L--O--V--E through kleenex

Woke up Christmas Eve morning with a very sore throat and not feeling well at all.  It was going to be a long day of running from house to house, Church and trying to put on a happy face while feeling ill.  Lucky for me, I had my knight in shining armor (okay with a tissue box) close at hand.  He hadn't seen the sick, whiny, melancholy side of me prior to this and I'm sure it was a real treat!  He was so patient with me trying to express what I needed/wanted and really made sure I was comfortable.  Also, lucky for me, my new family to be (Char's family) and my real dad made sure I was well equipped with hot teas, tips on gargling peroxide to kill the infection and heavy duty ibuprofen.  It was a long night but so great to see everybody. 

Christmas morning, still not feeling well, went to my Mom & Dad's for the traditional breakfast casserole and stockings/present opening.  Charlie's first experience with PJs and my parents :)  He was right at home, quoting movies with my brothers and enjoying my Mommy's yummy breakfast.  Then it was back home to get some more meds and to get ready for Charlie's parents to come over. Year two with the future in-laws and my rents at Christmas dinner.  They all get along so well, it's awesome!

And finally today, Day 6 of the Wretched Sinus Infection and love has been definitely in the air.  Charlie has been so loving and really took care of me yesterday.  Fingers crossed I will be at work tomorrow as I can only imagine what my desk looks like!!!  Ahhhh! 

On a bigger and much brighter note......CHARLIE GOT A NEW JOB!!!  Hooray!  He's going to be a technology coach for his current company and will be located just one street over from me.  Hopefully he'll be starting up right after the first of the year.

I'm so proud of you love!  You are going to do great things and you deserve nothing but the best! 

Stay healthy all!  Hope to be ready for NYE...my maid of honor Brianne and her boyfriend Geoff are in town!!  Woohoo!! 

It's not beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Where has the time gone?!?!  It was just Halloween, then Thanksgiving and now Christmas is coming! 

I've been getting a lot of "are you ready for Christmas" questions, I reply with a sigh....nope not there yet.  Plus it's been surprisingly nice weather and doesn't even seem like Christmas time.  Growing up here, as my dear friend Jill would say as a "Coloradian" better known as Coloradan, I expect snow for this time of year.  So strange!  We are used to changing from a tank top to a turtleneck in a matter of minutes though, so nothing really surprises me.  Haha!

With all the Christmas cards going out, we've decided it's best to send out our Save-The-Date cards in January so be on the lookout!  I'm chopping at the bit to get them out.  We are hoping to utilize this blog to also house our registries, not quite sure how yet but we'll figure it out.  If any of you have suggestions, we are open to them!  As you can tell from my blogging skills, I'm a beginner :)  LOL!

Life seems to get crazier and crazier as we are getting closer to the holidays and wedding.  Say some prayers God grants us some patience and calms our nerves.

Hope you all are doing well & that you are READY for CHRISTMAS!   

Thankful Thursday

I know Thanksgiving was last Thursday and we had a lot to be thankful for so my post is well overdue but I'm thankful for yet another Thursday! 

Last Thursday morning we had received a call from my Mom saying one of my brothers (Robb) had been admitted to the hospital.  Not a good way to start off Thanksgiving morning.  He had been experiencing a very rapid heartbeat and chest pains.  Three weeks prior he had the same thing and the ER (two separate trips) had no answers.  Keep in mind he's only 19 so this has been very scary for our family.  My poor baby bro just wanted answers, good or bad just to comfort him.  He was told by the ER doc to see the cardiologist again and his primary care doc for some answers.  Robb's major is pre-med and I'm sure he just wanted to ask the ER doc if he went to med school!  Thankfully, the doc said Robb could be released to spend the holiday at home.  Long story short, Robb is okay and his primary care doc says his heart is fine and seems to have found a solution to fix what's been going on.  I'm relieved beyond belief that it's not his heart!  Phew, I feel like I'm the Mom with all my siblings and this was just breaking my heart that he was going through all this yuckiness :( 

Onto more blessings... Tuesday (Nov 30th) was my birthday and while I was sad I couldn't spend the day at home relaxing with Charlie, I was very thankful to have a job to go to.  It's still so tough out there and I am so glad we have a roof over our heads, food to nourish our bodies and heat to keep us warm!  I had a fabulous birthday dinner with my honey and my family.  My Mom let's each of us pick our fav recipe and dessert for our birthdays so that made it even better!!  Love my Mommy's cooking, Yummy-Yummy-Yummy!

And today...drum roll please...brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....it my parent's 21st anniversary!  It's not heard of these days to have marriages that last.  I want our marriage to be filled with as much love and happiness as my parents have based on God's love & guidance.  Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad, we love you both so much!

I hope you all experience God's many blessings in your life each and every day!  We are sooooooo BLESSED and cannot say Thank you enough!

Therapy via laughter

Where have I been?  It's been so long since I posted anything.  So sorry! 

This past weekend was a blast.  We went to my Aunt B's 50th Birthday/Surprise Retirement Party, then Charlie's Uncle Danny's Surprise 50th Birthday Party and then went to my rents casa for Me/Sami/Grandma Josephine's joint Birthday Party.  Phew! 

I think I'm still recovering from laughing this past weekend.  Laughter can do wonders for one's soul.  I thought my cheeks were going to run off my face from laughing so hard with my Cousin Krissy.  We tend to just giggle back and forth (usually about nothing and Katie I promise we were only laughing with you) like little school girls.  Good thing Adam can warn Charlie about what he's getting into.  It was nice to talk all about the wedding and get tips & tricks from Krissy since she just went through everything.  I'm sure the ladies at work were relieved I didn't mention anything about the wedding today, they are sooooooo over my planning.  I cannot help talking about it though, I'm so excited.  This past weekend with both of our families, really showed me what our wedding is hopefully going to be, so much fun mixed with silliness and full of lots of L-O-V-E!!

We are 6 months away from the big day (since yesterday)!!

Update: engagement pictures are in and florist is booked!  Up next are tuxes (groomsmen and ring bears), save the dates, invitations, flower girl dresses.  We are just moving right along.  Pre-marital was awesome!  Can't wait for our next session :) 

Say a prayer for Charlie, this weekend took it out of him and he's in bed not feeling well :( 

Goodnight for now,
Giggle-Monster

He said, She Said

Happy Wednesday!  We are half way through the week with the crisp Colorado air on our skin and as I heard yesterday, "our lips are as dry and tight as a snare drum"!  Hilarious...I feel like mine are just about to crawl off my face.  Poor Charlie, it's like kissing sandpaper.  Also there is a chance of flurries expected tomorrow.  Where did the summer and fall go?!?!  Only in the Big CO!  It makes me think about our spring wedding and the temperamental weather here in Colorado.  Lots of prayers we have a beautiful day :) 

Onto the past weekend...We met with the florist on Sunday and there are soooooooo many areas that flowers could go.  LOL!  She was very well organized and had lots of pictures for us to take a glace at, I left feeling pretty overwhelmed.  Hopefully we have a better idea of pricing come Friday.  Knowing my luck, I picked the most expensive ones.  Uhhh-Oh-Spaghetti-O, we may need to re-evaluate.

Today we have our first session of pre-marital counseling.  Yippee, I'm very curious and excited to see what our Pastor is going to cover with us.    I was asked by a peer if we were going because of already having problems, I giggled and tried to explain the purpose behind it prior to marriage.  I got a huh response back, needless to say I think this is going to be very beneficial for us before tying the knot!  The pastor that is marrying us, is also the pastor that baptised me so it's even more special.  So will Pastor Ken say "He said, She Said" in regard to what we put on our individual questionnaires or will we just go over the basics today?  Stay tuned...I am so ready to just say two words at this point...I DO!

~Curious George 

In with the good, Out with the bad

Did a quick 3.5 mile run this AM and it was so nice to just take that time to clear my mind from the week.  There's definitely been a lot going on recently with family, friends, work and wedding planning.  Running just takes me to a different place where I have time to think but not to do, if that makes any sense.  We are always running around from place to place trying to multi-task claiming we need more hours in a day to accomplish what we "need" to finish.  If only we could hit pause just to take a deep breath in and realize all the truly import things in life, I think we'd all be better off mentally and physically speaking.

Now that my endorphins have kicked in, this weekend is off to a fabulous start!!  Today Charlie's getting a haircut, we are then off to meet the new Hills' baby girl and then to dinner & a comedy show with Whitney and Brooke.  Tomorrow is church and our first meeting with the florist.  I have a visual in mind for what I would like to have the flowers look like, hopefully we will have a better idea after tomorrow.  Happy weekend all!  Deep breath...in with the good and out with the bad!

~Endorphin filled Bride-to-be

Whatchamacallit?

Marriage brings an opportunity to take on a new last name, for some maybe a whole new identity.  Just think about it, we (women) are know by that name from day one and then we are identified differently from that day (our wedding) forward.  We are not only known by a new last name but identified by the roots we are about to join.  I must admit, this was a very foreign concept to me growing up and I struggled with having people begin to know me by some other name.  In physics, I had no problem remembering the formula for energy...EMC squared as these were my initials.  Now, I will be going from a "C" last name to an "F" and going from one nobody can pronounce accurately to another nobody can pronounce accurately. 

I cannot be more thrilled to accept the privilege and honor of being identified as one with my soon-to-be-husband.  The concept no longer seems foreign to me as I'm dreaming of the life that is to come as a family.  What a blessing God has put in my life! 

When we were on our 3rd date I happened to see his license and just stared dumbfounded.  I jokingly said "FaFaFa...what?!?!"  So now...I too will be a FaFaFa!  Hooray! 

~EMC for now :)

And So it Begins...

Here we are, first posting on the newest way to communicate with our loved ones about our incredible journey!  Some of you may or may not know how it all began...here's the cliff's notes better known as EC's notes.  We met September 11, 2009 out with separate groups of friends at Charlie's favorite hangout...LoDo's.  Yes, I know, it's far from what anybody pictured and that night I went in kicking & screaming.  I just did not like that place at all...look what I came out with though!  He's been a dream come true and it's been an incredible journey so far.  Who would have ever known love could be so wonderful.  We are really looking forward to our big day and let me tell you how crazy it's been planning everything.  We have only been engaged since August 10, 2010 and we have so many things already lined up!  Can you say OCD  organized?!?!  Here is what's done:  the venue, the menu, the DJ (my Dad keeps asking us why DJs have "stage names", I have no clue!), the photographer, my dress, the bridesmaid dresses, the flower girl dresses!  Phew...now what ever could be left?  Plenty!  If any of you men out there can sympathize with Charlie, by having gone through the engagement/wedding planning process or dealt with an OCD planning fiance, please reach out to him!  Poor guy, he must always think I'm going 200 mph with the planning.  We've got 6 1/2 months to go until May 21, 2011 but who's counting! Stay tuned for the adventures in planning!