William's Peep Show

  I will start this post with my absolute favorite picture from our engagement session.

Unfortunately some of you have already seen this on facebook.  For those of you who haven't, you might be thinking, this is so cute!  Well look harder.  This picture could be X rated!!!  This was not set up!  I promise!  In fact after a long weekend of engagement pictures (that my sister Jenny took), we were sitting on the couch looking through them when we got to this pose.  My sister said, "How cute!  The baguette is sticking out!" At that point William, my mom, my sister and myself all realized what this looked like and went into hysterical laughter for the next 30 minutes!

And here is the one I think we were going to go with...(thanks Carly)

Okay now for the seriousness of life's temper raging through my life.  If that statement doesn't make sense to you, don't worry it doesn't make sense to me either.

As if trying to plan a temple wedding while waiting on a temple clearance isn't stressful enough, we decided that it would be perfectly safe to take outdoor engagement pictures in August as it is summer time.  So William and I packed our bags at 9pm and left for St. George Utah at 10pm (6 hours away) to wake up at 8am to go another 2 hours to take some pictures.  

On the way to the pictures our hot summer day started raining.  And everyone was like just take cute pictures with an umbrella etc.  This was NOT SEXY RAIN, this was POURING rain, the kind that has thunder and lightning and flooding.  My sister calls me (as we are an hour into caravanning) and suggests that we head back and see if we can take pictures in St. George.  But William and I felt really good about the original location Jenny found and so for some reason we felt really good about continuing the drive in the storm...

And right when we got to the mountain it STOPPED!  It was so beautiful!  And when we left it started raining again!  So lets hope that was a reminder that all our wedding plans will work out from the man upstairs.

After the pictures, William and I left the mountain to go see the kiddos since they were only 3 hours away from where we were.  I made Hunter a dinosaur cake for his 5th birthday and my Dad, aka "Grandpa H" :) took us to the lake so we could ride on the inflatable boat.

We came back and ultimately fell into my family's trap.  America's Funniest Home Videos.  Oh my goodness we love that show.  So we stayed an extra hour cracking up at other people's misery.  Then dropped off the kids and headed back to St. George to awake again for some more pictures.

My sister made me promise 5 times that I wouldn't share any of the pictures (beside the baguette one) until she gave me the go ahead.  So I have to wait to share them, but I LOVE them!!!  We had so much fun, AND it was real.  We were really cracking up, really smiling and really making some hideous faces.  So hopefully I can share them soon!  

DIY Budget Invites

Posted this a little late, but had to do it because I think they are so cute :)

For the Bridal Shower for Daniela, she has a lot of family that lives pretty local and A LOT of friends. 

The first thing I started on was the invites.  Since I figured everyone throws invitations away I wanted to keep the cost on the invites as low as possible.  And at 100+ people invited, I need to get creative!

If you purchase invites from the store you are paying $1.00+ an invite, plus postage, plus envelopes, plus labeling.  And not only that, but its really just not as fun.

Thank goodness I have a good friend Stacy over at www.leafletlady.blogspot.com that designs all types of marketing/invitations/cards etc. for SUPER CHEAP!

I told her what I wanted, and gave her all the information and for $10-$20 (design fee) she can come up with a design for the invitation!

It was cheaper for me to print the design myself (instead of sending it to a print shop) and print it on photo paper.  I made them 5''x7" so I could fit two per page, and cut them myself.  I got the photo paper at Staples for $14.99 for 50 pages (remember 2 per page).  You can get glossy or matte finish, and I would recommend glossy, it just looks richer to me.

The next thing was the envelopes.  I really wanted orange envelopes, but since specialty envelopes are pricier than normal ones, I just got regular ivory envelopes Staples brand for $13.98 for 100 envelopes. But they were SOOO boring looking and I wanted to spice them up so I went on a mission to find some spice.

I found it at Target where I picked up a pack of 4 specialty designed tapes in my colors (orange/yellow) for a whopping $2.08 for the pack of four (on clearance of course)!  I trimmed the bottom of the envelopes with the tape as well as the middle of the back of the envelopes.

Then I used Avery labels that I already had to address the invitations and to also make the return address label.

So break down:

Design: $10, www.leafletlady.blogspot.com (I got the trade for services discount at $0) - Total $0

Paper/Printing: Photo Paper Staples Brand - Total $16.15

Envelopes: 50 Basic envelopes Staples Brand - $6.98 x 2 Total $13.98

Envelopes: Tape to trim envelopes with - Total $2.08

Labels: Avery (already had) - Total $0

Postage: 75 stamps (I passed out invites to people I would see in person) - Total $33

So for 100 invites, I invested 3 1/2 hours of my own time, and finished and mailed the invitations out at A Total of $65.21 or $0.65/invitation including postage!!!

Shout out to Stacy, she does ANY kind of invitation, wedding announcement, Christmas Cards, Senior Announcement, Baby Announcement, Flyers, and anything you can think of for only $10-$20 a design!!!!!!!! You can see her work on her blog!

San Diego Zoo Mishap

When I saw that I could get annual passes to the San Diego Zoo on Living Social for half off you better believe I put my credit card information in!  

And the date began.

You know how it takes so much time to leave the house when there are kids?  Well its just as hard when its just William and I.  Hopefully its something we will work on ;)

Either way we made it out of the house finally with a cooler filled with fruit and sandwiches etc.  (and a newly remastered playlist on my ipod AND iphone so we can play it while laying out at the beach)

 The beach picnic was AWESOME! And having our music made it even better!  

Look at that face!  Just makes you want to pinch those cheeks.

 And this picture makes you want to blot that face with oil absorbing papers.

So we laid out until I felt like I was so tan.  It wasn't until we got to the zoo that I realized I was still super white.  Whaaa.

And this is where the mishap begins.  Look at the two of us so excited to spend the rest of the day at the San Diego Zoo!

 Well after about 45 minutes of being transferred to all sorts of different lines and customer service people, someone finally had the courage to explain that the tickets we were presenting them were for the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.  What the heck?!  Tell me I'm not the only idiot that made that mistake!  Screw you Living Social!  I have been tricked!  And it would be totally fine if it was across the street, but we are talking another 45 minutes away!!!

So we decided that we would still go to the zoo only we weren't going to pay for tickets.

So this is us in front of the sign.  Oooohh....Ahhhhh....

And look!  We SPOTTED a leopard!  We didn't get too close though, we know they could be vicious. 

 And then we saw a decapitated bird.  We don't understand why they would showcase this.  We are thinking about contacting the zoo manager and complaining.  Maybe they will "refund" our tickets.

I touched a snake.  I was so scared!!!  But I felt like Britney Spears when I did.

 We went on a couple rides, this is when William was riding the mechanical bull.

 I was taking a picture of William and then suddenly this frog jumped so high it nearly hit his head!!! I can't believe I caught it in a picture!!!

 I wasn't tall enough to feed the monkeys.  Maybe next year...

 There was tons of SCAT everywhere!  This one William thought tasted like it came from a giraffe.

 After we spent the rest of our afternoon at the zoo, we headed to the gas lamp.  We had dinner and diet cokes (I got crazy with a regular coke) at the Shout House.  And then walked around downtown for a while.

 I had so much fun with him!  I am super deeply, tremendously in love.

The End.

How the Ms. turned into Mrs.

I have never been the kind of girl that grew up planning her wedding.  I wasn't against it, I totally wanted to get married, but I just didn't really put much thought into it.  

A week after I met William, the night of our first kiss (he he) I came home, opened a pinterest account and started planning OUR wedding.  I knew after ONE WEEK that I wanted to marry him and I finally turned girl and started the planning.  And of course he had no idea about any of this!  

  This is the story of the PROPOSAL!

The big diamond is a black diamond, the smaller diamond is a champagne diamond.  They are two separate rings, one band in gold, one in white gold.  

I knew it was coming.  I gave him my strict policies which were the following:

1. I must have a manicure

2. I must look pretty

3. I must have a cute outfit on

4. I must be surprised

5. There must be a hidden photographer (thanks to pinterest)

6. He must ask my Dad

Like most of you reading that he thought my list was rather ridiculous and putting too much pressure on him.

 I had a good idea he had a ring (I hacked his email account) but still wasn't EXACTLY sure.  

We had been on a week long vacation to Utah and during that time I got really sick.  We are talking the snotty nose, flem cough, watery puffy eyes kind of sick.  I knew that we were out of the anxiety range for a proposal so I could start picking my nails (I'm a picker) .  On Friday July 6th I ended my shift and he picked me up from work (my car was in the shop) and he had got me some medicine and orange juice for me, then proceeded to blindfold me.

I thought it was sexy ;), until the road started making me feel a little throw up kind of sick, and I started saliva-ing in a trash bag.  You know that feeling when you are about to throw up and spit keeps collecting in your mouth? I hate that!  Meanwhile William is singing the cutest songs to me :)

I want to point out that I DID NOT PEEK the entire drive which is extremely against my nature.  

We get out and he takes off my blindfold, but I still have to keep my eyes closed.  And he walked me to some location where we ended up sitting down on a bench (still with my eyes closed).  He tells me he is going to sing me our song.  And he does, but towards the end of the song it starts talking about wearing a ring and he leaves me side.  At this point I KNOW he is on his knee in front of me.

I start freaking out in my mind and refuse to open my eyes because I was so sure he was proposing and I didn't know what to do or where we were or what was going on (and I knew I was not looking good I mean he wiped a booger out of my nose before we sat down)!

I finally opened my eyes to my DREAM RING being put on by my finger by my DREAM MAN and I look around and we are at the LDS San Diego Temple (the place where we had our first kind-of date and possible DTR ((define the relationship)).  

Me:

OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH!

William:

You haven't responded yet

Me:

Oh ya! YES!  OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH!

And then I fell on the ground into the fetal position.

After some calming down, we headed to this AMAZING restaurant on top of a cliff in La Jolla overlooking the ocean :) 

So lets talk about the previous rules I mentioned. 

Manicure: Done. (Thanks to Jessica E. at Murrieta Day Spa who shellaced those babies)
Looking Pretty: NNNNOOOOO!
Cute Outfit: HECK No!
Surprised: COMPLETELY
Hidden Photographer: Technically no, but he had also purchased a tripod and with a little self timer action was able to get some shots :)
Permission from Dad: He asked my Dad in Utah and nearly crapped his pants three times in the process LOL

I would not have changed a thing, not even my outfit.  I LOVED it so much!  I feel so blessed to have William in my life.  I know that no matter where I was in the world, we would have found each other as cheesy as that sounds.  I am complete when I am with him.  I could not have imagined, or pinterested or designed a better man.

Meetings that end with Unibrows = LOVE

I have two jobs.  I love them both equally.  One I am pretty much by myself all day, and the other I am surrounded by really funny girls all day.  But sometimes after work hours, work time is absolutely worth it.  

We had our monthly meeting this month.  It was my first one since I have been back.  Was it productive?  Heck yes.  But productive can only last so long.  At some point the meeting needed to end.  And that is when it ended.  What was to follow would be more of a "team building experience" than money could buy.  

Whatever you are seeing here, just know that it was WAY WORSE!  

Now for a closer look at everyone:

Adrienne

 Jessica

 Daniela

 Joy

 Rachel

Feel free to vote on who had the "best look"

We finished the night with a dance party to Shakira's Hips Don't Lie.

We all went home and had funny stories, this was mine:

I pull up to William's house and he gets into my car.  Keep in mind that it is dark so at this point he still doesn't see the gravity of my "new look".

Rachel: Hey Babe!  Do you like how I did my make up today?

William: Uh (looks at me) ya it looks good.

Rachel: (confused for a second so I turn on the light in the car and don't say a word)

William: NOOOO!

Then we recorded about 24 different videos, this is the only one that would upload so this is what you get:

MDS taking over the Storm

We had SOOO much fun at the Storm's game with the Murrieta Day Spa crew.  So before I tell you all about the shenanigans let me first thank Monique for taking all of us!

Now this may be a group shot, but I think it should be a self portrait of Cody.  Can we all take a look?  If you don't know who Cody is, he is in the very top far right.  Thank you and have a nice day.

So Monique got us a private suite full of drinks and food!  What happens when you give me (and my friends) drinks and food?  We get cra cra.  This is a story of Murrieta Day Spa employees, their significant others, and FOOD mingled with baseball.

While the others were having some "adult drinks," Adrienne, William and I were getting CARAZAY on Coca Cola!  (I would have said coke for short, but then you guys would think we were doing drugs and we didn't want to confuse you.

The night begins with a foul ball smacking into the glass window.  Thank goodness Gordon had just got up, because it went straight for where he was sitting.  Fear not, the ball didn't hit any of US.  This is where it gets (totally not) funny!  Another foul ball was hit and actually hit a lady below us in the face.  She was pregnant.  I tried to get a picture, but it was just too dark to see anything.

  

Then pretty much there was baseball going on so we had to get creative.  And when I say we, I mean Jessica :)  I would be a disgrace to my country if I didn't mention that the only one that believed in Jessica's creative genius was William.  This is the story of Jessie.

1. "Hmmm I will make a sign that tells the people to say my name on the speaker"

And the response....

"What do we get?"  Well just so there is no confusion, they didn't get anything! bahahahaha!  

2.  Oh you don't see that sign?  Let me zoom in for you.

 And yes, that is Jessica with her hands up, me taking pictures of everything and William keeping his cool like a professional model.

Here are the rest of some of the pictures of the night for the people that were there if they want them. (With some narration)

Me and my man <3

Cody and Jessica <3

Monique and Gordon <3

Shawna and Jake

Monique and I (I'm trying to make my eyes look open)

Melissa and Mitch <3

The Ladies

Monique with "The Ladies"

Monique with "The Ladies" plus more Ladies :)

Adrienne and Cho

Shawna making Adrienne look pretty, as Shawna's hair is blowing in the wind.  Fierce. (That is what they would say on America's Next Top Model)

I am always telling somebody what to do :( at least its not William this time.

Cody lookin like a creep.

Watercolor painting of Jessica

Sketch of Jessica

Sketch of Cody and Jessica (close your eyes for the next picture)

Ewwww they tricked me!!!  I said 1...2...3...and they did this!  No respect.

She looked so happy and cute in this pic!

Adrienne's hubby couldn't make it.  AARON!  WHERE ART THOU?

 Good bye.

 Farewell.

Boom.