Together Again at Last : )

Well, another week is coming to a close. JoeJoe flew in a week ago Wednesday and left this last Tuesday early in the morning before work. To say we had a blast is a gross understatement :-) We also got a ton done in the midst of all the fun including registering at Target and Bed, Bath and Beyond; fitting Joe for a tux and picking out his accessories; engagement pictures; signing our very first APARTMENT LEASE at this super adorable place about 10 minutes from my parents' house; and a whole bunch of other GREAT STUFF!!! :) It was so good to be together if only for a little while. The good news, as Joe likes to remind me is that this is the last time he has to leave me, and there are only 6 weeks until he comes back to me :) Just in case you haven't seen any yet on Facebook... I am posting a small sampling of our engagement pictures. Our photograhers were Sherrie and Jay of Sherrie and Jay Photography and they were so amazing and so much fun! Our pictures turned out great and I can't wait to take our wedding pictures with them!

Making Memories

My DRESS arrived yesterday! It arrived by UPS and its box was waiting for me in my room when I got home from work last night. It sounds pretty bizaare that I ordered a non-refundable dress that I had never tried on before off a website, but NO dresses out here have sleeves on them and none of them could have them added with out it looking weird, so there you have it. (I think looking for a sleeved weding dress was the one and only time I wished I lived in Utah... ha!) I had a good idea of what I wanted my dress to look like (Okay, who am I kidding? I knew EXACTLY what I wanted it to look like. It's a girl thing), and I FOUND it on this website that sells modest dresses. We ordered it something like February 2nd and were told that it would arrive by May 1st. One bridal store told us that it was a bad idea because you should order your dress something like 10 months ahead for alterations and who knows what else, but we didn't HAVE 10 months to go and no where else had the dress I wanted, so we took a chance. I cut the surprisingly small box open (carefully) and pulled my dress out. My mom helped me put it on and I fell in love. It's everything I ever hoped for; my dream dress -- honestly! I'm so glad it worked out! After the problem with all 400 announcements, I was worried about the dress. But it is amazing and perfect.
My mother and I just returned from a local bridal store because I needed a slip to go under my wedding dress.  I had been disappointed that I really didn't get to have that "ah-ha" moment in a dress store trying on dresses when I tried on a dress -- thee dress -- and had the "THIS IS IT" realization since I had to order my dress online. I didn't go to the bridal store for that purpose, but ended up standing on that raised pedestal with the intent of trying to see if my dress looked the way I wanted it to and in the meantime, I just looked at myself in that beautiful dress and had my moment. I had my "this is the dress moment" like I had always wanted. There are 84 days until our wedding day, and it is sinking in more and more all the time. Joe will be here in under three weeks for a visit and we will be taking our engagements finally, registering, fitting him for his suit, apartment hunting, putting together our announcements, etc. Things are really falling into place. It's really amazing, and we're really happy.

Lots of great news : )

So as of late...

- My sister has picked out a name for her baby girl, whom she could be HOLDING in the next six weeks. LOVE! I, like, rrrrrrrrrrrrrrreally want to tell what the name is, but I'm not sure if she's announced it publicly yet. Rest assured that the name is perfectly adorable. We are all SO excited for Melissa and to meet the little lady.

- My friend from high school, Justina, just had a baby boy.

- We bought the plane ticket on Monday for Joe to fly in from Portland (he starts his pre-wedding job there next week) in less than a month so we can get all the fab wedding items done that we need to do together ie: ENGAGEMENT PICTURES which we are taking on our EXACT ONE YEAR anniversary. (You don't have to tell us. We know we're adorable.) Also, loved ones have started to ask where we are registered or to let us know when we actually are putting things ON our registries (details, details). Joe and I will be registering the week of May 9 at Target and Bed, Bath and Beyond.

- We get married in 3 MONTHS from... [drum roll please] TODAY! Woohooooo! Things are really coming together, and we are beyond excited.

- My DRESS is on its way and I am both nervous and out of my mind thrilled!

- I received our reprinted and this time PERFECT announcements on Monday! I am pretty relieved that the company agreed to reprint them and that they turned out this time. What a blessing.

- It's officially SPRING IN KANSAS! All the trees are in bloom and the grass is so green. If you have read my other entries about being sick of winter, then you know how happy I am about all of this. : )

Well, I think that's about it. We sure hope all is going well for you and yours.

Happy Easter!

Also...

We have been ENGAGED for 6 MONTHS today!
Such sweet memories.

I'm lovin' it

No, not McDonald's. The weather! It's a beautiful 67 degrees out today! We have been without the sun for literally weeks so the warmth and the rays are definitely welcome here! It rained for days and days and it was gloomy non-stop. I think Kansas got confused and thought it was Oregon. Shrug.
Speaking of Kansas, go Jayhawks. Joe didn't used to root for Kansas, but since he is going to be a Kansan soon he has started following them and he gets excited when they win (which is just about always duhhhh). Love that!
Even better...Yesterday marked 4 months until I become Mrs. Joseph Tulikihakau :-) We can't wait! On Monday we ordered our INVITATIONS! We are extremely excited! Even though I only have seen the electronic proof, it was kind of sureal seeing our names on wedding invitations. It's a lot of fun, and we can't wait to send them out!

Spring

Well, I got what I wished for. At least for now. The last couple weeks have been much warmer -- even up in the mid 60s!!! WOOHOO! I have heard that we may get some snow in a lil bit, but now I don't think it would stick anyway. It's been a little dreary the last few days with lots of rain, but it doesn't bother me because it's WARM! Flip flops are my favorite things ever so you better believe they are on these glamorous totsies : )
In other news, the wedding planning is going well! Crazy but going well! We are ordering our invitations in a few days and so we've been working on getting things squared away on that. Joe has been a saint through it all. Yup, that's a shout out. Holla! My mom and I have begun scoping for decor items as well. It's a fun time, but I'm not gonna lie -- I'm not a natural at decorating. For some reason I lack the ability to imagine how everything will look for some reason. Um... So I am growing! : ) Hope all is well with everyone! If you have any tips for me, hit me up, friends!

Transforming Into A Domestic Loser -- I mean Goddess

On a scale of 1 to 10, I might be getting gay (10), but I am realizing that while I always mocked all things Homemaking, the time has come that I need to learn how to do some of those things and have those basic skills I didn't need a singleton going to school. Hot Pockets are bomb don't get me wrong, but feeding your husband that day after day may be mild spouse abuse. There is a sewing group once a month at church and also a recipe group as well, and I think I'm going to join (!). I have also started a family scrapbook. What has HAPPENED to me?! I caught the love bug is what happened. Lame, but you know. It happens. It's pretty clear that I caved and am embracing my future wifedom. Nah, I know I don't have to change into someone else to be a good wife and mom when the time comes, but I want to be prepared to run a household and take good care of JoeJoe is all. I don't plan to become a sewing maniac, but if someone needs a pair of pants hemmed, I don't want to have to take them to a tailor an pay money for something that I could have done myself if I had just taken the time. I can currently sew on a button... I guess that's something, right? Anyways, just wanted to post something about my delve into domesticity since the purpose of this pre-married blog is to track us on our lil adventures from the start up of our lil family. Eat your heart out, people! Heh.

xoxo
Bren

Ca-ca-ca-catch Up

I flew to Arizona to visit Joe on the 10th and stayed through last Tuesday, February 16. It was a fantastic week and ended much too quickly! We went to see the movie "Valentine's Day" which was pretty cute. The way it was set up reminded me a lot of the film "He's Just Not That Into You" the way that it had a bunch of interconnected stories going on and all of them are about relationships and love. It's a  sweet little movie. We hung out with his family; watched the Olympics a good amount; attended the Tongan ward at church (Church is usually conducted in Tongan, but I lucked out that Sunday and much of it was in English); met up with my childhood friend, Ashleigh and her boyfriend Brett (who are both native Kansans like me); went on walks almost every day; and did some light shopping.  I also tried the traditional polynesian drink called Kava for the first time which is made out of the Kava root which is ground into a fine powder and combined with water. Polynesians come together to "mix" which means sitting on the floor in a large circle and socialize, sing, and drink Kava which is known for its relaxing quality. On Valentine's Day, Joe and I hiked up "A" Mountain located right at the ASU campus in Tempe (in T-shirts no less!) and watched the sun set and enjoyed the view. After that, we met up with Ashleigh and Brett and checked out an art display that Brett was putting together for show. Afterward, the four of us learned some sweet swing dancing moves at another couple's home and had a blast! Joe and I had so much fun that we want to take more lessons after we're married! We loved it! It also has a great work out built in so BONUS! Basically... I had a GREAT time with my love. I'm posting a couple pics, so enjoy, friends!

xoxo

Bren

Woohoo!

I'm going to get measured for my wedding dress tonight! Pretty excited! Weddings sure take a lot of work, but a lady told me that if I'm not having fun doing it then I'm not doing it right! Pretty wise, I think. I am enjoying planning and organizing everything, which is surprising me since I am normally kind of a flake :) Things are coming together one thing at a time, but all of a sudden you realize that you're making some serious progress!

xoxo
Bren

Pictures of the Ring

I've had some friends and family ask for some pictures of my ring, so I figured I'd give the people what they want.

Love! I'm a lucky girl!

Happy New Year, Friends!

Wow, I can't believe it's 2010 already. I spent the evening at a friend's and her dad pointed out that when you say the year now it's quite a bit shorter (i.e: two thousand and nine vs. twenty ten). Interesting. What I like even BETTER about the year being 2010 is that 2010 is OUR year. We get married THIS YEAR! We're so excited to be able to say that! Yahooo! I hope this year proves to be a great one for all of you.

xoxo
Bren

We have some news!

We FINALLY set a date! We wanted to include all of our family and friends and to do so we have set the date of our wedding on July 17th, 2010. We hope to see you all there! More details to follow.

merry christmas

we want to wish all of our friends and family members a very merry christmas. we got a white christmas here in kansas city which doesn't happen often. i could probably count the ones i've seen here, but none specifically come to mind. it's so pretty out and so Christmas-y, thought it's supposed to reach blizzard status overnight and through out tomorrow. snow is beautiful, but i hope no one is stuck driving in dangerous conditions. joe and i are apart for the holidays unfortunately, but next year we will have a great first Christmas together as husband and wife :) we send our love out to all our loved ones out there. be safe and have a happy holiday.

xoxo
bren

dig this quote

"the questions 'where', 'when', and 'how' can only be answered by the person or thing that knows the answer to 'why'."

no clue who wrote that -- i found it on a friend's facebook profile. maybe she made it up. well, regardless, i thought it profound and wanted to share on my domestic little blogaroo.
in other news, i think i found the dress my bridesmaid will be sporting today. i'm pretty excited, especially since finding the perfect dress (adorable, moderately priced, modest, and in the right shade) is harder than it sounds. planning is a lot of fun, but definitely complicated. hats off to those of you who planned or are planning weddings in short amounts of time. those of you who did this voluntarily, i think you're crazy.

xoxo
bren