Presents Presents!

When you get married its like Christmas early!

Ben and I received our first engagement present from my moms dear friends and my cousins Aunt and Uncle. I call them Uncle Clive and Aunty Maschelle! They live in New Zealand so the present they sent was coasters made out of New Zealand materials. I truly enjoyed them! Not only were they our first engagement present with a card that had both of our names on it, but it was from Uncle Clive and Aunty Maschelle and from New Zealand (the land I spent 5 years of my life living on). The coasters are now displayed with my African inheritance from my mom (I was born in Africa and I longed for my moms African stuff that was always displayed while I was growing up, so when I moved into my own place mom gave them to me to display)

The second engagement gift we received came from Ben's Grandma. She sent me beautiful pearl bracelets that I am going to try to wear with my wedding dress if I can (they are fresh water pearls). Ben received a nice solid stamp holder with a whole roll of stamps. The holder is nice and neat for his desk. It was fun opening this package(our second engagement present)

Today I got a call from Ben that our first Wedding present had actually arrived! Chelsea and Mike, Ben's sister and brother-in-law were the first to purchase gifts from our honeyfund account. Ben had heard that you can go to this website http://www.honeyfund.com/ and set up an account where people can go and purchase a day at the beach or multiple people can purchase your airfare for your honeymoon. So he checked it out and created us an account! Through it you can also link your registries so that everything can be accessed from one location or in this case one website. We had fun setting it up and I had fun registering through other stores online while Ben watched a movie and later he linked it all together though honeyfund. So as I was saying we told Chelsea about the fund online even before we sent her the invitation with the information included (which actually we still haven't sent her the invite yet although it is coming soon) and she already purchased items from our Pampered Chef registry and I received them today! Yeah! I had been praying for the packages to arrive while Ben was sick and staying at my apartment on the couch while I was at work ,because I knew for sure we would get them and well we did! The picture on the right is the exciting items I get to play with now! The following pictures are of my two helpers! Moses and Baby.(after looking at these pictures scroll down. I blogged about our engagement pictures)

Engagement Pictures

Why is it that when you are anticipating something it seems like time stands still? This is how I felt waiting to see our engagement pictures. I couldn't wait, so I checked my mail box every day until they came and once they did Ben sat down with me in his kitchen and we watched a slide show of them. He even helped me pick out the ones we liked the most and put them in a file.

Abi our Wedding photographer and our pastors daughter came to Durango to see her parents but while she was here in Durango she took our engagement pictures! I chose 3 outfits for me and then went to Ben's house with my clothes and chose 3 outfits for him that would coordinate with mine.

Ben and I had picked out the first location for the first bunch of pictures. We wanted to take pictures on one of the trail bridges that crosses the river. For one we liked the bridge and second we had our first official date at midnight rafting down the Animas River with a full moon out.

The second location we took pictures was in the bushes by the river (The first above picture was one of these). I wasn't so sure about this location but I have to confess that these pictures are among my favorites. And so the journey of pictures continued as we went down town Durango and took pictures in the places Ben and I like to go like The Rockey Mountain Chocolate Factory (ok so I really like this spot-Chocolate! who can resist I tell you! My Nan said at her Birthday lunch a few weeks ago while we were on the topic of Chocolate and such, "well at least when we get to heaven we will be sweet!"I totally agree Nan!!). Then we went and took some pictures walking down main street and into one of our favorite store's which we call the magnet store(It has a real name but this works for us)we like it because we enjoy going in there and reading the magnets and occasionally bring one home. We also went to a Fuzzywigs the candy store that looks so good but we always just walk in, look around and leave or we just walk by on the outside. The last place we took pictures was the Lions Den over looking Durango! What an adventure we had taking pictures!

Oh one more thing I love this picture (one of the bushes pictures) but I have to tell how funny it is to be in the middle of a photo shoot when the whole Durango track team comes running by and you are suppose to act natural. Its not that easy! Just thought I would relive the moment again by giving you a picture that the camera did not capture at that moment.

Here's to a better day.

Sitting atop of Durango at the lions den with Kelly in my arms I was overwhelmed with gratitude. God is faithful though we are challenged he never leaves us. Today was a day of refreshing from a long cold winter and a day of hope for a spring of new begginings. In just this last week Kelly and I have come through a valley of emotional lows to this mountain of comfort and beauty.
This picture is of us on Sunday out at Ryan's property. Sunday was actually a very emotionaly draining day. Kelly was not feeling her usual chipper self. To spend time with church family that evening was very encouraging. The enemy came against us this last week. We encountered the fiery arrow of doubt and felt the shadow of fear surround us, but as our father has told us joy will come in the morning. Holding fast and just standing strong is sometimes all we can do. So today I was given a word from Isaiah and it brought us much new joy.

You hold your hand up high, God, But they don't see it.

Open their eyes to what you do, to see your zealous love for your people.

Shame them. Light a fire under them.

Get the attention of these enemies of yours.

God, Order a peaceful and whole life for us because everything we've done, you've done for us

O God, our God, We've had other masters rule us, but your the only Master we've ever known.

The dead don't talk.

ghosts don't walk,

Because you've said' "enough-that's all for you," and wiped them off the books.

But the living you make larger then life.

The more life you give, the more glory you display, and stretch the borders to accommodate more living.

Kelly and I read this together in the car today at lunch. God has a zealous love for us. God will order a peaceful life for us. The same voice that calmed a ragging sea, the voice that spoke life into our being that calls the sun up every day has ordered a peaceful and full life for us. God we have had other masters rule us drugs, alcohol others it may be finances or feelings. The actions of my past those dead days and thoughts they don't talk. The ghosts that seek to haunt my dreams or my waking moments they no longer walk with me. Lord you said "ENOUGH!" and that old self is dead. We have been raised and so shall we hold our head as we walk on. we walk on into a life larger then life its self, God will increase even the borders that we think are large and bless us beyond them. So I take that next step for one more day I will live in the direction of that blessing. For one more day I will belive what I know is true. For one more day.....

Last night Kelly and I went out to the hill that over looks Durango and we took pictures. I guess when you get engaged this is just something you are supposed to do. There is allot of somethings that "you just have to......" I'm still learning so much and trying my best to be patient with it all. Its been great so many people are so happy for us. Just yesterday we had lunch in the park because it has been unseasonably warm. We were enjoying our soup and rotisserie chicken when a lady walking her dog went past and I guess couldn't help but comment that she thought we were "so cute". Then last night after taking the pictures we decided to make sushi (which we are getting better at) and we went into Albertsons all dressed up we certainly got some looks but again it was fun. We are making progress steadily on the wedding plans. Kelly finalized her brides maid dresses it was a very hard process for her but she found what she wanted and now it is in the works. We have decided that we are going to have Abby Dwight and Lynn's eldest daughter to come in to photograph our wedding. Finally we should have invitations coming out soon. With all the wedding plans and stuff it has been difficult to think of anything else. I am sure there is more to come and Kelly will be twisting my arm to tell you more on my side of things. I am going to get better at this blogging thing.

Bridesmaids Dresses

There are so many styles, colors, shapes, prices, shipping dates etc..
Bridesmaids dresses, Bridesmaids dresses, Bridesmaids dresses; this is all my Mom and I have been thinking about for days and days. She has been glued to her computer and I have been glued to mine. So today I printed 10 different dresses that I like and have each picture lying on the floor waiting for me to decide which one I want. I have the general idea of what I want and actually I chose the one I really wanted but it takes to long to have it shipped, unless I pay more or go through a store in Grand Junction. Although to go through the store it will cost more to have them mailed to me or I have to go pick them up in Grand Junction. So back to the drawing board as they say!
Yesterday I called all my bridesmaids to have them measure themselves so that I could place an order ASAP. They are so good because even the busy ones did what they could to get the measurements on such short notice. Thank You Ladies your wonderful!!! I had sent a link to certain ones that asked to see the dress I was choosing, but now I might have to go with another dress just to get a better price and shipping date. We will see until then the search continues! Oh did I mention how wonderful my Mother has been? Well if I did I just wanted to mention it again, because she has been a rockstar searching for me on her slow Internet computer and calling to update me on the search. Today she told me that we were going to choose this dress so that my head could rest and move on to other plans for the wedding. I Love you Mom thanks for being who you are with all your love and support!!

Wedding Dress and such

So I chose and bought my dress ALREADY! My Mom and I decided to go down to Farmington the Friday after Ben proposed. Kim gave me the idea and I thought it was a great idea--So thank you Kim!! My Mom and I had talked about just going down there for the day and trying on a few dresses, just to get a feel of wedding dresses and maybe direction as to what I was looking for. When we began this day I didn't even know what colors I wanted. I had thought about possibly doing black and pink (which I would have had to ask my cousin to borrow those colors, since those were her Wedding colors not to long ago) but then Ben suggested that I consider brown and pink. He now wishes he could have put more thought into that suggestion, especially since I decided those where going to be my colors and that he and his groomsmen would participate in the color pink! Trying on the dresses was like a dream-It felt so good to actually be the one standing in front of the mirror with a wedding dress on and to be the center of attention, as the lady who was attending us took such good care showing us how the dresses would lay, flow and bustle. When Mom and I first arrived at the bridal store the Lady showed us a small selection of dresses. The first one on the rack caught my eye and it was the first one I tried on, the one I stood in front of the mirror the longest and the one I purchased. It is an Ivory color (in between white and ivory really) with brown accents--that's all I can share at this time since Ben and I share this blog and he has yet to see it or know much about it (he has decided to wait and see it on the Wedding day, he is much better at that than I would be). As I stood in the mirror in this dress and looked and dreamed, the longer I stood the more I could see our Wedding coming together. It was at this point that I chose Chocolate Brown, Baby Pink and Ivory to be our Wedding colors. My plan so far is to have my bridesmaids, which there are seven, (my Mom as my Matron of Honor, Amanda (my step-sister), Michele (my youngest step-sister), Rachel (my wedding planner and good friend from grade school), Min (who just got married last August, having a baby any day now and another good friend from grade school who is also only a day older than me), Chelsea (Ben's youngest sister who I got to meet this last Christmas and who is a great hostess) and Gwen (my cousin, the one who had black and pink for Wedding colors, who has a beautiful baby girl who is about one and a half, I love to brag about and who also will be a little bridesmaid) they will be in baby pink with brown accents (shoes, ribbon and gloves) I have also challenged them to search for dresses they like and email me what they have found. I will then sort through and choose the dress I like the best. I decided to do this because it is fun for them and they might be able to find something I have yet to find or may never find. The groomsmen will wear chocolate brown tuxes with some pink either in the flowers they will wear or tie or vest--I have yet to decide. Ben is planning a day trip with some of his groomsmen to go and get measurements for their tuxes, which will be an adventure for them I'm sure. We have talked about having seven little bridesmaids and seven little groomsmen because we have several little people we would like to include. The idea will then be to have the groomsmen walk down the little bridesmaids and the bridesmaids walk down the little groomsmen. It makes it fun that way and the bridesmaids and groomsmen don't have to walk down with someone they have never met. Which always seems awkward to me when I have been in weddings. So this is an update on the Wedding plans so far. Although Ben and I have finally compiled a budget, which let me tell you, is a learning experience! We learned much about ourselves, Gods provision, and how to handle the whole thing one-step-at-a-time. Ben hopefully will be blogging soon to share his perspective on our one day at a time Wedding planning! So stay tuned for further updates

Engagement

Monday night, January 26th, 2009, Ben proposed to me; he asked me if I will spend Forever with him One Day At A Time, and of course I said yes!

You can't see the ring real good from this picture but it is beautiful: very Victorian with all the intricate details engraved on the side and band of the ring. It has a diamond enclosed in a circle on top with three diamonds on each side before moving into engraved leaves on the band. From the side it has engraved swirles and a flower.

So how did the proposal go you are probably wondering?

Well, Monday I had to work and so did Ben, although Monday's we usually have lunch together, so I waited for him to call. When he finally did he sounded frustrated and kind of irritated because he was working on hanging some drapes at work and he said that he would stop in an hour or so and go get lunch at Serious Texas. So I got off the phone with him and thought well I have to have lunch so I will just go to the Serious Texas by my work and pick up two tacos and surprise Ben with them, so I even prayed for a parking spot in the little cramped parking lot and I got one and there was no line at all to order so I got out of there really fast and on my way to surprise Ben. Well on my way my Mom (who was in on the whole proposal as well as Dale) called and was just wondering what I was up to; I didn't think anything of the call because she usually calls just random to say hi and find out what I am up to. Well I tell her my plan to surprise Ben as I'm driving to go see him. Little did I know that Ben and his whole office were trying to get him out of the office by 12:00 so he could go shopping with my mom for the stuff to decorate my apartment. So as soon as my Mom gets off the phone with me she calls Ben to let him know I am coming to surprise him with tacos and to act surprised, now that he knew. I also called him and tried to see if he had left for lunch so I could still catch him. Once I arrived I took my time because I had an hour so I was like, I'm good I have a hour, while everyone was trying to get me to leave so Ben could leave. Cathy the office Secretary at Ben's work, had said while I was there that she saw my mom at Wal-Mart. She had made it sound like she saw her that morning and when I had talked to my Mom not to long before that, she made it sound like she was at home in her PJ's with wet hair, you know that kind of thing. So I said to Cathy, " This morning you saw her?" that's when Cathy said no a couple of weeks ago with Debbie, who also works in the office,(Debbie's daughter dated my brother at one point so she would know my Mom). Ben told me later that Cathy almost slipped, she had actually seen my mom on Saturday when Mom and Dale went to the office to help Ben paint the treasure chest he had built(you will find out about this later in the proposal). So when Ben told me this I was like Cathy lied to me! But Cathy felt bad and she called the next day to tell me she had lied and apologized.

Finally I left the office only to find out that I lost my keys and it wouldn't have been so bad but a freak snow storm had broke out and I parked on the other end of the parking lot as well as the entire office couldn't wait for me to leave so Ben could leave. I found my keys and left and I guess when I finally did they were like she's gone its clear Ben you can now leave. So I was completely oblivious to all that was behind the scenes, my Mom, Dale, Ben and his office plotting a proposal.

About 4:45pm, just 15 minutes before I was suppose to get off work (which rarely happens on time), Ben calls to see when I will be done, I told him I was planning 5:00pm and that he could start dinner. Ben and I don't live together, because we believe that is what God intended, you come together both in housing and body once you say "I do, kiss the Bride, announced as One" on your Wedding day, but we eat dinner together every night if we can and I have been experimenting with my crock pot and grill ( I have had so much fun cooking with it) he answered me by saying I've got somthing in mind. At that point I began to think he has something in mind! Up until that point I had no idea that he was going to propose! I started to get nervous thinking about it and the worst thing was, I like to look cute everyday but this day I hadn't put much thought into my outfit, so I thought oh great the one day he chooses to propose I'm not even dressed cute! I was still a little nervous so I took my time getting my mail and walking up to the door. When I got to the front door of my apartment there was a pink card taped to the door inside it read something like follow the kisses and rose petals and that he had used my stationary and I hope that was ok. lol. I walked through the door to find that the inside had been decorated with white cheese cloth like fabric, candles, rose petals, Hersey kisses, arrows drawn on note cards to direct me on this Mini journey, and in the background the Josh Turner song Will You Go With Me (Ben and my song because its really good and at the end of it it talks about tying up the ends of a dream) was playing. It had been snowing that day so I had to take off my jacket, put down my purse, mail, bag and take off my shoes-the whole time I was wondering if he was watching and if this really was what I thought it was or another day before the actual engagement. I began to tip toe on the rose petals while reading the notes he had put on different things in my house. Each note said something he loved about me. I do have to admit I was also thinking I probably look like an idiot tip toeing on these petals walking in circles around my apartment. I had to walk around my coffee table into the dinning room and then around the dinning room table-on the table he had Cherry flavored Sparkling(non-alcoholic) drink in an ice bucket with two glasses and lit candles. the atmosphere was so romantic and special and quite besides the music playing. Then I went into the kitchen on the wall was another card that read Happy Anniversary. It then occurred to me that it was the 26th. We had started dating July 26th, 2008 and it was our sixth month anniversary! I then followed the petals down my hall way to my bedroom the note on the door said I could let the cat out first, who was in the bathroom, (Moses our adopted cat can be a little brat and he would have pulled down the decorations before I even got there) I thought he was in the bedroom so when no cat came out i proceeded in. Inside to the left of my bed was a large treasure chest that looked like it came from Pier 1 Imports- I thought to myself where did he buy that? Another note was on the chest that said to read first--I could feel myself tearing up as I read Ben's love for me in words but I held the tears back as I opened the chest to find Ben on one knee with the ring box in his hand. I was so distracted with the ring that as he asked me to Marry him I didn't even look at his face-later I asked him if we could rewind and re-do that moment so I could look at his face. I of course said yes and the story just gets better from here as we plan our Wedding and take this journey together.

After the proposal we had to call Mom and Dale and let them know how it went and that I said yes (Mom and Dale helped decorate and catch Ben's vision for the whole evening--they were in on it from the beginning!! Ben, Mom and Dale even spent the Saturday before together and I invited them over for dinner that night, not once did they give away that they had spent the day together) We called Dwight and Linn (our pastors, my boss and Ben's adopted parents) they were so excited for us that I could hear them in the other room yelling hurray!! Ben text everyone on his cell list , "She said Yes!" some were like what? Benjie our worship pastor who has known Ben for a long time was like who? What? Megan his wife had to tell him Ben just proposed to Kelly and she said yes. It was then he got super excited!! A lot of people have been so excited for us!! We made a lot of phone calls that evening to my Dad and Step Mom and of course my Wedding Planner and very good friend from grade school, Rachel. So the journey continues--Forever One Day At A Time!!

Stay Tuned...