Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Our Week

Today was our first day of "real life". Alex and I got home from San Diego yesterday and had a great week. Paul, my youngest brother got us a couple nights at Jacob Lake in which we were able to go to the north rim of the Grand Canyon...totally awesome!

It was going to be something to the affect of an 8 hour drive from Jacob Lake to San Diego so we opted to stop in Vegas for a day. Wednesday morning we headed out to San Diego where we stayed at the Hilton San Diego Resort which was right on Mission Bay. We had such a nice time and even were able to go to Sea World.

......November 30.....

OK, so I started this sometime last week I think and never got around to finishing it. We finally had our last open house yesterday here in Vegas. Thank you SOOOOO much to Keri and her family for helping out in the kitchen, they were a total life saver. I must say I am glad that all the wedding stuff is done. Now Alex and I just need to sit down and do all of our thank you's.

MARRIED!!

After nearly a year of being engaged, Alex and I finally were married. Yesterday we kneeled across the altar and were sealed for time and all eternity in the Salt Lake Temple. It was a beautiful day, nice cool weather, the sun was out and I had the people I loved there to congratulate us.

Thanks to my lovely brother Paul, we get to spend a couple of nights at Jacob Lake which is a cute little place...I think. It was completely dark by the time we got here so not sure what the surrounding area looks like. I do however know that the stars are amazing out here and there are a TON of them. Tomorrow I believe we're going to venture to the grand canyon.

Snow

I love the snow! Alex and I went up to Utah for Roxanne's wedding and it snowed just as we were leaving. I do oh so miss the cold weather and snow. It's actually been quite cool here in Vegas. It's definitely been nice.

While we were in Utah, I stopped by the mall and had Amy do a trial on my hair do. Glad we made that appointment. The first attempt was a bit on the scary side. I don't know how she ended up with what she did from the picture I brought but the second attempt was good. We scheduled an appointment the wednesday before the wedding just to make sure everything goes smoothly.

It seems things are coming together. There are a few things that need to be finished up and some are more time consuming than others. Alex is going to Baltimore this week for training purposes and then is going to California this weekend for his brother's brithday. It looks I'll be flying solo this week.

Kinda sad...

I feel like such an idiot right now. I just found out that none of the Henry Coker clan is coming to Utah, several of people from Alex's side aren't coming up and I'm beginning to feel like having a reception in Salt Lake is stupid and pointless. As stupid as it sounds, I'm sad I won't get my song. There is, what has become a tradition in our family, a song that is sung at each wedding by the cousins. I won't have any cousins there. Wow, that freaking sucks. I understand why each of them can't be there but it just really bites. I hope I have more than 20 people show up, at this point, not so sure.

Tomorrow is my birthday. It will be the first time I've worked my birthday in several years. Alex, Mom, Dad and I are going to go eat at New York Pizza and Pasta after work. For that I am excited. I love that little place, just a whole in the wall place that has really good food. Nothing great or grand, but that's how I roll.

Saying No

I kind of suck at saying no. Last Sunday one of the sisters in the ward who was supposed to teach today asked me to teach for her since she wouldn't be here. It was my week to teach in sunday school and I think there must be some sort of malfunction in me that makes it hard to say no so I told her I would teach in relief society as well. In all fairness, I didn't tell her that I was teaching in sunday school. I've become rather fond of teaching Gospel Essentials but Relief Society is still a bit overwhelming. Today marks the whole second time I've taught in Relief Society. People said that I did a good job and I feel that over all I did pretty well.

I was supposed to start the rehab on my back tomorrow but I changed the appointment to tuesday so that it only affects 2 of my work days. I am really excited about starting. I did the dishes this evening and I would like to note that it was the first time in a long time in which my back didn't hurt standing there. That is freaking AWESOME! Hopefully once I start, I'll be able to be done with the majority of the rehab by the end of the year, first part of next year. Just in time to move....hopefully.

RSVP

We got our first 2 RSVP's today!!! It was so exciting until Alex realized when had absolutely no idea who they came from. Who sends things without a return address!? What if it gets lost in the mail????? Lucky for me and my amazing ability to narrow the list down as to who it came from I was able to figure out the culprits. Ok, it's still exciting. Linda actually called me lastnight and said "Do you know why I'm calling?" She sounded so excited and I really had no idea and she told me she got the invitation in the mail and had filled out the RSVP to send back. She also went and bought a new dress and I am just so excited!

I thought I should write this down. I had a good day at work today. Those seem to be so few and far between these days. One of my dealers from San Francisco came into town and there were 3 of us from my office that went to lunch with him. It was definitely an enjoyable experience. Much better than the last time I went to lunch with a dealer. I had salmon which was a first for me. I really enjoyed it. It was blackened and seemed to be cooked just right.

Beginning Monday I get to start the rehab part of my chiropractor visits. They say it's really uncomfortable the first couple of weeks. I must say that I am actually excited. The mere fact that I'm starting a program to make my spine go back the way it's meant to be so my back doesn't hurt all the time is awesome! Ask me on Monday how I feel, might be singing a different tune, but right now it's good.

2 months and 2 days

Yes, I am counting. I can't wait to marry Alex but I also can't wait to be done with planning. Somedays it feels like we'll never get to November and others it seems like it's coming way too fast. Last weekend we spent our saturday registering at a couple of stores and stuffing invitations. Today, we ended up doing more wedding stuff. I'm sure the next several of weekends in the coming couple of months will be filled with wedding stuff.

I keep crossing my fingers we'll be able to move to North Carolina. I really feel drawn to Charleston but not sure if that's just me or a prompting from the Spirit. Alex was in Dallas for training and the DFO (one of the financial guys at headquarters) was there and has heard we're looking to move. Alex is supposed to give him a call this next week. I hope he has some good news for us. I was looking at the price of homes out there and I'm shocked at how low they are. They're cute little homes and I would love to be able to move into a home instead of an apartment. I've done the apartment thing and really would love to have a space of our own. We'll see what Heavenly Father has in store for us.

the future in-laws

Okay. The future in laws to be were in town this weekend. Mom and Dad hadn't met Alex's dad and step mom so we invited them over for dinner. We had a FULL HOUSE! Not only did his dad and step mom come, his brother, his brother's girlfriend, grandma, great grandma and Alex's mom. People were polite and things went well.

Saturday all of the women went shopping for mother of the bride/groom dresses. We met them after 5 and I wanted to go to the mall off of Sunset and the 95 but since we had already gone over there once earlier that day Mom didn't want to go all the way back over there. It was on the opposite side of town. I gave in and said we could go to the Fashion Show mall....BIG MISTAKE!!! I should have stuck with my gut.

We get on the freeway and go up one exit to get to the mall and hit a ton of traffic when we get off. Obviously, it's saturday night on the strip, what else would you expect? The normal back road that we take to get to the mall was closed and I didn't know it until I went to try and use it so I started getting frustrated. I had to fight with traffic all the way down Las Vegas Blvd to get to the mall. By the time we get down there I don't want to try and find a parking spot. It's already taken us nearly an hour just to get there. So we valet. We go inside Macys, look around and don't really see anything we like so we walk out into the mall. I'm not familiar with this mall at all but I know it's HUGE. I'm not sure where to go so were just start walking straight. We hit a few stores and no one is really finding anything, I felt like Alex's step mom didn't want to be there and it just seemed like waste of time. I was also starting to feel bad for making the grandma's walk all over this huge mall. They were troopers though. As we were finishing up in the last store the announcement that the mall was closed came over so we hurried back toward Macys.

The lady at Macys was just about to close the gate and I asked her if we could go through to get outside where we valeted our car. She looked at me and said, the valet is already gone. I just look at her in awe. Sheer amazement. I was shocked and getting a more pissed off. She said that they valet PROBABLY gave our keys to one of the major restaurants and we MIGHT want to check Maggianos. I have no clue where this place is at so I ask her for directions and it's a good little walk. So we get to the stupid place and I find someone at their front desk. I told him the situation and he said to go to the elevators and go down to the 1st level the valet out there could probably help us. So, I go down to the valet hold out my ticket and ask the guy if he has my keys. He could see the look on my face was not a pleasant one and said, we'll find it.

They brought the 2 cars out that we took and we get in and head back to the hotel where the guys were at. On the way back one of the stupid double decker buses almost side swiped me and I lost it. I broke down in tears and had had enough. I was ready to go home and be done with wedding stuff for the day. We finally got back to the hotel, said our goodbye's and headed home. I slept so well that night.

The Weekend

I absolutely LOVE when I can surprise my sister. Alex and I needed to have our engagement pictures taken and Cindy found a spot in Rancho Cucamonga that would be nice. I called her up and made sure she was available this weekend and she was. Well we didn't tell her we were also bringing her car to down to her. I was getting my nails done with my future mother in law when Cindy and James got to the house so I missed the initial reaction but I got a call and was called a "butthead". Thanks Cindy! I love my sister and I love surprising her.

Alex and I were able to get some pictures done. He's so aware of people watching him and not looking stupid that he had a hard time with pictures. I think he started to relax a little towards the end but it was a little too late. Oh well. I still think we got some good pictures...THANKS CINDY!!!!

The rest of the weekend was pretty good. Alex's grandma and grandpa came over for breakfast this morning and we had waffles, eggs, bacon, hashbrowns and fruit. Well, as most of you know today was fast Sunday and what do we eat in the Burns household for dinner on fast Sunday's? That's right. Generally waffles, beggs, and today it happened to be fruit. I didn't think I would want to eat any since we did just have it for breakfast but surprisingly it tasted really good still.

We made it home safely in a bit of a hurry. We found out this morning as were eating breakfast in CALIFORNIA that Paul was being ordained an Elder today. It was nice to be able to have made it back in time. Alex was able to stand in which hopefully was a pretty cool experience for him. Paul's leaving for his job on Tuesday. I suspect he'll be gone until December, I shall miss him. It just won't be the same without him. He's pretty stoked about the job though so I am happy for him.

Been Awhile

Wow. It's been quite awhile since I last posted. Nothing has really changed lately. I got an e-mail from Linda asking me to write a letter to another birthmom who is struggling right now. I hope that what I had to say will touch her in some way. My mom talked to one of the ladies at LDSFS and gave her my number to call if they need someone to sit on a panel for them. I'm excited. One of the things I miss about living in Utah is being so involved with adoption presentations. Oh well.

Alex and I are starting to freak out a little about finishing paying for the wedding. Well, I guess I am the one who is freaking out more or less. I don't know where the time has gone. I feel like not that long ago we were looking at a year before our wedding date and now here we are creeping up on 3 1/2 months. I'm excited, anxious and I think a little nervous. Our situation is a little different than that of any other relationships I know. We're not in a typical mormon situation and not in a typical "of the world" situation. We live together, albeit in different rooms, but we don't have sex. Not many people I know that have gotten married have been in my shoes. We talked about it the other day and I know we'll be ok. There are just a lot of unknowns right now. I'm not sure where we'll live or if we're staying in Vegas. It's all good though. Things have been working out for us and I know we've been blessed so much already.

Just chillin

Well, it's Friday night and I'm sitting at home doing nothing. Alex decided to go fishing and I told him I was going to start planning my lesson for Sunday so that's why I didn't go. Well, that and I'm not a fan of fishing. I did have every intention of starting to plan my lesson however, I haven't even opened the book. Oh well. There is always tomorrow.

I'm so excited for the coming week. Cindy, Emjae and I are going up to Utah and I can't wait. Well, I'm not so much looking forward to the drive, I always hate the drive but I'm excited to see people. Erik will get to see Emjae for the first time. Speaking of Emjae, I'm curious to see how she'll do in the car for that long. I'm sure she'll sleep for most of it and I'm sure we'll have to stop at least once for her to eat. No biggie.

I have some wedding things to take care of and hope that my mind will be put at ease. I need to meet with Mike Montgomery to look at his portfolio. I think that Alex and I might go with him for our photography but I want to see some of his recent work first. I've also set up an appointment to meet with Leslie at The Point. I have some questions to ask them and our table arrangements to go over. I'm wondering if they have anything as far as food for kids go. They're not going to eat all the food on a regular plate, most of the kids that will be there are little kids.
Hopefully, they will have something to offer.

I got an e-mail from Roxanne tonight, she is officially engaged. Her and Chris are getting married October 11th, almost a month before Alex and I. Alex isn't so happy about that but it's because he's a bit jealous. Oh well our turn will come soon enough. Less than 5 months now. WAHOO!!

It's the weekend!

I'm so extremely excited that it is finally the weekend. I seriously contemplated calling off work yesterday and having a long weekend. Cindy and James were supposed to leave Thursday but much to my surprise, and Cindy's, it is now Saturday and they are still here! Alex brought his .22 rifle back with him from California so he wants to go shooting with everyone today. Mom and Dad will probably stay behind and watch Emjae. It's starting to get really hot out here so hopefully we won't be gone too long. I'm so sad that summer is now here. Las Vegas is definitely not city of choice to live in. Too hot and dry for me! Alex and I won't be here too long. We know we're not supposed to stay here, we just don't know where we're going. With Alex's job we could end up anywhere. I'm excited for the unkown.

Slacking off today

I took the day off today because I just didn't want to go to work and Cindy, James and Emjae are here! They came up for Paul's high school graduation last night. I feel kinda old. Sitting there last night I was actually a little more entertained than at my own graduation but it was still too long. Personally I think they have far too many people speaking at graduations these days. Why can't you just have a couple of speakers then get your diploma, the end!? That makes so much more sense to me. Cindy, James and Emjae were able to make it from California to attend the graduation. I really do miss being closer to my sister, especially now that Emjae is here. That little girl is super baby and growing up so fast. I'm glad that they could make it.

Alex and I are starting temple prep tonight. They're holding it at one of Dad's counselors house. I'm hoping that I learn something new through out this course. I believe it's 3 weeks, one lesson each week. We're finally under our 6 month mark until our wedding. I know that we'll be blessed for waiting and being in sealed in the temple the 1st time instead of getting married and then sealed a year later, but this year long engagement thing kinda sucks.

Newbie

Well, since my sister has decided to blog and this seems to be the new thing to do, I thought I would give it a try. Perhaps I'll be better at this than writing in my journal. I've decided this past week that I seriously need to asses my current working situation. Work no longer is enjoyable other than the few people I tend to associate with. That means school....I haven't been there and done that for 6 years now. It's just a bit intimidating. That also means once I'm finished with school finding a new job. It seems as though these days unless you have experience, it's hard to get hired. We'll see what the Lord has in store.