Countdown

3 months

3 weeks

6 days

til

the

Wedding.

WOW

I cant believe D & I have been engaged for over 6 months. I remember back in July I thought next June was SOO long away. Time sure has been flying by and I can not wait til June 5th.

Yesterday I stayed in my P.J.'s til 3pm... but I have a very good reason for doing so.. I was being very productive & printed out the invitations!! We got diy invitations from Michaels & yesterday began printing them all up. Although it was time consuming I'm super happy how they've turned out. Most of the invites are printed but I still have to do the response cards and direction cards. I have to recommend the invites at Michaels. They are good price and really easy to do at home.

Now that the wedding is less than 4 months away I'm finally feeling like its finally around the corner! Many more projects and p.j. wearing til 3pm is in my future & I cant wait!

In recent news...

D & I ARE HOMEOWNERS!!!!! (huge smile)

We closed our our first house on Jan 12, 2010 in Vacaville. So far we have done so much work to make the house updated and beautiful. I cant wait to see it when its all done. The house is 3 bedroom 2 1/2 baths 2,100 sq feet & drum roll please....




With a POOL.. Ya its green when I took this pic but thats because no one took care of the pool for months since it was a foreclosure.. You just wait til you see the whole backyard in a few weeks... We can now actually see a few more steps hehe

Well that's all of the house tour pics.. More to come soon as we finish up painting. Hope you enjoyed!!!

Hello! I just wanted to share a couple pictures from wine tasting! We went with a huge group of friends the Sunday after Christmas. We had such a great time. I say we make it a tradition every Christmas.

A lot has been going on unrelated to wedding planning. When I originally started this blog I was going to blog about all things wedding. Since then life has happened and I wanted to share that along the way too. The wedding posts will become more often in the next few months as I get ready for the wedding and complete ALL the diy projects I have for myself. Only 5 more months til the wedding. I cant wait. I know I will be so busy in a couple months with showers, bachelorette party, & planning!!

In recent news....

Derek & I bought our 1st house!!! Papers were signed Friday & the keys will be in our hands first part of next week... Awesome huh?? Buying a house so soon was completely unexpected but when we saw this house we knew it was exactly what we want in a first home! The last several weeks I've been spending hours each day surfing the internet for furniture and cute decorating ideas.. I've been quite successful and I cant wait to try it all in the new house!

The buying a new house/getting a loan/decorating/picking out paint has taken over my life right now. I am so excited for the house to be ours and I know Derek and I will spend many years of wonderful memories inside those wall.. & in the backyard... hehe. I'm ready to spend a couple more weeks devoted to decorating and painting then I must get into wedding mood!!

I am so grateful for all the awesome things that are happening in my life right now. I thank God every day for allowing me to have such a great family, fiance and friends!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! I cannot believe its 2010!

2009 was an amazing year for both Derek & I.. So many great memories were made and I am so grateful for all the wonderful times with our friends and families! I think back to last January & how much has changed since than... for the better!

Here are some pics to recap a great 2009!

As great as 2009 was I must say I'm so excited for all the fun, amazing times to come in 2010.

Celebrated 6 years of dating with Derek & received beautiful flowers!



I turned 21 in February!


Enjoyed being legal in bars!

Had a Happy Easter Sunday!
Went to Giants Games & was on the Jumbo Tron With Kate!!!
Celebrated at Jen Bachelorette Party in Tahoe in May!
Then went to their perfect wedding on May 15th!
Was VIP (hehe) in Tahoe with some of my best friends in June.

Celebrated my Dad & Brothers B-days in June also!



Again.. enjoyed being 21 at a bar! (this time celebrating bretts b-day)


On the way from Tahoe to Donner stopped at Emerald Bay & walked down to the waterfall.. I love waterfalls! I wanna go to Hawaii for our honeymoon and see as many waterfalls as possible!

Took a tip to Napa for the day & bought from Duckhorn wine

Enjoyed one of many Lake Days with the fam & friends!

Went on a 15 mile bike ride with the fam in Donner over 4th of July... 15 miles on a beach cruiser is a LONNNNGGG ride!
WON $1,000 ON WHEEL OF FORTUNE... where did all that money go??? humm... I dunno! Maybe Derek used some of it to buy my ring lol

Went to see Kenny Chesney
Went to Lake Almanor! One of the first pictures taken on our trip to Lake Almanor in July... 3 days before Derek asked me to marry him!

Then... on July 26, 2009 I....

Shot a glock....

Then an AR..


Then went swimming at high bridge...

Then was proposed to my the most amazing man in Lake Alamanor on a golf course bridge .. ALL in one day!

Then scrapbooked it once I got home.

Took a cute pic with Derek

Went to Tahoe again.. This time for Jen's B-day!

Went to Santa Cruz and drank lots of wine.. hehe...good thing we had Mercedes (our cab driver) to drive us back to the hotel!
I then decided that I needed a job to pay for the wedding, a house & life with Derek so I got a job at the Camiella Tea Room in Benicia... come visit me!!

Went to Fright Fest at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom with Derek Juice Jen Shannon & Matt.

Sprayed my hair black for Halloween & got some tats

Celebrated Graduating from Sonoma State University.

Had a great Christmas with my family and Derek... Sorry no picture Im to lazy to go get my camera cord and upload them right now.. maybe tomorrow!


Rang in 2010 with my best friends!

Woo.. that is alot of pictures huh? Hope you enjoyed looking at them as much as I enjoyed going back though all 5,000 pictures taken in 2009 trying to figure out which ones to post! I am so grateful for all this fun times and many more that I didn't include!

Happy 2010!!!!!!

Im done with COLLEGE

Last night I took my LAST final of undergraduate school. Derek drove with me to my final and when I got back in the car after the test this was waiting for me on my seat. Starbucks, flowers & a sweet card. What a keeper!!!

After my test we met my parents and Brett and Christine for dinner. It was the perfect end to a great last 3 1/2 years of college.

Monday was Shannon's last final also. I am so proud of her. She too graduated in just 3 1/2 years! Here's a picture of us Monday night celebrating her graduation!!!!

5 months 29 days!

I cannot believe its less than 6 months away til the wedding. So much has been happening lately and wedding planning has falling to the side. I will be done with college 1 week from today! Can you believe it?? Once the holidays are over & I am done with school, wedding planning is ALL i will be doing. Although I have a lot done already there is so many little things I cannot wait to start. Bridesmaids gifts, favors, table numbers, invitation, guest book/ "wish bowl", ect. By next month hopefully I will have started some of those projects! I found a fun survey on another blog I follow so I thought I would share my answers on my blog!

What are your middle names?
Mine is Kathleen Dereks is Timothy

How long have you been together?
OMG on Jan 10, 2010 it will be 7 years since Derek asked me to be his gilfriend hehe..

How long did you know each other before you started dating?
At least a few years

How old are each of you?
I'm 21, and he's 23.

Did you go to the same school?
The same high school

Are you from the same home town?
Yes

Who is the smartest?
umm.. Im sure if Derek was answering this question it would be a different answer. Although I have my blond moments I am smarter (or at least try harder) at school material. Derek is smarter at everything else hehe.. Derek is really smart at math

Who went to school for what?
I majored in Psychology & hopefully one day will be a High School Counselor
Derek attended the JC and is now a Police Officer.

Who is the most sensitive?
That would be me for sure.

Where do you eat out most as a couple?
If its Derek choice its Round table Pizza which I don't mind cause I love their salad bar. If its my choice I choose either Applebees or a new place we've never been too

Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?
Columbia, Missouri.. for Dereks bro football game!

Who has the worst temper?
I am more likely to get angry but when Derek does get ticked off there is no stopping him

How many children do you want?
2 or 3

Who does the cooking?
I do when Derek has work that night but when he is off we cook together. Derek is a really great cook!

Who is more social?
We are both pretty social but Derek social butterfly who never stops taking at parties.

Who is the neat-freak?
ME.. I have to have things clean and Derek is learning how to do the same lol

Who is the most stubborn?
We both can be stubborn depending on the day

Who wakes up earlier?
Depends. Plus Derek works nights so its hard to say but I sure do love sleeping in when I can

Where was your first date?
We didnt really have a first date per say. We went to the movies and lunch one day.. umm.. ya I was 14 I wasn't even allowed to date I don't think lol. Derek would drive me home from school alot and we would go to his house. Those were are dates (which I loved)

Who has the bigger family?
We both have large families. I think my extended family may be larger.

Do you get flowers often?
No.. I love flowers but their a waste of money. Although I do like when I'm surprise with them.. hint hint

How do you spend the holidays?
Right now we spend them separate me with my family he with his but we will see in the next year what we end up doing.. Maybe we'll start to have a holiday at our house..

Who eats more?
D for sure

What do you do for a living?
Me-student & server @ tea room
D- PoPo officer

Who drives when you are together?
Id rather him drive. Hes a better driver & I like to look out the window but if were going to a party I will be the one who drives home from it

What is "your" song?
What isn't "our" song. Every love song I hear I'm like oh Derek this is our song lol. When we were in high school Crusin was for sure our song and Shameless by Garth Brooks.

Hope you enjoyed the survey.. geeezzz that was a lot of questions! :)

Said YES to a DRESS!!!

Today was one of the most important days when becoming a bride.. today I said YES to a beautiful wedding dress. I would love to share all the details of how amazing the dress is but I want all you blog readers to be surprised on the day of... I'm mean... i know... hehe... Believe me tho its perfect & worth the wait! Plus even if I showed you a picture it wouldn't do the dress justice! You just have to see it in person.

I tried on several dresses, including one I thought I was going to love and none of them really impressed me or my mom. So the consultant brought out a new dress they had just got in. As soon as I saw myself in the mirror I loved it. My moms eyes filled with tears and I knew it was the one! I'm so glad I had my mom there. She did a great job helping pick the veil and headpiece too.

Awww.. what a day! I also had an in-person evaluation tonight at Sac State for the Masters in Counseling program there. I think it went well so keep your fingers crossed.. 4-6 weeks I will know if I will be spending the next 2 to 3 years in school... or not.. hehe...

All in all.. I had an amazing day and am so glad I was able to share such an experience with my mama! Were always gonna remember today!

Thanks for reading!
Jamie