I said YES to the dress!

Last Thursday I met my mom, grandma and Connie at Reni's to try on dresses one more time! She had called me to tell me she had a couple of other dresses to try on! After trying on those, I put on the one I liked from the beginning. It is hands-down the most beautiful dress I had tried on! It was my favorite! I'm so excited to wear it and I can't wait for Brandon to see it! It's going to be hard not to say anything to him about it but I know I have to keep it a secret! I've decided not to post any pics of it in case Brandon looked on here and I want to surprise everyone else too! So the dress will make its debut Dec 10, 2011 :)

We've booked our honeymoon :)

I'm excited to say that we have officially booked our honeymoon vacation :) We've decided to go to Cozumel Dec 11-17! We are staying at the Park Royal Resort in Cozumel. It has many restaurants in it (which is good for me!) and a lot of places to swim! We are very excited to go! Here is the link to the website if you'd like to see some pictures! http://www.park-royalhotels.com/cozumel/photo-gallery/index.cfm

Drum Roll Please...

I specifically wanted to designate a post to talk about our wedding party and the people closest to us :) This is such a special time for us that we wanted to share this day with the people that we love! Each person has a special place in our lives and we feel so privileged they will share this day with us! So here it is:

My Matron of Honor is...Danielle Lawrence!

Bridesmaids are...

Kristin Burleson (my cousin from Dallas)

Alysha Yung (Brandon's sister)

Dee Carlson (Brandon's sister-in-law)
Elisha Swope (My Roomie)
Channing Herrington soon to be in a month Mastroly :) (My Roomie)

Brandon's Best Man is...Tyson Carlson! (Brandon's Brother)

Groomsmen are...
Tyler Yung (Brandon's brother-in-law)
Derek Cochran (my brother)
Zach Mastroly (Our friend...soon to marry Channing!)
Daniel Gubichuk (Brandon's childhood friend)
Khanh Pham (Brandon's work buddy)

I have to say that we are going to have the cutest ring bearer and flower girl ever! I'm not partial or anything but they both will be 3 at this time and are so precious!

Our flower girl is Makenna Burleson! (My cousin Kristin's daughter)
Our ring bearer is Braedyn Carlson! (Brandon's nephew)

Here are a few pics of these wonderful people :)

Danielle and I met in Hygiene School and became the best of friends. We helped each other survive school and pass with flying colors! A lot of people don't understand what we went through but I could always count on her to help me through it!

Alysha is Brandon's little sister and her husband Tyler! We have a lot of fun with them and they happened to be there for the proposal :)

Tyson, Dee and Braedyn Carlson- my future family! Such a cute family! Brandon's always been close to his brother so it's only fitting he be his best man! Dee is our realtor :) She definitely has done a lot for us lately! Thanks Dee!

Kristin and Makenna Burleson! I just love them so much and wish I could see them more often! Kristin and I have always been close and I was able to share her big day with her and can't wait for her to share it with me!

These are my Roomies Channing and Elisha :) I've been friends with Elisha since high school and we met Channing 3 years ago from a mutual friend ;) hahaha These girls mean so much to me and can't imagine the wedding day without them! We are currently getting ready for Channing's wedding in a month! Woot Woot!

This is my brother! Brandon and Derek grew up playing sports together. When Brandon asked him to be in the wedding his response was, "Yeah, I was told I had to." That is so my brother haha

Channing and Zach :) The biggest Wichita State Shocker fans I know! We've had a lot of fun hanging out as couples! They are getting married April 30th so I'm sure I will learn a lot from their wedding to help prepare me for ours!

These are a few of the people that will play a big role in our special day! Thanks for being there for us! We love you!!!!

I'm going to get better at this!

I know it's been a very long time since my last post and I do apologize about that! Life has been pretty hectic but will definitely slow down a little bit after May! I'm so ready for school to be over with!

Anyways...here is an update of what's been going on! A couple of weeks ago, I took a trip with my mom (Melissa), my grandma (Patsy), Brandon's mom (Connie) and Brandon's sister (Alysha) to look at wedding dresses! We first went to The White Dress and tried on a ton of dresses then we finished the day by going to Reni's. Reni's is a very small place that has a crazy owner named Reni, imagine that :) I had went with Alysha to Reni's when she was going for her final fitting when she was getting married so I knew what I was getting myself in to. Reni is very opinionated and doesn't hesitate to state her feelings. She is a lot of fun though, especially when you have an entourage like mine! I tried on a few dresses at Reni's and I think I have found "the one" but haven't said yes yet! It was by far everyone's favorite but since I had only went to one other place, I was afraid I was missing something. That next week I went to another place with my mom and grandma but didn't find anything. We are going back to Reni's this week to try on the dress again to make sure it's "the one!" I will definitely keep you posted on what I decide!

Valentine's Day 2011

As our first and only Valentine's Day as an engaged couple, I thought it was only appropriate to blog about it :) I actually had a dental meeting all day but luckily Brandon got off work at 2 so he had planned to cook dinner for me! When I got to his apartment, he had flowers and Hershey Kisses on the table for me! He cooked chicken fettuccine alfredo and my favorite garlic bread! After dinner, we opened the cards we got each other and watched our shows the rest of the night! It was the best Valentine's Day I've ever had and can't wait until the many more we will share together! Here are a few pics of the occasion!

He did a great job and I loved everything :)

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone! I hope you feel lots of love today and everyday! I can't wait to spend the evening with my Valentine! He's making me dinner :) I'm so excited!

This time of year always makes me a little sad because I remember my Great Grandma, Edna Hartman. She always made us Valentine cookies that were so yummy! She would give us a large, medium and small, heart-shaped cookie with pink icing. I absolutely loved this tradition and it's something that I think about every Valentine's Day. It also happened that her funeral was on Valentine's Day, 3 years ago. I thought it was fitting because her famous Valentine cookies were one of my favorite traditions she started :) I miss her everyday, especially when I'm cooking or baking things because she was such a great cook (I even have her hand-mixer!)

This is Grandma Hartman :) I have so many fond memories of her and everything she did for us! I love you Grandma!

It's been far too long...

It has been far too long since my last post :( Anyways...not a lot has been accomplished in the wedding planning process! I'm already stressed out and it's only begun! We have decided on the venue...the wedding ceremony and the reception will be at Central Christian Church in Ark City! It's the church that I grew up in and a place I absolutely love (I couldn't imagine getting married anywhere else)!

For some of the decorations we are using, our families have bought close to 40 Christmas trees that will be placed in the reception area. We are planning on using clear lights to decorate them and have them all over the place, which will help create the winter wonderland theme I'm wanting! When I was younger, I went to a wedding in my church that was decorated with over 50 Christmas trees and it was truly magical. That is what I'm going for! As far as the centerpieces for the tables, I don't know what to do yet so if anyone has any ideas let me know!

We have decided who will be in the wedding party but haven't talked to everyone yet so that will be revealed at a later date :)

I've also started my last semester of college (I'm getting my bachelors in dental hygiene) and I will need all the prayers I can get!

Hope you all have survived the blizzard of '11!