A Little Sun Goes A Long Way

Douglas reminded me the other day that it has been a while since I have wrote anything and I guess he is right. I better catch up on what's happened in the past 2 months.

I had my birthday in March and turned the big 2 - 1 (2 for all those that are confused)

I worked on my birthday, like I have for years, then I was able to enjoy a nice dinner with Douglas.

We ended up going out to dinner a few nights later with some friends.

Next came my cousin's wedding. It was B-E-A-U-TIFUL! 

I was so happy I was able to be a part of it!

I also survived the coffee temptation that I knew was going to eat at me.

Douglas didn't help much by setting steaming cups of coffee in front of me every chance he got..but I made it through! I made it till East before taking my first sip of coffee in 40 days!  

I ended up drinking a couple cups of coffee before i felt better about all the coffee I had missed!

(Although I still feel like I'm trying to catch up:)

The weather become nice here in the past couple weeks and i received my first sun burn, mowed the lawn, got a mosquito bite, had a near miss from a bee sting & did a little fishing.

I also had my first Bridal Shower, on the hottest day so far this year. 

It was great to see everyone that came and I feel so blessed with all the gifts.

 It is so helpful with starting out as a newly married couple!

And I even got all the Thank - You's sent out.

My Aunt's in Lynden are hosting another Bridal Shower for me next weekend and I am looking forward to having both sides of my family together to celebrate.

Speaking of the wedding: 

I have my first (and hopefully final) fitting with the seamstress to have a bustle put into my dress. I almost forgot that is something that needs to be done. 

I purchased my boots, corset, made a veil & hair piece, and purchased Doug's ring :)

I feel like I am getting a good amount of things checked off my list.

with less then a month till the wedding and 2 months to the reception I don't have much time to get everything done. But I think we are on the right track. I'm not stressing out as bad as I was. But I'm sure I will start freaking out in the next 2 weeks. ( breathing, in, out, in, out)

 Douglas has been making a huge effort to help out with whatever he can to help lighten my load. He took charge of setting up the table & chair rental and he came through with flying colors. That was a big thing on the list that needed to be taken care of due to the fact that our guest list is now at 390 people - and we will need approx 38 round tables and 300 chairs.

We have way too many friends and family. haha. 

But I am really looking forward to it. I think we can put together something good.

I guess there is only one way to find out:)

All I know is that after this wedding I'm going to need a hobby to fill in the space of all the time I have been spending on this wedding & reception. 

I've been trying to talk Douglas into a horse. I'm hoping that he will cave. 

I've been working on him. I can keep it out on the property & have plenty of space to go riding. I always wanted my very own horse & would love to learn to rope and get better at riding. I think it be a lot of fun. I already have a horse that was offered to me. 

Doesn't everybody need a horse? :)

 Doug & Chico

 

THE EXCITEMENT OF BUYING ENVELOPES

I am starting to really get into this whole wedding planning thing, five months after becoming engaged, and it's starting to worry me. 

Tonight I had some errands to run and I needed to look for some paper and envelopes for the invitations. Since I decided to get all crafty and make my own invitations, with lots of help from my sister-in-law Veronica, my sister Morgan & my friends. (they don't know what's in store for them yet.) Somehow I got a little distracted at Costco and didn't make it to Hobby Lobby on time. They really should be open till 9pm (just sayin) so I wound up at Office Depot looking for envelopes. Not thinking they would have much of a selection I wasn't getting my hopes up. 

But lo and behold..after searching for about 5 minutes I found some cream envelopes, just the right size and the best part? They are only $10 for a box of 100! So I bought two boxes. 

I really only need about 170..but having an extra 30 laying around never hurt! 

I was so excited! 200 envelopes for $20?! The dutch part of me did a little happy dance.

My family should be proud. Too bad stamps will be about just as expensive. sigh.

And yes..I said 170 invitations. Our guest list just keeps on growing. And my mother hasn't even gotten a hold of it yet. If we reach 400 people on the list I will seriously consider feeding everyone hot dogs and juice cups. Hopefully it won't come to that.

 this is probably what my stack will look like..

 

DAY AS;LDFIU'JNSD WITHOUT COFFEE

Somehow I have made it over half way through Lent without taking one sip of coffee. I have even turned down coffee ice cream! For those of you that know me, this is not normal behavior. And I'm honestly not sure how I have been able to stand my ground and keep from breaking my fast. Chai tea has become my new drink of choice, although it doesn't give me the extra energy like coffee does, it doesn't taste half bad. 

And now I've past the half way mark. It's all downhill from here. Soon me and my beloved coffee will be reunited! I really could use that coffee this week, between wedding and reception planning, work, house work, laundry & all the extra weekend activities. It seems every weekend there is about 500 things to do. 

I'm happy to report that wedding planning is finally coming together and starting to actually look half organized. 

We still have a few months so things can still fall apart. But I'm crossing my fingers that won't be the case.

I will be happy when this is all over and life can go back to normal. I have two cousins getting married this year as well and from what i gather they feel the same way. The first one is the end of this month and I play the role of "host" making sure everyone is there & accounted for, along with getting them down the isle in the right order. Some people put too much faith in me, especially since I won't have my coffee privileges restored yet I might have to actual try something like an energy drink *gasp* to give me what I need to get through the day. Desperate times call for desperate measures! And I'm sure everything will go just fine. And by the time my other cousin get's married in August I will have my wedding over with and can sit back and enjoy visiting with family. Wedding's are a great time to get to enjoy spending time with family and friends. It's a shame they can become so stressful for everyone involved. The those of you who simply receive an invitation with a date & the hardest part is returning the RSVP on time, count yourself lucky. When it is your time to go through this wedding process you will understand. So to all my single friends out there, before you say yes to your prince charming, make sure you are prepared for 6-9 months of planning, stressing, planning and more stressing. Along with  family disagreements, tears, meltdowns, disagreements with your fiance, carrying a planner, a notepad AND wedding binder with you 24/7, making decisions upon decisions, everyone asking questions to the point that you think twice about answering phone calls and text messages and I'm sure there are a few other things that I have forgotten..but  the most important thing to remember:

 IT WILL ALL BE WORTH IT.

I know I am not done with all my wedding stress yet, but I continue to remind myself that once it is all over I will get to spend the rest of my life with the love of my life. building a home & family. And as far as I am concerned, I can put up with all of this if that is what I get to look forward to in the end. 

Even if life isn't perfect, it's my Happily Ever After. 

After all that, I hope y'all don't think I'm crazy! :)

(If you see me after Lent is over at Dutch Brothers with the biggest iced white chocolate mocha they make in my hand, don't judge me!)

CAKE TOPPER?

 FOR THE LOVE OF COFFEE

I am sure that many of you have either heard that today is the beginning of lent or for those of you that participate have officially started the 40 days of giving up whatever luxury you have chosen to attempt to go without. I say attempt because I know not everyone out there can make it till Easter. As for me, I grew up knowing of lent because I had multiple friends that are catholic and they participated each year; however my family never took part. But this year I decided I needed to step outside my comfort zone and try new things, challenge myself more & try to become a better version of myself. So what the heck, why not give Lent a shot. I wasn't sure what I wanted to give up at first, naturally facebook was out of the question (props to you out there who decided to give it up) and I don't have many things that I'm really attached to, unless I wanted to give up my dogs, but I don't think my mom would be very excited to take them. And then I figured it out

*light bulb moment*

COFFEE! It's something that has been part of my daily routine since, forever. And I've never attempted or really ever wanted to take coffee out of my life. And with a big Dutch family, coffee practically runs in our veins and we are known to go thru about four to five pots of coffee at a Sunday afternoon family get together. And with one of my cousins getting married the end of March; I was starting to get a little nervous about really giving up my beloved beverage of choice. But again, I wanted to try new things this year…so coffee it is! I also decided if I'm going to take part in this I better do some research on it. And just in case you are curious also, here's what I found:

Wikipedia:

Lent (Latin: Quadragesima, "fortieth") is the Christian observance of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday.

The traditional purpose of Lent is the penitential preparation of the believer—through prayer, penance, repentance, almsgiving, and self-denial. Its institutional purpose is heightened in the annual commemoration of Holy Week, marking the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, which recalls the events of the Passion of Christ on Good Friday, which then culminates in the celebration on Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

During Lent, many of the faithful commit to fasting or giving up certain types of luxury as a form of penitence. Many Roman Catholic and some Protestant churches bare their altars of candles, flowers, and other devotional offerings, while crucifixes, religious statues, and other elaborate religious paraphernalia are often veiled in violet fabrics in observance of this event. In certain pious Catholic countries, grand processions and cultural customs are observed, and the faithful attempt to visit seven churches during Holy Week in honor of Jesus Christ heading to Mount Calvary.

According to the Synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus spent forty days fasting in the desert before the beginning of his public ministry, where he endured temptation by Satan. Thus, Lent is described as being forty days long, though different denominations calculate the forty days differently. In many of the Christian churches, Lent is regarded as being forty days long, but the Sundays between Shrove Tuesday and Easter Sunday are not typically regarded as being part of Lent; thus, the date of Shrove Tuesday will typically be slightly more than forty days before Easter Sunday.

This event, along with its pious customs are observed by Eastern Orthodox, Oriental, Orthodox, Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, Anglicans and some Baptists. Lent is increasingly being observed by other denominations as well, even such groups that have historically ignored Lent, such as some Baptists and Mennonites.

So now you know the historical reasons behind Lent and maybe I have convinced you to partake as well. If not, I hope you still keep me in your thoughts and prayers as I begin this little journey. As for you coffee, I will see you at Easter!

ta ta for now!



A COLD FEBRUARY NIGHT

Who out there doesn't love a bonfire, wither it be large or small, there is something that warms the soul and relaxes the body. Maybe it's the warmth or the crackling sound the wood makes. And as far as I’m concerned, as long as it's above 32 degrees outside it's completely acceptable to sit outside and enjoy a warm fire. (With enough layers of clothing to keep you warm of course!) So I talked Douglas into getting one going in the fire pit I got him for his birthday this past October. It was just what we needed after a day of working in the yard. He put some ribs on his bbq/smoker & we sat outside enjoying each other’s company, gazing at the stars since it was a clear night sky & loving the smell coming from the bbq. Perfect end to a great day. Makes me feel sorry for all those people that have never experienced a night in the country. Although it's a tad too early for the crickets to be out, there's a peace about the silence with only the sound of a passing vehicle every so often or the playful sounds of the dog's running around chasing each other. It really does a person good to sit back and just enjoy the moment without worrying about the next thing to do, the laundry or dishes, work, bills or in my case…wedding planning. Somehow I’ve been able to avoid that one pretty good lately :)

So I guess the moral of this post is:

Enjoy life one moment at a time & who the ones you share those moments with.



A MAN LIKE MY FATHER



Today ended up being one of those sunny, 50 degree February afternoons that Eastern WA is known for. And since Sunday is the day that my fiancé..side note: I realized after it was too late that I mentioned my animals names in my post yesterday..but not my fiancés..oops..so for those who are wondering, his name is Doug (or Douglas Owen when I need to get his attention). Back on track…Like I said, Sundays are the day that Doug and I like to spend time together going hunting, fishing or just being lazy and watching movies all day. But since today ended up being such a beautiful day we decided to do some yard work at his place. We started by cleaning out some of the big gardens that are mainly dirt & shrubs before getting to one of the smaller gardens that is full of irises & daffodils that are about 6 inches out of the ground. Now you must understand, I grew up with a mother that loved planting all kinds of bulbs in the spring and a father who didn't understand the word "gentle" and proceeded to rip out plenty during the times that my mom allowed him near her gardens.

Now to the point of my rambling...have you ever heard people say that girls marry a man like their father? And vice versa for men. Well, it's true. I am living proof! Like I just mentioned, my dad has no understanding of the word "gentle" or "careful" - neither does my fiancé. He promptly walked over the irises and somehow 'accidentally" pulled out a whole bulb. That is just what I actually saw, I'm sure there was more that he hid from me. It seems every day there is something that Douglas does that reminds me of my dad. Wither it's the fact that both men are hard working and live to provide for their families or the smile that appear on their face when talking to a baby, they are the two men I can always count on in my life to support me, challenge me, encourage me & love me.

No matter how old I am I will always be a daddy's girl and if I ever have a little girl I hope she looks up to her dad as much as I do to mine. Because Doug is definitely a man worthy of a little girls undying love for her daddy.

Doug cleaning the flower bed  





Hello y'all!

Although I technically don't know what I'm doing just yet, I promise to try and improve as time goes on.

And although my life might not always be the most exciting, I believe there are some things worth sharing.

However, today is one of those days where there really isn't much to post about but i figure i should start somewhere. Maybe start by filling you all in on my life.

I am 20, 21 in less than a month.(whoohoo!!) I was born in Bellingham, WA but was raised in Pasco, WA from the time i was 3 years old. at 16 my parents decided to move back and tried living on the west side with my parents for two years but decided the Tri-Cities was my home. moved back two years ago and it was the best decision I have made.
it lead me to meet the man i am engaged to, who is the LOVE of my life & can't wait to marry him in a few months and spend forever with him. If we can get through the next couple months and the whole wedding planning. I decided I was not cut out for all this girly wedding stuff.

I have two dogs and a gold fish. Gunner (miniature poodle) and Maverick (Jack Russell mix) - i can't forget my my Fiance's dog Terra (black lab) who, after a year and a half is still jealous of the attention i get from my fiance. The gold fish doesn't really have a name..poor fishy.

I started a new job a month ago (after being in the coffee stand business off & on for the past five years) I am working at Pioneer Hi-Bred in their Alfalfa research program.
I pretty much get to play with alfalfa seed all day and try not to spill it everywhere. (highly difficult)
But I have learned a lot & look forward to learning more about the process of developing a better grade of Alfalfa.

Well, that should get you all caught up on where I am. And hopefully there will be some good stories to write about in the near future. Knowing my life, it is never boring.

Thanks for reading! :)

My Fiance & I

Christmas 2010