Going Gravenkamp

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

2011-11-20T08:39:00.001-08:00

I love the holidays! The thing I love the most is being able to spend time with my family. This was a tough year for us, and very soon after my last post, my grandfather passed away. We were very close, he was a wonderful man, and with everything going on.....I just couldn't bring myself to write a post that wasn't depressing.

We miss him dearly and think of him every day. Though he isn't with us today, he is in our hearts.

On a happy note.....we are in Snowbird!! Finn & I flew in yesterday, and my parents & Grandma Marie drove from Sacramento to meet us here. On Monday night Lauren & Chris arrive, & Tuesday morning Ben, Krista & James fly in!

We've been coming here since before I was born. The Iron Blosam Lodge was one of the first timeshare properties in the world & the first timeshare development in a ski area. My parents bought the unit in 1979 after coming to Snowbird on a spring break ski trip & attending a time share presentation.

I have so many amazing memories of this place. We've been coming here almost every other year since 1979. I learned to ski here when I was two years old, and my sisters both learned here when they were very young as well. We started on Chickadee Hill & moved on to Big Emma, and then the more difficult runs.

As little kids, my grandparents, on both sides of the family, often came with us. I vividly recall eating grilled cheese & soup at lunch time with my grandparents, while my parents were still out on the slopes. We always took a lesson at least the first day or so we were here, in the mornings & then meet up & ski with my parents in the afternoons.

We always do one night of dinner at The Steak Pit, one night at the Mexican Food restaurant, & Thanksgiving dinner at the Cliff Lodge. The other nights of the week we stay in, have soups, lasagna or order pizza from the Snowbird Center.

If you know anything about our family, you know we love our traditions. This year however, we are changing things up a bit. Everyone was able to make it this year, and for the first time ever, we are going to be making a traditional Thanksgiving dinner in our unit! Grandma came with us to make sure we had our cornbread dressing, and my parents drove so that they could bring all the things we would need. As our family grows, so do the wonderful memories.

Here's to being with family, new traditions, and the many more adventures to come. Happy Holidays!

Sleepy Sundays

2011-10-16T10:01:00.001-07:00

Finn had an exhausting week having fun with GG & Gramps. Today, it finally caught up with him. He woke up hungry, as he normally does at 6:45am, but after some milk, cuddled up with mommy & daddy. Normally he would relax for no more than 15min or so, but this morning, he fell back asleep & didn't wake up until 9am!

What that meant, was mommy & daddy got an extra 2 hours of sleep as well. I feel like a new person! It's amazing what a little extra sleep will do.

Maybe Finn was really tired, or maybe he made a secret deal with daddy to sleep late, so he could stay up & watch the Bears game tonight.

When Ben & I got married over 2 years ago, we registered for a waffle maker. Like many of our wedding gifts, they were stored until we had a place with a bigger kitchen to use all of our fun household gifts. On October 17, 2009 we moved into our current place. We broke out almost all our wedding gifts & the waffle maker was one of the first ones we used. We've had a tradition ever since. Happy (almost) 2 year anniversary Waffle Sunday!!

Ben is the waffle maker & I make the sides. Sometimes eggs, sometimes potatoes, & lucky days like today, I'm just in charge of pulling out the syrup!

Today's special: Fresh blueberry waffles! Mmmm, Finn & Mommy's favorite!

Here's to homemade waffles, Football, BBQ, & Beer!

Happy Sunday everyone!

We're Going to Try This Again

2011-10-15T19:33:00.000-07:00

I thought I would give blogging a try, but like I said before, being a mommy isn't easy. There are a million things I should be doing on any given day, but the only thing I want to do, is play with my little guy.
My little man, that isn't really that little anymore. He is still small, but getting smarter & doing more everyday. Finn's a little shrimp of a guy at only 17lbs and 28inches tall. We've been taking him back in to the doctor for monthly weight checks, but this kid refuses to grow. He eats like a pig, and is normal in every sense of the word. My thought is, that he just moves too much, and eats too healthy.

Finn's favorite snack is frozen peas & corn. He's been eating them since he started on solids, and he loves them frozen, I think because it feels good on his teething gums. The little guys eats a balanced diet of fruits, veggies, lean meats, and potatoes and rice. And still, he does not grow. I don't mind, as long as the doctor says he's healthy. I think it's adorable to see this sweet small boy of mine running around, just like I was at his age (I was only 15lbs).

Just a few fun facts about Finn:
*Finn has been on an airplane more than 5 times
*Finn has been on vacations to Solvang, Santa Barbara, Yreka, Seattle, Disneyland, Sacramento, & Palm Springs
*Finn says "bye bye", "Momma", "Dada", "Baby", & "Dog"
*Finn no longer crawls, but walks everywhere
*Finn likes to skype with family
*Finn loves to swim & likes playing at the beach
*Finn loves to give kisses
*Finn is the sweetest baby on earth (I'm biased of course)

So......I'm going to give this a try again. Hopefully it will last more than just 1 post. It's amazing how the world changes when baby bedtime is 7pm!

Being a New Mom isn't Easy

2010-12-03T15:59:00.000-08:00

Blogging has been the last thing on my mind for the past 6 months or so. I'd been furiously trying to prepare our home for our new addition, and once Finn was brought into our lives, there was nothing I wanted to do besides spend time with my little man.

Now that he is sleeping 10 or so hours at night, and taking naps throughout the day, I may have a little more time for blogging. That is, once dinner is made, the house is clean, and the laundry isn't overflowing.

I never knew what it was like to have someone else run your life, but a new baby definitely does it. Your priorities change, and not much else seems important, besides that beautiful baby looking up at you!

Baby Bear

2010-04-05T20:36:00.000-07:00

It's so hard not to run out and buy every cute little boy outfit you see, now that we know what we're having. Ben is the kind of shopper, that if you really want something, you get it, while I wait for sales and am an ultimate bargain shopper.

I've been doing a little online shopping for cute onesies with funny sayings on them, sports team apparel, and educational toys.......but Ben has been a little different. He hadn't bought anything until now.

A little background: Every time we go to Disneyland (at least 4-5 times per year), we always walk through the shops in downtown Disney at the end of the night. There is a big Anne Geddes store with some of the most adorable photos, dolls and little baby outfits. Everything is beyond cute, but crazy expensive.

I about died when we got back from our cruise and Ben had a little Birthday present that he said was for me, but not for me........meaning he had an excuse to buy something he knows I never would have purchased. It was an Anne Geddes box and inside was the furry baby bear outfit we've looked at a hundred times. It's got the one piece outfit with the bear ear cap and booties. Ben's excuse was that it was just so cute and we always looked at it when we were in the shop...... and it would be perfect when we visited Yreka at Christmas time.

I will admit, it is one of the cutest things I've ever seen, although it's a bummer we'll be waiting over 6 months before he'll even be close to fitting into it!

Getting a head start on our Little Man's Room

2010-04-05T20:27:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how long it's been since my last post. I seem to always have something more important to do, or I'm just too exhausted to sit down at the computer and write anything.

However, we found out a couple of weeks ago, we are going to be having a little boy. I've already found a super cute bedding set that I love! I knew that if we were going to have a boy, I wanted to do a jungle themed room. I wanted to avoid something that was way too babyish, and fit more of the the contemporary feel of our house.

Ben will be starting on the painting of the room shortly, and we've been shopping around for a cute crib and dresser for the room as well. We've started our registry and this is what we're starting with.

The Big News!

2010-02-25T21:42:00.000-08:00

I have been hiding from my blog, because I haven't thought of anything except the one thing I really wanted to write about. Ben is so excited, but wanted me to be far enough along before we announced........

We are having a BABY!!

As of now, I am 16 weeks and counting. We are thrilled to find out the sex of our little one at our 20 week appointment and start the process of designing the nursery.

Here are a couple of the bedding sets that I'm liking right now.
I think this ocean themed one is cute for a baby girl

And I love this one for a baby boy!

Just another month before we find out!!!

Starting the Year Off Right!

2010-01-19T21:14:00.000-08:00

After being a little (or a lot) under the weather at the end of 2009, it may have looked like I let myself go after getting married. Having MONO, and feeling crappy for over a month, did not help my workout schedule. I ate my 3 meals a day, laying on the couch, with the most exercise being, getting up to go to the bathroom.

Ben and I are off to a great start during the new year! I have managed to make it to my twice a week 5:45am bootcamp, and my Sat. morning bootcamp. On top of that, I'm also going to a specialized fitness class on Thursday nights.

And like I do, every winter, I am dancing with Faith and Mojalet Dance Collective, for the Cafe Mojalet Show.

Ben has also been diligent about his evening P90X workouts.

It feels great to be getting back in shape. We're eating healthy, and taking care of our bodies. But I am exhausted!!! I can't wait for my body to get used to this schedule!

For those of you who haven't found that motivation yet...don't let time pass you by. Get up off that couch and do something for yourself. It may be hard initially, but you'll always feel so much better at the end of a difficult workout!

2009....A year of Beginnings!

2010-01-01T22:04:00.000-08:00

2009 was quite a year to remember. It was a year filled with celebrations and fun! Here are some of the highlights of our fabulous year!

Krista & James get Engaged
Technically they were engaged in 2008, but were in Hawaii at the time. They came back in 2009, where Krista flashed a beaming smile and a big sparkly rock! The engaged couple are deep in the planning stages of their summer 2010 destination wedding! I can't wait for a week on the beach!

Bachelorette Party #1
An awesome cruise to Mexico with my favorite girls. I was incredibly lucky to have such a wonderful bridal party and mother who was willing to spend their entire weekend aboard a ship with me! It was the perfect girls get-away! I'm hoping for a repeat soon!

Engagement Photos
We absolutely loved our photographers. They took some of the most amazing pictures I have ever seen. Many of the photos were candid shots, but they seemed to capture the moment perfectly.

Bridal Shower Fun!
My generous Zehnder Aunt's put on a beautiful bridal shower for me in late May! My friends and I took in a little wine tasting the day before, and the day of the shower was fantastic! I was blessed with so many wonderful gifts and was so excited my new sisters and mother-in-law were able to be there as well!

Bachelorette Party #2
After having so much fun on the cruise, my girlfriends decided we needed to do it again. So they set up a fun evening riding the bull at Double Deuce in San Diego. I have to brag that I did stay on the bull the longest!

Trip to New York & Philadelphia
We took a little break from the wedding madness and visited New York & Philly! We saw 2 Met's games, 1 in the new Citi Field. We saw our first Broadway musical together, and took in all the touristy things along the way.

Bachelorette Party #3: Girls Night Out
I had so much family in town for the wedding, what else would we have done with our time, than another Bachelorette Party? We went out for Happy Hour drinks and appetizers, and then bowling! I loved that even the grandmothers came out for some fun!

Our Wedding Day!
The most memorable and heartfelt day of my life up to this point. Our wedding was so much better than I could have ever imagined! I am thrilled to be spending the rest of my life with such and amazing man!

Moving in to a New House!
We graduated from my little condo to a sweet 3 bedroom house in Rancho Bernardo. The dogs love the big back yard, and I love all our new space! The kitchen is huge and there is nothing like having a garage to store all the wedding gifts!!

Our First Christmas Together!
When I say first, I really do mean first. Every year before this, we've split up for Christmas to spend time with our families. We missed a few things, but were exposed to some new things as well. It was my first Christmas I've ever missed with the Zehnder's but my first to spend at the Conroy's. It was an excellent Christmas, with lots of great gifts I might add.

Overall, 2009 was a fantastic year! I'm sad that it's over......but so excited for the things to come!

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

2009-12-26T12:49:00.000-08:00

I LOVE the holidays! Most of all, I love being able to spend a few (generally uninterrupted) days with family! We were very fortunate to have been able to spend the holidays with most of our family (and extended family)

For Ben and I, this was an exciting Christmas of firsts! For the first time, we got our own Christmas Tree, and puts lights on our own house. We also got to spend Christmas Eve & Christmas Day with one another.

We both have very strong bonds with our families, and couldn't bear to break traditions. But as we've learned, marriage is about compromise, and making a few new traditions of your own. This year we headed North from San Diego on the 20th, and made our stop in Elk Grove. We were able to visit with friends and family, before heading farther North to Ben's hometown of Yreka!

I spent my first Christmas Eve in Yreka with Ben's parents and mom's side of the family, The Conroys! Although I was sad about missing my first Zehnder Christmas ( I heard our new game was excellent), I had a fantastic time in Yreka. We played a huge game of BUNKO, and did a very fun White Elephant gift exchange. It was great to get to know everyone a little better, and meet those family members who weren't at the wedding.

Christmas Eve was great, but didn't come to a close until pretty late. So getting up at 5:30am on Christmas morning to drive back to Elk Grove, wasn't exactly easy. We loaded up and made it on the road by 6am, and were able to see a beautiful sunrise surrounding Mount Shasta. The drive south, was not necessarily fun, but the scenery and lack of cars on the road, made it a lot more enjoyable.

We made it back to Elk Grove in record time, and made it to Grandma & Grandpa's for the start of present opening! We had an extraordinary Christmas this year! Everyone was able to make it, and we got/gave some awesome gifts!

After most of the day at the grandparents, we went back to my parents to have our Christmas (normally done early Christmas morning). The presents just kept coming! (Brooklyn & Lola even got Snuggies) We went a little overboard this year, again, after saying we were going to cut back. The best part though?......everyone was there! Mom & Dad, Krista & James, Lauren & Chris, and Ben & I!

Overall, an awesome Christmas, filled with food, family, & fun! Merry Christmas Everyone!!

The Holidays

2009-12-02T13:41:00.000-08:00

I absolutely love the holidays. So filled with tradition, and family. I haven't lived in the same town as my family for almost 10 years now. I miss them dearly, everyday. But the holidays are the time of year that I get to see them for more than a few days, at a time.

This year, we were able to go to Snowbird, Utah for our Thanksgiving vacation. This was the first year we were missing someone...Lauren, who couldn't make it. And although we missed her, there are so many memories that come back to me, when we stay there. My parents have had this time share for 30 years, and in that time, have created so many memorable experiences for us. The beautiful glass windows of our 2 story room, overlooking the mountain. You can see the lifts right from our room. The sun shines in through the windows in the morning, and the balcony is usually covered in delicate white snow.

Some of my fond memories include skiing with my family during the day, finding little bits of powder to ski through along the sides of the slopes, and maybe even a little jump or two. I also remember watching the Thanksgiving day parade on TV in front of the fire, Thanksgiving morning in our long johns, before heading out to the lifts. Dressing up, in our Thanksgiving best for a "fancy" dinner at the Cliff lodge. Enjoying a dinner around the fire, with family, usually soup and grilled cheese. And best of all, swimming in the pool (which is hot as a hot tub) while it snows down around you. The view from the pool, is extraordinary! The trees filled with fluffy, white snow, and the mountain rising up around you.

This year, as with one other (in all the years we've gone) did not really go as planned. We didn't have a whole lot of snow, and I came down sick after only a couple of days. Although we would have liked to do a little more skiing, I can't complain too much. I was in a beautiful place, filled with happy memories, and a family I love! I can't wait to share these same, and many more memories when we start a family of our own.......don't get too excited, that will be some time down the road.

Wedding Reception Dinner

2009-11-17T17:40:00.000-08:00

Our wedding was the most incredible day of our lives. I was super excited to arrive home from school today to see a package on our door step. It was our wedding video!! I've been dying to see it, so I grabbed a glass of wine, Ben a beer and sat down to watch the video. It's absolutely beautiful and made me cry!

I've blogged about most of our wedding day with the exception of the reception. Our wedding and reception were one of the most fun days I've ever had, not to mention the most fun wedding I've ever been to. I'm biased of course, but have had numerous people tell us what a great time they had.

We started right in on dinner after the cocktail hour. We designed the evening so that the salads would be served, and then the slideshow would play. Nicole spent hours upon hours on this slideshow. Everytime she had it finished, something would go wrong.....the computer would crash, refuse to burn it to DVD or some other crazy situation. Nicole remade that video 4 or 5 times, but it still turned out great.

So the slide show played during the salad course, and then we went right into dinner. The dinner was fantastic, although I wish I had been able to eat more. I was so excited, I had butterflies in my stomach. I had to force myself to eat, but everyone said the food was great. We chose 3
entrees to offer for dinner. The chicken, beef or tortellini. All three were super yummy!

The photographers stole us away during the middle of dinner because they said we would regret it, if we didn't head outside for a few more photos while the light was fantastic.

After dinner, we went directly into speeches. All the speeches were great, but my dad's was particularly hilarious. My mom insisted he figure out what he was going to say (especially if he was going to have a drink or two before). He wrote everything on note cards, and then somehow managed to mix them up before he spoke. His speech made so little sense, people were roaring with laughter. Funny thing is....I loved it!!

Ben made us cry with his heartfelt words, both to our parents and to me. You could tell in his speech how much he dearly loves me, even if he does make crazy sometimes!

Thankful Thursdays

2009-11-12T19:47:00.001-08:00

It's been a while since my last thankful Thursday, but I'm hoping to get back on track here.
I am thankful for so many things, even though it's been a rough month for us here.
Just a few of the things I'm thankful for:
* The Holidays! I love this time of year and can't wait to spend time with my family and my new family!
*Skiing with the family the whole week of Thanksgiving. We'll miss Lauren & Chris, but will have lots of fun, flying down the mountain.
*Having a job......although it may not be fun at times, it's a paycheck and I know it will get better.
*My sweet puppies, who I enjoy so much more, now that we have a yard!
*My husband and his willingness to spend hours putting together furniture that he didn't care to have, but he knew it made me happy.
* Finally having a kitchen table...you'd be surprised at how long it's been since we were able to sit down someplace other than the sofa for dinner.
*My family...who I miss dearly and get to see very soon.
*Our new place.....and washer and dryer! Love it!
*The best friends a girl could ask for. We always have fun when we go out together!!

Wedding Ceremony Script

2009-11-07T23:52:00.000-08:00

Our wedding ceremony was everything I wanted and more. Neither Ben nor I are super religious, but did want to have a somewhat traditional ceremony. We decided to ask our friend, co-worker, and Ben's old roommate Mike to be our minister. He said yes without hesitation.

Mike was ordained online and we met up about a month before to talk about the ceremony script. I gave mike a sample ceremony I found online and told him he could use that one or change it up to something he thought would be better.

Mike did an amazing job. He emailed me a first draft and that's the one that stuck. We didn't change a thing and I couldn't have been happier! I found a really cool looking journal and copied his script into it. Then, Ben and I wrote our own vows and added those to the journal.

On the wedding day, Mike read our vows aloud and we repeated them to one another. It was a wonderful reflection of US! I'm a little biased, but I've never had more fun, or heard more laughs in a wedding ceremony.

Here's a copy of the script from our fabulous day:

Dear friends and family, with great affection for Ben and Anna we have gathered together to witness and bless their union in marriage. To this sacred moment they bring the fullness of their hearts with love to share with one another. They bring the dream which bind them together in an eternal commitment. They bring their gifts and talents, their unique personalities and spirits, which will unite into one being as they build their life together.

Who give this woman to be married to the man? Dad: Her mother and I do.

God, love has been Your richest and greatest gift to the world. Love between a man and a woman which matures into marriage is one of Your most beautiful types of loves. Today we celebrate that love. May Your blessing be on this wedding service. Protect, guide, and bless Ben and Anna in their marriage. Surround them and us with Your love now and always. Amen.

A reading by close friend Heather (which she chose and then read at our ceremony).

It is an honor and pleasure for me to officiate the marriage and union between Ben & Anna. I can still remember the first day that Ben saw Anna at work. He asked if I had seen the hot, new dance teacher. I told him that I had not and he suggested that I "Check her out" because she was "very hot." I also recall their first date and how nervous Ben was before the date. He was so anxious and excited that he forgot his wallet and was late to pick Anna up. I also remember him getting home early from the date and asking him how it went. He said that it went well and that he hoped to see her again. Once they had started to date steady, Anna gave a completely different version of the first date. The past 3 years I have seen Ben and Anna move from an awkward first date to a strong and powerful relationship full of love. They are a perfect balance and compliment to each other and are faithfully devoted to one another. The troubles they have encountered have only made them stronger and have made them ready for a lifetime of joy & happiness together.

They are whole heartedly committed to each other and will solidify that commitment today in front of their friends and family. Let me charge to you both, to remember that your future happiness is to be found in mutual consideration, patience, kindness, confidence, and affection. Ben, it is your duty to love Anna as yourself, provide tender leadership and protect her from danger. Anna, it is your duty to treat Ben with respect, support him and create a healthy, happy home. It is the duty of each of you to find the greatest joy in the company of the other; to remember that in both interest and affection you are to be one and undivided.

Ben, please repeat after me (Vows written by Ben):
I Ben, take you Anna to be my partner. Loving what I know of you and trusting what I do not yet know. I look forward to spending my life with you, raising our dogs together and maybe even a few kids as well. I promise to encourage and inspire you, to laugh with you, and to comfort you when times are tough. I promise to love you in good times and in bad; when life seems easy and when it seems hard; when our love is simple and when it is an effort. I promise to cherish you and never complain when you drag me to yet another dance show. With kindness, unselfishness and trust, I will work by your side to create a wonderful life together. I promise you this from my heart for all the days of my life.

Anna repeat after me (Vows written by me)
I Anna, take you Ben to be my lawfully wedded husband, my constant friend, faithful partner, and one true love. You make me feel safe, alive and whole. I look forward to sharing our lives together, traveling, raising children that have your good looks, and just being content in one another's presence. I promise to support you in your dreams, and comfort you when the Mets lose. With kindness, unselfishness, and trust, I will work by your side to create a wonderful life together. I promise you this from my heart for all the days of my life.

Ben and Anna, you have made a very serious and important decision in choosing to marry each other today. The quality of your marriage with reflect what you put into nurturing this relationship. You have the opportunity to go forward, from this day, to create a faithful, kind, and tender relationship. May we bless you this day. It is up to you to keep the blessings flowing each and every day of our lives together. We wish for you the wisdom, compassion, and constancy to create a peaceful sanctuary in which you can both grow in love.

(This was repeated to each of us, with our response of "I DO")
Ben/Anna do you understand and accept this responsibility, and do you promise to do your very best each day to create a loving, healthy, and happy marriage, as long as you both shall live?

The wedding ring is a symbol of eternity. It is an outward sign of an inward and spiritual bond which unites two hearts in endless love. And now as a token of your love and of your deep desire to be forever united in heart and soul, you Ben may place a ring on the finger of your bride.

(Exchanging of the rings repeated by each of us)
I give you this ring, as a symbol of my love and faithfulness to you.

Because Ben and Anna have desired each other in marriage and have witnessed this before God and our gathering, affirming their acceptance of the responsibilities of such union, and pledged their love and faith to each other, sealing their vows in the giving and receiving of rings, I do proclaim, by the power vested in me, by the state of California, that they are now husband and wife. Let all people here and everywhere recognize and respect this union now and forever.

Ben, you may now kiss your Bride.

It is now my privilege to introduce to you, for the first time, Mr. & Mrs. Gravenkamp!

**Happiest day of my life. Thank you to Mike for a job well done. He did an excellent job writing that script, and made our day incredibly special because of it!

The Wedding Ceremony!

2009-11-07T21:49:00.000-08:00

Everyone was saying how calm I was for a bride within minutes of saying "I do". As I remember it, I was just super excited, and ready to commit my life to an amazing man. The Rivermill planner Jeri, lined us up, and I heard the last couple of songs play from our pre-wedding ceremony CD Ben and I had made together. (Songs from our years together than had special meaning to us)

***Flash back 6 months to our first meeting with our DJ.....Ben joked over and over that as long as he played Fergie's "My Humps" he would be happy. So, as Ben left our meeting to watch a baseball game, I came up with a fun idea and our awesome DJ helped me carry it out. We found a instrumental jazz version of "My Humps". He edited out the parts I didn't want and that was the song I had for him to play when Ben, our "minister" Mike, and the groomsmen walked down the aisle to.***

The last song of the CD plays starts playing and I tell the guys, "You better play this up, I have a fun song for you." After a little prodding, I told them what it was. Mike immediately says, "You're kidding......right?!?!" And then it started to play.
It totally lightened the mood, gave everyone a good laugh, and started our ceremony off with a little fun.Ben and I put a lot of thought into the rest of the music to be played for our ceremony. For the Grandparents & Ben's parents we played "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes" because I love that song and we are huge Disney fans.Then my Mom, escorted by my Uncle Wayne walked down to "In My Daughter's Eyes". It was just a little something to show how much she meant to me on that important day. She did so much to make it the perfect day for me. My Mom is generous and kind, thoughtful and funny. I know it made her tear up, but it also made her smile and that meant the world to me.
For the girls, another Disney song. My heart was racing, and I was itching to walk down the aisle, but it was also bittersweet, because I was being "given away" to start my own family. Lauren cracked me up and she looked down the long walkway and aisle and said, "That is SO far" and proceeded to sprint down the aisle. Krista, much more calm, and Nicole and Sara, as if they'd done this a million times.
Shea, our flower girl and my new niece was all business. She took her job very seriously, knew when to walk and was absolutely perfect! She was a pro! She was all alone, but took her time, stayed an even distance with Sara and decided she was mature enough to stand up there with the rest of the girls for the entire ceremony!
Then it was my turn. "Dream" by Priscilla Ahn, was the perfect song, and I still tear up any time I hear it. (I will also be choreographing to it for our spring dance concert this year.) The first time Ben and I heard the song, we fell in love with it, and knew it would be the perfect choice. There was a pause and then the music started to play. My dad looks at me and asks, "You ready kiddo?" in a voice choking back some tears. That's when I lost it. "Dad, you can't do that to me, I'm going to ruin my make-up!"

My Dad walking me down the aisle was a dream come true. Everything was extraordinary. We took our time walking down the sidewalk and then turned to walk down the aisle of chairs. I caught Ben's expression, and knew I this was the man for me. He couldn't hold back tears, smiling through them. It also made me laugh, because he kept saying there was no way he was going to cry on our wedding day.We made it to Ben, who stepped in to take my hand, when my dad cut him off and said to me, "I get this first" and he gave me a tight hug and kiss on the cheek.Mike, our "minister" did a wonderful job on our ceremony! We got together a couple of weeks before the wedding to discuss his duties (I'll blog about that later), and plan out the ceremony. He read from the book I had copied his notes into, and then wrote our wedding vows in as well. Most people didn't realize that Mike is actually not a minister, but Ben's old roommate and our co-worker. We couldn't have had a better officiant. He knew us, and was able to re-tell stories from the beginning of our relationship.Ben and I wanted to write our own vows, but still be able to look into each other's eyes as we said them to one another. Instead of writing them down and reading them to one another, I had written them in Mike's book so that we could be somewhat traditional in our vows, but have our own twist on things. This was amazing, and something I would recommend to any couple who wants to have a personalized ceremony, with the feel of a traditional one.We got a few laughs, and it was interesting to find out most people thought Mike had written our vows.
When it came time for the exchanging of the rings, as is the case on most hot days, our fingers were a little bloated. I could not get Ben's ring on to save my life. I struggled for what seemed like 5 minutes, and out of nervousness, made the comment, "Well, as least we know it won't be coming off." This got a new round of laughs and made for some interesting pictures!

As the ceremony finished up, I was overflowing with happiness! It was perfect....not a thing I would have changed. Well, maybe the wind picking up, and me having to tuck my veil under my armpit so that it wouldn't whip me in the face. ;) But other than that, not a thing!

The Rivermill, Pictures, & our First Meeting

2009-10-25T08:10:00.000-07:00

We arrived at the Rivermill and it was even more beautiful than I could have imagined. Everything was blooming, the chairs were set up perfectly for the ceremony, and it wasn't near as hot as it could have been. We were a little worried when we planned an outdoor wedding in Sacramento, in August, that it might be scorching.

It was at this time that I got my gift from my groom. He gave me the most exquisite diamond earrings, from our favorite jeweler. The earrings matched the diamond necklace from my parents perfectly.

Us girls arrived first and took some pictures before the guys arrived. I love the one of our flowers behind our backs. I found cards for my bridesmaids with a picture exactly like this on the front, and thought it was adorable, so we recreated it.

After the guys arrived, and I was peaking out the window trying to catch a glimpse of my groom, we did our big reveal. We decided with our photographers, that we wanted to meet before the ceremony so that we could take a lot of our pictures and not miss so much of our cocktail hour with our guests. This was the best thing we could have done.

The photographers had Ben wait for me in the courtyard, and had me sneak up on him from behind. It was perfect. I got to give him a few kisses and hugs before we said our vows. It was fun to have a little time to ourselves before we committed our lives to one another in front of 200 friends and family members.

Some people asked if this took away from the walk down the aisle to meet at the alter. I can say wholeheartedly, that it was just as breathtaking. Both of us were pretty emotional...but we'll get to that part later.

The photo session with our photographers was fun, and we got a lot of fun candid photos with our own cameras as well.

Enjoy!

If you'd like to see more photos, check out our photographer's blog, or go to their website and find us under the clients page.

Getting Back to Blogging and Wedding Bliss!

2009-10-25T08:04:00.000-07:00

It has been a crazy month since I last blogged. School is well under way, and us teachers are definitely in need of a break. October is the longest month of the school year.

In the last month, we rented out our condo, moved into a house with a huge backyard, had visits from family, and got my sister her wedding dress!

We had also gone without our internet for over a week, which meant no blogging. We are still in the process of moving into our new place, but I will have pictures up soon!

I will be back to blogging about life, the move, and our incredible wedding soon!

Boudoir Photography

2009-09-26T10:27:00.000-07:00

For one of my wedding gifts to Ben, I had boudoir photographs done. I'd heard of this company on a morning radio show I listen to on my way to work. They are called the Boudoir Divas, and are all women photographers, shooting women's boudoir. (I don't think there is such a thing as men's boudoir......that would be a little weird. Although Ben keeps joking he's going to do some for me.)

My photographer was Crystal. She was amazing. When I booked, I talked with their Client Concierge and she gave me the scoop on everything I might need for the shoot. She also sent an email with all sorts of tips and tricks for better photos.

I was to bring in 3 outfits to be photographed in, and choose 3 different types of backgrounds from the ones they offer.

My first outfit was my Mets jersey, paired with bright orange boyshort, undies that say "Property of Coach Gravenkamp" on the booty. I loved this outfit, and many of my best pictured are from these. The second was a racy, black lace, thong.

And the third was a gift from Sara and Nicole, and something I'd seen at Victoria's Secret, loved, and almost bought myself. What can I say? My friends know what I like! It was an adorable navy & cream, pinstripe bra and matching skirted thong w/garter. For this one I wore red high heels. It was very pin-up girl (something Ben really likes) *He keeps saying he wants another tattoo, and this one being an old-time pin-up girl.......and I keep saying NO!

I was really nervous the week leading up to the shoot. I watched what I ate, exfoliated, moisturized, and tried to look my very best. Sara offered to come with me, and help with my hair, and although we both thought it might be a little weird to see me half-naked, I was happy to have her there.

The day of the shoot, I went to the salon for Sara to do my hair, and then we rode over to the studio together. As I walked up the stairs to the studio, they had a cute little sign saying "Welcome Anna", and I was greeted the moment I walked in the door. We were taken into a little consultation room, where we talked about the shoot, and had a glass of champagne, before making our way to the studio.

We started in the first outfit, which was a little more coverage than the other 2. Within minutes I was perfectly comfortable. My photographer Crystal was talking to me so normally I could have been dressed in a ski jacket! She was great, and never said, "look sexy", or anything else that would have sounded cheesy.

She gave me easy tips on how take a picture without smiling (and not look mad or confused). I always smile in pictures and at first it was hard not to, but then started to happen a little easier. By the end of the shoot, I was loving it!

My favorite photo ended up being one in a traditional pin-up girl pose, with my pin-up girl outfit. Sara had added a few pin-curls to my hair in between outfit changes. Little did we know, that would inspire my wedding day hair style!

For any woman about to get married, this is a perfect gift for your soon-to-be husband. It also is kind of empowering. These photos highlight all of your best assets, and make you look incredible. Why not capture that in something fun, a little sexy, and a great reminder of how hot you really are!

No photos this time! Those are just for my husband!

Here we go!

2009-09-26T08:39:00.000-07:00

Wedding pictures are finally in!! I'm so excited, although very anxious to see the video which will come a little later. Our photographers were wonderful! Most of the time, you had no idea they were there. I love all the candid shots from the wedding. We had an amazing time, and it was so much fun reliving the moments through the pictures.

Now I'll pick back up on the blogging for the day of the wedding!

Last I blogged, we were leaving the house (around noon) and heading to the hotel to finish getting ready.

When we arrived at the hotel, we checked in and saw some friends who were checking in at the same time, and our photographers! Us girls went up to the room, and we found out the boys were busy playing whiffle ball, and not getting ready at this point.
Sara started doing my hair, and it went super smooth. She took one time to pin everything in place, and it was perfect! Of my wedding day look, my favorite was my hair. It was slightly traditional with a funky edge to it! I had two hair pieces. One was a rhinestone comb that we paired with the veil for the ceremony. It was perfect! And Sara is amazing! Not only did she finish my hair, and her own, she also did our flower girl, Shea's, hair.Then we had lunch delivered by Sara's boyfriend, and Nicole's husband. *Ben was the lunch guy the day of Nicole's wedding, so these boys were returning the favor.

After a quick lunch, which I forced myself to eat, because of the butterflies in my stomach, we started the process of getting into the dress. The photographers stepped outside for a moment, while I slipped the dress on. Then the photos started as my mom began the slow process of lacing up the dress. Nicole helped my mom out, and had her hands up the back of my dressed straightening the lining, when she poked me right in the butt.......of course photographers were right there for it all!
Lauren helped my with my jewelry, Nicole with my shoes and garter. Like I blogged before, I had 2 pairs of shoes for the wedding. The first was a delicate white pair, for the ceremony. I was so happy they finally got my size in. Although beautiful, I was so thankful I had my other pair. But we'll come back to that!Krista did the honor of delivering my wedding gifts to Ben, while we were finishing up at the room. The first of my wedding gifts to Ben, was something I bought almost 2 months before we were even engaged. Ben is a huge New York Mets baseball fan. The month before the wedding we even made the trip out to see a game at the new stadium (Citi Field). Ben had been to a game in the old Shea stadium and was pretty bummed to see it torn down. So, I found cuff links that were made out of seats from Shea stadium. It gave the exact section and seat number. Now he will forever have a piece of Shea Stadium, and the team he loves so much!
My second gift was boudoir photos that I had taken back in June. I had an album made, and with the album, the place also gives you a greeting card, with one of your images on the front. I loved them. I'll blog about my fun experience with the photos a little later. So Ben opens the card (I heard this from him, and my sister), and thinks it's awesome. The pic on the front was just the cleavage of a girl in a Mets jersey, with an engagement ring that looked a whole lot like mine. Ben proceeded to show it to all his groomsmen, thinking it was so cool that I was able to find something like that. So then he starts to open the cover of the album, when Krista reminds him he might want to open it in private, and he sees a pic and realizes that that card was ME!! He immediately takes the card back from his groomsmen (who have now all seen a little bit more of me) and puts the album away to take a look at later!

**On a side note; When we were in NY, I made him leave a Mets store we were in, so I could buy something. So he thought it was that card, in actuality it was a #1 Husband Mets keychain.

At this point the boys are finishing getting ready, with the photographers and the girls and dad are heading down to the limo to be transported to The Rivermill. On our way to the limo, we stopped in the lobby to wait for Krista. The lobby was crowded with beep ball players from all over the world. They were in town for a huge annual Beep Ball tournament. (*Beep ball is baseball for the blind. The ball beeps so they know when the pitch is coming.)

Our limo driver came in and was telling us that the beep ball players from Taiwan were outside and fascinated with how big the car was. They'd never seen (or felt) a car that big before, and wondered who was riding in it. The limo driver told them it was for a wedding, and that the bride would be coming out soon.
Krista finally made it to the lobby and we started making our way out. As the lobby doors opened, the beep ball players had lined up on both sides of the door and were singing da-dun-da-da, da-dun-da-da. It was awesome! I couldn't help but laugh. They all crowded around for a picture before we jumped in the limo.Everything was super smooth and no stress......I just wish our videographer had been downstairs to capture the beep ball player serenade.

Thankful Thursdays

2009-09-16T21:47:00.000-07:00

We've been incredibly busy these last couple of weeks, and thankfully so. I've been anxiously awaiting our wedding photos and they are finally beginning to be posted. I've got a lot to be thankful for this week.... and here's the list!
*My awesome dad, who had a Birthday, and turned 58 on Monday! He's an incredibly Dad and I feel super lucky to have him so much a part of my life!

*My job. Even though I am annoyed like you wouldn't believe (my students this year are crazy), I have a job that pays the bills. I also am lucky enough to be at a school that offers extra opportunities to get paid. Working a Saturday morning for "Saturday Scholars" is an easy way to make a little extra money!

*Taking fun classes at the community college, like pilates, screen printing, and dance......and then being able to count them towards moving over on the pay scale! I'm moving up this month, and I couldn't have needed it more!

*Amazing wedding gifts. I love cooking more than I ever have before. Incredible pots & pans, knives, and my favorite.......the rice cooker! Ben loves it too.

*My husband who always does the dishes when I cook dinner. If I cook, I don't have to clean! Totally loving this deal right now!

*Cooler weather! I'm finally getting through a night in our condo without sweating my butt off!

*Personalized thank you cards! They've arrived, look great, and we've written tons. (If you haven't gotten yours yet.....it's on its way. So many to write, so little time.)

*FINALLY getting rid of our sofas (the second set). They have been taking up space in our extra bedroom and garage and we had a buyer take them away today!

*Wedding photos from the photographers!!! They've just started posting them. Already have 313 of them posted and we aren't even to the ceremony yet! Go check them out at here at Anika London!

*It's Thursday! Which means tomorrow is Friday and our last day of work this week! I also get to see my Uncle Wayne & Aunt Kathy this weekend when I take Sara & Nick to LAX for their Maui getaway and friend's wedding.

Stay tuned for more wedding blogs as the photos start coming in from the photographer! So many great photos, and wonderful memories to go along with each of them!

Wedding Blogging!

2009-09-04T22:22:00.000-07:00

I've been holding out on blogging anymore about wedding details, hoping that we would be getting our wedding photos from the photographer. I'd like to document the day with pics, because pics are just way more fun!

So bear with me, and we should have some good photos in another week or two!

Here's a photo to get you through, taken by Sister-in-Law Carol!

Thankful Thursdays

2009-09-04T21:50:00.000-07:00

I'm a little late, but to be fair, I was at school and then sitting in a car for 8 hours (most of which I was driving) for my Thursday.

Here are the things I am thankful for on this belated Thursday.

*My wonderful HUSBAND (still a little weird to say it) who can be such a turd, but I love him to death. He was not looking forward to our long drive, just a month after we did the last one.

*My new family the Gravenkamps who act as though I've been a part of the family forever.

*My new S-I-L Andrea and her family who are willing to dog sit our crazy pups for the weekend.

*My grandma & grandpa for watching Lola this weekend while I'm busy doing fun things.

*Being able to go to a wedding, and not worry about a thing. I had so much fun at my wedding, but there was so much going on and I didn't want to miss a thing.

*Tracy's wedding! Weddings are so fun and I don't have to spend all day getting ready! :)

*Seeing my family after only a month without them.

*Going wedding dress shopping with my little sister and all the important women in her life!

*That our wedding might officially be legal this week. Had a little mishap, but got it cleared up.

*Krista & James' engagement party on Sunday!

* Having a day off work! This is going to be a long school year!

An Easy Morning

2009-08-26T18:19:00.000-07:00

My Wedding Day was almost entirely stress-free! I woke up early after getting a pretty good night's sleep. I was the last to get my hair and makeup done, so I had plenty of time to relax and take some pics of my favorite girls getting ready!My best friend Sara is an amazing hair stylist and did my hair for the wedding, as well as all my bridesmaids and her own. I sat back and had some tea and toast, watching everyone getting beautified.My mom, sisters and I had our make-up done by Shana Beals. She's an awesome makeup artist who has done many of my cousin's makeup for their wedding day and came highly recommended. She did not disappoint!My Dad stayed out of the way of the women and hardly noticed I was talking to him he was so sucked into the game!I lazily got into the shower and had my makeup done, then we were off to the Stockton Hilton to meet up with our photographers and finish getting ready in our room. I loved that the morning was completely stress-free. We were out of the house on time and didn't feel the least bit rushed.
A perfect start to our perfect day!

Rehearsal Dinner

2009-08-25T20:20:00.000-07:00

Like I said in my last post, there was so much going on during wedding time, there would be no way to fit it all into one blog post! So I'll blog little by little about all the fun details of the wedding....which we are still talking about! It was an amazing day, with incredible people.

First off, I'll tell you a little bit about our great rehearsal dinner.

The day started off a little shaky with a misunderstanding about time frames. I had my freak out for the weekend, but got it out of my system before the Big Day. We headed out for The Rivermill by 1pm to be there for our 2pm rehearsal.

I was excited that everyone was on time and ready to go. Jerry, is the planner at the Rivermill and she took care of everything. I had given her all the information ahead of time, concerning who was standing where and walking with whom. It was great! I didn't have to do anything!

We ran through the order of the ceremony once and we were done. I was thankful we finished so quickly because........it gave us more time to practice our dance before we had to go to the dinner.

Ben and I had been taking dance lesson to learn a graceful waltz, which you may have read about in an earlier post, but what you didn't know was that I also choreographed the second half of our first dance to "Bust a Move" with our attendants, minister Mike, and our reader participating.

We gathered our attendants in the parking lot of The Rivermill and taught the boys their part (I'd already taught the girls the night before). We ran through the dance 5 or 6 times before we had to race to the dinner. Everyone seemed to be having fun, despite being nervous, although it could have all been to spare my feelings.

We had a fun dinner at Chevy's on the River with all our family and attendants. It was an excellent evening spent with our favorite people. It meant so much to us to have so many friends and family make long trips to be there for us!

Back To Blogging!

2009-08-21T23:25:00.000-07:00

It has been a crazy few weeks! I had the most amazing wedding ever, followed by a wonderfully relaxing honeymoon, and then we hit the ground running, when we came back to work after missing in service and the first two days of school.

I will be back to blogging regularly now. The wedding was an incredible event and I'll blog about it in pieces, as not to overwhelm you with everything at once! Honeymoon to follow after that!

Weddings are great! Just a couple more weeks to another Zehnder wedding, when cousin Tracy marries Tim! So happy for them!

Here's a pic from the wedding, and I'll add more as I blog about the special day!

Ladies Night Out

2009-07-31T08:34:00.000-07:00

I've always known I had a special bond with my family, especially my mom and grandmas. Back in April we decided to do a bachelorette cruise. It was just my bridesmaids and I, and my mom. Yes, MY MOM! It was such a fun weekend. A lot of people were confused by why I would bring my mother to what should be a crazy weekend with the girls. It's because she's just as crazy as the rest of us! She knows how to party!!!

That was the perfect weekend getaway. I couldn't have been happier. Although, as the wedding was drawing closer, and we had more of these small bachelorette weekends, I have been wanting to do a night out where anyone could come....young or old.

My amazing little sister, Lauren, planned the perfect Ladies Night Out. She contacted all the women in the families (mine and Ben's) and did all the work getting them there. Both my grandma's were there, almost all my Aunts on both sides, my mom, cousins, sisters, and soon-to-be sister-in-laws, and my 2 best girl friends, as well as Aunt Sharon from New Mexico.

We started at the Blue Cue downtown, where we had appetizers and drinks. It was absolutely perfect. (Lauren scoped everything out ahead of time). It was almost like a private party, there was no one else in the place. It was great to talk with people in a more laid back setting before the wedding.

After Blue Cue, we headed back to Strikes in Elk Grove for some bowling! We had a blast!! We were also joined at bowling by a few more cousins and Ben's cousin Kim from Wisconsin!

It was such a fun night! I felt really special, surrounding by fabulous women, just having a great time! I couldn't ask for a better family! Thank you to Lauren for all her hard work setting up the evening for success!

I've decided we need to find reasons to do this, other than weddings every year or so. I'll plan the next one! Thank you again to everyone who came out! I just can't get over it! It was a GREAT night!

Thankful Thursdays

2009-07-30T18:47:00.000-07:00

I have so many things to be thankful for this week!

1. I'm getting married to an amazing man, in less than 2 days! (yes, we are almost to the point of counting hours).

2. I have an incredible family, who has been nothing but supportive these last few weeks!

3. My Mom, for taking care of all the details of the wedding. She's stressing, so I don't have to. She's also taken care of all the beauty appointments leading up to the wedding.

4. My bridesmaids who took the week off of work, to be here for me!

5. My fabulous soon-to-be sister-in-laws, who came to party with us last night, as well as cousin kim!

6. All the beautiful women who came to Ladies Night Out to celebrate my last few days of single life!

7. My Grandmas, who join the Ladies Night Out crew and took care of much of the bill!!

8. My vendors, who are doing whatever they can to make sure our wedding day is perfect!

9. My bridesmaid Nicole, who has had the worst luck making the slide show for our wedding, but continues to remake it everytime it dies.

10. Can I repeat one?!?! I'm getting MARRIED on Saturday!! I can't wait!

Father/Daughter Dance

2009-07-30T09:31:00.000-07:00

I'm really excited about my Dad and I dancing to "I Loved Her First" for our Bride and Father of the Bride Dance. But, I don't dance with my dad very often, and definitely don't know any of his fancy footwork.

My mom and dad have been taking some dance lessons for fun, with some of the family and were having some fun practicing for the wedding this weekend.They're all set for dancing the night away, although my mom was a little worried that my dad might step on my feet. So, she had us do some practicing. I also took the opportunity to break in my reception shoes.

Horrors of Fashion

2009-07-30T08:02:00.000-07:00

My wedding planning has been almost completely stress-free. I'm a pretty laid back bride, in my opinion. My bridesmaids keep asking me about what shoes, what jewelry, nail polish, etc, that I want them to wear or do. My answer is always whatever you want or is most comfortable. I just want everyone to have a great time! Unfortunately, one thing that should have been super easy, turned into a ridiculous all-day process.

I purchased my dress at House of Fashion in Sacramento, because I didn't want to have to cart a dress back and forth from San Diego and worry about having it pressed here (EG). I bought the dress in December, and when they were measuring me, the woman was saying aloud the measurements and I knew I was not that big. So I told her I wanted her to measure me again. She did, and didn't repeat the measurements aloud this time.

When I can back for my first fitting in June, the dress was way too big. The dress needed to be taken it in 3 inches. They kept asking me if I'd lost weight; the answer was no. I wish I had, but that wasn't the case. Then I wanted them to change the dress to a sweetheart neckline. They said they would make those alterations first, and then at the next fitting do the bustle and hem. I left there unhappy, because they made us pay to alter the dress from their mistakes.

The second time back at the shop, the neckline looked terrible and the seamstress said she would redo it. They also pinned for the bustle and hem. It was another unhappy day at House of Fashion.

I went in on Tuesday to what I hoped would be a fast appointment where I would trying on the dress, and then take it home. We arrived at 10:45am and the first round of trying on the dress was horrible. The neck line was completely off-center. There was also a gaping hole in the back of the dress where the corset came together (because they ordered a size too large). So they told us to come back in a half hour. When we came back and tried the dress on again, the neckline was just as bad as before, maybe worse. And there were other issues.

We went through the process again, and this time the seamstress and manager were arguing over the top of me on how to do the alterations. I was so frustrated, I just wanted to get the heck out of there.

They didn't end up getting the dress perfect, but I'm over it. It's just one day, and most people wouldn't notice the difference. I'm just upset we had to pay so much in alterations, that we really shouldn't have. A lot of people asked, "did the give you a discount on the price?" Nope. But they were acting like they did us a huge favor by pressing my veil for free.

Unfortunately, I've heard that this has happened to a lot of people. If you are getting married, do NOT get your dress at House of Fashion.....unless you have lots of time and money to waste with their staff!

Here's a pic of the neckline, that took them from 10:45am - 2pm to fix! Plus three previous fittings!

Wedding Entrance!

2009-07-26T21:04:00.000-07:00

In the last couple of days I received this link from about 20 people. It is amazing! I can't believe the Bride and Groom put this together. Something like this would be fun to do, but I would have a few hesitations.

*They did this in a church?!?! I'm amazed that any church would be okay with this.

*The Bride did not have her dad walk her down the aisle. I'm looking forward to that so much!

*Shouldn't the ceremony be a little more serious? Marriage is a huge commitment right? This would be hilarious at a reception though.

*My Attendants would never go for this!

I missed the couple's interview on TV, but would be curious to hear more of the details. Take a look, if nothing else, it's worth a laugh!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-94JhLEiN0

Thankful Thursdays

2009-07-24T00:43:00.000-07:00

It's not officially Thursday anymore, but I haven't gone to bed yet, so I'm still going to claim it is. My cousin Tracy has started blogging each week for a thing called Thankful Thursdays. I've been following it, and think it would be fun. So here's ten random things I'm thankful for today.

10. Sleepytime tea to help me sleep, when I've got tons of wedding stuff on the brain.

9. My awesome mugs I got, as a shower gift, from a family that I will soon be a part of. *They fit 2 cups of tea, and they're one of my favorite colors (Green).

8. Packing for our honeymoon in our new luggage set from my awesome Zehnder Aunts & Uncles.

7. The fabulous ring Ben proposed with, and the amazing jeweler who he had design it. I just got my ring dipped and it looks like it's brand new.

6. My fiance, who may not understand all the wedding stuff, and had a freak out moment about it all, but wants to make sure that I have the wedding that I've always dreamed of.

5. A future mother-in-law, who has been supportive, understanding, and compassionate, in some tough times recently.

4. My little sister for planning a fun night out with family, and soon-to-be family, the week before the wedding. She's far away and doesn't always get to be a part of everything, but I know how much she cares.

3. My incredible friends/sisters who are the best bridesmaids anyone could ask for. They are there for anything I need, whether it be to brag about wedding stuff, or cry about wedding fears.

2. My mom, who has been extraordinarily helpful through all this wedding stuff. From favor boxes, to seating arrangements & place cards, to wedding venue plans, and appointments for tanning, pedicures, and such! She's done more than I could ever begin to thank her for.

1. We are so close to the wedding day! I can't wait to say "I DO" and then celebrate our love with friends and family.

It's great to remind yourself and others to be thankful for the things in their lives. I hope you've enjoyed mine and think about starting a Thankful Thursday of your own!

Our First Dance as Husband & Wife

2009-07-20T18:58:00.000-07:00

It's been a bit of a struggle to find the time for dance lessons among the planning and vacations we've had this summer. We definitely waited until the last minute. Being a dance teacher, I think most people are expecting a great first dance out of us.

Unlike many of the things we've planned for the wedding, the first dance is going to be a little more traditional. We have decided to do a waltz to "At Last" by Etta James. We've taken a couple classes so far and are having a blast. Ben wouldn't admit it out loud, but he's having fun too.

Although, he has decided we are not going back to the Monday night class. Last time the instructor couldn't stop gushing about Ben's muscles, big chest, and gorgeousness. (Is that a word...spell check says it is) I think all those things too, but I think he felt a little uncomfortable. Not to mention, the instructor giving him a hard time, every time he did the wrong step.

We're going to give Thursday's couples only class a try this week and see if we can learn a little bit more before the wedding. Ben says he wants to learn a cool spin. The hardest part for me, is not leading. The instructor told me I needed to stop trying to take his job, and let him be the man!

I hope this goes well....it's a little hard to practice in our condo filled with wedding stuff and suitcases!

Last Night Out in San Diego

2009-07-19T14:31:00.000-07:00

My bridesmaids decided I needed another opportunity to wear my veil and celebrate my last days as a single women. So last night we went out for a night of crazy bachelorette fun. We started our evening pretty tame with appetizers at Sara's, and a great dinner at Wine Steals. The pizza there is the best.....we finished a huge pizza between the 4 of us.

We hopped in a cab and headed out to Double Deuce. I'd never been there before.....but it was so much fun! We each took a turn riding the bull, with the exception of Nicole (metal rods in the back and bull riding is not a good combination). We did our fair share of drinking and laughing throughout the evening. There were 8 bachelorette parties at the place, including ours....lots of fun!

I love these girls!! I have the best bridesmaids/friends/sisters anyone could imagine. I feel so fortunate to have these girls in my life! It was a great night out, the only thing better would have been having Lauren there as well! We missed you!

Wedding Invitations!

2009-07-18T13:18:00.000-07:00

The invitations went out on June 1st and they have all been returned.
We gave our final count and meal choices to the venue yesterday.

About 8 months ago I found wedding invitations I liked when a friend of ours was invited to a wedding. I asked every invitation store/bridal fair vendor I saw, if they made something like it. I had no luck. So, I talked to the print shop guy at our school. He said if I wanted to design something, he could probably print it.

About 6 months ago I started on the design. I knew I wanted it to be 3 pages, bound like a little flip book. The front page is the invitation, the second is the venue information with directions and our website, the third is the response card.

I knew I wanted to use our wedding colors in the invitation and make it very personal to us. One of the things I love about our invitations is the background image. The image is a G and a Z representing each of our last names, and I manipulated and rotated them so they fit together to create a swirling image. Most people don't see it unless you point it out. I think it's kind of clever if I do say so myself.

Being the frugal bride that I am, I thought it was a perfect way to save on postage by creating an invitation with a postcard response. The last page of the invitation has a perforation along the side so all you have to do is tear off the card and mail it in.

We ran into a few bumps along the way while creating our invitations. I shopped for the paper and matching envelops and got ready to print the design. In the middle of this, the print shop teacher ended up going on leave. We got lucky and a teacher friend of mine knows the owner of a print shop. North Shores Printery in Pacific Beach did an amazing job on our invitations. They took my exact design and did beautiful work. He knew we were in a little bit of a bind (we thought the guy from school would be back in time to print them, so we held off for longer than we should have), and got them printed in less than a week for next to nothing in cost!

We spent less on professionally printed, personally designed invitations, than what we could have ordered catalog ones for.

I couldn't have been happier with the final outcome. We also got a wonderful gift from my kindergarten teacher and calligrapher, Mrs. Veninga, who addressed all our invitations for us.

What do you think?

Only 2 weeks left until the wedding day!!

Puppy!

2009-07-16T21:47:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the mall to exchange some wedding gifts (I can't believe the crappy packaging of macy's dishes. We had quite a few with chips in them). We were on our way back to the car, when we stopped in "pup-parazzi".

I will never buy a dog from a pet store; I feel so bad for the puppies in there. I couldn't believe how many adorable English and French Bulldog puppies they had. We asked to see a cute female English Bulldog puppy. She had the sweetest puppy breath, and was really lovey.

Isn't she adorable?? I think so, but Ben said she didn't have enough wrinkles.

Beach Cruiser!

2009-07-15T22:37:00.001-07:00

I haven't had a bike since I was about 12 years old. I love riding bikes, and rent one whenever we vacation someplace that has bike trails. My favorite is riding along the strand by the beach!

Ben has a beach cruiser and has for some time. So the day after we got back from the East Coast, we bought me a bike! I absolutely love it!! I've been riding it all around the neighborhood since I got it. I can't wait to test it out down by the beach!

The only thing I need to do is get my basket installed on the front so Lola can go on bike rides too!
Check it out!

Diva-licious Hair!!

2009-07-15T21:58:00.001-07:00

I am so lucky to have a best friend who is a hair stylist. And even more lucky that she's isn't just an average hair stylist, but a fantastic one!

She also loves me bunches! She has done my hair for my engagement photos, bridal shower, bachelorette party, and will now be doing my hair for my wedding day!

I bought a couple of hair pins on ebay, and my veil as well......This is totally the way to go. I'm so happy I didn't pay hundreds of dollars for a veil at a salon.

So today we did a quick trial run with my hair. I had purchased 2 hair things so we would have some options, but we like them so much, we decided to use both. We will be using one, with my veil, for the ceremony, and then changing to another for the reception. I'm just adding to the Diva Bride in me. A shoe change AND a hair change?!?! Yep, guilty. Did I say how lucky I am to have a hair stylist for a best friend?

Here's a couple pics of what we were playing with today. We haven't made any final decision yet about my hair for the Big Day, but am enjoying what we've tried out so far! I'm so excited to see what it will look like, on my wedding day!

Thank you Sara! You're the Best! Love you!

Wedding Accessories!

2009-07-15T15:50:00.001-07:00

Ben convinced me to go ahead a be a little bit of a diva on our wedding day. I was looking for the perfect wedding shoe for a long time. When I say perfect, I mean absolutely comfortable and cute as well. I found a cute & comfortable pair of Nina shoes, in silver, I thought would go with my dress. I loved the Nina brand shoes, because they are padded at the ball of the foot, and comfy as heels can be to wear. As it turns out, silver ended up clashing with the color of my dress. My dress is white, but made of silk, which means it's not that stark, florescent white, but a softer white. Silver just doesn't look good with it. I was super bummed (and of course I bought them so long ago, I can't take them back).

I searched online and finally found a perfect pair of shoes for my wedding day. They are also by Nina and are white satin, which all the reviews say are a perfect match for white silk dresses. I knew I had to have them.......unfortunately not one website (and I have searched more than I care to name) has them. They have them in almost every size except for mine. I put in to be notified when they have them in stock. Even the manufacturer didn't have them in my size at that time.

My dress fitting was 3 days away, and I was required to have a pair of shoes so they could do my final hem on the dress. I hadn't heard back about the white Nina's so I did a little more searching on the website, with Ben looking over my shoulder. I came across this blue pair of shoes, and he said, "Those are sweet!!" I'd previously thought about getting blue shoes as my "something blue", like my best friend Nicole did on her wedding day 2 years ago. She had the most adorable baby blue peep toe shoes, peeking out from under her white dress.

I told Ben I kind of had my heart set on the white ones I'd found. But he convinced me to get them. I got them just in time for my dress fitting, and they are perfect! I received lots of compliments at the bridal salon about my cute shoes! I've decided to wear the Nina Vasek (white shoes) for the ceremony, and then change into my fun Nina Fleur (blue shoes) for the reception.

I think I'm turning into a little bit of a diva bride.....but I'm blaming this one on Ben!

Dogs! Dogs! Dogs!

2009-07-14T00:30:00.000-07:00

If you hadn't guessed it already, we love dogs! We need another dog, like we need a hole in the head. Lola is my baby, and has been for the last 6, almost 7 years. She has gone everywhere with me. She's my dog. Ben has had Deuce for 4 years. He's a big teddy bear, but he's Ben's baby.

Then we got suckered into OUR baby, DUI. He was going to be put down if we didn't take him. He'd been at the Vet for almost 2 months when Ben went in for Deuce's annual check-up. The breeder who brought him in said to put him down or take him. Although DUI was so cute, the Vet had gotten to the point that they could no longer keep him, since they had yet to find him a home.

DUI is not your average dog. When we got him, he couldn't stand up. He has a neurological disorder that affects his coordination, depth perception, and also gives him the shakes. He got his name DUI, because when he moves around he looks like he's drunk. He is a sweet dog, but definitely a lot of work. He still runs into things, can't climb stairs, and hits his head more often that we would like, but he's is so much better than we could have asked for.

We've had DUI for over a year now, and love him to death. We went to New York, and have been without our dogs for almost 2 weeks now and miss them terribly. We saw dogs everywhere, and super cute ones at that.

We love smooshy faced dogs, and have been admiring bulldogs for a while now. Always saying that down the road, when we have less pups we might like to get one. I about died when Ben said today, "We should get a bulldog....I mean, we already have 3 dogs, what's one more?"

My response was, "Of course we can, when we have a huge yard and somewhere for all of these dogs to run around."

We can't get another dog, as much as I love them, we would have to be insane.......although they are sooooo cute!

Love on the East Coast

2009-07-13T23:37:00.001-07:00

We just got back from an amazing week on the East Coast. It was a little pre-wedding vacation, and something we both needed. We decided to do this little vacation back in March, when I bought the airline tickets for Ben's birthday, so we could go see a Met's game in their new stadium. Then for my Birthday, he got me tickets to a Broadway play. About a week before we left, I was wondering if I had made the wrong decision, being so close to our wedding.

Except for not being able to stick to our wedding diet and workout plan, this was the perfect escape before our wedding day! We had time to really focus on US, to focus on how much we love being together, and why we really want to get married. When you're planning for a wedding, it is sometimes easy to get wrapped up in all the crazy things that need to get done and not focus on the reasons why you decided to get married in the first place. (Like how much you enjoy doing things together and spend all your time together doing some fun, some not so fun things (seating charts & thank you notes).

Our week on the East Coast started with a flight to Philadelphia where we stayed in a perfect location, in a beautiful hotel (thank you priceline). We saw a Mets vs. Phillies game on July Fourth, and then walked down Benjamin Franklin Parkway where we saw Sheryl Crow in concert, and then fireworks! We'd also been to see the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall and many more of the Philly sights. It was an awesome day!

We spent 2 days in Philadelphia and then took the Bolt Bus (best way to travel and cheap too) to New York! We had 5 days in New York City and loved *almost* every minute of it. I could have done without all the blisters on my feet. But that's what happens when you try and walk a minimum of 5 miles a day in cute shoes. We had a great time doing all the touristy things like the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Times Square, Central Park, etc. We also got to do some things not everyone has the opportunity to.

Cousin Matt is an intern for MTV this summer in New York, working on the "It's On Live with Alexa Chung" show. Matt showed us around the MTV offices and studio the day we were seeing Chicago on Broadway. The following day he invited us to be audience members on the show. We were able to see Harry Potter, Daniel Radcliffe, and tattoo star Kat Von D. We had so much fun, even though I think we were about 10 years older than most of the other audience members.

By the time we left NYC we were subway pros and had walked most of Manhattan. We didn't do a whole lot of wedding talk, except for the count day to the wedding day.... 24 days, 23 days, 22 days! When we got back we had 20 days until our wedding day!

We hit the ground running and haven't stopped yet. There is so much to do before we say "I do"; You might ask, "Do we regret taking a week vacation so close to the wedding?" Not a chance, our little break to focus on US was exactly what everyone should do before their wedding.

Only 18 days to go!!

Little Did They Know.......

2009-06-26T17:07:00.000-07:00

I dropped Ben off at the train station this morning, for his short ride to San Francisco to meet up with his buddies for his Mustache Themed Bachelor party. He's been growing out his facial hair for the last few weeks. He kept his goat, but just let it get bushy...eewww. It didn't look great, but I could live with it.

Yesterday before we left for Elk Grove, Ben shaved the goat and left the mustache. I haven't stopped laughing since. He looks creepy. I don't just mean creepy, but more like "cross to the other side of the street when you see him coming your way" creepy.

Kind of ironic that they guys planned the bachelor party for San Francisco, funny that they will all be sporting mustaches, but absolutely hilarious that it just happens to fall on gay PRIDE weekend.

I know he'll have a great time with his friends, and can't wait for him to get rid of that stache!

Us girls have known about the theme of his bachelor party for quite a while, and took full advantage of it on my bachelorette cruise. We had some fun with our staches, but kept them a secret until now. This morning before I dropped Ben off, I put a pic of us girls in our mustaches, in a frame and stuck it in his bag, which he found when he was on the train to S.F.

A tribute to our men, and their momentary (and hopefully never again) mustaches!!

Heading out of the Mess

2009-06-24T22:15:00.000-07:00

We did it. We've survived our first couple of weeks together in "our condo". I'm not quite sure where everything went......oh wait. Right now everything we couldn't sell is in the garage, and everything we want to keep but couldn't quite get to is in the guest room. It is piled up, almost to the ceiling. It's not just the combination of "our" stuff, but also all the new things we've gotten from bridal showers and early wedding gifts. Not to mention, most of it is still at my parents.Things are looking up though. We get to "unload" some of our stuff this weekend at my parents, hopefully freeing up some space. We will also be dropping off the pups, Lola at my parents, and DUI and Deuce at Ben's parents houses until after the wedding. We will be leaving for New York next Friday, and will be returning to NorCal just a week before the wedding. This will be the longest we've gone without the pups since we got DUI. I'm going to really miss them, but it will be a perfect chance to really focus on "US" before saying our vows.

Here's a couple of my favorite pictures of our special pups.

40 Days to Go!!

2009-06-22T14:29:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how time flies! It seems like yesterday that we had 6 months to go until our wedding. And now it's right around the corner.

I'm happy to say that I'm not nervous......just incredibly excited. It's been a rough couple of weeks. Ben's house sold and what we though was going to be a 30 day escrow, turned into a 20 day. This caught us off guard and right at the end of the school year. We were scrambling to move Ben's 3 bedroom house (with a full garage) into my already full 2 bedroom condo. It didn't necessarily bring out the best in us, but we did learn a lesson in compromise.

Then my family was in town visiting for a week and Ben was still teaching summer school. We were having a hard time working out the logistics of having an incredibly full house and what we were going to be doing with 3 dogs (one of which is a little slow, if you know what I mean, and goes to the bathroom wherever he is unless he sees an open door). We survived the week, just barely.

Today was our first day off together, alone, except for the pups. We went down to the county clerks office and got our marriage license. Even though we aren't legally married until our ceremony on August 1st, it was still pretty exciting. Just 3 signatures and we're officially Mr. & Mrs. Gravenkamp!

Father's Day

2009-06-22T13:52:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough this year to spend Father's Day with my Dad and Grandpa this year. My family has been at a beach house and stayed over one more night so that we could all go to brunch together before they left town. Not only was I so happy to celebrate this day with my dad, but fun to look back at all the remarkable things he has done for us girls over the years.

My dad is an amazing man! He is generous and kind. He has a gift for not letting things get him down. He rarely gets mad, and doesn't say much about the choices we make. But, when he does say something, you know he's thought about it, and it always carries a lot of weight.

My dad was a born athlete and has always enjoyed sports. Although he ended up with 3 girls, I'd have to say we are all pretty tough because of him. "Walk if off" are his famous words......and sometimes you heard them, even when you were bleeding or your foot was facing the wrong direction. Lauren was the only one who played team sports, but my dad never missed a gymnastics meet, diving competition, or dance show of mine. He has always been there to support me in whatever I've done, not to mention the hours of videotaping he would do, so that we would have memories to look back on.

Not only is my dad a strong athlete, but a handy man at that. He can fix just about anything and does a good job building things too. Being in my own place, hours away from my dad, I tend to let things pile up, but he always finds time to come down and fix things for me.

My dad has made sure I've been able to do everything I want to do (of course mom was right in there too). I went away to college, and he was there at my diving competitions and dance shows. He was there for me to talk to about my first years teaching. He was there to help me sort out my feelings about past relationships. He has been there to teach me about life.

Thank you dad! You're the best!

Up, Up, and Away

2009-06-19T09:44:00.000-07:00

This Wednesday was definitely a day to remember!

My mom bid on a hot air balloon ride package at an auction a while back, but had totally forgotten to use it. The family is down in Oceanside, (San Diego Area), at a beach house for the week, and she thought it would be a perfect place to use it. My dad has a huge fear of heights, along with Krista's fiance, and mine. It would take a lot for our guys to take us, so lucky for us, my mom asked us to go with her!

We left the boys at home and headed off a couple hours before sunset to the meeting spot of the balloon company. We parked in a Del Mar shopping center and waited for our pick-up to take us to the launch site. At 5:15 a van with a trailer attached pulled up, carrying with it, the hot air balloon and basket.

Once we got to the launch site, Krista started to get a little nervous. They laid out the balloon on the ground, and started fans to inflate it. The basket was attached but on its side. It all happened pretty fast. The pilot called 2 couples over and they climbed in while the basket was still on its side. A moment later the basket was right-side-up and he yelled for us to climb in.

In a matter of seconds we were 400 feet in the air. The ride was incredibly smooth. You wouldn't know you were so high in the air, in just a wicker basket. We flew in the air up to 7000 feet, over Del Mar and Rancho Santa Fe, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It was an amazing experience. They served champagne throughout the ride, and although it was so fun to be with my mom and sister, it would have been very romantic to be with my fiance.

If you ever have the chance, this is something you should do. It was unbelievable and somewhat surreal to be that high. Overall, it was a perfect day!!

Engagement Photos

2009-06-11T00:47:00.000-07:00

We finally got the CD back from all our engagement photos. The first time I looked through them, I wasn't that excited. I wasn't stoked about the way I looked or the funny faces we made on so many pictures. It took me a little while to get used to them, and now I love them!!

Our photographers are Ariel & Josh Green of Anika London Media. They were so fun to work with. They managed to get a few shots with us and our 3 crazy dogs! I can't wait until our wedding! Only 51 days to go!

Check out their website! They travel all over for weddings.

www.anikalondonmedia.com

You can find us under clients if you want to check out all 580 photos of our session.

Best Bridal Shower Ever!!

2009-06-11T00:13:00.000-07:00

I've gotten so behind in blogging with all this wedding and moving stuff, but I have to tell you about my bridal shower.

My Zehnder Aunts organized a perfect bridal shower. I'm not much for games, but we did one game, organized by Danelle, where Ben had pre-recorded answers to questions on DVD. Then at the shower, I was asked the same questions to see how well I knew him. I was sitting there, kind of nervous. "How much do I really know about him?" I knew more than I thought I would. I hesitated on all the same questions he hesitated on, and I knew more than one of his smart ass answers.

The shower favors and decorations were absolutely adorable. My Aunt Kathy painted little pots in the colors of my wedding, with "Anna + Ben 8-1-09" on them. They are so cute, I'm trying to find a way to incorporate them into other wedding things.

There were so many people at my bridal shower. My new sister-in-laws and their girls, all of my family, and my some of my friends who could make the trip from SoCal. I had so many gifts, I didn't know if the present opening was ever going to end. The only complaint I had, was that I didn't have a chance to really talk to everyone at the shower. There were so many people and not enough time.

Thank you everyone for the beautiful bridal shower!

Flashback 3 years

2009-06-06T21:31:00.001-07:00

It has been a crazy couple of weeks, and I have not had a moment to blog. Between baseball games, bridal showers, and thank-you notes, I have not had a minute to breath.

I'll give you an update on the last couple of weeks, but first a little flashback to when Ben and I met. I was reminded of this as we finished out another year teaching together. I was the new teacher at school and a little nervous to be at my first staff meeting. Another newbie and I sat in the second row together, eager to show our enthusiasum for getting involved. It hadn't been but a minute or two when a gorgeous guy (Ben), walked up and asked if anyone was sitting next to me. We exchanged notes for the entire staff meeting, like school kids.

I'm sitting there thinking, "Could it be this easy to meet an attractive, single guy, that works with kids?" In the next couple of days of teacher in-service, I found every opportunity to talk to the cute Activities Director. I couldn't tell if he knew I was shamelessly firting with him or not. But it did take him another three weeks before he asked me on a date....and I think it may have even been his roommate Mike who asked me for him.

Ben and I had what I would like to call, the WORST first date ever. We planned to do dinner and a movie. We had decided on a movie time at the place right around my house, so the planner I am, went to the theater earlier in the day to get tickets. Ben was supposed to pick me up at 6pm and at 6:20 I still hadn't heard from him. I thought for sure I'd been stood up when he finally called to say he was running late. At this point we only had 45 minutes or less to eat dinner before the movie started.

I knew we were in a rush, but I don't know that Ben looked up from his salad once. He was looking down, shoveling food in his mouth, in between one word answers to my questions. Can we say "awkward"? We ended up making it to the movie, but we may as well have been sitting in separate theaters. There was no hand holding, no leaning in, and definitely no hand on the knee. I knew he must have been nervous, but I wondered where Mr. Confidence from the first day we met had gone. Needless to say, I wanted to avoid the awkward good night kiss, and had him drop me off in front of the building. (He still gives me a bad time about it)

Ben's says it couldn't have been that bad of a date.....I did go on a second. I could tell he was a great guy under it all, but I seriously contemplated avoiding him after that day. Here we are three years later, and very much in love. Less than 60 days to the wedding!

New Baby Cousin Ryan

2009-05-13T20:40:00.000-07:00

This weekend in Elk Grove was not only super productive in terms of wedding stuff, but really fun!

I got to visit with my cousin Kelly and meet her new baby Ryan!

He is absolutely adorable and makes the cutest noises when he sleeps!

I'm sure Kelly was exhausted after only 10 days with a new baby, but took some time out of her day to catch up with Krista and I, and give us the tour of her new home and baby's room.

So hats off to Kelly who looks great, and doing well as a new mom to a beautiful baby boy!

An Amazing Man!

2009-05-10T22:20:00.000-07:00

I flew home on Friday....by myself, to surprise my mom on Mother's Day. Ben had a baseball game on Saturday and wasn't able to come up with me. It's only been a couple of days, but I miss him like crazy!

He knew I was a little bummed to leave him and the babies (Lola, Deuce, and DUI). I was unpacking my suitcase when I got to the house, and inside was a present from Ben. A cute bracelet from one of my favorite jewelry companies.

Ben always does sweet things like this, and I feel so lucky to have such a wonderful man in my life!

Mother's Day!!

2009-05-10T21:44:00.001-07:00

It's hard when you live so far from your mom......luckily we still get to see each other often. My mom was asking us to come up from San Diego for Mother's Day. I didn't know if I could swing it after all the things that have been happening in the last few weeks, with the dance show, Disneyland performances, taking college classes, and planning for the wedding.

Needless to say, I didn't want to miss a Mother's Day with my mom...or grandmothers. Krista surprised my mom by flying in on Thursday night, and I surprised her by flying in on Friday night. It was fun keeping it a secret, even though she was giving us a bad time about not coming.

We had a BBQ with the Zehnder family on Saturday night, and then today we did our 2nd annual Mother's Day wine tasting in Plymouth with my parents and Grandma Marie and Grandpa Wayne.

I love our new tradition and can't wait for many more years with all of the new family coming into our lives with 2 new marriages in the next year. It's awesome to have such a wonderful family and a mom who has been there for me through every hard time and happy moment!

Happy Mother's Day!

Dancing About Love!!

2009-05-10T20:43:00.000-07:00

The dance show is finally over, and it was better than I could have expected. Over 100 kids took the stage at 7pm on April 29th, and will remember it for the rest of their lives. This dance show was memorable for me as well. This year I choreographed a dance for my seniors who were the dancers who helped me build the dance company and were just little sophomores in my beginning dance class, my first year of teaching. I also choreographed a dance for my husband-to-be.

The dance I choreographed for Ben, turned out awesome! I danced with nine of my dancers in all white costumes to the Plain White T's "1, 2, 3, 4". It was a dance with a underlying marriage theme. It was perfect! Ben sat in a reserved seat right in the middle of the theater, and even though I couldn't see him in the darkness, I knew he was there.

He says it was his favorite dance in the whole show.....as it should be. But it was something of a lasting gift. The next day he sent me a text that he'd heard "his song" on the radio and got a little choked up thinking about me up there on the stage, dancing for him.

Overall it was an extraordinary night! Every year I say I'm going to spend less time preparing for the show (4 months this year), but it almost always seems worth it in the end.

The Dress

2009-04-25T17:41:00.000-07:00

I'm starting to have a minor freak-out moment. I tried on and purchased my dress over 4 months ago. I can't even remember what it feels like on. I know that I really liked it then....but it has been sooo long. When will they call to tell me my dress is in?

The wedding is only 3 months away.......3 months!!! I can't believe how time has flown.........but I want to see my dress!!

Did/does anyone else have dress anxiety?

The Best Bridal Party Ever!!

2009-04-25T16:31:00.000-07:00

I have always known how lucky I was to have such great family and friends, but my bachelorette cruise just reinforced this for me! I just had one of the best weekends ever!!

Your bachelorette party is supposed to be all about you.....but my weekend far exceeded this. I was excited to just have a weekend without worries, or things to do, or meals to cook, to spend time with my mom, 2 sisters, and 2 best friends. Instead, my weekend started and then continued with gifts and gifts and more gifts.

We started the weekend in the cutest shirts ever.....designed by my bridal party. Each person had their own personalized shirt on the back, and a front that says "Last Fling Before the Ring". The funniest thing was that everyone kept asking who the bride was....they didn't seem to get that I was the only one in white, or that it said "bride" really big across the back.

Once we were on board, I received more gifts and lunch....which included a bride-to-be pin.......which I happily sported all weekend, and flower lei, a "Last Fling Before the Ring" tote bag, some inappropriate shot glasses, a veil, and a cute lingerie set in hot pink.

The generosity and thoughtfulness didn't stop there. At dinner there were more gifts! I got a super cute glittery "bachelorette" tiara (yes, I rocked it on the last night!). I also got an awesome pair of boy shorts with "property of coach gravenkamp" written on the butt, and another adorable lingerie set.

I have to say it again......I have the best bridal party ever! It isn't about the gifts...it meant so much more that they thought of me and wanted to make this such a special time for me. They made this an unforgettable experience. I can't wait for the many more years of love and friendship with these girls! What a great send off to my life as a single woman!

Maybe.....

2009-04-06T00:21:00.000-07:00

Maybe Ben is right.....have I taken on too much?

If my blog is any indication, you can see I've been incredibly busy and have not blogged in over a month. I am so blessed with all the wonderful things in my life, but it's possible I have taken on one too many things this year. I just finished choreographing and co-directing our spring musical (which sold out the little theater at the California Center for the Arts), which was a huge undertaking.

I am now getting ready to put on our Spring Dance Concert, which is bigger than you could ever imagine. I have over 100 dancers performing in over 23 dances. Not only am I the Director, but choreographer, costume designer, producer, publicity director, show shirt screen printer (yes, I took a class so I could do it all), and back-stage manager. This isn't your usual high school dance concert. We perform on a professional stage (same as Alvin Ailey Company when they come to town), and have had an audience of almost 1500 patrons. We now have a retirement community taking a trip to see our show. This year's show is going to be bigger and better than before.

This weekend I'll be heading out of town...for an amazing weekend with the girls. We are going on my bachelorette cruise to Mexico and I can't wait. It will be a nice escape from all this dance show stuff!

There is so little time left in this school year, it's scary. I have a bridal shower in Elk Grove in May. (I just got the invite and they are absolutely adorable....Aunt Chelle and the girls did a great job!) When school ends, Ben will go right in to teaching summer school and near the end of June I'll have another bridal shower, this time in SD. We will only have one week left during June to come in to town to do wedding stuff.

The first week in July we are going to New York for a week. It is going to be fantastic. For Ben's Birthday, I surprised him with airline tickets to the East Coast, and tickets to see the Met's (Ben's team) play the Phillies on the Fourth of July, and then we take the train over to New York to see the Met's play the Dodgers (We saw Met's play at Dodger Stadium on our third date) in the new Met's stadium. For my Birthday, Ben got us tickets to a Broadway play, and a gift certificate for me to take a couple dance classes at the Alvin Ailey Dance studio. The crazy thing is that we arrive back in San Diego, with only three weeks before the wedding.

Yes....it's official. I'm insane....but at least I'm organized and I think I've got it all under control.
But we'll see come August 1st!

So Sweet!

2009-03-01T23:36:00.000-08:00

I'm embarrassed to say it has been way too long since Ben and I have been out on a date. With me choreographing and co-directing the spring musical, as well as choreographing and directing my own spring dance concert, taking classes to move up on the pay scale, rehearsals for shows I'm dancing in, and Ben coaching 2 sports we have had very little time to spend with one another.

Yesterday, Ben and I both worked all morning, but decided we would do something in the afternoon. I went down to my house and got dressed in "people clothes" (as opposed to the dance clothes I wear every single day), and put on some make-up (something I haven't done in a while). Ben got to my place and we decided to take my car.....what beats a convertible on a beautiful sunny day?.....and drove to the famous San Diego Zoo. The zoo is a beautiful place!

Ben was too cute. His hands were sweaty and he was acting a little funny. We finished the afternoon by shopping at an outdoor mall (we found his wedding ring)....and then went out to dinner. We had a drink at the bar and then sat down for a nice dinner with just the two of us.

Overall it was such a fun day. On his way back home, I sent him a text letting him know how much I'd loved our day together. His response was adorable.... "I had fun too. It was weird. I kinda felt nervous the whole day, like when we were first dating."

It was true....it was kind of like when we first started dating over 2 years ago. I asked him if that's why his hands were so sweaty. Was he nervous?

Ben's response: "Maybe....or its it's the fact that every so often I realize how lucky I am to have such an amazing person in my life."

I am going to be marrying the most incredible man I have ever known. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with someone who appreciates me, loves me, takes care of me, and has always been their for me. Only five more months left until the start of our lives together!

The love of the stage!

2009-02-23T20:45:00.000-08:00

I really do love to teach, especially something that I absolutely couldn't live without. Dance has been my passion since I was a freshman in high school, and gymnastics was no longer an option. I danced throughout college and couldn't think of anything better to do than teach what I enjoy. I couldn't live paycheck to paycheck as a professional dancer....and this seems to be the next best thing.

Over the last few years I have been dancing alongside a professional dance company here in San Diego. I have performed a half a dozen times, and everytime I wonder why I don't do it more......then I remember I have no time.

Being on stage is like nothing else. I danced my heart out last night....and it was great to hear that Ben thought I was the best one out there (he has to say that). I just wish I had more time to do something that I so truly can't live without......the love of being on the stage!

I'm One Lucky Girl

2009-02-07T16:54:00.000-08:00

I've known from the day I met Ben, that he was a great guy. But the last few days has been a great reminder.

I have been super tired, busy, and incredibly stressed out....and no it doesn't have much to do with the wedding stuff. That is one area we have under control. I've decided to take classes to bump myself up a level on the pay scale, including 2 online, and 3 dance classes at a local college. On top of that I am rehearsing to perform in a show this month, and choreographing for the school's spring musical, and planning the huge dance show I put on every year.

I started feeling sick on Monday, and was really bad by Tuesday night. I was coughing like crazy and was just going to head to my house to avoid keeping Ben up all night by staying at his place. On my way out of class he called and told me to come over to his place so he could take care of me.

Every few hours, I would wake up, coughing like crazy. Instead of letting me fend for myself, he got up out of bed every time, to get me whatever I needed, hot tea, water, medicine, cough drops. For the last week, he's made sure I had whatever sounded good for lunch, dinner, etc. while I sat on the couch being sick.

It's now Saturday....and I'm still sick! Ben was asked yesterday to go on a free trip to Vegas for the weekend. Most guys would jump at the chance. Ben, came to me and said, "The guys asked me to go to Vegas with them this weekend, but I know you aren't feeling well. I'll stay home and take care of you."

Needless to say....I'm not that needy.....and I told him I thought he should go.
He's in Vegas now, and I miss him! I'm also slightly bummed that I'm going to have to get out of bed and get myself something for dinner.

I'm such a baby!

Why??

2009-01-16T20:20:00.000-08:00

Why did I do this to myself? I tell myself every year, I'm not going to take on as much as I did the year before. Here I am, once again.....doing way more than I should even be thinking about.

My dance show takes over my life in the spring.....and although I am super organized it will always take a lot of time when you hire choreographers to teach your kids and then have to supervise all rehearsals and learn the material to practice with them once the choreographer leaves. I also design, and screen print all the show shirts. I design and have our programs printed at our r.o.p. print shop at school. On top of it all, I choreograph 3-4 dances for the show and organize it all to run smoothly.

Now.....I have agreed to choreograph the spring musical...which has become a much bigger job than we originally agreed on. I was only supposed to be choreographing 4 dance numbers. The cast list keeps changing (on a daily basis) and now I'm supposed to choreograph 4 additional dance numbers.

Then you throw a wedding into the mix, and I look insane to try and do it all. I am so grateful my parents are incredibly generous and we have a ceremony and reception site that is taking care of so much. BUT, I have decided to create and print our wedding invitations with help from our print shop at school. We still have bridesmaid dresses to shop for, tuxes to rent, and decisions to make about food, flowers, and cake. That doesn't seem so bad until you add in moving and trying to find new jobs.

Ben's house is on the market and has already had a number of people take a look. I've decided to keep my house and try to rent it out once we move. We are ready to make the move to Northern California to be closer to family, so that we can start one of our own very soon.

We just need to find jobs! We really do have a good set-up at our school....but we're both ready for a change. We're hoping for a miracle when it comes to getting jobs....and we'll take whatever we can find...but I can't imagine not being at the same school as Ben. We have literally spent the last 2 1/2 year together, every day, all day. I'm usually stuck in my cave (my dance room has no window), but I know that Ben is just outside that door (teaching P.E. of course). Whenever I need something.....he's there.

We're planners, and expect things to be difficult......but we're hoping for the best.

It's About Time!

2009-01-08T23:17:00.000-08:00

I finally have my wedding dress! It is beautiful and I love it.....but it took forever to find. I started looking for my dress 2 weeks after I got engaged, and here we are 5 months later and I've made my decision.

I started with your typical bridal salons...David's Bridal, Alfred Angleo, Brides by Demetrios....and found dresses I really liked at all of them. But, I decided it would be a great idea to rent a designer dress. I went to an upscale bridal salon and found a dress that I loved! My family loved it....and I knew I had to rent it. I had gotten a recommendation for a rental place, but after researching them, found horror stories of girls not getting their dresses in time for their wedding.

Needless to say, I was freaked out and thought it would be best to avoid the drama....unfortunately I found a dress I wanted that was out of my price range. The bridal salon called me a few weeks later and I explained the situation. They said they just got the new collection in and had some similar dresses that might be more in my price range. After trying on 5 new dresses....I found an amazing dress. Too bad the sales girl snuck in the dress that was $100 MORE than the original one I wanted. I was distraught and decided to wait until I went home for the Holidays to make a decision.

In the end, I found a dress that will be great! It's great for my body type, and it was half the price of the dress I found in San Diego. I can't wait to wear it on my wedding day.

Everyone says when you find "The Dress" you know. I can't say that was true. It took me a little time to warm up to "The Dress". I'm excited! I've found it....and I am so happy my search is over!

Here are the catalog pics of my dress before design alterations.

Wedding Plans

2008-12-02T23:28:00.000-08:00

It's been 4 months since our engagement.....a pretty exciting 4 months. We flew into the wedding planning and within a couple of weeks, we'd booked our ceremony and reception site, caterer, florist, photographer, videographer, DJ, and baker. We started on our honeymoon, vows, officiant, and invitation details. Then we hit a wall....

School started, after school rehearsals started, and our wedding planning died.

Hawaii caught us a little off guard. We had an amazing time, and fit in a ton of activities within 5 days. We had one of our most challenging, yet rewarding adventures together. We hiked 4000 steel steps ups the side of a mountain, after traveling (Ben running, and me hanging on to his backpack for dear life) in the dark for over a mile and a half. We reached the top in a little over 3 hours. I was terrified, running through wilderness before the sun came up, but Ben was fearless (or at least he acted that way). Climbing those steps required us to encourage each other, time after time, when we could barely breath, and were scared our shaking legs may not hold us up. We bonded a little more that morning, watching the sun come up over Oahu, and staring down the side of the mountain at how far we had come. Our trip was awesome, but it left us exhausted and eager for another, more relaxing, vacation.

Not 2 weeks later, we were back on a plane and headed for Snowbird, Utah. A week with the family, skiing and snowboarding, was definitely fun....but not all that relaxing.

We have the Holidays coming up, Christmas gifts to buy, family to visit, and if I don't get some more wedding plans done......I am looking at a seriously stressful January.