The Best Of

For those of you who weren't aware, I registered at Bed, Bath and Beyond (like every other bride on the planet) for my wedding. Well I am here to tell you, after countless hours of shopping and spending all my free money and trying all of my new gadgets (which I might add was so, so fun, I would highly recommend it), which products are worth trying. Most of these things I've had for about 2 weeks and have already used with much success. Probably it's pretty nerdy of me to compile a list like this, but lately I have been just oh-so-enthusiastic about anything and everything to do with my new married life, including these fun little "toys", that I wanted to share!

The Incredible Ice Cream Scoop by Wilton - $7.99

They aren't lying- this ice cream scoop is truly incredible. And trust me, coming from an ice cream connoisseur like me, that's saying a lot :D For a whole review on this product, check out the consumer report here.

Wilton Indulgence 100-piece Cookie Cutter Set - $9.99

10 dollars. 10 dollars for all 26 letters of the alphabet. numbers 0-9. shapes for every occasion, sport, holiday, and animal. 100 color-coded cookie cutters, all in a convenient portable storage bucket. At 10 cents a cookie cutter, that's a steal.

The Original Extra-Large Dish Drying Mat - $7.99
So sad that I would find something like this so exciting, but I guess that's what happens when you get married and become all wife-y...you get super excited about home-y things that make your chores and daily living easier. The Bed, Bath and Beyond summary says it all:

"The Original™ Dish Drying Mat is the new solution to the age old tradition of placing dish towels on the counter when hand washing pots, pans, dishes, and glassware. The unique, laminated design combines a thin layer of foam between two layers of high quality, super absorbent microfiber that holds four times its weight in water. It cushions delicate dishes and stemware, and can also be used under a dish drying rack or under counter top appliances to protect from scratches and scuffs. Drying mat folds for easy storage and is machine washable."

Really the only step up from this would be a dishwasher. We'll get there someday.

Fuzzy Wuzzy Microfiber Duster- $5.99ish

With a name like Fuzzy Wuzzy, how could it NOT be awesome? Really this thing is amazing- it picks up dust like no other, AND it's machine washable. They come in all sizes, on extension poles for fans and bookshelves, and in a weird little thingy for cleaning blinds. You can buy these anywhere really, BB and B just happens to carry them.

Zyliss Interlocking Corn Holders (4 pair) - $4.99

I personally think the most annoying thing about the corn holders we had growing up was that they were kind of smallish and thus, got lost easily/fell down the disposal, and then you always ended up with a corn holder who didn't have a buddy. These corn holders are AWESOME. They are quite a bit bigger than your typical corn holders so they are easier to use, and then after washing you can interlock them with their buddy to make storing easier, and no one gets lost! What a concept.

Well what are you waiting for?? Happy shopping :D

10 days and counting.

Ok- being married is awesome.

Not only do I no longer have a curfew when I have to leave and drive back home, but I just get to be with Mitch ALL the time. Minus school and work of course. But still, it's a much better arrangement than being engaged/dating. No limits!!

Also, it's just a really good feeling to be on your own. Kinda scary at first, but let's be honest, I thrive on independence. I've been waiting for this my whole life. I love cleaning and organizing and decorating our new apartment. It's not the nicest apartment ever, but it is OURS. And I love it.

We also just have so much to be grateful for:

• for being sealed for time and all eternity to each other! The blessings of the temple are so wonderful. I couldn't pick a more perfect husband to be with forever- he is my everything :)
  
• for my grandparents letting me stay in their house for a couple months before the wedding. Not paying rent was so, so nice.
• for all the help in wedding planning/bridals showers/and other support I received from family and friends.
• for the greatest in-laws I could ask for- I love them like I love my own family and I feel so welcome around them :)
• for the wonderful flexible jobs we've been blessed with that allowed us to take time off for the wedding
  
• for safety in traveling to our various wedding destinations (we were almost run off the road by a semi in california. luckily Mitch made a good split-second judgment that saved us from certain death. I was asleep during the whole ordeal...hahah)
• for our front porch thief not being interested in the one wedding present delivered and left on our porch while we were out of town...it is my favorite cookbook I have ever received, and I'm so glad he didn't want it!!
  
• and last but not least, for the generosity of all our friends and family- some of whom traveled quite a distance to come support us - thanks so much for coming to our wedding and reception and showering us with wonderful gifts! We love you!

Houston, we have a dress.

It is the second 'backup' dress, but it is nonetheless beautiful and most importantly, it actually fits me! The seamstress did a great job, for which I was very grateful. So grateful, in fact, that I brought her day-old cinnamon rolls from work as a thank you. That may not sound like much of a thank you, but trust me, they were still yummy! (I would know...it's a miracle that I haven't gained any weight working at this bakery for the past month.)

In the end, they didn't make me pay the difference, or for the alterations. It was just the seamstress at the store when we met yesterday, and I don't know if she just didn't care, or if she was specifically told to just give me this more expensive dress and alterations free of charge...either way, money was not discussed and she bagged the dress up and told me I was good to go! Smart move on her part, I'm sure she was just glad to get me out of there, and didn't want to sit through another hour of price negotiation.

So now that THAT fiasco is over with, I've still got a lot on my plate. Bridals tonight, Mitch's family AND my family get here tonight, 3rd of July work and festivities, stake president interviews, food, flowers, cake, ties, temple...the list goes on. And of course amidst all of that, find time to play with the fam and inlaws :)

We did get our marriage license today at the county clerk's office!! How exciting. We are officially and legally able to get married now! Yay :)

To sum up the past few weeks, they have been tortuously long and stressful, but I am now just grateful to finally have the dress in my possession! Click here for a sneak preview of it...just know that I will not be wearing that long of a veil with it, haha :D

wedding dress saga update:

oh heyyy guess what the retards can't even meet the 4th and 5th deadlines they've given me. still no dress, and the guy at the store doesn't even know where my SECOND dress is. could be with the seamstress, could be at the other store...who knows really...

also it's EXTREMELY helpful that I call daily and they return my calls maybe every 5 days. so great when I've RESCHEDULED my bridals for Thursday, and the dress people finally picked up their phone yesterday to inform me that they could POSSIBLY have it done by wednesday, when they promised it to me LAST wednesday.

last night mitch chastised me a little bit for wanting to make them go out of business. he said it wasn't very Christlike. then he promised me that we'd sue them if they dont come through with anything :D

see this logo??? don't ever go here. ever. don't even think about it.

life.

HATE:

-that I forgot to do my work evaluations (for the second time). this could affect my pay raise, or lack thereof :(
-the constant to-do list of wedding plans running through my head
-waking up at 6 every morning for the bakery.
-the drive up to cedar hills every night.

LOVE:

-having Zach up here at school with me!!
-also I love how great he and mitch get along. sometimes I feel like they get to hang out more than mitch and I do haha
-the weather here. finally. love love love.
-also, going along with weather, having season passes to seven peaks. best. decision. ever.
-my new 'wedding shoes'. I have been wanting some cute vans for a while, and when I couldn't find any other heels or flats that I particularly wanted to wear for my wedding, I settled on these!
-my new toaster, crock pot, and the bags of groceries I got at my wedding shower!
-gift cards. what's not to love about free money??

and finally...
-ONLY 2 WEEKS and 4 DAYS UNTIL WE'RE MARRIED!!!!

The Wedding Dress Saga- Part 1

Today begins part 1 of The Wedding Dress Saga. Why a saga, you ask? Oh...you will see.

Just a note before I begin- If you get nothing else out of this post, I hope to at least persuade you of 1 thing- do not buy your wedding dress from Walker's Eternity Bridal and Prom.

I will try to keep this as brief as possible, but I make no promises.

Basically, I ordered my wedding dress back in March. They told me that since it was being made in China, the earliest time they could ship it in would be 9 weeks. It was due to arrive last Tuesday. That was cutting it close as it is, because my bridal pictures were scheduled for 8 days after the dress was due to arrive, and I still probably needed alterations to be done. I called Tuesday to verify that it had arrived. No answer. I left a message. Called again Wednesday, no answer, left a message. I did this for 4 days. I went by the store, where the lights were out, door locked, with a sign posted on the door that the store would no longer be staffed during it's regular hours. This is a direct quote from the sign- "To better serve you more personally, we will be here by appointment only. Call today to make an appointment!"

...ok, explain again HOW exactly this BETTER serves me?!?!?

Well, I did call...AGAIN, and guess what? Their inbox was full. Bad sign. Very bad sign.

Well, I did what any bride suddenly without a wedding dress would do- I panicked. I called the Better Business Bureau, who didn't have any information on the company other than its address and store phone number. My grandma made my grandpa call all the James Walkers (name of the owner) in the phone book. Still, nothing.

Several days later, sitting at dinner, it finally occurred to Mitch and I to mention this dilemma in our prayers over the food. Not five seconds after we said "amen", we get a call from the dress company. No, my dress has not yet arrived. Yes, my dress is still in China. Yes we have been having communication problems with China...for two months now. No, we don't know exactly when your dress will be done....in fact, we're not even sure if it's even been started...

Wow. So explain to me again why you couldn't have notified me of this TWO MONTHS AGO when it actually became a PROBLEM!??! And just think of the 30 other girls that you've screwed over in the process!! Really, what were you THINKING??

Well luckily the guy had enough sense to offer me "an appointment" the next day, when I could come in and pick out a "Plan B" dress. I will admit that after this phone call, I lost some sleep over the whole thing. I was convinced I wouldn't find a dress in time that I actually liked...I didn't want to just have to settle on any old dress because I didn't have a choice.

Well miracles do happen. At my "appointment", I found a dress in stock that I had almost picked over the first one. It's a beautiful ivory lacy dress, and I like some things about it better than the one I ordered. It does need some very drastic alterations, and parts of it almost need to be rebuilt, and as luck would have it, the seamstress that they called in to deal with the catastrophe is very experienced...to say the least. She is French, and earlier in her career sewed for Chanel in Paris...yeah. Why she is in Provo, UT of all places...I have no idea, but am I ever grateful!! At least someone around this establishment is competent!! If anyone can have this dress rebuilt in two weeks for my bridals, it's her!!

Stay tuned to hear if my original dress even makes it here before the wedding. And if these idiots are going to make me pay for this second dress. And if they go out of business...(if they do...I won't feel bad).

Life

Turns out wedding planning isn't very fun. At least, it's not MY personal cup of tea. It doesn't help that my job only gave me 10 hours of work a week this semester, so some days, I get feelin pretty low. These are some things that have considerably brightened my day recently:

Mitch graduated from the Weber State Police Academy!! He is now SFO, BCO, and LEO certified! Also he got an Outstanding Fitness award for being the best of the best at their physical training requirements! What a stud :D I am so proud of him for enduring to the end, even though it was really hard with him living in Ogden 5 days a week for 4 months. I have nothing against Ogden, I'm sure it's a great place, but it has been so, so nice having him in Provo, where we get to see each other every day!!


Unfortunately, the police academy hasn't been the best job solution we thought it would be. Mitch has applied to a LOT of police departments across the valley (I lost count it's been so many), and unfortunately with all the funding cuts, no one is hiring. Luckily he is able to keep his certification for 4 years as long as he keeps up with minimal training requirements, so hopefully when the economy turns around, he will be able to start working for a police department while finishing school. In the meantime, he has been job hunting like crazy for months. Our prayers were finally answered this week when Nuskin hired him on as a security guard. It's not his ideal job, but we are grateful for anything at this point, being poor and almost newlyweds. We are so grateful to our families and friends for their prayers and encouragement :)


Yesterday I was able to go to the 'flower lady' as I call her (I'm so bad I can't remember her name), and get a quote for the bridal bouquet that I want. This is THE ONE that I found online that I want. This is the first thing that I have found for the wedding that I absolutely LOVE. Luckily, she is a very talented woman and said she could replicate it no problem. Being very much a flower person, I cannot wait to have this bouquet and take picture after picture with it!! Now I just need to figure out what I am doing for flowers for my bridals...


Lastly, my day also was brightened yesterday when my grandma found this little guy hiding in the bushes of her front yard. It is clear that he is, or was, somebody's pet, because he eats lettuce out of my hand and loves to be held. Mitch and I went and put up signs with his picture on the mailboxes around the neighborhood, hoping that someone will call to claim him before my his welcome wears out. My grandpa was ready to kick him out of the house last night, but luckily my grandma and I prevailed, and 'Bunny' was able to stay the night in the garage. Aw he looks so sad in that picture hahaa. I call him a boy, but really we are still unsure of his/her gender, hahaa.