WOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Just wanted to say that we get married in TWO WEEKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are SO excited and can't wait to be Mr. & Mrs.!

The Latest

Well, Saturday marked SEVEN WEEKS 'til the wedding (!!!). It's crazy how time flies. Originally I was bummed that we had to set the wedding date for the summer (I was hoping for the spring, but there was too much going on and my sister was having her baby, etc.) and that it was so far away, but I can't imagine getting everything done any sooner! I am totally a list person and love being able to cross things off (Am I the only one who occassionally writes things like "Brush teeth" or "Take shower" on the to-do list or things already accomplished so I can check something off??), so wedding planning is the job for me :) Joe is working hard in the Portland area up until a few days before the wedding. He's definitely a trooper, and takes providing very seriously. A few weeks ago, we signed a lease for an apartment about 10 miles down the road, and the move in date is July 12th. We're pretty excited. I got Joe's wedding ring Saturday, and we're working on getting the announcements out this week! That's pretty much what's going on with us!

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!

She's Here!

MY SISTER HAD HER BABY!

Eden Olivia McCrae was born to Shane and Melissa McCrae on Wednesday May 5, 2010 at 1:45 AM and weighed in at 6 lbs. 7 oz.
WE ARE SO EXCITED ABOUT OUR NEW NIECE!!!

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.

As of 3 days ago...

We are down to the double digits!

Happy Easter!

Also...

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

Invitation Adventure

I received my wedding invitations in the mail on Thursday. I was so excited to get them --tracking them even online as they made their way across the United States on their little UPS truck (okay, several) :) They came while I was at work and all day I couldn't wait to open them. It's kind of surreal that I'm getting married, but seeing both our names on 400 invitations definitely helps to make it sink in. What helps make it sink in more is when you open the box and see 400 messed up invitations (!) and the thought, Am I going to have to send these to everyone I know looking like this?! The format was really off in a significant place and part of one line was on top of the line below. At first, I tried not to think about it or be sad about my odd looking invitations. I assumed that it was my mistake and that they wouldn't reprint them for me so I should just not let it sink in that I hated how they looked at that there were two glaring problems on them. I'm just particular, right? No one else will notice? They showed me the proof online before I submitted my order, so it's my fault, right? But after talking it over with my parents and Joe I realized that the proof I had looked at was to double check (or quadruple check in my case... I checked it literally four times because I was so afraid of  making a mistake and having... this happen) spelling and wording. I looked at the example on the picture on the website and the names to the side were lined up. The names on mine did not line up in any way. That's common sense on their part to line the names up and not have two lines touching each other. I realized the error was not mine. I e-mailed the company about the problem, attaching a picture of my invitation the way they'd sent it (I scanned one of the invitations into the computer) just hoping that they wouldn't stick me with 400 messed up invitations because I had seen a proof beforehand. I didn't see any format errors on the proof except that it wasn't to scale. It looked kind of squooshed online, so I just figured the spacing would be normal on the actual invitations. After I sent the e-mail I noticed on the invoice that came with the invitations that they asked to be notified of any errors or problems and on an e-mail I had received that if you aren't 100% happy, the company will give you a full refund or reprint your order. Still, I hadn't received a response from anyone at the company yet, and being Saturday, the day before a holiday and conference weekend (the company is in Rexburg, ID, a primarily LDS town -- irronically where Joe and I both lived and where I went to school for five years) I figured I wouldn't get a response today. I was pleasantly surprised when I did get a response from them saying that they apologized, and that they were reprinting my order and they would be arrived between such and such days. I am EXTATIC! I have been so worried about them saying no! I am thankful for good customer service, though I would prefer not to need them. Oh, well! We have plenty of time. I made sure to order our invitations way in advance (they only take a few days to print and ship -- good for typical LDS engagements of like 2 months, huh?) just in case something happened. Now, let's hope there is nothing wrong with my DRESS! That sucker takes three MONTHS to be made and arrive! Woo, crossing my fingers on that one! Anyway, just wanted to share our little adventure -- or "scare" if you will : ) I'm your typical bride, huh? I promise I didn't get bridezilla or anything, but I was very worried I would have to send out funny looking invitations. You only do this once, right? : ) Hope all is well with everyone.

Love,
Joe & Bren

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!