The 11th

I decided back in October of 2007 to start a count down for steve and I. i didn't wanna count down 365 days that was way too many to keep track of... so i decided on months being in Texas at the time i decided that on the 11th of every month leading up to our wedding I would give Steve a card. I write a personal note in each one just commenting on how much i love him how excited i am about our wedding. I remind him of the blessings we've recieved in the month and the work God is doing in us. I put leaves in each card one leaf for each month left until we get married... Its amazing to me how quickly the last 8 months have flown by... Steve and i are realizing we only have 4 more months to really make this wedding happen and we're a little flustered but things are much better now we have a source of income from my (still crummy) job that doesn't pay often enough. We have all the ground work laid we just have to make it a reality with the finances... but its so easy to get overwhelmed and rushed. For me giving my love a card on the 11th of every month is a simple reminder that its not all about pumpkin cake and orange orchids, too small wedding dresses and sparkly wedding bands or a photographer we still haven't booked. It is about Steve and I and our future and our life together the lessons God is teaching us the trials He's putting before us and we give Him ALL the glory we have trusted Him in every step of our relationship thus far we have seen Him do miraculous wonderful things we never could have imagined... It is about us him working thru us our blessings are so rich...but I still can't wait to eat pumpkin cake!!

The Great Wedding Dress Debacle...

It was Thursday June 5th. I went over to Mom's house early that day to get some stuff done decided to take a power nap before I dove in to all the stuff on my to do list... I laid down and peacefully rested for 15 min when I heard Mom walk in the house saying my name sounding so excited. I met her at the bedroom door and there in her hand was a pillow shaped package that could only contain the one thing I've been waiting for in the mail.... MY WEDDING DRESS!!!!

In a flurry there were 3 womentearing into the package and fluffing tulle. My mom who was telling us to go faster so she could get to work, my sister who just couldn't wait to see it and me the blushing bride so excited and glowing at the possibility of FINALLY looking on the dress I'll wear on my wedding day.... We tore into it and I stripped down in a whirlwind. We exclaimed over the dainty pearl detailing we ran our hands luxuriously thru the soft airy chiffon... and before I knew it Charel was slipping the dress over my head... I felt it slide on and with it slid on a little bit of my excitement and joy. This was it finally after all that waiting... after 27 years of dreaming about my wedding... my wedding dress was here and I could try it on and everything was going to be....
WHAT Mommy I can't get my arm in the sleeve.... and she couldn't zip it....
My beautiful (and it is sooo amazingly beautiful) wedding dress is too small... My "supposedly" custom made wedding dress is too small... I am at a loss as to what to do next... Of course I emailed the company I purchased it from right away and implored how they would be willing to help me they said send up $90 for shipping with your correct measurements and we'll send you a new dress... well that's all fine and well but I sent them the correct measurements the first time and they didn't change I double checked them after I got the too small dress of dreams and I didn't grow... my other option find a local seamstress to help with the alterations... ok I did that she informed me the dress is 6 inches too small.... and she would need 5 yards of each kind of fabric (Chiffon, satin and taffeta) to make the dress fit... I have no idea what to do this is my dream dress this is literally the dress I see myself in when I imagine my wedding... I did everything right I was professionally fitted and measured. I bought and wore all of my underwear for the wedding to that fitting... I converted all of my measurements into inches and cm since my dress was being made in China I wanted to eliminate any confusion... I did everything above and beyond right... in some cases I even added an inch or 2 to my measurement to ensure that in that one spot I'd be comfortable and... sure enough that one spot is where its extra tight... I have another appointment with a seamstress in a week. I'm scared to request a replacement from the company cuz I have no idea what measurements to send them and I'd hate to go thru all of that only to have it still be the wrong size... I just want my pretty dress I wanna put it on and twirl around and feel like the blushing bride I'm going to be... So Saddy Sad.... :(

SAVE THE DATE!!!

We're finally getting around to sending out our save the date cards(2 months late) to all of our out of town friends and family. We got them printed yesterday and will hopefully have them in the mail in the next week. In other wedding news we've updated our Wedding website with some new goodies like information about hotel accomadations and our registry. It has stories and pictures and lots of fun stuff! I will (hopefully) be keeping it up to date with dates and times of all of our upcoming wedding events and new information as we finalize the details. It also has a place for people to RSVP. If you drop by leave a note. http://www.mywedding.com/steveanddeaira/index.html

Mii and Steve havin fun with the Wii!

I've never been much of a gamer... but i've been known to enjoy the ocassional game of Tetris and I really liked Dr. Mario. Today Dr. Mario was available for purchase on our Nintendo Wii and Steve being the sweetheart he is bought it for me. We then spent several hours fighting viruses and laughing... Everytime one of us lost we got a kiss which was every round haha win-win situation... the winner and loser both got kisses and i'm proud to say I even managed to win a few rounds... Yes I beat out the Master gamer in my life. I proved to him that I am capable of holding a game controller haha we had so much fun and its a new thing we can do together to laugh! We really enjoyed it we enjoyed our long weekend together laughing with the Wii, I made potato salad (his favorite) and we saw Indiana Jones with my brother and some friends from church. Its back to work for me tomorrow and another week of seeing Steve for an hour a day. I think thats part of what made this weekend so special. I genuinely missed Steve this last week so we made every minute count this weekend. We cuddled and watched tv, We ate Pho and drank Vietnamese Iced Coffee ( which is so good it deserves a blog of its own). We Went to church and a movie. We played Wii and we bbq'd not to mention a delicious apple pie. All in all it was a good weekend and it was so nice to spend some quality time with my sweetheart.

Its a job... Thank you for Calling...

Yes a job... that thing I've been complaining about needing and wanting since December... I have one... I'm trying to see it as a blessing... cuz it is and it is the answer to many prayers of my own and my dear friends... I can (upon receipt of my first paycheck June 6th) pay off my florist, my cake (with the 2nd paycheck), my bridesmaids dresses (with the 3rd) and Steve's gift and ring (with the 4th) and on and on until round about October we can have our beautiful wonderful wedding... YAY!!! I should be sooo happy about this soo ecstatic and overjoyed, but while I am very very happy about being able to pay for my wedding, this job is like the desperation job around here. Its the place that is always hiring that everyone has worked at once upon a time. The place everyone has a horror story about. Yeh that place... There's one in every city. Now tomorrow will be my 4th day and aside from the rules and dress code and the fact that they'll fire you if you sneeze funny. It doesn't seem too bad all in all certainly well within the realm of my capability. I have even thought perhaps I'm over qualified. Its a job very much like other jobs I've had working in a call center customer service. This time instead of travel arrangements or banking its cell phone customer service. Its all pretty easy and its work I can enjoy for awhile... I did forget about the horrors of headset hair tho blech... and I just got my hair cut all cute and short! ( will post a pic as soon as I remember to take one...) Another draw back to this job is the schedule... Its 2:30-10pm Monday thru Friday for the first 8 weeks of training and then when I actually start its 1:30-10pm Thursday thru Monday. I can thankfully still go to church! ( another answered prayer) The bummer of it is tho I never get to see Steve we get to see each other maybe an hour a day if we're lucky and that's not enough time to like catch up and spend quality time together... ( We have a hot date for Pho on Saturday night) We miss each other and we've been more quick to bicker and short tempered and cranky which is no fun at all. When you only see the person you love for an hour a day you want sweet wonderful happy times not bickering and disagreements. I think I hope we're moving past the bickering phase. We remain faithful this is how God has provided for right now and he is giving us what we need to get thru it. Maybe tomorrow Whole Foods will call... I've been saying that every day for the last week... Even if Whole foods doesn't call or says No... I do have a job... And God is faithful and has provided and answered my prayers and I am trying to praise him for that and be thankful... even tho its not the job I wanted...

being content in all things...

God has always been faithful to keep a song in my heart no matter the circumstance he puts a song in my heart to remind me that he is my focus and my strength my joy my provision and he is in control of every moment and deserving of every moment of my praise... So on days when i start a crummy job that means i never get to see Steve or seemingly have 5 min to myself. He gives me comfort with a song... I pray my focus would remain on Him during this time when time with Steve is short... When time away from work means planning a wedding and not watching tv or reading a food blog... I pray God would be my portion strength and comfort and my hard work and toil would result in a beautiful wedding and a blessed marriage for my Steve and I...just sharing the songs He's put in my heart today...

"Before the throne of God above, I have a strong, a perfect plea, A great High Priest whose name is "Love," Who ever lives and pleads for me. My name is graven on His hands, My name is writen on His heart; I know that while in heav'n He stands no tongue can bid me thence depart. No tongue can bid me thence depart. When Satan tempts me to despair, and tells me of the guilt within, upward I look and see Him there Who made an end to all my sin. Because the sinless Savior died, my sinful soul is counted free; For God, the Just, is satisfied to look on him and pardon me. to look on him and pardon me. Behold him there! the risen Lamb, my perfect, spotless Righteousness, the great unchangeable I AM, the King of glory and of grace! One with Himself I cannot die, My soul is purchased by His blood; My life is hid with Christ on high, with Christ, my Savior and my God with Christ, my Savior and my God" --Charitie Lees Bancroft and Vikki Cook

Here I am, once again I pour out my heart For I know that you hear Every cry You are listening No matter what state my heart is in You are faithful to answer With words that are true And a hope that is real As I feel your touch You bring a freedom To all that’s within In the safety of this place I’m longing to ... Pour out my heart To say that I love you Pour out my heart To say that I need you Pour out my heart To say that I’m thankful Pour out my heart To say that you’re wonderful. -- Craig Musseau

Lord you are so wonderful and I pray you would show me your blessings during this time and help my focus to remain on you and not on how I wish things could be... My desire is to trust you and listen to you... Be close to Steve and I and draw us closer together...

of dresses and dream jobs

I finally bought my wedding dress i've been talking about it for months but i paid for it this morning and the company i ordered it from told me they would start working on it tomorrow i'm sooo beyond excited seeing this dress i've dreamed about in real life touching it trying it on will be so exciting and i just think it will make the fact that i'm getting married even more of a reality haha its a reality already but i think there will just be like a wave that crashes over me when i see my dress when i touch my dress... the dress picture above by the way is like the complete opposite of mine haha but if i was a size 2 i may have considered something with a big full poofy skirt haha i dunno i'm a simple kind of girl and i got a simple kind of dress... that will be soooo amazingly gorgeous!

In other news...

I have a job interview on tuesday actually i have one monday too and its about time but... i'm most excited about the one on tuesday because i've wanted to work at whole foods since i found out they were coming to Reno!!! These stores are amazing wonderful beautiful meccas where great food real food... food that will make your eyes roll back in your head is a reality! and I could be a part of it it would be the answer to over a years worth of prayers! I'm incredibly excited I'm trying to plot and plan the perfect outfit to wear to my interview i'm gonna get a haircut so my normal long stringy flat curly hair has some life some professionalism and polish... I'm out to impress!! The man i spoke to said my resume and cover letter were impressive and i about bubbled over on the phone i was trying so hard not to squeal i'm sure he could hear my enthusiasm... WHEEE! ok so i know my hopes are probably ridiculously high and i've heard it takes a lot of work to get hired by this company and its all in God's hands but this would really be sooo great! working with food ahh how many times have i lamented on that before... i would love to spend my days in a building filled with all the delicious things... fresh mozzarella in herbs, moscato d'asti ( my favorite wine), an olive bar mmm... a bakery with delicious confections! Artisan bread... sustainably farmed fresh fish.... even if i don't get to work there i will most definitely be shopping there...