Exciting Times for My Fiancé!

24 more days... I repeat... Only 24 more days until 4/4/14 and I'm a married woman! That also means only 25 more days until I'm on my honeymoon in Oahu! It's hard to concentrate on anything else at this point because I'm just so excited to get married and spend a warm, tropical honeymoon with my soon-to-be husband! But until then, I just have to keep myself distracted with work and whatever else life needs me to do.

Last Monday was Geoff's birthday. Since he would be working until 9 at night on his actual birthday, we started celebrating it with a Brazilian Sunday dinner. I surprised him with Estrogonofe de Frango (chicken stroganoff) and Pao de Queijo (cheese bread). I also found some Guarana at a local grocery store which is a popular soda in Brazil. Although it didn't taste exactly like how it actually is in Brazil, it was still very yummy!

I tried to spoil Geoff as much as I could! I bought him a new, fancy electric razor since his has been falling apart since he was on his mission, as well as a Chick-Fil-A gift card because he is obsessed with that place! I also made some chocolate cupcakes, because what's a birthday without some cake? I think he had as good of a birthday as he expected it to be!

Another thing that happened on his birthday was we happened to find the perfect car for Geoff to buy. He's been looking for a car for sometime now because it's a pain for him to walk everywhere or have me or someone else take him to and from places. Luckily his work is so close it only takes him a few minutes to walk there. But on the evening of his birthday as I was picking him up from work, he has me come to the back where he works to look at this car he really liked. It was a Scion TC. We both liked it, until we realized the side mirror on the passenger's side was totally busted and being held together with tape! As we were about to leave, I saw this car out of the corner of my eye and was like "How about that one?" We went over there and after examining it and whatnot, we both thought it was the perfect car for him! It's a 2006 Hyundai Sonata, which is a couple of years older than I was hoping it would be. But it seems to run good and the previous owner bought brand new tires and took good care of it before reselling it to Carmax. A few days later after getting a bank loan and doing all the fun stuff you do to purchase a car, he was able to drive it home!

I'm glad that Geoff feels so proud for buying a car, it's a pretty big deal for him! Hopefully in a few years down the road I'll be able to trade in my current 2002 Honda Accord for a newer car so I can experience the same feeling!

Wedding, Waffles and Wax!

Last weekend, my mom flew into Salt Lake so we could get the majority of everything needed for the wedding reception. She flew in Thursday late afternoon and we didn't waste any time! By Friday afternoon we pretty much had bought everything already! It was great having here here for a quick trip and spending some mother-daughter time together.

I'm officially done with assembling wedding invites! Putting the actual invites in the envelopes took forever, but putting the labels and stamps on were a piece of cake... maybe because Geoff helped me out with that part, perhaps?! I plan on sending them out tomorrow afternoon and can't wait for everyone to see them!

This past Tuesday, I was driving home from work and was less than a mile away from home when out of the corner of my eye, I see the Waffle Love Truck. I thought I was day dreaming, but I blinked and it was still there! I've been hearing all about Waffle Love's amazing liege waffles for some time now from my Provo buddies and have come so close to driving down there just so I can taste one for myself. Once I saw that truck, I of course took advantage of it being so close to where I live! I ordered a chocolate-stuffed waffle with cream, and oh. my. goodness. It was the best waffle to have ever touched my taste buds! I didn't know exactly what "liege" meant and what made it different than a normal waffle, but it's basically this sugary, caramelized crust that's on top of the waffles. Hard to describe unless you experience it for yourself. I also discovered that because Waffle Love was so busy with their one truck in Provo, they bought a second truck that usually hangs out around my neck of the woods! I saw today on their Facebook page that they're going to be less than a mile away from me AGAIN today, and Geoff gets off at 6 instead of 9 when he normally does, so I just might have to take him to get a waffle so he can experience it for himself!

For Christmas, I got my first Scentsy warmer and was so happy! I've wanted one for quite some time. I have a basic plug-in one, but I wanted one that could sit on my counter and be a cute little decoration. I couldn't wait to buy some wax! Three of my favorite scents are Eskimo Kiss, Beach and Luna. I had a bar of the Beach already as well as half a bar of the Eskimo Kiss, but I found out that Eskimo Kiss was being discontinued after this month so I knew I had to stalk up on it! So I ordered six bars through my cousin Brianne, three of the Eskimo Kiss, one bar of Luna, one bar of Skinny Dippin' and one bar of A Smile and A Wink. I LOVE A Smile and A Wink! Such a sweet smell. And I knew I had to try Skinny Dippin' once I smelt the tester of it. So I'm excited to put these smells to good use in my small little basement apartment! Coming home to a lovely smelling place makes me happy :)

Those are some random yet fun updates about wedding, waffles and wax!

Valentine's Day 2014

I was looking forward to Valentine's Day this year because the last two Valentine's Day were a little depressing since Geoff was on his mission. Geoff usually has Fridays off so I was lucky enough to get off work a little early so we could spend most of the day together. My cousin Damon and his fiance, Jamie, were visiting this weekend and since Damon was staying with Geoff and needed to come to my house in the morning to pick up Jamie, they were able to drop Geoff off at my house so he could set up his little surprise for me while I was at work.

He had made these weaved hearts and filled them with Hugs and Kisses chocolates, which Hugs are one of my favorite candies so I loved it! He also got me some flowers and a pretty necklace and some earrings. So cute!

I got Geoff a few of his favorite food items and some socks (he desperately needed some) and typed out some clever saying to go along with each of them:

Socks = We make a great pair
Chocolate peanut brittle = I'm totally nuts about you
Apple cinnamon doughnuts = I doughnut know what I would do without you
Blueberry muffins = I'm so glad you are my stud muffin
Veggie chips = You are all that and a bag of chips

We also made dinner for ourselves, Damon and Jamie that night since I thought it would be a bad idea to go out to dinner (Friday night + Valentine's Day = way too long of a wait). Geoff helped me make chicken cordon bleu with saffron rice and caesar salad. He's an expert chicken cordon bleu roller! We also had some sparkling cider to go along with our meal. It was delicious!

I'm so grateful for Geoff and all he does to make me feel special, not just on Valentine's Day, but everyday! Sometimes we get frustrated that we're not able to give each other the world with fancier gifts or spending money on date nights out. But then we remember we're just starting out and as long as we love each other and show our appreciation for one another every so often, that's all we need to be happy!

Here's to many more Valentine's Days with this guy :)

In Exactly Two Months From Today....

... I will be married to my best friend for time and all eternity! Right now I feel like all my energy is put towards my job and wedding planning. I'm glad I have had ideas in mind for what I want for my wedding for a while now because it's so much fun making my ideas actually happen! I have gathered all the addresses to send wedding invites to (Well, most... There's been a few friends that haven't replied back to Geoff and I's pleas get their addresses! You snooze you lose, right?!) and I've bought and received Geoff's wedding tie and ring. I ordered both the tie and ring last week and received both of them in less than a week, which was also the case for my wedding invites! I'm grateful for companies that are able to send products fast but are still able to maintain the product's quality. Getting the invites, tie and ring got me all the more excited to get married because once I saw the invites, tie and ring, all three were better than what I was expecting they would be. I love it when that happens!

I've been debating whether or not to show my wedding invites on my blog before I actually send them out, but I've decided to keep them a surprise for our family members and friends. I'll be mailing them out in about 3 weeks, which is crazy to me that it's coming so fast! I also can't wait to write a blog post or two about wedding details and post pictures of the cute reception decorations!

Sorry about the random blog post, I just enjoy expressing my excitement in writing from time to time :)

To stick to the wedding theme, I went to IKEA this past Saturday for a "quick trip" to pick up some home essentials. However, I was taught a valuable lesson that day: It's never a quick-trip to IKEA! My trip turned into an hour-long one because I kept noticing things that would be perfect for my wedding reception! Here's a photo of some items I saw that you might see again if I decide to go back and buy them:

Thanks for stopping by! Hope everyone is enjoying life just as much as I am!

Ice Castles in Midway, Utah

With Geoff being one of the new guys at Carmax, he usually gets the work schedules that no one wants. This means working from 12 to 9 at night, getting either Wednesday or Thursday off and working on Saturdays. Although this makes it hard for us to see each other during the week, I like to look at it as a blessing in disguise. Geoff's working full-time AND taking online classes, which means he spends at least two hours a day, if not more, doing homework. By not starting work until the afternoon, it allows him to have plenty of time to get his homework done in the morning.

Last week, Geoff not only worked from 8 to 5 for the first time since he started working at Carmax, but he also had Saturday off! We were so excited to be able to spend all weekend together. However, I think Geoff would tell you it's hard to do homework in the evenings after working all day and being exhausted, which is why I think the 12 to 9 schedule works best for him. But he still was able to get all of his homework done and be able to take me on a date to the ice castle in Midway!

I had heard a lot about this ice castle before going there. I heard it was very popular this year because the movie "Frozen" had come out and they made the ice castle into a somewhat "Frozen" theme. I also heard that because it was so popular, they advised people not to go on Saturdays because it was so dang crowded! But Geoff and I didn't really have a choice but to go on a Saturday since I work all week, so we decided to face the crowd and see what the rave was all about.

After an hour drive, we arrived at the ice castle. I don't think I have seen so many people gathered in one place in a long time! Luckily we had bought our tickets beforehand so we only had to wait in like half an hour instead of over an hour. But they had "Frozen" music playing as well as Anna and Elsa outside taking pictures with the kids. Once we got inside the ice castle, someone had built an Olaf snowman and it was so cute!

I LOVED the ice castle and am so glad we went, even though it was extremely packed. I wanted to go at night when all the colorful lights inside the ice were on. It was cool seeing them change colors. We walked through an ice maze and went under tall and gorgeous icicle arches. They even had an ice slide for kids that went inside the ice! It's definitely the perfect family activity for kids of all ages.

DIY Wedding Invitations Tip #2,453

Geoff and I received our edited engagement photos back yesterday! I was so excited. Our photographer sent us about 45 photos to pick and choose from. We narrowed it down to 15 we for sure wanted for wedding invitations and to keep for years to come. Since I have already designed our wedding invites, all I needed were the photos to fill in the missing pieces.

There was one particular photo out of all the rest that Geoff and I really liked. But since I am all about details and making sure everything is as close to perfect as it can get, I didn't like the loose pieces of my hair that our photographer chose to not edit out herself. So what's a girl to do?

Edit it herself, of course!

If you'll notice, the extra hair on my neck and shoulder is gone. I also added another button to Geoff's shirt, since for some reason there's too an unusual gap between the two bottom buttons. I think I did a fairly decent job taking it out! Now I love it even more than I already did to start with. I'm hoping to use this photo on the front of our wedding invitations if all goes according to plan :)

For those soon-to-be brides that are all about saving money and enjoy designing as much as I do, here's a tip: Photoshop will be your best friend if you allow it to be! I'm grateful I have some knowledge in Photoshop so I could make edits like these to my engagement photos. I know much more about Adobe's design programs InDesign and Illustrator, but Photoshop is fun to play with as well!

Stay tuned for more of the DIY design projects I'm working on for my wedding, as well as the final wedding invitations!

I'm Back in Utah!

After two months of being home in Washington, I'm back in Utah! I spent most of last week packing and cleaning. Then I spent most of this weekend unpacking and getting somewhat organized in my new place. I'm now living in my cousin Eddy and his wife's basement apartment, and I'm already loving it here! I've never had my own space, since it's always been shared by other roommates. So I'm definitely looking forward to decorating and all that fun stuff! I'll have to post pictures once I get everything organized, which might be a while because I need to buy a new couch since my current one is too big to fit through the door! I'm a little bummed because I love that couch, but luckily it's going to a new home next week since I have no use for it. Time to start couch hunting again!

Geoff is also down here in Utah. He had an interview at Carmax on Saturday and after 2 1/2 hours of interviewing with multiple people, he got the job! I'm not exactly sure what his job title is, but basically he'll be an inspector and cleaner for the cars that Carmax buys and will make sure they look nice for those that come looking to buy a car. He'll be working full-time and taking a couple of online classes. I'm grateful he will be busy and not as bored as he was back in Ephrata! There's definitely more opportunities to find a job here compared to a small town where no one is hiring.

We had a little scare with Geoff's living arrangements. We had an apartment lined up but could not get ahold of the guy who told Geoff he could move in named Andrew. One of the apartment's managers told Geoff he would have to pay $500 upfront in order to move it, plus the monthly rent. Talk about ridiculous! But Andrew finally texted Geoff on Sunday and we were able to move him in that night. Andrew also told Geoff he wouldn't have to sign on the lease, so he doesn't have to pay the $500. We're glad he's no longer homeless! Carmax is only a 10 minute walk from Geoff's apartment, so he couldn't be any closer.

My parents drove down to help Geoff and I move our stuff. We had too much to fit in just my car, so it was nice having another car. After all our stuff was moved into my apartment, my mom and I went wedding dress shopping at Latter-day Bride in downtown Salt Lake. I fell in love with the second dress I tried on! But we were told even with a rush order, the dress wouldn't be ready until two days before our wedding, which doesn't include the alterations I would have to get. I'm have a short torso so all my prom/homecoming dresses have always had to be altered at the shoulders. So I was a little bummed by that. We went to another bridal store, and they had the exact same dress that I tried on at Latter-day bride! I tried on a couple of others but I couldn't get the one I originally fell in love with out of my mind. So we asked them how soon I could get the dress, and they said I could get it three weeks before my wedding. They also said they could do alterations really quickly to guarantee I had my dress ready in time. So we went ahead and ordered the dress! I'm pretty excited for everyone to see it.

My brother and his family drove through Salt Lake on Saturday on their way back to Las Vegas from Idaho. We had lunch with them at Texas Roadhouse. It was great seeing my cute nephews! Here's a video of them playing in the snow with Grandpa.

Geoff and I both start work today. Even though I worked from Washington, I only worked part-time. After working for Digital Trike for 10 months, I'll be staring full-time today!

Those are some updates. Happy New Year to all! This will be an exciting year for Geoff and I, and we can't wait!