plan,plan, plan

well wedding planning is going good!
Colby and I have taken our engagement pictures
We have began to put together our invites.
We have The temple date reserved.
I have my dress :)
the bridesmaid dresses have a pattern/fabric
we have (3) photographers that we are trying to pick between.
we have a decorator
we are 80% sure we have a caterer/cake maker
I know what kind of cake I want
flowers are being purchased so the bouquets can be made
centerpieces have been designed and 75% purchased
plane tickets have been purchased
colby is getting measured for a tux this week (supposedly...)
Everything is coming together!!!
Hopefully everything continues to go smoothly!

Things about the South

Last friday, I went to watch Colby play softball. It was fun, Christal and I sat and cheered on Colby and Chris, and they won!
Im sure our cheering was what caused that! :)
That wasnt the exciting part for me...
The exciting part for me was when we got back to Chris and Christal's, it was about 845 and the sun was almost down. Then I saw them!
FIREFLIES!
I love fireflies! My eyes lit up and I immediately began to try and catch some... (note tried)
I remember being out in Arkansas when I was little we would go to my cousin's house and we would run around trying to capture them!
If you have never experienced this bug phenomenon then I highly suggest this southern treat!

This is the best picture I found of them. They are Pretty neat!

Lighting bugs are probably my favorite type of bug (to go a long with caterpillars turn butterflies and rolly pollies) All others, I despise.

NOTE: There are A LOT of others around here.
Especially the ones that attacked my legs while picking raspberries the other night.
How rude of them to make my legs itch like crazy and make me unable to wear anything other than pants in the high 90 degree weather we are having!
We think they were chiggars? (Where they came up with that name anyways..) For years, I thought they were an imaginary bug people talked about that went along with ticks. Just so they could say, "Watch out for all the ticks and chiggars!"

NOTE (also): I would MUCH rather be bitten by chiggars than ticks...
The worst part of the leg bites, Colby (who wore basketball shorts while picking raspberries) did not get ONE bite! I on the other hand who had rolled up my pants to a long time of capri, am covered.... A little unfair I think!

Those are some things about the South. Things I never saw in Vegas, bugs hardly exist out there before they are fried by the heat. Things that make it more interesting to live out here. Oh, the things I do for love... :0D

wedding planning...

IS it over yet?? I have barely began planning, and already it is driving me crazy! Invitations we a mess so I played with paper so my mom had some ideas...i cut my finger in the process...haha! The flowers were fun! Christal went with me to Michaels and we found some nice flowers that could all possibly go together! Now Colby and I are taking our engagement pictures on Saturday! Im looking forward to that! Then from there.. who knows where!!!

Las Vegas!!

So I went back home for Memorial Day weekend! It was one crazy, hectic short trip! There was so much to do, so many things I wanted to do! and no time to do them all.
I was excited to see my family! It was the first time I had seen them since I moved out here.
I got in late thursday night, about 11:30 Pacific Time. I hardly slept on the flight, so I was tired. After we got my baggage, which was one of the last ones out of the claim (of course) we headed home! But we stopped for a bite to eat at In N Out first! I just had to have one of their double double protein style burgers! Yumm! I had been craving one of those since I left!
We had to get up early to head to St George. me, Mom, Mama, and Karli all went up there so that I could find a wedding dress! First I got my hair done by my friend Kate who is in hair school. It was good to see her and how much she has grown! After the salon we went to Bridal Elegance. I tried on SOoo many dresses. This nice girl Kendra helped me, and we went through and picked out the favorites and finally narrowed it down to "The One". So we got that out of the way and went shopping for the rest of the day! We got back to town around 730. I went to go visit The Burn's. It was good to see them! I spent a lot of time at their house before I left. I tried to go visit some other people, but no one was home. Then my whole family went to see Indiana Jones! It was good!! I've always like the Indiana Jones movies though!
Saturday was interesting. I had to get up early because I had a facial at 8. Chong was the lady that was giving me the facial. I was a little nervous, she didnt speak very good English, and there was NO ONE else in the shop...I am still alive though and I still have a face so she did a good job.
After that me and my mom went and picked up my sister and went to go get a body wrap. It was awesome! Me and my sister both lost 1% body fat and 4-5 inches total just from sitting there in the wrap for an hour. It also has a lot of health benefits. I am anxious to go back and get another one!
Then we went to my friend Shaqueita's reception. It was so cool to see her and her husband! I also got to see several old friends that I hadnt seen in a long time! We all got to catch up and talk about our lives!
I was supposed to hang out with Ann that night, but she had to go off and get engaged so I'll let that one go! We got engaged the same week, and we will be getting married one week apart! :)
Sunday was church day. I went to my parents ward, then went to singles ward to see some of my friends. There was about 15 total people there because it was a holiday weekend, but I saw the leaders and got to talk to them for a couple of minutes.
We had carne asada for dinner, that me and my mother bravely went into the Carniceria for. We were the only white people, and it felt as if we were in a completely different country. I even got to speak a little espanol to the guy behind the counter telling him how much meat we wanted. We all relaxed the rest of the day and some friends stopped by to say hello!
Im glad I got to see my family and friends, even though it was short! I will be out there again in August!

Engaged!!!!

It happened! I am now officially engaged! And I can't wipe the smile off my face!


Colby had told me that I would be going on a scavenger hunt on Tuesday afterwork, I was excited! It was something out of the ordinary for him to "plan" something like this. So I got home on Tuesday and there was a clue on my door.

It directed me to Harris Teeter, where I had to go and ask the customer service for my next clue! The lady could not keep the grin off of her face as she handed me the clue!

The next clue sent me down the road to Jam's Deli. Colby and I had been out to eat there once before and had an enjoyable time! I went up to ask cashier for the next clue. It was the same girl that had been there when Colby and I had been before. She was... strange. and she had a HUGE Hickey on her neck... which was gross. She handed me my next clue, a long with a small Dubble Bubble duck toy. It was cute.

The next clue sent me to a pottery painting place. Colby and I had gone down there one day, the same day we went to Jams, so that we could paint some pottery! Unfortunately, it was closed so we couldnt. SO I went inside and asked for my next clue. This clue came with a small ceramic pedestal sink. It is blue with black polka dots, very cute!

The next clue sent me to Bicentennial gardens... bathroom!! It was the only place that a clue would be safe! Especially since it was very windy, and there was some rain! The clue was in the corner with some white roses. I pricked myself with the thorns when I went to pick them up!

It was the last clue. It sent me back to my condo! Where dinner and even some dessert would be...waiting..

I hurried home! But when I got there, there was no COLBY! I had gone a little bit too fast, about 15 miuntes too fast! I was supposed to wait 15 minutes before I started, but I misread the first clue...

I called Colby, and he said he was on his way back with dinner! I set the table and lit the candles. We like to have candlelight dinners when we actually eat at the table! He came in and got out the food. Then he explained how he went to go get PF Changs, but that didnt work. So he went to a place called US Sushi. It was very good. We had steak (medium-well :)) with stirfry veggies and rice. Also some fried things, Im not sure what exactly what was in them, but they were pretty good!

We cleared the table. Then we were standing in the kitchen and Colby got out some fortune cookies that Brittany had made. Colby opened his and read it. It said " A new phase of life is upon you" and then I went to open mine. They were soft so I just rolled my slip of paper out of it. I read it. Then read it again. It said "Will you Marry Me?"

I didnt read it out loud. I just said "YES"!! Colby was standing right in front of me and he pulled the ring out of his pocket and put it on my finger! It is a PERFECT FIT!

I think we stood there holding each other, for 10 minutes! I just couldnt let go, and neither could he. It was an amazing moment! And I am so excited to start planning the wedding and to be with Colby for All Eternity.

My first time going Strawberry Pickin'

One thing I could never do in Vegas.

Pick Strawberries!

It was wonderful! and cheap!

Usually at the store you can buy 10 berries for 3 bucks! 

I got a whole HUGE basket (see pic) for

$5.50

I have been wanting to go do this since I found out that it was the season for it,

but havent wanted to go by myself.. So luckily, Christina wanted to go to!

Then I got an email from some of the YSA girls saying they were going today!

Yes! I was in luck! So me and Christina decided to go!

We met at the church then headed over to the farm. 

It was on a side of town, I have never been too...

The East part of town.. I like to stick here to the on the West! 

It was a pretty big farm! They had a large tomato greenhouse, squash garden, Beehives, and then the strawberries.

We picked and filled out baskets rather quickly! There were just so many! 

So all in all, it was fun!

After we picked we went back and enjoyed a nice strawberry dessert.

Lauren made brownies, a pudding, heavy whipped topping mix, and it was completed with strawberries! :)

So that was my day, we plan on making jam. Leda, Christina, and I have never done it and decided we should probably learn! That should be a fun adventure happening later this week!

My first NC major storm

Ever since I was little I have been TERRIFIED of tornadoes! I think the fear came from watching the movie Twister one too many times and then driving through the plains during tornado season and hearing tornado watches on the radio! I had the misconception though that if there were Dark, Ominous clouds anywhere that the land was relatively flat, there WOULD be a tornado! I know this sounds ridiculous, but I was like 8 when I saw this movie and it stuck with me!

So last night I turned on the tv around 815, only to find Sever weather alert and the news team on. I knew that there was supposed to be something better on than news people trying to think of things to say about the storm that was coming in. It said that their was a tornado watch and a severe thunderstorm warning, but most of the weather was a north of me, so I wasnt too concerned.

Then Colby came over and after he discovered there was nothing on, we decided to watch a movie. So we watched The Notebook. That movie is always a good pick. As soon as the credits started rolling, the power went out. Throughout the movie I could hear the wind, rain, and thunder and see the lightning! It was madness out there! I was nervous but tried to just stay watching the movie...

So Colby left around 11:50, and I turn on the news. They are saying that there was a tornado or "really strong rotating winds" that had gone across Brian, Market, Sandy Ridge, parts of the 40, and the 68! There were tractor trailers turned over, damage at the airport and cars off of the road.. this made me extra nervous! I live right behind the airport and within 2-5 miles of all of the roads they were saying were reporting damage! The news started to report more possible tornado touches just to the northeast, with baseball size hail!

I was home alone! I was nervous for Colby to drive through the storm! I wanted to go to sleep so that I could wake up and go to the gym in the morning, but my bed is right next to the window and that was scary!

Finally, my roommate got home around 12:45. She has gone to the gym and they had locked everyone in for safety! So I talked to her for a minute and then went to bed. For whatever reason it was more comforting knowing someone else in was in the house.

I made it to the gym, even though I contemplated going due to the few hours of rest! I read online that there was quite a bit of damage and collapsed building and stuff like that! I got to thinking that I would probably get a lot of calls today for people needing GUY TURNER service. I was right! First call this morning was for a collapsed wall that needed to be lifted. I guess some airplanes had also been overturned and have to be turned over over!

All in all it was one crazy storm! The worst one in the area in over 20 years! And the worst one I have ever been in!! I guess I better get used to weather though! Its a big change from sunny weather all the time, but kind of cool to have!