lacking :(

definitely been lacking on the posts lately. i apologize for that, you faithful readers (yeah, like anyone's even out there!)

anyway thought i would give some updates...

dilemma #3 is pretty much solved. we have opted for NO DJ but a family friend (who we haven't decided upon yet...)

dilemma #4: bridal party - - also solved (as far as my end goes). my girls are as follows:
Rachel: Sister, Matron of Honor
Alicia: Lifetime friend (and i mean that, we were friends when we were 2)
Bekah: Cousin & awesome friend
Alyssa: Josh's sister
Kristen: roommate and first "K" of the SKANK's
Nicole: "N" in the SKANK's
Katie: last "K" in the SKANK's (and one of the friends that introduced Josh & I)
Staci: first "S" in the SKANK's, and fellow volleyball team member

i sent out "be in my wedding" requests last week to the girls, but have not had any response from 5 of them...WHAT THE HECK, GIRLS?! maybe they just don't feel like responding or think it's necessary to...? (i mean, it isn't "necessary" but i want to know they got them, right?!)

i guess dilemma #5 is not a big deal, but i'm trying to find a good wedding website to put all our info on. i have several that i'm signed up for but don't know which to keep. anyone have any suggestions?


other goings on in my life:
* Papa Koos (my mum's dad) is having bladder surgery on Thursday (tomorrow). there's a chance they may not be able to even get the bladder out now because of scar tissue, so we're really praying for that to happen. he has cancer in his bladder and has been taking some chemo medication which has at least stopped it from spreading, but the bladder needs to come out :(
* going dress shopping Saturday with mom, rach, bekah & my aunt if she can
* my sister & her husband are having a GIRL!!! i totally knew it. last friday i spent the afternoon with them painting the little girlie's room!
* work is going ok. fairly busy because i'm the only designer there at the moment. meaning i need to end this post and get back to work
* having a lot of fun browsing for honeymoon places. can't wait!!!

wedding dilemma #3

dilemma #1 was picking a date. dilemma #2 was cupcakes vs cake (we voted cupcakes).

my mum and i have been discussing the option of having a DJ at the wedding reception. originally, josh and i were under the impression we would ask one of our good friends to do it and a reasonable (CHEAP) price. mum was at a wedding a few weeks ago that had "such a great DJ," so now she's thinking she wants to pay the price for this. they are willing to pay for most of what a "good" DJ would cost, but that means josh and i have to pay for the rest of it...

so there's the dilemma. to DJ or not to DJ. what are your thoughts? is it worth paying that much for a DJ? or should i convince them to use that money on more cupcakes, more bridal shower fun, or helping fund the honeymoon (insert winking face here)? who thinks one of my friends could do just as awesome of a job as a professional DJ??

on that wedding train...

well things are getting decided for Josh & I's wedding! due to my sister's busy schedule (what, with being a wedding photographer and all), my mum's school schedule, and finding a date that matches with the reception venue i really wanted and our church, we were left with one weekend in August, one weekend in September, and one weekend in October to pick from. when weighing the pros and cons and the inevitable stress of my darling mother by doing any other day than in August, we decided to book that August date. The church, reception hall, and photographer are all booked for our special date on Friday, August 20th, 2010.

the more i type 08/20/2010 the more i love that date.

i can't really believe it. it all seems so unreal still.



i'm probably going to post a few things about wedding ideas here, and i'll try to blog about anything else interesting that comes up (though we all know my life isn't really that interesting, hehe). also, i'll probably put a link to our wedding website soon (when i have set it up).

as of right now, i'm just looking for ideas, keeping my eyes open, and being very excited about our day!

i'm also feeling extremely nervous about making any decisions. i'm so afraid of making "the wrong choice" or one i'll regret. but that's silly. why regret your decision of a buffet or sit down dinner? or what colors you have? or type of flowers? it doesn't matter!! the only decision that matters is our decision in marrying each other, and that i will never regret.

this one time...

so, this one time i met this cute and talented boy at my good friend Katie & Mike's halloween party. i had no idea that, almost two years later, he would be kneeling in front of me asking me to marry him.

josh and i, wait, correction - I - have been talking about getting married a lot recently. it happens when you are surrounded by friends' weddings and a sister immersed in weddings (photography). josh had told me many times, "the more you talk about it, the longer i'm going to wait to do it." alllll part of the plan i suppose...

my best friend alicia and i spoke yesterday afternoon and she asked me, "you think he's the one?" and i replied, "i've never been more sure of anything in my life."

josh and i planned on having a "fancy dinner" Wednesday evening earlier in the week (he said i could dress up and he'd wear pajamas ;) ). i had this *hope* that josh would propose that night, but really, i told myself it wasn't going to happen, and i knew very well it wasn't.

when i picked josh up for dinner, he was in such a good mood, even allowing me to keep the Romolo chocolate bar i had sorta stolen from him from Rock Erie Awards on Sunday night. i was hungry and excited to eat at the Bel Aire hotel's restaurant (Victor's) where we had actually gone on our first "real date" for Valentine's Day in 2008. i also had just come from church (skit practice) and talked 50 miles a minute on our way to the restaurant. i continued talking as i got out of the car...as we made our way to the restaurant...until josh stopped.

i thought i had missed the door, so i stopped, and he pulled me back to him by my purse. he looked at me and kissed me. then he looked at me and said, "you know that i love you." and when he said THAT, i knew. i knew it was happening, yet i was still shocked and in disbelief. he looked at me, got down on one knee, and asked me that question i had been so excited to hear, "will you marry me?"

then he said, "i have a ring..." and pulled out that beautiful little black box that had inside it an amazing, perfect, princess-cut diamond on a clean, crisp silver band. i of course said yes at this point, and we hugged, smiled, i laughed a lot (no, i didn't cry! amazing, isn't it?? too shocked and giddy i think). i asked him to put the ring on me, we talked a little outside, then went into the restaurant.

and of course their kitchen had already closed.

we decided to go to joe roots which is next door.

yeah, they weren't open, either.

i decided to take us to Applebee's instead - which seemed fitting as it was the first place we ever went to dinner and the place where he met with my dad a week earlier.

we spent the rest of the night together, on the phone with my parents and his gram, then visiting my sis & bri and skyping with my parents, then visiting my aunt & cousin.


so, there you have it :)

Josh - i love you. i'm so excited. and i'm still in shock. :)



rachel was nice enough to snap some quick pics. hopefully i'll get some more from her later with her super lens showing the amazing-ness of my ring!!!

labor day weekend

this week is awesome because we had Monday off for labor day, and Friday off for preparations for Nicole's wedding Saturday!

Josh and I spent Sunday & Monday with our good friends and newlyweds Mike and Katie. Josh and I went to the Omnimax theater at the Carnegie Science Center before getting to Mike & Katie's house. first, however, we got lost in the ghetto of Pittsburgh (both my google maps and mapquest directions had the wrong address. yeah, that was awesome). then my phone decided to be an idiot and be really crappy with it's GPS abilities. we eventually made it to the science center, $10 later for parking with 5 minutes to spare before the movie. the movie was fun, though i'm always scared i'm going to fall into the screen with Imax/Omnimax movies.

we went to The Melting Pot for dinner Sunday night. I was SO excited to go there! and it was pretty much every bit as awesome as i could have imagined. we all decided we could eat there every day. i mean, if we didn't have to pay of course.

kt & mikey j


oh my josh! and me


cheese fondue in action!


awesome dippers for chocolate fondue


awesome.

we had so much fun with our lovely friends :)
thank you for opening up your house to us (and for cooking us awesome french toast breakfast!)

Nicole's Bachelorette Party

a few weeks ago we kidnapped Nicole and took her to Canada for her bachelorette party. i can't believe she's getting married NEXT WEEKEND!!!

our trip to Canada was fun, including:

• getting "lost" and on the wrong road, trying to go to the wrong duty free shop, all resulting in us going through the Canadian border check for a second time...to the same border patrol guy...it was pretty awesome actually.
• Niagra Falls, Maid of the Mist, and a weird restaurant where a "kid's hamburger" was practically the same size as a regular one, but 1/2 the price...
• hotel in Toronto and trying to check in 6 girls though we only said we had 3...
• THE PICKLE BARREL. seriously amazing. one of my favorite restaurant experiences ever
• the Toronto Zoo, including walking 4-5 miles, the amazing Canadian Domain, and failure to find the entrance to the Mayan Ruins exhibit where there were also reindeer...also it seemed like 1/4 of the animals were "not on display"
• Steam Whistle Brewery - tried to get a tour, but they were all booked, so we enjoyed the atmosphere and some drinks, and puzzled over how they moved a giant wagon without us seeing it leaving (not that surprising i suppose, as Kristen never even saw it when it was there!)
  
• Chinatown, which included about 4-5 miles of walking to get there and get back and successfully purchasing chopsticks for Kristen!
  
• dinner at Jack Astor's
  
• drinks, a pool table with 4 balls and a defunct pool stick, so crowded we almost got in a fight, and blaring music at Devil's Martini
• traffic-free drive home

getting excited about going on the maid of the mist!



after the boat ride


at the pickle barrel. this was a "dessert sampler" of 6 different desserts!
Oreo cheesecake, tiramasu, strawberry cheesecake, key lime pie, chocolate cake, and chocolate & white chocolate mousse

cheesecake sampler - Rocky Road, Strawberry, and Turtle Brownie


in our own "private booth"


ready to embark on our zoo trip

excited about the Canadian Domain. total bummer. sorry, Canada.


at the brewery. 5 of us received 2 free samples of their beer!

ready to go out Saturday night

staci & i slept on the pullout Friday night, katie & i slept there Saturday night.
we decided the three of us could fit there though.

another wedding weekend

well, another weekend here and gone, with another wedding...and it's the last day of August!? where has the time gone...

this past weekend was our good friends Dustin & Laurel's wedding. Josh has known Dustin since high school, and technically i've known Laurel since before i was born...(her dad married my parents and have been friends for 30ish years). we were honored to be asked to sing at their wedding their choice: "Won't Stop" by One Republic. it went very well, we received lots of compliments on how good it was. Josh also played the 25 minute prelude and other random bits before the official start of the ceremony.

the wedding was beautiful, the weather was beautiful, the food was delicious, and we all had a great time. i'm so happy for our wonderful friends!

laurel and dustin were married by laurel's dad, Pastor Mike

Josh & i performing our song

um, my awesome shoes.

Mr & Mrs Clark's first dance!

Josh and i

kristen, kt, and me

one more wedding to go (Sept 12) then this wedding-crazy summer is over!