A wintery visit

This blog entry is a little delayed, but I have had a pretty busy week (and I appologize now for its length)! We had the end of the quarter sneak up on us and I had my first speech meet of the year today (Sarah came with too...oh what one does for love!!)

Becky, Sarah's mom, spent a few days with us last weekend! Sarah and her mom spent a ton of time doing wedding stuff: looking for a dress and visiting the wedding fair in Minneapolis. Needless to say, I had some nice down time to catch up on my tivo watching. It was great to have Becky (my future Mother-in-Law) hang out with us all weekend...even if she slept a lot :) Just kidding! Poor Becky was sick as all get out, but we tried to let her relax as much as possible!

This time, well Becky was snoozing during a movie, Sarah and I took some time to try out new hairstyles for our wedding day... 

Can't you tell Sarah loves this game!!

On Monday, Sarah and I had the day off, so we took Becky out to the Arboretum to see the wedding and reception site. We love the Arboretum! It is amazing how different it is during the winter, but we still had a nice time there! 

We started out with a walk to the Trex Deck, where the wedding ceremony will take place! Let's just say, it look very different right now than it does in the summer!! Just be thankful we are not getting married outside in the winter!

After braving the elements, we headed inside to eat in the restaurant. It was a nummy lunch and then we showed Becky the Macmillan Auditorium where our reception will be!

Sarah and I are coming up on the 6th months until the wedding mark...which is very exciting. Our parents are going to meet each other tomorrow morning and we are plugging away at the wedding plans! This has been an exciting ride and we are very thankful for all of the friends and family who have joined us along the way!!

Mission Accomplished!

I found a dress! Yippee! Yahoo! I found a dress!

My mom, Becky, is in town for a three day weekend to do some fun wedding stuff. Yesterday we had a 1:00 appointment at David's Bridal. There's some crazy road construction in the area, so we were running behind and I was feeling stressed out. Not a great way to start a dress appointment. Then there were SO many people in the store. Again, not a great way to start a dress appointment.

However, I was lucky enough to have a wonderful consultant. She really helped to turn the mood around quickly. Welela was a complete sweetheart and she put me right at ease.

I'd already been on their website, so I had some dresses in mind. However, I noticed a great dress on a mannequin almost immediately. I tried on the dresses from my list and then Welela brought me the one from the mannequin. Is it "cheesy" to admit that as soon as I saw her unzip the bag, I knew it was 'the one'? When I put it on and came out to look in the mirrors, I actually got tears in my eyes. As someone who isn't overly emotional, this was a pretty good indication that this was the dress. It's the only one that got such a strong reaction from me.

Travis was right. When I found the right dress, I just knew it was the right dress. That's exactly what he told me would happen.

I would certainly hate to give too much away on the blog, but I would say that dress is perfect. It's elegant, simple, and kinda vintage looking.

Here are some dresses that I didn't get!

Wedding Officiant

Travis and I are striving to make our wedding as unique and personal as possible. So, we asked my youngest brother, Matthew, to officiate our ceremony. After some initial shock, he agreed! In November we went through the process of getting him ordained on the internet. After jumping through a few small hoops, he is now a licensed minister with the state of Minnesota.

We are so thrilled for Matthew to marry us! This will ensure that we'll have the ceremony of our dreams. Travis and I will be surrounded by all of our brothers and that's all we could ask for!