Walking in A Winter Wonderland

Let it snow! Right? Holy cow there has been a lot of snow. And ice. Lot's of ice. Lots of accidents on the road. Let's face it. It's a mess out there right now.

On the plus side, I've had a couple of weeks to try and plan this little shindig we call a wedding. Things we have accomplished so far: 1. The temple is scheduled! Making this whole thing more real than ever. We got the time and day we want. Perfect! 2. We have a reception center picked and a deposit down. 3. We have cake flavors and style picked out. 4 layers with so much deliciousness... and buttercream. None of that gross (yet, lovely looking) fondant. Yuck! 5. Should I mention that I met his family? That's an accomplishment, right? And they are SO wonderful! I think they like me too. Bonus! 6. Colors are picked out. 7. Oh, I have my dress. 8. Most importantly, we have the bride and groom.

I think that's all we have definite thus far.

What we're still working on: Food. Flower girl dresses... style is down, but we don't know which color to put them in. That all depends on what we put groomsmen in. For the bridesmaids we have a dress we like, but we need to see what they look like on our lovelies before we decide we really want them. I have an idea on flowers, but I'm waiting until my mom gets here in March to finalize that. Blue and green bouquets, here we come! Trust me, it will be gorgeous. Oh, wedding favors. If you have any fun/awesome ideas, please let me know. I don't want to do jordan almonds, or a candy bar, or any of that traditional stuff. We want something fun and unique, yet, still affordable. Still working on tuxes. That's a fun story.

I think we have photography taken care of... I think. Videography, check. Oh boy. No wonder people hire wedding planners. It's fun, but there's a lot to think about. Fortunately we still have 6 months. And I've very grateful for a wonderful fiance who is so patient and involved. He has made all this so much easier. And he's just as excited as I am. Ah, love. It's a wonderful thing. Plus, my mom is excited. Again, so much easier.

This was my winter break. Love makes stress much easier to deal with.

I can't believe this is actually happening. I can, but really I can't. I'm so glad it is.

Fa La La La La

Well, it's Christmas Eve and I have really nothing more to do than blog. It has been a week or so anyway, so why not? I'm sitting here alone, so I may as well.

Last weekend Cory and I went down to Las Vegas to visit my family for the holidays. Well, before the holidays. Our annual Adams Family Christmas dinner was in California, so we left Thursday after our last finals, spent a couple days in Vegas, drove to Cali on Saturday morning, drove back early Sunday morning, and stayed for a couple more days. As stressed out as I was, this was probably the best Christmas season I've had at home in a long, long time.

In California, Cory got to meet the extended family on my mom's side. They seemed to like him, and he wasn't scared away, so I consider it a success.

In Vegas, my mom wasn't feeling well, so I cooked dinner a couple times and ran a bunch of errands. Cory helped out a lot too. We helped my sister paint her nursery one day. A nice argyle print on the wall. I think it turned out really cute even though there was a lot of taping involved. Cory and I also picked out announcements. So now all we need is to figure out how many to order, pick an engagement picture, order announcements, and send them out.

Right before we left, I had a lovely little chat with my mom. All the dos and don'ts of being engaged and married. Considering I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing, I could use it. Not all of my talks with my mom are the most pleasant. Well, really, our past history isn't 100% positive, but this was really nice and uplifting. I really appreciated it.

Yesterday I got to meet Cory's family. They drove all the way down from Washington for Christmas. It was fantastic! I love them so much! They feel like an extension of my own family. His mom is SO nice, his dad is really funny, and his brothers and sisters are all so wonderful. It makes me even more excited to marry him.

So tomorrow I get to spend Christmas with Cory and his family. Then Sunday I'm singing in the Nutcracker. After that, the rest of the year should be slow and relaxing. I've been able to organize a lot of stuff and donated a bunch to DI. Now my room is cleaner. My life is less cluttered. And I'll be ready to move into a new apartment with my husband in 6 months.

Yeah, I'm a little bored. But that's my life as of late.

The Laughter Penetrates My Silence

Yesterday was just too much fun. A while ago, girls went down to Ephraim to Lauren's house for Conference weekend. I think I had to work or something, so I didn't go. Well, Amanda came back with some really great picture. So when Cory and I got engaged, I thought it would be fun to do a photo shoot with her. Well, with Cory, but with Amanda taking the pictures. It was a blast. We laughed so hard for a very long time. And this is why we haven't hired anyone to take engagements yet. At an hourly rate, we'd be wasting a LOT of money. Fortunately, Amanda was able to get some great shots. My mom has been raving about them all afternoon. Check em out on facebook. There were about 400 total, but I posted my favorites... because, well, some were just so us (as in, so awkward or hilarious for us) that we couldn't expose the rest of the world to them.
With finals starting today, it was a great way for me to just break loose and forget worrying and cramming my brain full of crap. Yep. I said crap. That's how I feel about finals. And Cory's birthday is tomorrow... so maybe, with no other ideas for his birthday, I might be able so something with one of our favorite pics. So here's hoping for good luck with finals for both of us. And thanks again, Amanda, for awesome pictures. We have something to look back upon and laugh, a lot.

I Can See Clearly Now

This is a story of a very unfortunate circumstance and its very silver lining.

So I went to see my optometrist again this past week. You know, to check on those pesky ulcers that keep returning. The good news: they're finally healed. Again. The less good news, but still not bad news: we have discovered the main cause of this issue is probably chronic dry eyes. Therefore I have new eye drops to keep the eyes moist (have I ever told you how gross the word "moist" is to me?). And now I can only wear my contacts for 12 hours a day, maximum. Good thing my fiance has perfect vision... our children will have at least some hope. That's besides the point though. Here's the silver lining in all this ulcer business. Apparently all the scar tissue on my eye has formed in such a way as to pull on my cornea just so.... which, in return, has magically reduced my astigmatism. Fancy that! Now I have a trial pair of lenses that doesn't correct astigmatism. Meaning: My lenses are a little thinner, and MUCH less expensive! Well, that's not the true ending of the story. We'll find out next week if these lenses will keep so I can actually order them, or if I'll have to go back to the old astigmatism-correcting lenses that are twice as thick and cost an arm and a leg. But hooray for hope!