Hey y’all. I was talking to Mom this morning and she said that I maybe might could should be posting stuff to keep you guys aware of what’s going on in terms of wedding planning and to help you feel “connected” as she termed it. I don’t know whether you guys actually really care about any of this stuff, but regardless you’re going to be hearing about it. Well, as all of you know we moved the wedding up about 3 months from November to 20^th in the Denver temple to August 15^th or 16^th in, we’re hoping, the Nauvoo temple. However, I guess Daddy has been having some difficulty recouping from the last trip to Nauvoo, and so depending on what he and Mama find out at his pulminology appt Thursday morning it might switch to Nashville.

First off, I imagine many of you are wondering the reason for the rapid change in time. As we left Nauvoo on our way to St. Louis so that Tom and I could fly back to Provo we were talking about a possible wedding date with mom. I told her then that because of timing and everything I felt like November was the best time because it was the first we would have any sort of substantial break in time after the start of the semester. Well later that day as we were in the airport waiting for our flight home Tom mentioned that he actually liked the idea of getting married in August. I immediately rejected the idea and threw a fit about how August was too soon. Both of us then kind of got into this little “my way or the highway” argument about when we should get married (you would think as protective social workers we would both communicate better than that, haha). Eventually, Tom gave in and said that I was right and that August was too quick and we should go for November instead. I could tell that it was more out of capitulation than out of actually changing his mind. Well, the following Thursday the subject was inadvertently brought up again and we ended up rehashing the entire discussion at 11pm in Tom’s care when we were both extremely tired and not thinking clearly. I at this point realized that I was being a butthead and that I should try to compromise on a date, after all this is Tom’s wedding too, rather than pitching a big fit over getting what I want. During the course of that conversation I kept getting the feeling that I really needed to reconsider the idea of getting married in August. I went home and prayed that night and the following morning (Friday) and I had really good feeling about August. I called Mom on the way to work that morning and discussed the implications with her and she assured me that it was my decision and whatever it was that I did they would support me. I talked to Tom that night and he was kind of hesitant to agree because he said he was worried that the only reason I was agreeing to August was because he had pitched a big enough fit, in reality we both had and he had been the first to try and compromise and be the peacemaker.  I told him that it wasn’t because of anything he had said or done, it was because it was something I felt good about and because of an answer I got from the Lord I guess you could say. And so…we’re getting married in August. Funny thing though, as we were talking on Friday night about getting married August and all that we needed to do to get ready for it Tom looked at me and said: “I’m understanding a bit better why you thought August would be too quick! I’m starting to feel really overwhelmed!” haha I love that boy!

Tom and I have been feverishly looking for a place for us to live come oh…next month. Haha The problem has been mostly that we’re a little late in the game and a lot of places have already been taken. We’ve pretty much narrowed it down to two places. The top portion of this cute little old house in Springville which is about a 10 or 15 minute drive south of BYU or another really cute apt on Center Street in Provo.  The house in Springville is $650 a month and comes unfurnished, however it comes with a washer and dryer, and all utilities are covered in the rent with the exception of internet. The apt in Provo is only $600 a month and it comes furnished but we’re not sure on what utilities will look like; if those are covered in the rent or if we’ll have to pay those separate. If utilities are included in the rent at the apt then we’ll probably go with that one. If they’re not though, I think it’ll be a little up in the air because utilities can get expensive around Provo in the Winter time. I personally, am holding out hope for the house. That’s the one that I like better. But, if it’s cheaper to move in to the apt than that’s the one we’ll go with and I fully support that. We took a look at the house on Sunday afternoon after church and we’re going to view the apt today. I’ll keep you guys update on that stuff. Who knows, maybe I’ll even post pictures of what the one we choose looks like!

Initially, when we made the decision to get married in August we had thought that we just basically elope and not send any sort of invitation or announcement until afterwards, closer to the time that we’ll be holding our reception/open house and for some reason I don’t remember people sending a lot of gifts/cash in the mail when y’all got married. Tom mentioned though on Sunday that his mom had suggested that we might send out just a few invitations beforehand to let people know so that they can send gifts and stuff. That actually made a lot of sense to me. I don’t know, it just seems that people will be more inclined send gifts/cash as you’re getting married rather than after the fact. That being said, Tom and I pretty much made a split second decision to have invitations sent out before the wedding. Last night we took our Engagement photos with Nena as our photographer. We had thought for a minute that we wouldn’t be able to have Nena do them because she’s leaving this week for her own wedding in San Diego next Friday. However, we asked another girl in Tom’s ward who takes pictures and she said she’d do it….for $130! I know that that’s not that much in reality, but for a student, whose pictures are okay but nothing spectacular, Tom and I both thought that was a little bit ridiculous. We did some shifting and we able to work it out so that Nena could take the photos. Nena is such a doll and told us that she wouldn't let us pay her for them, that it was our wedding present, but we were able to finangle her into at least letting us take her and Owen out to sushi afterwards as a thank you. It was really fun and easy to enjoy ourselves with Nena as the photographer and just focus more on how much Tom and I love being together rather than looking good in photos. With editing the light and contrast and using photoshop to remove constructions signs or cars that snuck their way into some of the shots the photos look really nice. I’ll have to post them and get y’all’s opinion on which one’s we should use for announcements. I’ve already talked to Mom and emailed Mama Bibber (Tom’s mom, haha) about doing the same thing for us. We’re hoping to get invitations made and printed out soon, so I guess we’ll wait and see.

As I mentioned before Tom and I have an appt to view an apt tonight se we should be making the final decision soon. We also have an apt to go look at a couch that we found on KSL in the event that wherever we end up is unfurnished. Tomorrow night I’m throwing Nena’s Bridal Shower, which isn’t related to my wedding, but is still wedding-ish. Her wedding is on the 27th and I realized about a week and a half ago that I had heard no mention of anyone throwing her a bridal shower. After all, she is my best friend. She and I were actually talking about that last night after she finished taking our engagments that it's really ironic that we've been best friends basically since we were 3 years old and now we're getting married basically two weeks apart.  I have an apt with Candlelight Dresses (where Cherstin and Desi rented their dresses) to get fitted and pick out a dress on Saturday morning at 11am. My friends Ariel and Jenny are going to be coming with me and possibly Lacey too. I'll have to post pics of that too. Well, not that you've been inundated I shall simply leave the rest for another time. I'll keep you guys posted though!