Just because...

I really hate working in retail. It ruins a lot of things for me and Travis and since I work mostly nights and weekends [which he usually has off] we hardly get to see eachother. After I had worked all night on Saturday and all day Sunday, I was definitely ready to come home and spend some cuddle time with my love!

I got home and he wasn't there. I tried calling him but he didn't answer his phone. Sad, and slightly pissed, I crawled into bed and started to doze off. 20 mins later I heard him walk down the stairs and turn on the bedroom light [I was still pouting so I pretended not to notice haha] I hear him set down a bag and sit on the floor. I open one eye and see 12 dozen long stem red roses leaning against the bed.

I love my Fiance. :]

Nightmare On 13th

So last friday night Travis and I were invited by our friends to go to a haunted house. We all decided on Nightmare on 13th... Travis is a jumper and was not excited to go at all but he sucked it up like men do and went anyway. [I wish we had taken pics while waiting outside, but it was dark and I didn't take my camera! Sigh.]

When we got inside we got to take group pics with Freddy Krueger!!!

[excuuuuuuse the multiple chins :S ]

This haunted house had definitely improved since the last time that I had been. A lot less corny and a lot more scary! I love being scared... until the warewolf jumped out at my face and I did what I like to call- "The Standing Fetal Position Pee Dance, While Screaming Like A 10 Year Old Girl". That was a little much for me. Anyone who knows me knows I have what SOME people would call an "irrational fear of warewolves". I personally dont feel its irrational. I just dont like to go outside on a full moon if I can help it :]

After the haunted house we were suuuuper tired and drove home. On the way Travis admitted that he [the chicken!] had fun and wanted to go to another haunted house this year! haha :] I know its not always the funnest for him when I push him to step outside of his box and do something he doesnt want to do, but in this case it turned out to be a good experience. Yay!

Wedding: Shoes. Lets get some shoes.

So last friday on my commute to work I passed Davids Bridal like I always do and it dawns on me "Hmm... I ordered my shoes in July and they said they would be here in September/October the latest and no one has called me..." I took matters into my own hands and gave them a jingle jangle back in September and my shoes weren't there yet, and then they felt the need to tell me "We'll call YOU." so I left it at that. Well its been another month and I still haven't heard anything so I call again, because I'm persistant like that.

Turns out they have had my shoes for 3 weeks and no one bothered to call haha. DUMB! So whatever, I work all weekend and don't have time to pick them up then I have monday off so I wait for Travis to get home and we head down to pick them up. On the way down to Salt Lake I get a phone call from David's Bridal- "Hi! Your shoes are here!" me- "Yeah I know, I'm coming to get them now." Click.

They're a little special over there, glad I am a little glad I didn't get my dress from them and I don't have to deal with them anymore... But I did get my shoes!

I can't wait to decorate them! :]

Witches Night out!

I love October! Its the greatest month out of the year. I love the color changes, the yummy food, the smells of fall and HALLOWEEN! Every year my family goes to Gardener Village in West Jordan for Witches Night Out. [If you haven't been, you need to go! Its so much fun!]

My aunt Barbara always comes to town from Reno to go with us. This usually means that the first stop we make is any of the doll shops. They had some of the cutest and weirdest dolls... Observe.

Cute. Baby princess dolls.

Weird. Baby oragutan doll...



Needless to say, Travis got bored pretty quick in this store. So we went to take pics of the Witches!!!





Hula hooping witch. [sorry for the sideways pics. my computer is a little special.]

Witch and her toad!



Hillbilly fishing witch.

Dinner at Achibalds!

My favorite flying bicycle witch!

Usually we dress up, but this year I think we were all too lazy. So we took pics of other peoples costumes!

Aaaaaannnd, us.

Travis and I found these amazing hats. Mine is a zebra and his is a fox. We had to have them! Also we got delicious fudge from Sweet Aftons and I got a giant swirly sucker. :] But my favorite things we got are a set of Nightmare Before Christmas figurines!

Witches Night out 2011, success!



Happy Leif Eriksson Day!

So as we all know, or should know, Leif Eriksson Day falls on October 9th. Who is Leif Eriksson? The first European [VIKING] to step foot on the New World- about 500 years before Christopher Columbus. You can read a simple version all about it here.

Why do I care about this day? Well you see, I am Scandinavian, Norwegian to be exact. My dad was adopted by my wonderful Grandparents when he was 3 days old from his 16 year old biological mother who was in fact Norwegian. Unfortunately, none of us will know anything more about her. My mom, after searching and searching for her, sadly found out that she had passed about 10 years ago... So the least we can do is celebrate our Viking heritage!

I am proud of my Scandinavian traits, fair skin and blue eyes. My love of the ocean and of gray skies. I may not have much else to go on, but at least knowing where I come from is enough for me!

This pic is a little old, but what can ya do? Viking hats are a little hard to find! Happy Leif Eriksson Day!

Good Times!

So since I didn't have a blog during Travis' birthday, I feel the need to give a little shout out for him. His 23rd birthday was July 27th. We celebrated in early July by going to The Fabulous Las Vegas! [It was my first time going and I was SO EXCITED!]

Here are some highlights of the trip!

And just a few of my favorite shots...

[Travis' mom Christie and Jerry Springer]

Travis's favorite picture- me and Stevie Wonder haha...

The AWESOME Aquarium...

I was a little disappointed the he was sleeping... they are my favorite.

Coolest Jellies EVER!

This is the biggest octopus I have ever seen. From tenticle to tenticle it was at least 10 feet.

Ok now onto the birthday! We were pretty much broke after Vegas so we just did a low key dinner and cake with his family.

Dinner of choice, Texas Roadhouse. [No one would let me take pics....]

This pic cracks me up! Travis' parents did not want their pic taken.

The cake I was told to make was strawberry with funfetti frosting.

He blew out the candles too fast, so I made him pretend to do it again. haha

Good times! Happy [late] Birthday babe!

Wedding: Location, location, location!

After Travis and I got engaged, we didn't really worry about setting a date because we had planned on having a long, long engagement and maybe get married fall of 2013. We didn't really want to wait that long but we didn't feel like we had a choice because we'd be paying for everything ourselves. After being accosted by friends, family (mostly his) and coworkers,  we decided that 2013 wasn't what we wanted and if we took advantage of time and started planning now, we'd be able to pull off a beautiful September wedding in 2012. [Although it still isn't good enough for his mother!]

First thing was first. Where are we going to get married? The venue is probably the most important part of any wedding. It sets the whole feel for the day and reflects back onto the couple. This was a pretty difficult process for us because Travis is from the Ogden area and that is pretty much where ALL of his family is. I am from Salt Lake/West Jordan and I know the family and friends would travel for me for the one day without complaint. [My family is mostly out of state and I don't think a lot of them would be able to come, and for the ones who did it wouldn't matter where we had our wedding.]

But Travis wasn't so sure that a lot of his family would show up if we got married in Salt Lake.

:[

This was particularly heartbreaking for me because I had my heart set on getting married in Memory Grove Park's Memorial House. Its the cutest historic building and you can set up your ceremony anywhere in the park and have your reception in the house... It was perfect, just what I wanted! But we needed to find somewhere in Ogden. I could live with that...

After a few tours of a couple different places, we decided one was ok. I know, just ok. But if that made Travis happy because his family could be there then I was all for it! After trying to make it work for what we wanted, dealing with difficult staff and being frustrated with their catering [they have a catering company and you HAVE to use their catering. I hate when venues do that and so many of them do and the food is just "ok". Its typical, bland wedding food. You think you're getting a good deal on the rental of the building then you pay out the wazoo for the food because you have to use their catering and they can charge whatever they want. Sneaky bastards.]

Travis told me that he knew I didn't want to get married there and if his family wouldn't take a drive for him for just one day then they didn't deserve to be there anyway.

Back to square one.

We started looking at other places in Layton and Bountiful and everything was just ok. No one had anything more/different to offer than the others. They all looked the same! I was determined that the only solution would be in Salt Lake.

Yess! Memorial House! Well the more we crunched the numnbers we knew we'd have to wait until 2013. I had my heart set on a september wedding and I didn't want to push it back another year. Spring is too iffy with weather [this years spring was basically WINTER] and I don't love summer weddings. Its always too hot if you want it outside at all. I want my guests having a good time. Not all sweaty and sticky! Needless to say we kept looking. :[

I was about to give up and then one day I came across this place, Chateau Faire Art and Reception Villa. [How official and cute is that name??]. I had never even heard of it but after looking at their website I saw its an Art/Antiques gallery in Holladay, Utah and they just opened up their space for weddings too. I had to take a tour.

It blew every other venue we had looked at out of the water! Everything is done old european style and we get to use all the antiques and artwork for decor at our wedding. Not having to decorate and they build you your own custom centerpieces? I was in LOVE! The only thing it was missing, no outside. I voiced my one disappointment to the owner- then to my surprise she laughs and tells me about the whole addition to the building they are making including a garden/patio area. SOLD. Travis loved it too and we had his parents come see it a week later and they loved it so much they offered to give us the money to put the downpayment to save our date. Awesomeness :]

Here are some pics I stole from their facebook.

This is a picture of the entrance. Its so adorable!!!

At night its all lit up with white lights!

You walk in onto the black and white tile.

The signing table, straight shot from the front door.

Just to give you an idea of the flow, make a right at the signing table and you will be standing right next to our cake [on top of the antique cake table from Brazil!] The room with the black and gold rug is the room they use for inside ceremonies. Seats 75. 100 with seated and standing guests. The balcony you can see in the 2nd pic is to THE BRIDES ROOM! Amazing :]

This pic is set up for Christmas but I wouldnt mind it being a little chilly and being able to use their big fireplace!

Another shot of the cake table display/room and the flatscreen on the wall will be playing our photo montage!

This is the bay window of  their "Sun Room".  [Now it is decorated with old hainging birdcages and other fun stuff!]

Here is a shot at night. With seating for dinner!

This is a walkway leading to the additional inside seating.

This room is larger than the other with more seating. This is where they plan on building an addition and french doors for a 2nd patio entrance. [the first tour we took Travis and I were wondering around and we came down here and it started pouring rain so hard that water started pouring out from the white vent! Luckily we saw it and the owners were able to stop it.]

Here is the grooms room!

Now lets go upstairs!!!!

This is the bridesmaids room! They get their own area too.

Just a few short steps down the hall...

past the chandelier...

The Brides Room!

View from the bridesroom.

Here is the unfinished patio [due to the rainy June weather, they were unable to finish the patio this summer so here is the rought draft. Usable but not finished! Can't wait til next year to see it!]

Where we will mostlikely have our ceremony :]

Here is the parking lot sign out front at night!

Parking lot during the day, completely surrounded with trees.

And at night with the lights!

I love it! So much character and charm, its unique like us :]