8 Weeks... moving on flower girl/ring bearer outfits

Quick update on the wedding planning. Getting excited, but also very nervous about all that is still left to be done!!! Ahhh.

Today I booked the hotel for the night of our wedding and the following night. Excited to have that done and out of the way.

I got my hair cut yesterday and my hair stylist and I discussed possibilities for how I'll wear my hair. I scheduled a trial run with him the week before the wedding.

Our invitations have been sent out, and I've received about 50 RSVPs... although waiting for about 250 people to let me know.

I've been finalizing the order with the florist.

I applied for my passport, it should arrive any day now.

I've started working on the programs, but it's going to be a while before they're done (have to meet with our officiant to finalize ceremony order) and then it might take a while to finish them up.

We've been working on center piece ideas ...

Then our awesome neighbor offered to help with the flower girl outfit, so we went to the fabric store today and got materials to make the tutu part! I love this cute outfit (except Karley's will be ivory on top, with ivory and light gray mixed on the bottom)! I feel so blessed that our neighbor, who I just met, is so willing to help! She even went to the fabric store with me and helped me pick out the material.

And here is what we're thinking of having the ring bearer wear :)

They're such cute toddlers in anything they wear, but I'm excited to see them in their little outfits!

It's getting closer!

We're narrowing in on 10 weeks away from our big day! I'm very excited. Lately we've been looking into housing for next year, either an apartment or condo, and Corey's been applying for jobs. He graduates next month and I'm so excited and proud. Although so many details of our life together have yet to be worked out (where we'll live, where he'll work, how we'll pay for things...), I've been feeling a lot more at peace about everything lately. God will provide for us. Everything will work out. And while I really struggle to remember that sometimes, I know it's true. I have to remember that worrying won't do me any good. Remembering those things and trusting in the Lord has really enabled me to enjoy this time of our lives rather than stressing over it. For a while I was going crazy. The peace God has granted me has helped me be more patient too, which has been beneficial to my relationship with Corey. This is still an area that I struggle in, but I'm working to trust in God when things are out of my control. I'm learning to trust other people more too as I trust in Corey to be our primary provider and my number one go-to. Life is good. I love how God's always teaching us something. There's always something new to learn, always growing to be done.

I'm looking forward growing together with Corey for the rest of our lives. It's been fun going through this process with him. This last weekend we spent a few hours putting together invitations. Even after knowing each other for so many years, I still learn things about him. I love learning those little things, it keeps things exciting. Anyways, we've been working on the invitations and hopefully we'll get them out in the next week! Still working on the RSVP/directions card. :) 74 days!!!!! 

Marriage

Visited Willamette Christian Church this morning where Pastor Joel Dombrow gave a great message on marriage. As Corey and I are preparing for our own marriage, I found the message especially interesting and thought it would be appropriate to share some of it on here.

Pastor Joel started out by explaining that he knew this topic would be sensitive for some people, but that it's an issue the Church can't ignore. Marriages in the United States seem to be more fragile than ever, people are uncommitted and lack loyalty and devotion. I realize that I've never been married, and perhaps don't have a real voice to speak to this issue, but it seems obvious from the statistics that something is wrong. According to the United States Census Bureau, in 2009 there were 23,000 marriages in Oregon and 13,000 divorces. There is a trend with fewer people getting married and more people getting divorced. I believe Joel was 100% correct when he said that the world wants to rip apart your marriage, and it never stops... until you die. He pointed out that often times people have higher expectations for their spouse than for God. We believe the lie that this one person will meet all our needs and make everything better. Then we're disappointed when they don't live up to this impossible task.

During the service this morning, Pastor Joel gave 3 reasons people either wait so long to get married or don't get married:
1. People think marriage is unintelligent
2. People think marriage is unnecessary
3. People think marriage is unrealistic

Statistic: Approximately 90% of people in the United States will get married, but less than 50% of them will remain married over 15 years. Additionally, 60% of married women and 70% of married men will have an affair at some point. -- The world's way of doing relationships doesn't work. Marriage is a BIG deal to God (Matthew 19:3-10).

Here are the main 5 points about marriage that Pastor Joel spoke on:

1. Marriage is more wonderful than anyone on earth understands.
     It was created and designed by God, he saw there was no suitable helper for Adam and he created Eve.

2. Marriage is God's work!
     God brought Adam and Eve together, he gave the bride away (Genesis 2:18-25)

3. Marriage is precious!
   Don't treat it carelessly or casually. Cherish, honor, and protect your marriage. Some people put more thought into their fantasy football team than into cherishing their marriage. Or they put more work into keeping their lawn green than into protecting their marriage. Your marriage is more important than sports, keeping a nice yard, or even having a successful career. Instead of being Corey and Betsy, once we're married we're one, CoreyandBetsy. Joel pointed out that even if you aren't married, marriage is to be honored- pray for marriage, stay away from other peoples' marriages.
  
 4. Marriage is intended to last.
    The thought has to be, "Even if you hate me, I will still love you," because that's what God says to us. Even when we push him away, he loves us and longs to be close to us. God never gives up on us, he tells us "I'm always available for you." And that's what we need to be to each other in marriage. This kind of relationship and love is in many ways beyond our comprehension, it's not circumstantial love but it's covenantal love. Through marriage two are linked as one forever. Instead of 1+1=2, in marriage 1+1=1. We must be 100% devoted to each other... forever. 'Til death do us part is literal, not metaphorical. This love and devotion that God models to us, is what he intended for our marriages.

5. The purpose of marriage is for God's glory
     When we extend grace to one another, we show the world that God is gracious. Joel told everyone to be the kind of person who is worthy of being married. Remember from the first point, that marriage is more wonderful than anyone on earth understands and it's a gift designed by God. Be the kind of person who is worthy of such a wonderful gift. We aren't perfect, but we can be faithful and do our best. Fight for your marriage, fight for the reputation of your God.

Well, I left church feeling very encouraged and inspired. I'd encourage everyone to listen to the sermon online or download the podcast on itunes. Listening to Joel would convey the message a lot better than reading my notes. I'm excited and feel honored to be going into this new season of life with such a wonderful man. And I feel blessed to know we are loved by such a wonderful and loving God. I know we will have a lot of work ahead of us and it's not going to be easy at times, but I'm excited and with God's help I know it'll be amazing!

Spring Break

Spring Break!!! So our wedding is only 129 days away! Time flies, which is a good thing. School has been crazy busy but it's Spring break now, so I have a few minutes to update this.

1. We booked Famous Dave's for our catering.

2. Moving Picture Weddings out of Portland will be videotaping our wedding for us! I'm very excited to have them recording our special day! Their work is absolutely amazing. I had a really hard time deciding if I really wanted to include videography because of the cost, but we're only getting married once and I'd love to have it recorded. It's not something we could get back if we wish later we had done it, so I decided to splurge and do it.

3. Chad Dowling will be our DJ/MC. Pumped to get to meet with him later and to have him providing some entertainment and party atmosphere!

4. Corey and I decided to order our cake from Lamb's. I was going to go order it today, but we have to wait for a consultation. Unfortunately their next weekend opening isn't til April 21st... so we have to wait til then, but at least we've decided.