will want to watch that video over and over again!

-I had a nightmare about the wedding/honeymoon last night. First of all the girl thats supossed to cover for me for the 2 weeks Im gone wasn't going to cover for me anymore and I didnt find out until the last minute and then I had like 5 minutes to pack for my honeymoon. Man that was stressful! In real life I will probably be completely packed one week before I actually leave! I'm even buying extra makeup so I can pack it before hand and not worry about transfering it to my suitcase during the 2 minutes we are home after the reception and before we drive to St Louis.

-Anything you guys are curious about? Ask me questions! I never get sick of talking about my wedding!

Blog 21!

2009-04-02T07:48:00.000-07:00

79 days!!!! People say it will be here before you know it, but I disagree time is crrrrawling right now. But at least we're getting closer.
So, tuesday I had my first fitting! I had to go on my lunch hour so I went solo but she did all of the pinning and whatnot, now I go back in 2 weeks to try it on. I'm excited to put it on and just have it fit so snug and great.
I haven't decided yet what all I will do "wedding-wise" this weekend. However, I will actually be seeing both of my flowergirls so I'm going to give them their dresses. I hope they fit great and dont need altered. Or I at least hope they fit tons better than the bridesmaids dresses did. I'll say it again.... If you go through the effort of getting measured shouldn't your dress at least fit a little? No blame to the shop. More blame to the dress "company" for pairing those measurements with those sizes.
I don't have much else to say... we are making an appointment with Shannons Custom Florals whos doing our reception decoration and the flowers of course. We just want to finalize everything so I think we'll be meeting with her the very end of this month because my mom will be in town. Oh and one more thing to say, I love this premarital counseling! Anyone reading this and not married yet, do it! I told Jake last night I feel like we are learning and discovering things that usually take years to learn.

Blog 20!

2009-03-30T12:29:00.000-07:00

Well.... I didn't get as much done as I wanted to this weekend but it was still great!
-I'm pretty much done with Jake's portion of the "Growing Up Slideshow"
-I HAVE THE FLOWER GIRLS DRESSES AND I LOVE THEM!!!
-I picked up my wedding dress from the store so I can take it for alterations tomorrow
-My parents visited which was wonderful! My dad got fitted for his tux=)
-Jake finished the fence! It looks wonderful! And I loved seeing Roxie get to run around like
crazy!
-I gave the FG baskets I spray painted to my mom she is going to line them
-We added a couple people to our guest list because we know of a couple that cant make it. (ie. Cory is shipping off to boot camp)
-We are still waiting to hear back from our associate pastor about doing the wedding.
-Got some shoes for the Rehearsal!
-We selected a hotel for our out of town guests, it was going to be Days Inn on Sunshine, great
location but it was just kind 'bla' inside. So we decided on Sleep Inn at Campbell and 60.
-I got layers cut in my hair which will help with the style I'll be going for, for the wedding.

I guess it sounds like I did a lot =) But I still didn't do a lot that I meant to. So I hope to make up for that this week in the evenings.

Wedding Colors

2009-03-26T11:38:00.000-07:00

If you haven't already figured it out, these are my wedding colors...

Blog 19

2009-03-25T08:18:00.000-07:00

I think I have the full vision for the reception tables now. I've changed them slightly a few times but now I've got it. Plus I've decided on alternating damask and black napkins. Its going to be sooo pretty!

Also, Roxie had a photoshoot last week for a picture frame collage that will be set up at the wedding, here's one of her adorable outtakes.

Pictures!!!

2009-03-24T16:54:00.000-07:00

Spray Painting Flower Girl Baskets and Card Cage, the progress on the fence!, Awe... our initials, and the office room at our house which as you can see has become my wedding preparation room.

Blog 18!

2009-03-23T07:07:00.000-07:00

2 months and 28 days. Wow! This is way too exciting!!

Over the weekend Jake and I took the Map and Directions I made and printed them off at Kinkos. I found a GREAT dress to wear to one of the showers, it matches my wedding perfectly, the colors the style its so fun I just had to get it! I got a bunch more pictures of Jake scanned in but then he decided he wanted to pick out some more so I haven't gotten to make his slideshow yet, but he did pick out the songs for it.

Here's something exciting, the posts are up for our fence! I'm about positive I've talked about this before but our back yard is fenced on all sides except along the back because its a wooded area but we decided to close it in, it will increase the value of our house and let Roxie run around!!! So the posts are up thanks to Jake and his step dad Greg, next they jst have to put up the pickets and theyre done! I can't wait to open the back door and just let Roxie go running out!

I spray painted the flower girl baskets and the "card box" which is a pretty birdcage. Tonight I'm going to turn them over and spray the other side. Then they'll both be ready to add ribbons and other pretty things to =)

I have a couple pictures to post, I'll try to do that tonight.

Blog 17

2009-03-19T06:49:00.000-07:00

I probably mentioned this already but Jake and I are doing premarital counseling on Wednesday nights for about 4 or 5 weeks. We went last night for our second session and it was INCREDIBLE!!! I just feel like lately I've had a fresh perspective on so many things. Even during sermons at church I can hear the Pastor preach on something I've heard a million times but lately it just hits me in such a different way. And that's how it was last night. I was learning all about myself and why I do the things I do, and its stuff I've thought of before but last night it just seemed to all make sense and on top of that we had Bob and Tammy to help us and challenge to do specific things to work on those areas that need worked on. I am so blessed to be with Jake Turner. Not only does he go with me to these sessions, he wants to go with me and he gets out of it just as much stuff as I do, he's even the one that set this all up! I loved that when we were in the car afterward last night he referenced a verse that was talked about during the session and then he talked about how he wanted to apply it to his life.

I'll stop giving out so much personal information, I'm just so glad we were building this great foundation for our marriage. I wish everyone would. Wedding stuff... I've scanned in a lot of Jakes pictures for the slideshow and the next thing I'm going to work on is making maps for people so they know how to get from the church to the reception. And then also for my out of town family that will need to know how to get from their hotel to Mr. Yens! (Rehersal Dinner)

Ayisha!

2009-03-17T11:40:00.000-07:00

I HAD to post this picture of one of my BEAUTIFUL Flower Girls! This is Deana's little girl, Ayisha. Deana is my cousin and Maid of Honor.

Blog 16!

2009-03-16T12:56:00.000-07:00

3 months and 4 days!! 3 months and 4 days!! 3 months and 4 days!!

Can you believe it?? And in 5 days I can say 2 months and 30 days! Wow! That sounds so close!! I don't care how many times any one has made fun of me for my countdown because I'm just SO excited with every day it draws closer!!

Our Marriage Retreat was SO great. We want to go back every year. And a bonus... aside from building us closer as a couple, it was a great time that we got to fellowship with other Christian couples, and get to know people from our new church better.

Last night I worked on some flowers for the lobby table at the church. Today at lunch I bought some stuff for my memory book so I can work on that tonight. Also, I think I will buy Jakes wedding gift today. I've thought it over for about a month so I hope he ends up really liking it!!

Blog 15

2009-03-11T06:46:00.000-07:00

I think I'm in a lull? I feel like the rest of the stuff that needs done doesn't really need done until it's closer to the day. Plus I work better under pressure so I think I'll wait to do some of it.

I'm pretty sure my Mom and I are going to address invitations while I'm home Easter weekend! Then I'll probably send them out that next week. Also, while I'm home I'm going to pick out some more picture for the slideshow. I decided I'm not entirely happy with the ones I have now.

If I could take unexpected expenses, ball em up, throw them in the air and destroy them with a shotgun I would. Stupid unexpected expenses. =) Yeah yesterday I found out my car was going to cost me hundreds and hundres of dollars to fix. Bummer. Oh well, I've always taken the approach "it is what it is".

This morning Jake went with his uncle to buy the posts for the fence. YAY! It's really happening! I can't WAIT until little Roxie gets to run free in the backyard! Shes already such a happy dog I can't even begin to imagine how happy she'll be when that happens!!!

As I said before we have our premarital counseling on Wednesday nights but last night it got canceled. No big deal though he warned us it might. The reason being, our premarital counselors, Bob and Tammy Chambers are the ones putting on the marriage conference this weekend and they needed the time to prepare. I can't wait! We had the option to go and stay friday and saturday night but most of the retreat is all day saturday. So saturday morning we will drive down to Branson and then drive back late that night. I just have a feeling it's going to be such an awesome experience!

Sorry I don't have much in the way of actual planning to talk about right now. But I of course will keep you posted when things do come up.

Wedding Map

2009-03-05T13:25:00.001-08:00

I made this awhile ago but didn't know if I'd ever use it. But since I have this blog now I'll share it... It is a map of all possible wedding weekend locations you may need to know. Enjoy!

WEDDING MAP

Blog 14

2009-03-05T09:10:00.001-08:00

Jake and I had a fantastical night last night! We are doing premarital counseling and we got hooked up with our friends parents that we go to church with. The momma was sick last night so we just met with Bob Chambers and it was so nice. Everything I wanted premarital counseling to be like. We just sat and talked about ourselves as individuals and as a couple. He was showing us how important it is to know why we each act the way we do. Which I think about and consider often but it's so nice to talk it out. We will meet with them at least 3 more times. So anyway, I'm really happy and anything we can do to strengthen our marriage makes me happy. And I guess I should also say Jake really enjoyed it too.

So, since the weather is going to be nice this weekend I'm going to do some spray painting of wedding stuff. And now that I'm thinking about it, I may also sit on my back porch swing with my lap top and make that slideshow.

Jake and I both know what we are getting back in taxes and we can afford the fence, the landscaping and then some. Wahoo! We are each getting tattoos. I haven't totally designed mine yet, but I always said I'd get a tattoo when I was getting married. I'm picturing a music staff with jakes name or initials then maybe a couple colorful stars. Eh I dunno. But I'm also going to finally add to my back tattoo. I got it geez, about 6 years ago and have always wanted to add to it. Aside from that though I'm not a big tattoo person I think its silly when people fill up their bodies, for me just a couple nice ones that i really love is good. The only other thing I think I'd ever get would be something for my kids, but I dont even know for sure that I would do that. But anyway, Jakes clueless on what he's getting he just knows he want one.

Well, thats all I got for today. I'll try to have some sort of pictures again soon.

Blog 13

2009-02-27T07:00:00.000-08:00

Alright. So I'm finding out people actually read this which excites me! And it's good to know it's worth my while. This past Saturday we met with the caterer and took care of all the details that weren't nailed down yet. She has since given us a price on everything. And yes it was more than we had budgeted for, but we figured it'd be over budget and fortunately it wasn't as much over as we thought it could be. And the thing is, Patty is worth every penny so I'm SO excited! I know I probably wont be real hungry when I'm at the reception but I hope I am!!! Because I want to eat it ALL!!!!
Also on Saturday I picked up the Bridesmaid dresses! I went with Deana and she tried hers on, Jessica has since tried hers on and I will take Airika hers when I go to StL next month. Both Deanas and Jessicas dresses were too big on them which makes me kind of upset. When you measure someone shouldn't a dress at least fit a little and not fall off? So they will have to be altered. Ugh. But the dresses are very pretty and the girls look gorgeous in 'em!

Next on the agenda... find some necklaces for the flower girls. Finish the Table Names and make the picture slideshows. Also like I said we are always working to make our house 'purdier' and people seeing it in June is partial motivation (but I for one just love working on my house and decorating). So with our tax return money we are planning on, money permitting, putting a fence along the back of our yard. Right now we have everything but the back because its woods behind our house which is very nice to see. But when you have a mischevious pup its best to close her in completely =) We are also wanting to relandscape a big section in the back. I couldn't figure out last summer how the previous owners had that area, everything grew in all nasty and I couldn't get it to look nice, plus we had a 'mint takeover'. It's indirect sunlight on the Southwest corner of our house. Anyone have plant suggestions?

Oh also I need to start clearing some room for Jake. I've already taken over the 2 master closets, all dresser drawers, made a storage closet in one of the rooms and starting putting clothes in the third bedroom closet. Soooo poor guy needs some space in that house, so I guess I'll see what I can do.

Blog 12

2009-02-24T07:38:00.000-08:00

Mill Creek Park

One year ago today I said YES!! At 5:30pm in Mill Creek Park In KC, MO Jake proposed. I typed out the story after we got back to town so here's a little flashback with all the details of the event.... HOW IT HAPPENED We were visiting KC and having dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. It was on the same side of the street as our hotel but Jake suggested walking on the other side of the street on our walk back so we could walk through the park. I thought nothing of it because it sounded nice. While walking through the park we saw a few things. First we saw people feeding the homeless and praying with them, which totally touched our hearts. And then we saw a lady coming towards us on the path but she was walking backwards and didn't see us so we had to walk through the grass to get around her. We had a nice little laugh about that. Then Jake started taking me to look at everything interesting along the path (he was looking for the perfect place to ask) He even took me up to the big sign that lists all the donators. Im glad he didnt do it there! Haha! Then he suggested we walk to the other side of the park. I said "Why? Its out of the way." He said that it looked cool over there. I kept insisting it was silly (mostly because I'm lazy). But the he pointed out a sculpture he wanted to go look at so I said "Fine, lets go" so we cut across the grass and go to the sculpture. We stand there for a second when I say "Lets go on up this path then we'll walk down those stairs over there and cut back across the park" He said it sounded good. Then as we were walking I randomly quoted one of our favorite lines from "Employee of the Month" And he didnt even hear me! I had to repeat myself and even then he didnt seem that amused (he was nervous=) So we walk over onto what I've been calling a balcony that sits above a pretty pond. Then I'm heading for the stairs when he says "Look a crane." I dont know if thats what he actually said and he doesnt even remember but I walked over there expecting to see one of those birds you know... a crane. And then he stops me and says "I Have something I have to confess to you" I laugh a little, because he is the most trustworthy person I've ever met so I know it had to be a joke. He said "Don't laugh this is serious... I lied to you back in November, and I've been lying since. I told you I didn't have something that I did have (ring). And I don't want to lie to you anymore." At this point I don't know if I should be excited or mad so I say "If you're messing with me I'll punch you in the face." And then he puts his hand in this coat pocket and tries to pull it out but he was nervous and his hand was stuck. He finally got it out and I saw a ring!! He said "I love you so much and I know I want to spend the rest of my life with you." He got down on one knee and said "Will you marry me" As he's saying all that I keep saying "Are you serious? Are you serious?" And then when he asks I say "YES!!!" He puts the ring on my finger, I'm overwhelmed by how perfect it is. He gets up we hug, we kiss, we smile. It's amazing.

There you have it, the story. So tonight we are going on a date and I'm excited!!!
Yesterday in the mail I got my "Bride" tank top. I'll wear that the morning of the wedding while I'm getting ready... cheesy or not I've always wanted to do that =)

Blog 11

2009-02-23T07:44:00.000-08:00

Woo Hoo! We actually sat down together and got the music all figured out. We have a great list of songs to be playing while people are coming in and sitting down at the ceremony. We have 2 songs picked out for the ceremony. We picked our father daughter, mother son dance songs. And Our first dance song. Oh! and we had to pick out songs to be put into our wedding video so we did that too. I Do Video is who we chose as our videographer and they are great!!! You should check em out. www.idvsite.com
Anyway after all the talk of wedding music, you must know I'm relieved that thats done! Now I just have to download all the songs I dont have and get them onto cds.
So, our new church (Stonebridge) just finished their month long series on Fireproof. It was GREAT. Yesterday the pastor talked about Forgiveness in a way I've never really heard it before. And now Jake and I are planning to attend a "Fireproof" retreat in Branson in mid-march. I'm So excited, its our first Marriage Retreat. So, we love this new church so much already athat we are wanting to see if the pastor will be our wedding officiant. I hope so but I will of course understand if he is unable to.
One year ago tomorrow, Jake and I took a trip to Kansas City, walked through a park and got engaged! So, Jake took the day off work (b/c otherwise we wouldnt be able to celebrate until 830) and we are going to Olive Garden (thank you parents for the gift card!). Engaged for a full year, so you KNOW I'm ready to marry that fella!

This is in our hotel lobby just minutes after he asked me!

We went back the next morning to get pictures where he asked. Thats our hotel in the background.

Blog 10

2009-02-20T18:54:00.000-08:00

Here it is!! Do you love it? Only 12.95 with free personalization! I couldn't pass that up! =) I can't wait to use it on our tropical island!

Blog 9

2009-02-19T06:20:00.000-08:00

Blogs can get pretty boring without pictures so I'm going to try and start adding some. First this is a picture of the Hilton Hotel room where we will be staying on our wedding night. Ooo la la! This picture doesn't even do it justice. Awhile back we checked out hotels all around the airport and checked out the rooms and when we walked into the room at the Hilton we were in awe, its just so modern and gorgeous and we thought it was going to be way too expensive but as it turned out it's totally affordable.

So, we will leave Springfield no later than 7pm the day of our wedding in hopes to get to the hotel no later than 1030pm. Because the next morning our flight leaves at 6am! Luckily the Airport is right across the street. I'd say hopefully we can get some rest on the plane. But I really don't think I will. I will be SO excited, plus I've never flown with Jake before, so that will be fun in itself. We will stop in Miami for about an hour and a half and then fly to Antigua and I think we are scheduled to get there around 3:30pm.

Sandals Grande Antigua
...isn't it gorgeous!?!

Here's one of the pools.

Dining and Shopping

The Resort!

So, yeah, pretty exciting stuff. And I did get my "The Turners" beachbag yesterday. The delivery guy hid it so well that I didn't even see it! But I found it and its awesome! I love it. I will get a picture of it on here asap!

Blog 8

2009-02-18T07:27:00.001-08:00

Well I thought my beach bag would be at my house yesterday and it wasn't but it was ok because the ring bearer pillow I ordered was! I ordered it off of ebay where someone custom makes them with your colors for a very good price. I could not have been more pleased with it. When I opened the box I just kept saying, "It's so pretty".

Any day now the bridesmaids dresses will be in. I hope sooner than later I'm so anxious!

Blog 7

2009-02-17T07:21:00.000-08:00

I haven't done too much lately. Except Friday night after Jake got off work, we met up at IHOP and went over the guestlist. We tried to be reasonable about who will come to the wedding and who wont. A vast majority of our list will come but we were still able to squeeze in a few more people on our list.
*sidenote: a notice to all waitresses, if you talk to me about my wedding you will get a very good tip! I think me and Jake gave our waitress like a 60% tip because she was so nice and asked us about our big day!

I still have the music weighing on my mind. So Jake and I will finally get it finalized this weekend. I think I may even go as far as making the cds. One just for preceremony music. One for during the ceremony and one to give to the videographer.

Last night I had a wedding nightmare!! Man I'm still 4 months and 3 days away from my wedding (to be precise=)) and I'm having nightmares! I dreamt that I woke up and it was suddenly the morning of my wedding and there was so much that hadn't gotten done, like the picture slideshow and some decorations and whatnot and I remember thinking... can I get this stuff knocked out this morning? And some of it I couldn't so I just thought, oh well, my wedding just wont be everythign I hoped it would be. Sounds like a classic bride-to-be nightmare. I wouldn't know since I've never been a bride-to-be before but I would guess it's a pretty classic nightmare.

I'm also waiting for it to be nice outside so I can spraypaint some of the stuff of making for the wedding... flower girl baskets and card "container". But unfortunately its still COLD and will be this weekend.

I don't know the official count but I can still say with confidence that I have more swimsuits now than days I will be on my honeymoon! But don't for a second doubt that I wont wear all of them! I'm up to that challenge.

From tracking I saw this mornign that I will be getting something I ordered in the mail tonight!! It's a beach bag that has The Turners embroidered on it. I can't wait to see it! And I'll try to post a picture for you(whoever reads this).

Last thing, to follow up... I've finished paiting the office it looks great, I love it! The redecoration is temporarily complete. We still need pictures for the wall and a new tv stand, which we actually registered for at WalMart. It's pretty expensive so we probably wont get it. But it was worth a shot! and if we dont we'll just be saving up for it.

Blog 6!

2009-02-11T11:55:00.000-08:00

I know you are excited to hear about our weekend.... it was great!

I feel like we got a lot accomplished, but we also thought of a lot more to do. Heh. But we had a great time. We went to the church and finally got all the decorations we want to do in there finalized. And we got permission to go in the day before the wedding to set up the decorations when you usually can only go the morning of the wedding. But we just have too many other things to worry about the morning of, like..... getting ready! Plus its an early wedding (1pm). We also "made" our part of the favors, but we'll still need to take what we did and then give it to the caterer to put it all together. Annnd we went in the reception hall and talked to Renee (ECC) about how to set up the room. I was visualizing it and I got SO excited.

Bridal shower: I think it was moved to May 2nd but I'm not quite sure, but who cares, no matter what day it is, it'll be great!! And then another Bridal Shower has been tenatively scheduled for May 16th at Jake's moms house with his sisters and a couple friends. We decided on a theme for it. I think the theme will be "Sandals"(the name of our honeymoon resort) so it will be a tropical theme.

I still haven't gotten the music all figured out. Once I do it'll be a huge weight off my shoulders. The music is really important to me. So I want to make sure I remember to include all the songs I want to include in the day and then figure out where to put em.

So what next, I'm not sure, I've got to regroup and make a good new list of stuff to work on.

On a side note. A tornado touched down 1/2 mile from our house last night. Praise the Lord for keeping us and our house safe!

Blog5

2009-02-05T07:39:00.000-08:00

TOMORROW!!!! My Mamacita is coming tomorrow!!!!!
We've got BIG plans while she's here. SO much to do! We are using Friday night just to get completely organized on what we'd like to accomplish. We both have lots of notes.

The bridal shower is officially set for April 18th now. I'm really looking forward to it. I was afraid I wouldn't get to enjoy all the showers and stuff that come with a wedding since my family isn't from Springfield, but fortunately my new in-laws are wonderful!

I'm already working on getting myself in perfect condition for the wedding. I've been working out and even whitening my teeth! Taking the time to take care of yourself sure makes you feel good about yourself. I wonder why we don't do it more often?

So, if you know my history with hair. You know I had many more inches hacked off than I wanted back in the fall of 2006. Well, I've been growing my hair out ever since. I'd say now it's finally back to where it was. I've always wanted super long hair. And it will be good to have long hair for the wedding, for the way I'm wanting it styled. But the longer it gets the uglier I feel! almost like it just drags me down and does nothing for my appearance. So I know it's cliche to cut your hair after you get married but now I'm seriously considering it. I would cut it to probably the middle of my neck and keep the bangs. But I dont know.... maybe since it's already this long I should let it keep growing until it's super long like I've always wanted. Hair is such a touchy subject. Because once its cut it cant be uncut.

I almost forgot to say something about this, but I'm glad I thought of it because I want to share it with every couple!! ... Jake and I saw Fireproof, it was so good! Theres a book you can get for it too. I recommend the movie to any couple. And I also recommend at least trying some of the ideas in the book or even ones you see in the movie. Isn't it amazing what a little effort can do for your relationship? I've already seen us grow in the last few days.

We watched Fireproof last Saturday at Stonebridge church and decided to go there the next day for service. We really enjoyed it. I'd hate to change churches again because i really just want to say we have a church home and after after trying a few churches at the beginning of our relationship, we ended up at NorthPoint and have been going there for a year and a half. But on the other hand I want to follow Gods leading, so we'll see where He wants us.

Blog4

2009-02-03T12:38:00.000-08:00

Ok, things are getting exciting now. I really feel like the time is drawing near! A bridal shower is in the works for me in April thrown by Stephanie (Jake's stepmom) and Lori (Jake's aunt). It's going to be at Beths Baked Shop. I've always wanted to go there too!

Also, I feel like I can finally say our registries are complete! And thank goodness! We've been working on those and editing those for so long. We may not even get much on there but I feel like we've set up a good selection.

Another thing about weddings.... a lot of out of town family that would not otherwise visit will be in town so I'm in the long process of preparing my house for tours! We are trying to get the office all fixed up. We had it okay before but once we got a new couch for in there it became a jumping off point for me to redecorate the whole room. I started painting it last night and decided to just take it one wall at a time this week so it will be done in time for the weekend. I'll do more than one wall if I have time, but I have so many other things to get done in the evenings this week. We also really want to relandscape in the back. Theres one whole area of landscaping thats just kind of trashy in my opinion, the previous owners did great on everything else though. But that can get kind of pricey because it's a big area that needs done. So, I dont know if we'll be able to take care of that before the wedding.

Korey, my wonderful soon to be sister in law, came into my work today I showed her around the office and how to do things because she is going to fill in for me on Monday. That way my mom and I can have a nice long weekend to really get things accomplished. It's hard doing alot of planning without her here. Jake's been great at helping me, but, well.... he's still a guy.

...'til next time.

Blog3

2009-01-30T09:08:00.000-08:00

I guess the snow and ice storm threw me off because I haven't updated for a few days. So here's what's going on now. This weekend we hope to finalize our registry. There are just a few more things to add to it. And although we didn't want to have a lot of stores that we are registered at, we are adding Target. So we will be registered at Bed Bath and Beyond, Wal-Mart and Target.

Also, last weekend we were in St. Louis sand we went in the store where we are ordering Flower Girl dresses and man their employees do not have their act together. The owner is great but unfortunately, she wasn't there. We needed to order 2 dresses, one for Kenna and one for Ayisha. Angela, Kenna's mom, was going to be somewhat in the area that day (although they live in Illinois and the store is in OFallon MO). So they decided they would drive over to get Kenna measured. We made sure there would be someone there that could measure her. So they get there later that day and not only did the girl working have to call someone for help on measuring, she made Angela measure Kenna! And then Wednesday I got a call from the store so I could give them the credit card numbers for the dresses and they left a voicemail. The girl said she wasn't exactly sure why she was supossed to be calling me. She said "I think you were wanting to add a 4th dress maybe? Right now I show 3." Threee dresses!?! So it was just a big old mess. We've since talked to the owner and hopefully have everything worked out. But I just think, if you are dealing with the wedding industry you need to be on top of your game.

We've also printed off the pictures for our wedding favors which, I think, are really fun. So hopefully you guys like them. It seems like there are so many little details to think of but I don't mind, I still enjoy the process. And I'm really glad my mom is visiting next weekend for three days of nothing but wedding planning!

Blog 2!

2009-01-23T06:58:00.000-08:00

We're headed to St. Louis tonight!! Yay!!! I can't wait. I love my family sooooo much! It'll be great and hopefully we can accomplish a few things on our wedding planning agenda.

I've been attempting to buy some disposable cameras on theknot.com but the site keeps messing up. Hopefully I can get it to work before the sale ends. I know a lot of times when you set those out at receptions kids can take hold of them and take some terrible worthless pictures, heh, well it's true! However! I think I'd regret it if I didn't set them out because I bet we'll still get some great candids. And I love love love pictures!

At first Jake and I thought we were pretty sure on who all would be able to make it to the wedding but it seems there might be a few that can't that we hoped would. Like a couple of my family members in Georgia and Pennsylvania. And then I wonder if some of my military friends can make it; Shawn, Becky, Kari&Brad. I hope they all can but if not... we have decided to create a 'B' list. Some people don't believe in B lists but I'd rather do it this way than have too many people show up at the wedding without enough accomodations for all of them. I think the bottom line to constantly remember, it's our day. Our one day to be a little selfish, so as long as we are happy all is good.

Last thing I'll say, I can't wait for the moment when I see Jake at the end of the aisle. Right now the thought of it gives me goosebumps and it literally feels like my heart is fluttering. I hate to say it but if you are at that wedding I'm pretty sure you'll see me cry. I hope I don't ruin my makeup =)

-Stevie

Just Because

2009-01-22T09:09:00.000-08:00

Because I always seem to have free time at work, and all I ever do is think about my wedding... I figured why not start a wedding blog. I only wish I would have thought of this 11 months ago when we got engaged, but hey better late than never?

Jake and I have 4 months and 29 days to go until we get hitched! I am just elated at the the thought of it. It was just as Harry said in When Harry Met Sally "When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with someone, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible." I've always loved that line.

The Plans
The plans are going great. All the big picture stuff is complete. We have chosen Elfindale Chapel in Springfield, MO. It is actually where Jakes dad and stepmom got married AND his mom and stepdad got married on the lawn there. I didn't even know that when I chose it but I thought it was a really fun coincidence. It's a great chapel. I really wanted to choose a place that was beautiful on it's own. And it definitely is.

We decided not to have our reception there for many reasons (no dancing, unattractive wallpaper, etc) So our reception will be at Executive Conference Center. Both the Chapel and Reception Hall hold 150 people. You'd be surprised how quick those spots fill up. If you are reading this and you don't get invited, please don't be offended, we still love ya and we did the best we could to accommodate everyone. And I'm actually glad we didn't pick places with more room because it would have cost so much more. We are actually very pleased with everything all of our choices so far. I can get into more previously planned details later but right now I'll let you know what we are currently working on.

I am very hung up on getting the music figured out. Our dj's are Travel Tunes. They did Blake and Devins wedding and we thought they did a great job. We will leave most of the music up to them. But since we are such big music people there are just a few songs we want to be sure and incorporate somehow. Plus we are having a professional videographer "I Do Video" and so we also have to pick out songs for the video.

This weekend Jake and I are going to St. Louis to hang out with my family, also Jake hasn't met my brothers amazing girlfriend yet, so we will all hang out and I'm looking forward to it. However, also while we are there we are going to go to this store called Puddle Ducks, because they carry the brand of flower girl dress i want for Kenna and Ayisha, so we are going to get the order set up for that. Also I will pick out some "growing up pictures" for the picture slideshow I am making to be played at the reception. And then just a few other things. I am really looking forward to just sitting down and brainstorming with my mom to just come up with all the little details that still need worked out. Speaking of my mom she will be coming to visit in a couple weeks to get a lot of plans worked out.

I'll shut up now that I've written a long first post. But I hope you all enjoy this! I'm sure I'll stay on top of it because like I said.... work can get boring.

--Stevie