Wedding Resolutions.. or Should I Say Goals

So Scott and I came up with some personal goals for the wedding, I guess you could say health wise will leave us in better shape for our new life together.

Mine:
I decided that I wanted to focus on my teeth. When I look at myself I am most conscious about my teeth, especially after going through 4 years of appliances and braces.. Well I have vowed to make sure I brush, floss, and use mouth wash everyday (what we should all be doing anyway...) to have them as clean as possible and just to prevent cavities or other unwanted things. I am also going to work on whitening but that will be closer to the wedding. I just had my wisdom teeth removed last Friday in effort to really move my mouth where it needs to be. Once the pain has completely gone, I will be wearing my retainers, especially when I sleep to make sure my teeth don't become more crooked than what they have become due to the wisdom teeth. Regardless that is my goal and you can even ask if I'm keeping up with it... it may help me stay motivated especially through out the less-than year!

His:
Scott's back has been injured for just about a year now in case you were not aware. He has problems with his lower spine that prevents him from walking for long periods of time, bending down, and even picking up heavy things. It's really painful for me to just watch him be in so much pain and not be able to help him in any manner. Regardless he is doing everything from going to the chiropractor, receiving injections, seeing a back specialist, and constantly taking medication to try and essentially fix his back. His goal right now is to strengthen his back through stretching etc to eventually be able to dance without pain.For all of you reading this... just keep praying for him that he has a speedy recovery.

Photo Fun

We were fortunate enough to have two engagement sessions! The first was done late October 2010 with Eason Photography (thanks Ashlie and Max!), the second more recently this past March with Milana Photography (thanks Milana!). Milana's was actually by luck of winning a facebook photo contest in which we won a free photoshoot. Well we enjoyed both shoots and are in the process of making some photo books that will be available for viewing at the wedding as well as some other nifty little surprises!

Here are links to the sites so you can the photos first hand! I think they both turned out amazing!

http://easonphoto.com/krystalandscott
http://milanaphotographyblog.com

Just a Handful of Changes!

It's crazy to think a year to go and there's so much to do, people to meet, and things to make! Well we've been struggling the last couple of weeks with a couple of things including the date and the venue. The venue at first was perfect in price but with change in ownership it almost doubled. Imagine being completely excited about something new and it gets torn from under you and you get that gut wrenching feeling like the world is falling apart and your upset.. well I did my best to cope. I looked at other venues and it took me a while to really open my eyes to even the possibility of liking it.
We checked out Zoo Atlanta, the Carl house, Little Gardens, and the Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage Center to name a few. Well a found flaws in each with either the size, or more costly the required catering. Actually there is a funny story with the GEHC. One of the ladies was giving us a tour. I had never been to the building but I think it was love at first site and all the features she pointed out made it so much more! Well she took us to the Blue Planet Theater. It holds up to 350 and had a waterfall we could utilize with a monogram! I specifically remember talking to Carlos and sitting on these bleachers. There were two of them sitting in the middle of the room facing towards the waterfall (used for a show). We were sitting in the bleachers and bouncing ideas about how we could arrange stuff and how perfect it was! I was so excited to have found another location, especially so quickly! Well mom and dad were asking the lady some questions and I overheard the dreaded words... The bleachers must stay in the room... Really?!?

I was so frustrated for days trying to figure out what to do with the bleachers, whether to put them on the sides, cover them up, etc. They were so large and ugly, and I mentioned to Scott... they reminded me of football.. the last thing on my mind on my wedding day!

Anyway, the search was on. Scott and I decided one day to stop at the Lawrenceville Historic Courthouse. We'd taken all of our homecoming and prom pictures there but had never actually gone inside. A secretary led us up to the courtroom and it was gorgeous! The high ceiling with all the old historic features added more to the room. The best part was the ridiculously low price for county residents! We would be able to use this as a reception space for not even a fraction of what we originally planned AND they allowed for outside catering (which if you don't know catering is one of the most expensive things!)
We decided to do our reception there and ceremony at 550 Trackside and decided on the date March 17 to place the date back on Saturday.

Well... more changes head our way.

Scott and my mom schedule an appointment to place a down payment at 550 Trackside and the owner calls to reschedule an hour later. They drove ahead to the Courthouse to book that as well. When they arrive, Scott calls to tell me that the Courthouse cannot be used March 17 because of the St. Patrick's Day festivities. They would be open for the 24th or 3rd. I told him to go to 550 Trackside and based on their availability we could decide.
1:45pm came around and they met with the owner of 550 Trackside. Well turns out he was an Army Vet - toured in Vietnam! Unbeknownst to me, Scott worked his magic and was able to bring down a military discount making it possible to have both the ceremony and reception for a much lower price, something we could actually afford!
He and mom called me right after and told me.. I was well in state of shock and excitement! Scott thought I was crying but I honestly didn't know what to think! I had come to the conclusion that I would not be able to do both at 550 and was caught completely off guard from the news! He marked us down for March 3, 2012 only 330 days to go!!!
If you still can't tell how excited I was, I pretty much had the biggest smile in the world the rest of the day regardless of the sore and pain I felt from my cheeks (just got my wisdom teeth removed last week!)

Growing Together

5 weeks ago we started PreMarital Classes (5 of 6 weeks completed!)
I have to say I have really enjoyed the process and sort of wish we could continue longer. They suggest we can join a small group for couples, specifically newly engaged or newly married but our church is just about an hour drive from school and with gas prices soo high its just hard.

Anyway so we have decided to commit to ourselves to grow spiritually and together. March 21 we celebrated our 5 year anniversary. As a gift to each other, we purchased a NIV Couples Bible that has devotionals for the whole year. Our goal is to go through the entire Bible in a year and finish within a week of the wedding. It was funny because just as we decided to do this, one of the pastors challenged everyone to do three things, read the bible together, pray together, and worship together. It was cool that we had literally just started when we told us this. At least we know we're on the right page!

It's funny to think how much we've learned. I feel like every week we went to my house after and I would sit and talk with mom about what we learned and discussed. I think Scott and I have also grown closer to and have started to talk about a lot of things that we hadn't really considered. We've finally gotten on the right page for budgeting for one thing!

What I really got out of the classes thus far is the time spent and importance of the relationship... about pushing each other up not bringing each other down, about placing our relationship above all others. We've met some other couples our age and have made some friends that hopefully we'll be able to keep in touch with afterwards as well!

A Little Bling

Everything is sort of moving in high motion, prior to when its supposed to happen but at opportune moments..

When Scott purchased my rings last year, he bought the set - an engagement ring and the band. It left me the opportunity to find something that would match him. I looked around at Shane Co, Jared, and most recently D Geller and Sons. D Geller turned out to be more upsetting than anything else. We specifically mentioned we were just looking through rings but the attendant helping us was doing everything possible to try to get us to buy before leaving. We did see a few rings but the one I had originally wanted to see they did not have in store stock. It was a Scott Kay Cobalt Comfort. They pretty much had every other Scott Kay minus the one I wanted to see! Anyway, we tried to leave and she even had the manager come over to give us a "great deal" trying to get us to buy the ring they didn't even have in stock.. like really? That large of an investment.. its like buying a car before test driving or purchasing a home without visiting it. Regardless we left.

During Spring Break in March we, Scott and I, stopped by Shane Co by chance - we actually stopped by LifeWay and Shane Co happened to be next door...
Anyway, so we walk in and I asked to see several of various styles they had. he must have tried about 70% of what they had available. He put on the styles we originally liked, I asked him to try on a few two tones, and asked if they had rings with a curved line similar to the ring my dad has. Well just when we had found this really pretty two tone, I saw one with diamonds on it. Scott and I really didn't care for a crazy guys ring. The ring is supposed to be simple and elegant like mine. I asked the guy to see the ring just to see a different style. Well as soon as Scott put it on, I was in love. The swirl on the ring matched the curve from mine! We were soo excited! We didn't think we would find something similar!

A Place to Change

Recently we've made a lot of changes, the most important thing being the venue. 550 Trackside has unfortunately raised their prices within the last few months. Budgeting wise we are trying to determine if the location is still feasible... We've been able to locate just a handful of other locations that could serve as a backup or perhaps the location of either the ceremony or reception to perhaps cut the cost.

Anyway so we, mom, Carlos, my aunt, Scott, and dad are sitting in my family room talking about venues and all things possible wedding. Out of no where my mom asks me if I would get dressed at home. I was sort of caught of guard not knowing what she was asking. I told her that the venues typically had a dressing room for the bride/bridesmaids. She cut me off saying she wanted me to get dressed there. I wasn't sure what to think. My mind was racing around venues, catering and the big picture items; I hadn't even thought of anything in relation to day of..
Well she explained that in Puerto Rico it was customary to get dressed in your mothers home. I wondered why she hadn't brought that up earlier when I asked about Puerto Rican traditions...

I told her that it depended on the venue because I really liked the full size mirrors that many places had in the dressing room. Looking at mom you could tell she was concocting some evil plan. She told me she would get a mirror! I said well if there is a mirror then yes.

The next weekend I come home and mom has a surprise for me. She has decided to completely redecorate my room! Along with a big mirror, she wants to place a nice white carpet, repaint my dresser, and repaint the room itself to colors that match the wedding colors. I was actually really excited even taking two days out of my schedule to essentially wipe out my room donating bags of clothes and old items to a local church owned organization! Though the project is on hold to start this summer, mom will get her wish and I will have an awesome, tall mirror to take my wedding dress photos with.

Cake Topper

So many weeks and quite a few bridal shows later, quite a bit has happened.
Carlos introduced me to a fine China brand I apparently should have heard of before, Lenox! After figuring out what it was I think he was right! We traveled to a local outlet mall to learn of the Lenox store where everything is half off all year round!

The store itself is roughly a 35 mile, 30 min drive from home its out of the way, and with these gas prices not the first choice for shopping. Well I ended up making like 4 different trips up there purchasing various items. In late January I bought our toasting flutes. If you are familiar with the Opal Innocence collection, I think I've fallen in love... A trip later on and I discovered my dining set - the one I will acquire when Scott and I find a home.

The first trip in March was during Spring Break. Originally the plan was that Scott and I would cut the cake with a saber, this was planned when we were still going to use the military uniform. However with circumstances that have changed, we decided to use a regular cake cutter and server. I looked on the Lenox website to find the matching set for the toasting flutes to discover a ridiculously high price. When we finally arrived at the store, I had one thing in mind was to purchase the set. The had three left in stock and just under half price from online! I was so excited!!

Finally the true tale of why I wrote this blog.. When we first got engaged I found a Precious Moments figurine of a girl and a soldier. It was adorable, however one thing continues to bug me about Precious Moments... the vast majority are blond. I know the cake topper doesn't need to be exact but I want it to sort of exemplify us. I purchased the figuring regardless but I was still on the look out. I looked into monograms, photos, classic wedding toppers, even looking into love birds etc but nothing really seem to fit us.
On the last trip to the Lenox Store, Carlos and I looked around the figurines in the front display area. There were several cases of Disney figurines, Cinderella, Mickey, Princess Aurora, Lady and the Tramp, etc. Then I saw it, the top shelf of the center case held Beauty and the Beast. Belle was and still is my favorite Disney Princess. The very top corner sat a figurine of Belle dancing with the Beast in the form of a Prince. It was beautiful with a gold dress and him with a blue jacket. It was perfect, perfect colors and exactly what I could have imagined. Though we are not royal by any means it sort of shows how we feel for each other - like a princess in his arms where the most important thing in the world is each other.

Well I left the store, empty handed.. Mom told me she thought it was pretty though not really matching to the rest of the theme of the wedding. Carlos said I was crazy for not buying it, and Scott had no idea what I was talking about when I sent him a picture text message asking if I should buy it. The picture I ended up sending him turned out, that he thought I wanted to purchase the actual beast in the front of the picture not the dancing couple in the back! I love Beauty and the Beast but for our wedding day I would never consider getting Scott as a beast!
I went home upset thinking I would find something better. I will tell you, every night that week I looked online, for every cake topper imaginable through every website you could find. Nothing.

Thursday came along and I was talking to Scott. I pulled up the Lenox website and showed him a picture of it. We both knew it was the one. I couldn't think of anything more perfect. I went back that Friday and I finally came home with the topper of my dreams.