Getting closer...

I cannot believe we are getting married in just 24 days! Life has been crazy and I know it's only going to get even more crazy as we get closer and closer to the wedding.



On Memorial Day, we went shopping with Jason's family and Shaun to buy suits. Luckily we found what we were looking for, and for a good price. We also went out to lunch with Shaun, Lance and Karissa, which was fun except I'm pretty sure our server hated me :) She brought me the wrong kind of soda, the bacon on my hamburger was barely cooked, and she charged me for ranch but did not bring me any...luckily my food was good to make up for it.

So glad I'm marrying such a stud ;)

Last Friday we went and got our marriage license, woohoo! In the evening we went over to his parents house for dinner, and to shoot things with his brothers. I shot a gun for my first time EVER! I actually enjoyed it more than I thought I would...and I must say, Jason looks pretty dang sexy with a gun ;)

Mmmmhmmmm...

Nervous

I hit it on my first try! (Pardon my weird face, I was making it at Jason)

Saturday we went to a birthday party up in Seattle for his great uncle (I think?) and I got to meet some of his relatives. We took his brother Brandon and left the party early so we could pick up our friend Cherry and go eat at the Cheesecake Factory! It was delicious of course. After we came back into town, we met up with Brad and Emily and went to ride Jason's dirt bike. I didn't think I'd actually ride it, because I didn't think Jason would let me haha and I also was a little scared. Jason, being the good teacher that he is, sat on the bike with me and taught me how to ride. After going around a few times, he decided I was ready to ride by myself (I disagreed). I fell and had the bike land on top of me twice, and had a really terrifying moment where we all thought I was going to crash, but luckily I mananged to regain control and not die haha.

Using him as a chair while we watch Brad ride.

That's hot...

Last night I had my bridal shower! I will wait until I have some pictures from that to actually blog about it. That's pretty much what we've been up to. Stay tuned for more craziness this month!

Surprise

This last week I suddenly realized that all Jason and I do together is plan our wedding and/or our move, and run errands. Boooooring. The most fun we have is when we are with groups of people. There's nothing wrong with hanging out and having fun with our friends, but it all the sudden started bugging me that we didn't have fun anymore with just the two of us. I told him my concerns and we set aside Saturday for just us.

I told him I wanted to go hiking if the weather cooperated. He let me think that's what we were going to do, but little did I know he had plans of his own. On Saturday he went to work in the morning while I did stuff around the house, and when he came back I thought we'd go hike. Instead he suggested we go up to BJ's in Tacoma for lunch. He said my face lit up (I LOVE that restaurant, and very few things make me as happy as food. Sad but true).

We enjoyed a nice (and very filling) lunch at BJ's, and while we were there he kept looking at his phone. When I asked what he was doing, all he said was "Looking something up. Don't worry about it." I don't like surprises or being kept in the dark, but I played along because I knew he wouldn't tell me.

(By the way, blogging keeps making me realize that I never take any pictures anymore. I need to work on that!)

I started trying to guess where we might go, and my hunch was right. He took me go-kart racing! He had gone for Grant's bachelor party, and I was jealous. He had also mentioned potentially doing that for his own bachelor party, and I was jealous again. Why does he keep getting to do these fun things without me? Luckily I'm engaged to such a wonderful man, and even when I said I wanted to go hiking, he knew I'd enjoy go-kart racing even more! Despite a small fire (someone's go-kart caught on fire right before we began racing--it was put out quickly and thankfully no one was hurt), and Jason ignoring the fact that "these are not bumper cars" we had a blast! I was proud of myself for not being the last one of our group, and also for not crashing or getting stuck.

Our day was exactly what I needed and more than I could have hoped for. Sunday we went to church and fast break, and then enjoyed spending some quality time with our friends. Shaun did a gallon challenge, and Eliza did a cinnamon challenge. Both very entertaining...and gross. Then we got to wax Shaun's body. This was all part of a "game" that we play, and it was so much fun! :)

A Few Updates

I haven't been blogging because I felt like I had nothing to write about...but I always think that, and then end up writing a novel.


First of all, our wedding plans are finally coming together thanks to Eliza Fowler! She moved back from Utah for awhile and took over planning my wedding (in addition to the several other weddings she is planning) and it has taken away so much stress! I can't even express how grateful I am for her! She introduced me to a lady (Katie) from her home ward who helps out with weddings, and we spent a few hours with her a couple weeks ago. Between Katie, Eliza, and my friend Jasmine, my wedding plans are almost 100% complete and I am so relieved! They all have had great ideas and I'm so glad I finally have some help.

Our friends Grant and Stephanie got married on Saturday, and we were able to attend their reception. Their wedding is the first of about 10 from the single's branch that will be happening over the next few months...it is definitely wedding season! Being at Grant and Stephanie's reception made me realize that in just 2 short months I am going to be at MY OWN reception...crazy!! After their reception we went out to Red Robin with a bunch of friends. Here are some pictures from that, and from car decorating at the reception.

Thanks to my mom, our announcements are made and will be sent out soon. We have chosen (for several reasons) to send them out through e-mail. It is just a lot easier that way, and if anyone wants to actually have a copy of it they can simply print it off.

My mom is also making my wedding dress. I was having a hard time finding one that I wanted, and also having trouble finding the time to go out shopping for them. My mom had offered to make my dress from the beginning and I said no, but I gave in :) She is using material from Michelle's wedding dress, and going off of pictures of dresses that I like. Hopefully it turns out how I want it! So far, so good.

Jason and I are still planning on moving to Las Vegas, but we may end up moving in July instead of September. We're working on figuring that out. We also have to figure out school, financial aid, and jobs. In addition to our wedding and the move itself. Fun!


A few weeks ago Jason bought a dirt bike for cheap from a man on Craigslist. He's fixing it up, we'll get to enjoy it all summer and then we will sell it before we move. We are also in the process of trying to sell my Hyundai. If anyone wants it, let me know! :)


Hopefully by this weekend I will have my engagement ring!! :) The one I've been wearing we borrowed from Lance and Karissa (Jason's brother and sister-in-law), and although it is pretty and I'm glad they let us borrow it, I can't wait to have my own ring! It is one of the first rings we looked at when we first went ring shopping, and every ring we looked at after that just didn't compare. Luckily I happened to find out that that ring was going to be on sale for one day only, last Saturday, and we were able to get it! This is a picture of it (sorry it's small and kind of blurry), mine will be a little different though. There will be two rubies (my birthstone) on each side, replacing the diamonds. Jason's idea! I'm so glad he thought of it.

I'm getting really excited for all my friends and family who are coming from out of town or out of state for the wedding. I'm also really looking forward to Jason's family reunion in Idaho that will be shortly after the wedding. Mostly, I'm just excited to be married to the most wonderful man I know!

Worth The Wait

So I know I'm not "old," but I grew up thinking that I would probably get married around age 20. People in my church just tend to get married at a younger age, so that is what I thought was normal, and what would happen to me. At age 20, I was living in California, having way too much fun, and was nowhere near ready to get married.

Once I turned 22, I started wondering if I should start looking for a husband. I still didn't feel ready, but some people (*cough* MY MOM *cough*) made me feel like an "old maid" because I wasn't married, or even close. A little while later, I started realizing that most of my friends were in serious relationships, and it made me want that. I still didn't feel ready for marriage though.

In November 2010, my younger sister Michelle got married. I can't count how many times I was asked "Shouldn't you be first to get married?" or "Are you jealous your little sister is getting married before you?" My honest answer to both: "No." I knew I wasn't ready. I knew she was. Age doesn't necessarily determine one's readiness for this kind of commitment. I knew that Michelle had found the man of her dreams, and they were ready to take that next step. I did have a boyfriend at the time of her wedding, but it was someone I knew I wasn't going to marry. Her wedding made me think a lot, and it contributed to me breaking up with my boyfriend. I knew that if there was no marriage potential for me, I was just wasting our time.

Last year, I started feeling like marriage was finally something I was almost ready for. I didn't have anyone to marry at the time, but I felt like I should prepare myself just in case I met the right guy. So I started doing a lot of "me" work. Last year was a little rough because I went the longest I had ever gone without dating someone. That was slightly frustrating because I felt like I was more ready than ever to be with someone...so where was he?

I've always been content being single, and am proud to say that I have never been one of those girls that has needed a boyfriend to feel complete or to feel good about herself. I honestly feel sorry for those girls. I am very independent and confident, but it was still tough not having anyone special in my life for so long. I took comfort in knowing that I could be dating, but I had high standards and also knew that I wouldn't even bother dating someone unless there was potential for marriage. At this point in my life, I was tired of just having fun, and was finally looking for something more serious.

What some of you don't know is that I did like Jason last spring/summer. I actually told him how I felt (which is extremely unlike me), but he wasn't ready or looking for any kind of relationship. So we continued being friends...who hung out all the time, would cuddle occasionally and yes, we did kiss a few times. Eventually we dated other people and just remained friends.

I'm actually really grateful that things never progressed between us last year. Neither of us were ready for anything. I thought at the time that I was, but looking back I can see that I definitely was not, and I know he wasn't either. If we would have dated last summer, it would not have been very meaningful and it probably honestly would not have lasted. I know now that we both needed some time to ourselves and with other people to learn and to grow and to make ourselves ready for a serious relationship.

I could not be happier with how everything has turned out. I am so glad I didn't just "settle" for whoever I was dating before, or that I didn't rush into anything with just any random guy because I wanted to get married. I am so glad I waited until I found the perfect man for me. I honestly never expected this to happen, but I am ecstatic to be marrying this wonderful person! I love everything about him, I could not ask for a better person to spend forever with, and I cannot wait to become Mrs. Katwijk :)

The Story of Us

This is the story of Elise and Jason.

Everyone's favorite question to ask: How did you two meet?

The short answer is that we met in the single's branch. However, that answer won't fly with most people. If you want more details than that, here you go...

I really have no clue what month we met, but it was some time early last year. We met at church or an activity (don't even remember), and got to know each other through playing volleyball. It didn't take long to realize that we got along really well, so we started hanging out a lot (just as friends).

Celebrating Maddy's birthday at Old School Pizza

with our good friend David.

Through the last year we did lots of things together and hung out all the time. He became my best friend, someone I could tell anything to and someone that I genuinely loved being around. We never got sick of each other, and wanted to hang out every day.

Hiking around at Lake Cushman area

Our mutual friends started questioning our relationship. To everyone else, we weren't "just friends." Even when he and I were both dating other people, our friends were unconvinced that there was nothing going on between us. Once I started to realize I might have feelings for him, I quickly pushed them aside and convinced myself that it was just because we were spending so much time together, but there's no way that I really had feelings for him. After all, I liked someone else and didn't think it was possible to like two people at once.

Night hike at Mt. Elinor with Adam

The more our friends talked to me about it, the more I couldn't get him out of my head. Was there really a possibility for us to be more than friends? I felt guilty for even considering it, knowing we were both involved with other people.

More time went by, Jason and I got even closer, and I couldn't deny it anymore. I had been lying to my friends and lying to myself about how I felt about him. But (the million dollar question!) did he feel the same?

At the zoo with Eliza...still just friends, I promise! ;)

In the beginning of February I was planning a trip to Utah to visit family, and see the guy I was kind of dating. A few days before I left, Jason and I had a talk. I hadn't wanted to say anything to him until I came back from Utah and knew where I stood with everything. Apparently, he wanted to wait until I came back to talk to me as well, but things just have a way of coming up. We ended up admitting to each other how we felt, and luckily we felt the same way! He immediately ended his relationship, and I went to Utah to get some closure with the guy I had been seeing.

We started dating, and it didn't take long for things to fall into place. We realized that everyone had been right all along about us. The thing is, we honestly didn't even know that we felt that way about each other until a little bit before we talked. We had been falling in love with each other without even realizing it.

He liked it so he put a ring on it!

Now we are getting married on June 30th of this year, and we absolutely couldn't be any happier!! :) I'm so excited to marry my best friend. He is the most amazing guy I know, and makes me feel like the most special girl in the world. I love every single second we spend together, and look forward to spending eternity with the "boy" (inside joke) of my dreams!

Some of my favorite engagement pictures.