First Christmas Together

Travis and I are thrilled to be spending our first Christmas together. I'm thrilled to be spending my first Christmas in Arizona! Warm weather here we come! It's been so much fun for Travis and I to blend our traditions together over Thanksgiving and now into the Christmas season. We have such great families and are grateful we can spend time with everyone.

On the wedding front, not much is new. We sort of feel like we just "hurry up and wait". We decided on a location so quickly, now things seem to be slower. I keep getting asked about the dress...no luck there yet...I am hoping once the holidays are over my mom and I can spend a weekend shopping for dresses. That will be a nice item to get checked off the "to do" list.

I've heard the nicest compliments about our save-the-dates. Travis designed them! Isn't he a creative and talented guy?!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Save-The-Dates and Our First Holiday

Hello Faithful Readers :)

Sarah and I are headed into a nice break from school. It will be nice to be able to relax and hang out with family. We have been very busy with school and wedding plans. The Save-the-Dates have been ordered and now we just have to wait until they get here so we can send them out pronto as our Christmas card.

Sarah and I are heading up to Alberta, MN for her family Thanksgiving. This will be our first major holiday as a "serious" couple! We are going to get some good quality time in with George and Becky (Sarah's Parents) before heading up to my Grandparent's house near Brainerd. On friday, we will hang out in Nisswa for the Tree Lighting festivities and watch the fireworks. 

As we approach our first major holiday - Thanksgiving - I wanted everyone to know how thankful we are for your love and support! We have an awesome group of friends and family! 

Wedding Gown Shopping

My mom and I had a BLAST today looking at wedding dresses! It meant so much to me that my mom could be there. We met in St Cloud and started with some light shopping at target, fashion bug, and a dollar store. Then it was on to the heavy duty stuff at Mestads. I have a very clear picture in my mind of what I am looking for.

Don't worry...it looks nothing like this! I am picturing casual, elegant, soft, and flowy. Mom and I found two beautiful dresses. One of them is really a stand out to us. I am going to look at some other shops and see what I find. But like mom said, our first instinct is usually right. So, I bet I will be going back to Mestads to order a dress!

Our Animoto Video Story

New Pictures

We got some new pictures!! We love them! It has been pretty fun to get them a few at a time! If you like the way they are taken, our friend Stacy Cordes took them and she would LOVE to take some for you too. She takes great pictures of children too!

BIG Surprise!

During my 3rd hour class today, the phone rang and when one of my students answered they were told to "forget it. never mind". Kinda strange, but not unheard of. So, I thought nothing of it.

Shortly following the call, I heard someone outside my classroom. "Take it quick since she is going to be surprised right away." When I looked over to the doorway, I was STUNNED to see my brother Adam carrying a gorgeous bouquet. His friend, Jack, was with him to take a picture of my reaction. I started to get tears in my eyes because I was so shocked and touched by the gesture. I have a pretty awesome family.

Of course, Adam had to be silly to balance out being sweet (that IS the Burnett way). So the card on the flowers was for a 25th Anniversary and it read "good job. we love you. the four horsemen".

What a fun surprise! I was so excited to tell Travis what happened. He really gets a kick out of my brothers and thought it was very cool! I think he is excited to have 4 more brothers! And I know my four brothers are VERY excited to add brother #5!

Save the date!

Travis and I went to the Arboretum today to meet with their event coordinator. She was pleasantly surprised at how agreeable we were! We settled on our date and location immediately. She offered to put a hold on everything for a week so that we could think things over. Travis and I loved it all so much that we decided to bypass the hold and go right to putting down a deposit. SO....July 31st, 2009 at 6:00! Mark your calendars!





We will be married on the "trex deck".

Immediately following the 6:00 ceremony, we will head inside to the MacMillan Auditorium for hors d'oeuvres and dancing!

We are both VERY excited about this location! It is very "us".

Hazah!!

Sarah and I are off to meet with the Arboretum wedding coordinator today to get the official tour and to talk details and dates. We are very excited about it!

But we are more excited that we won't have to move to Canada!!!! YAY! We are not overly political people (probably slightly more with this election than most) but we are super stoked with the election results!

Potential Date

Well, for those following the wedding planning saga...I think we have a preliminary date. We will know more on Wednesday but for now we are saying Friday, July 31st. If anyone has major issues with this date or can think of a reason why it might not work...speak now or forever hold your peace (just kidding...just sounds like something you say in regards to a wedding.) But seriously...if you can think of something we might have not thought about...let us know. 

Busy Engagement Weekend

Hello everyone! 

This is my first post on the engagement/wedding blog, so I figured I would take a moment to thank everyone for all of the loving messages and support! It has been super fun so far!

We started this weekend with a nice engagement bonfire at our good friend Shawn's house! Jared and Betty brought champagne and we had a nice autumn toast. Sarah and I are very blessed to have such wonderful people around us! 

Saturday morning brought our engagement pictures. Sarah's friend Stacey Cordes asked us

 to pose for some pictures up by the Guthrie. We love her pictures (you can see more of her work at her photography blog.) We had a great time taking pictures and she has already sent us a few to give us a taste of how they turned out. We LOVE them so far!!

On Sunday, after spending some time moving, Sarah and I visited the Arboretum in Chaska as a potential wedding site. We absolutely fell in love with the whole feeling at the Arboretum! We are going to do our best to just make it work - whatever we have to do we want our wedding and reception to be there. We really liked this one area call the Trex Deck that isn't actually one of the prescribed wedding sites, but we are hoping they will let us use it. It has a nice hill/bowl shape and it is nicely shaded! The backdrop would be a great wetland area. 

We loved the indoor reception area too and hope that we can find an available date for us in Late July or Early/Mid August. It was a little crazy to be walking around the Arboretum looking for a WEDDING site! Very cool! 

So that is it for now. We will keep you posted when we choose a date!!

 

The Ring

Many people have been asking to see the ring. So, I decided to post a picture on the blog. I had the ring designed by my step-uncle Darrell in Indianapolis. I knew Sarah wanted a diamond but also wanted a splash of color. So, we opted for green garnets. The ring turned out exactly like I wanted it. I think she loves it. She might even love the ring more than she loves me! Heck, I might love it more than me!

The Proposal

Travis and I got dressed up Friday afternoon to head out to what I assumed was a typical outing for us at the Guthrie.  We got downtown and parked in our favorite ramp.  Arriving earlier than we expected, we spent some time looking at the beautiful views of Minneapolis and the Mississippi River.  When we saw other people heading to the restaurant, we decided it was safe to enter. We certainly didn't want to be the first ones there!  Dinner was fantastic! We have always enjoyed our meals at the Level 5 Cafe of the Guthrie.  

After dinner Travis suggested that we go out onto the 'endless bridge' to enjoy the view.  I thought it might be too cold at 6:30, but I was willing to humor him.  Once we were outside, Travis said that he had a question for me.  I slapped his shoulder playfully and told him to "shut up".  We are always kidding around about stuff and I thought this would be a typical Travis joke.  Then he went down on one knee and I am pretty sure that his exact words were 'Sarah, will you marry me?'  I can't be 100% sure about this because the moment he wen

t down on his knee and pulled the ring from his coat pocket, I was a

 puddle. The tears were flowing!  But of course I happily accepted and since that moment have been on cloud 9.

Once I had pulled myself together, Travis said there was something else that went into this already perfect evening.  He directed my attention to the stone arch bridge where four of our friends were holding up signs that said "Will you marry me?" Unfortunately it was too dark and I couldn't see the signs until Travis pointed them out to me and handed me some binoculars.  It was incredible romantic and thoughtful. I couldn't have asked for more.  

We immediately started calling our parents to share the good news.  It was such a thrill to be able to share our wonderful news. Then, it was time to watch the play "A view from the bridge".  I don't know about Travis but it was SO difficult for me to concentrate  on the play.  the parts that I remember were excellent but I am pretty sure I spent 99% of the time thinking about how completely lucky I am to be loved by a guy like Travis. 

All in all, the evening was PERFECT.  Travis even called my dad on Wednesday night to ask for his blessing. This meant so much to me.  It further confirmed for me how lucky I am!

Reactions

Travis and I have had so much fun sharing our news with our friends and family.  We have been texting, emailing, calling, and even communicating through facebook! It is amazing how fast news travels! 

We are blessed with wonderful people in our lives. Everyone's support and excitement means so much to us. My parents (George and Becky) sent a lovely e-card.  Travis's dad and stepmom (Don and Joy) had a beautiful flower arrangement delivered.  

Surprised at school

My mom and dad surprised me by having this nice fern delivered to my school today. What a treat!

And then Travis decided to play "jungle safari"!