Bridal Photos

Bridal photos are done. Hallelujah. I thought taking pictures with someone was hard. Turns out, being completely exposed to the camera and having all eyes on you is even more awkward. 

Once again, my photographer was the star of the show. She was so patient with me. She made me laugh and oftentimes made me laugh at her so I wouldn't feel so awkward about myself. Having someone willing to actually show you exactly what they want out of you helps!

Big shout out to my best girl and Matron of Honor, Amanda, who was the best train-holder and fixer out there. She was not afraid to get down and dirty to keep my pretty dress clean. 

Always a shout out to my fantastic mother who repurposed her veil so I can use it for my wedding. She also did my hair and put up with me all during the photo shoot. Thanks to all!

Cool facts about my dress:

Something Old- my veil is my mother's veil

Something New- my dress

Something Borrowed- my earrings (thanks Amanda!)

Something Blue- my garter (no pics of that)

And my favorite part- My bolero is made entirely of pieces of my mother's wedding dress. All of the decals were taken off of her dress by hand, and hand-sewn onto my jacket. They were originally part of her bodice. The lace trim is from the trim on her train. The jacket lining (to make it modest) is the actual material from her dress. So glad that (even though I couldn't fit into my mom's 00 dress) I can "wear" her dress on my wedding day. 

And for the moment everyone has been waiting for, the pictures. I'm only posting them because 1. I blocked Carlo from seeing this Facebook post with the link (sneaky, sneaky!) and 2. We all know that he doesn't read my blog. 

Hope you like them as much as I do!

And my favorite:

Engagement Photos

You know that awful feeling of being put on the spot when you're totally not prepared? Yep. Somehow, taking engagement photos has the same feeling. It's a good thing this is a one-time deal and it's now over. 

Everyone keeps telling me the worst is still to come with bridals and wedding photos. But I'm pretending that those don't exist right now. 

Carlo and I were lucky enough to know an awesome photographer (thanks, Becca!). She offered to do our engagements as a wedding gift for us. She will also be doing my bridals and our wedding day pictures at the temple and at the ceremony/reception. 

We got so lucky that the weather cooperated. It was a 60% chance of rain, which actually made for a perfect picture day. It was overcast, so we didn't have to fight the squinty-eyed photos or the sweaty pits/oily face photos. That's the last thing that us two awkward picture takers needed.

If you know me, I don't like taking pictures. Unfortunately, I think there is one person in this world who hates them more than me, and I happen to be marrying him. He was such a good sport though!

Thank the photo gods that we had someone as instructive and patient as Becca. 

"Amy, you look like you hate him, fix your face."

"Carlo, it looks like you're peeping down her shirt, pick up your head."

"Carlo, open your eyes."

"Amy, don't grab his hand like that, you look like you have chubby fingers."

"Nope. That definitely doesn't work."

And on and on and on. Bless her soul for being so patient!

In the end, by some miracle, we got some great pictures. We picked a few of our favorites, and after edits, my amazing sister Erin made them into a cute collage for us to send out with our wedding invitations. 

Here's a few of my favorites:

 And we all know it's not a photoshoot until I ruin it with one of these:

Here's the photo collage that Erin made for our invitation:

One Time I Bought A Dress

I told myself that I was going to wait until going to Utah to buy a dress. If you know me (and my religion) you know that modesty is of utmost importance to me. And finding a modest dress in San Antonio is not an easy task. So when my Maid of Honor, Amanda, asked me when she could take me dress shopping, I wasn't sure what to say. "Sorry, I don't want to go here. I want to wait to go in Utah." In the end, I decided to go. I could get an idea of what I wanted (shape, fabric, etc) and then find the dress of my dreams in Utah (with sleeves)!

We started the morning at David's Bridal.

Holy dresses.

It was really overwhelming. I had no idea where to start. It was a whirlwind of questions that I didn't know the answer to.

What shape are you looking for?

Ivory or white?

Do you like lace?

Straps or no straps? 

Are you going to wear heels or flats?

How are you going to do your hair?

What size do you wear?

Heaven bless that best friend of mine. She just took over. I felt like a doll. She picked dresses and told the consultant what to get for me. Every dress she pulled off the rack was held up for me to give an opinion. "It's really pretty." The problem was that that was the answer to EVERY dress she showed me.  

Except one.

One dress in particular she pulled off the rack made me say, "Eh, I don't know. It's not my favorite, but I guess it doesn't hurt to put it on, right?"

I discovered right away that I (surprisingly) loved the ivory color. It was much softer with my skin tone. I also discovered that lace-up dresses (corset backs) were the most flattering on my figure (for those of you who don't know, that means that it hid my fat the best). 

Well, it just so happened that that eh, I guess dress was ivory and had a corset back (How could Amanda have possibly known before I tried anything on?!). 

I loved it. Absolutely loved it. 

There was just one problem. It's a strapless dress. Grrr. At this point, I remembered why I planned on waiting until I went to Utah. 

We tried the dress on with several boleros (satin, lace, etc) and none of them seemed right. I was having a hard time picturing what the top was going to look like with a top to make it modest. 

I needed a break.

We went to lunch and to another bridal shop. 

Fail.

I hated it. All of it! So we went back to David's Bridal to put the dress back on. This time we had Mom meet us there so I could have her opinion. 

Have you ever watched those bridal shows on TV? You know, the bride comes out and says "Yes! This is my dress!" and the mom cries. And everyone cries. And you just know it's the one? 

Nope. Didn't happen. 

My mom said, "It looks nice."

Really mom? That's all? The dress I'm in love with? That's the only reaction I could get out of you? 

Boo. 

I decided to hang the dress up and come back after my trip to Utah. That way I could have the best of both worlds, shop both places, and really make sure it was the best one for me. 

And then the consultant dropped the bomb.

"This dress is on clearance and is our last one."

Boom.

I'd like to take a moment to apologize to the consultant and manager (and mom and Amanda) for the amount of time I stood there and wasted. I twirled. I tried on different boleros. I touched it. I took pictures. And more pictures. And then some more. 

And then I did it. I said yes to the dress. 

David's Bridal has a tradition when a bride purchases a dress. They give you a bell. You make a wish, and then ring the bell.

Oh there's the tears!

My tears, my mom's tears, and Amanda's tears. I even got a few tears out of the manager. But those tears were probably tears of relief to finally be rid of me. 

I'm still not quite sure what I'm going to do with the top. Clearly I'm going to get a bolero, but at this point, I think I'll probably have one made to fit what I'm looking for. Lace maybe. And lined to keep it modest. 

And that's a different beast I'll tackle later...

For now, I have a dress. It's nothing I wanted but everything I wanted all at the same time. It beautiful and unique and sexy. I feel amazing. And do I dare say that I look amazing too?!

I'm off to go stare at my dress.

8 Lessons in Lawn Care

So, as you know, I bought a house. And houses come with lawns. And my lawn sucks. There are two ways to guarantee yourself a crappy yard. 

1. Renters

2. A vacant home

Lucky for me, I had both in my house before I bought it. Renters lived in it for 3 years and then it sat vacant for 3 1/2 months before I bought it. So, needless to say, it was a disaster. I wish I had a photo to prove how awful it was, but I had no desire to remember what it looked like (clearly I wasn't in blogger mentality or I would have taken a few for a before and after). 

My parents have been awesome. They both have green thumbs. Their yard is immaculate. They even win "Yard of the Year" for their community. I'm not kidding. They're awesome. 

So, naturally, I got them on board to help me with my yard. To this day I'm still unsure if they helped because they love me or because they were embarrassed to come over and be associated with my yard.  Either way, I got their help. 

Yesterday, my dad was at work and the hard work needed to be done. Carlo was at work too.

Sigh.

That meant that I had to do it by myself. Well, almost by myself. 

My mom showed up with all of the lawn care essentials and then told me she had an errand to run and that she would "be back in a bit."

Great. I was on my own. At least for a while. 

In case you've never done the yard, I learned the hard way for you:

1. Lawn mowers don't push themselves. In fact, they'll run you over when you're on a hill. I have a huge hill in my backyard. And mowing it is even harder than it looks. Don't go up and down the hill, go side to side. Cause when you go up, you'll feel a lot like Atlas, and when you go down, you'll be pulled down into the river below. 

2. Mowing over sticker bushes only worsens the problem. No, the lawnmower doesn't suck them up and get rid of them. It simply spits them out. All over you. Like all over you. And picking them out of your pants, socks, shirt, and shoes definitely takes longer than it does to mow it down. 

3. Edging sucks. That's really all there is to say about this.

4. Hedging bushes is like cutting hair. But I'm pretty sure that cutting hair is not near as dirty or sweaty or tiring. However, just like cutting hair, if you go too short, you have to take everything shorter. Just ask my bushes. 

5. Electric hedgers aren't good for swatting wasps away from your face. I guess it would be okay if you weren't near your bushes. But I was. I probably looked like something out of a cartoon. And unfortunately, so does my poor shrub. I don't think it's too bad, but I'll let you be the judge. 

6. The hottest part of the day is 4:00 PM. And that's the worst time to do yard work. Just ask me. I didn't think it would be too bad. But it was. 

7. When the weeds are tall, mow with care. Like I said, the backyard is on the edge of the forest. And there isn't much "play" space. Besides, I have a deck, so who needs the small yard? Anyways, I'm pretty sure the last time that thing was mowed was when the house was built. It was so exciting to see the path the mower was creating in the jungle, that I forgot to look ahead. In case you were wondering, running over rocks (no matter how small) turns them into deadly weapons. I guess I should be grateful I made it out alive and in one piece. Oh yeah, and did you know that I had sprinkler heads in the backyard? Yeah, me neither. 

8. When you're all done, you'll be glad you did it yourself. I don't want to sound like a sap, but there really is something gratifying about doing your own yard work. It's very satisfying. There's something about owning a home that makes you want to take pride in all aspects of it. 

Overall, I don't think it looks too bad. And it can only get easier, right? 

Come to think of it, I'm getting married in 6 months. Do you think the yard can wait until then? Cause then it's his job, right?!

The Proposal

My sister started a blog, and the first thing she is writing about is how her fiancé proposed to her. She said she was writing it because so many people asked about how he did it. Well, after reading that, I realized that multiple people asked me the same thing. However, instead of writing a blog post about it, I said "at the beach house." Lame. It's a little belated, but I think it still counts:

Easter Weekend Plans

I had just closed on my new house, and I had bought a fridge from my aunt who was selling her house in Mission. We figured since we needed to make the 4 hour drive to pick up the fridge, we might as well make a weekend of it. And since we were going to make a weekend of it, we decided to make a long weekend of it and spend Easter with his parents. So we headed down on Thursday after work. On the way, Carlo told me we were going to go down to the family beach house in South Padre the following day (Good Friday). 

"Oh cool, are we going down to spend the night? Are your parents going?"

"Nope. Just you and me. Just for the day." (As you can tell, he is a man of many few words. 

It's in my nature to question everything until everyone is annoyed with me and I feel like I know all the details. However, this time I felt like I just needed to let him be in charge and plan this one out. (I'm trying this cool thing, where I do this more often.) 

So, Friday morning we headed down to South Padre Island for a random day filled with nothing--as far as I knew. 

South Padre Island

When we got to South Padre, Carlo took me to the family beach house to show me around. The house is amazing. Gorgeous. Perfect. I could go on forever. I got a quick tour and then we headed out. 

Across the street is this cute little turtle rescue/sanctuary. We left and walked down to the beach. The beach was nasty. Super duper gross. There were little gnats flying around everywhere and moss covering the sand. What wasn't covered in moss was covered in kids and sandcastles. 

We walked down a little ways and then stopped. The wind was blowing and the air was stinky. Carlo seemed a little off. I don't know how to describe it. But apparently the monologue going on in his head went something like this:

"Oh no. The beach is gross. This isn't how I wanted to propose. I can't do it here. There are way too many people. This just isn't going to work. But I don't have a plan B. Crap."

Meanwhile, I was thinking, "This is gross. I want to go back to the beach house. And I'm getting really hungry." (Leave it up to me to think about food.)

After getting back to the house, I was ready to leave and go get lunch. Unfortunately for me, the pool guys showed up and Carlo didn't want to leave them alone at the house. 

"Carlo, they got here when we were gone. They don't need to get into the house. Let's just go eat. I'm hungry."

"No. Let's just wait a little while to see if they need us." ("Crap, if we leave here, where am I going to propose?! I need a plan B!")

Like the brat I am, I sat on the couch and pouted, waiting for the pool guys to finish. Did you know that pool guys take forever to clean pools? I learned that lesson that day. 

The pool guys finished and I was so ready to go. I stood up and walked to the door and put on my shoes. The awkwardness coming from Carlo continued until I blurted out, "Why are you being so weird?!" He just wouldn't leave! He grabbed my hand and dragged me back to the couch. 

"Let's just sit here for a little bit longer. We can eat in a little bit."

Oh man. This poor man of mine hadn't learned not to get in the way of me and food! I was pretty unfair (and super cranky with him). I just couldn't figure out why he was being so weird and why he could possibly want to make me wait to eat. 

While we sat there, Carlo continued to get more awkward and I continued to get more cranky. Just about the time I had had enough, he asked me if I wanted to be his wife. Literally. That's what he said. I said, "Of course I do. You know that!" But that's not what he meant.  Not at all. 

When he pulled out the ring and asked me to marry him, (insert sweet things here) the only thing I could think was, "This is not happening. We weren't supposed to get engaged until June or July! This isn't the plan." (I'm a little bit of a control freak.)

What came out was, "Wait, what?! Are you serious? Is this real? Like really for real? Is this happening? When did you even get the ring? How long have you been planning this?" and on and on and on. (I know, I found a keeper for putting up with me. I'm so annoying.) 

The answer to all of my annoying questions was, "Can you answer me first?" Naturally, I said yes.

I was so excited. And absolutely shocked. I still find myself staring at my ring. First, because it's beautiful. Second, because it's real. I'm getting married!

Oh yeah, I got to eat. And we had really good food too. Life is good. 

The Money & Modesty Misunderstanding

A little while ago, I sat in a Sunday school lesson that really got my blood pumping.  I'm not one to rant about church principles or teachings but this one has kind of been eating at me ever since. I need to get it off my chest. So read at your own risk:

Money

"Christ was born into a poor family for a reason. Money corrupts people and causes people to be hard-hearted. Do you think Jesus Christ would have been able to do the things he did if he were born into a wealthy family? I think he would have had to learn to be humble and would have had to teach his mother and father to be humble. But since he was born into nothing, he was able to begin a humble ministry from the beginning." (and later) "I don't think we would have near as many problems in this world if everyone had only enough for their needs. We need to be honest with ourselves, decide what are necessities, and spend nothing more than what we need."

Oh boy. I have so many issues with this statement...

1. Having money does not mean that you are automatically corrupt. Such a statement is absurd. I'm pretty sure the prophet and his counselors (and most of our church leaders for that matter) are very wealthy. In fact, they are so wealthy, the majority of them can devote their lives to the Church and no longer work. I don't know many poor members who would be able to do that. 

2. Christ was not chosen as the Son of God because he was born into a poor family. He, Mary, and Joseph were chosen because they were predestined for the great calling they were given. Yes, Christ was born into humble beginnings, but I do not believe for one second that he was successful simply because he happened to be poor, or that he would have been unsuccessful if he were born into wealth. In fact, I believe suggesting that the success of Christ’s ministry is contingent upon his environment is undermining his divine heritage and divine calling; he was the Son of God, no matter who his earthly parents might have been. And Mary and Joseph were chosen to be his earthly parents, not because of what was in their pockets, but because of what was in their hearts.

3. Money is not bad. If it were, the leaders of our church would give some instruction on this. Last time I checked, there was no official instruction from officials stating that we should only spend on our needs and never spend on wants. A good friend of mine ran into Thomas S. Monson (prophet and president of the LDS church) at a cabin along the Provo River. He was simply there on vacation. Vacation you say? How absurd! How dare this man spend money on such a frivolous thing? (Was my sarcasm evident enough?) I don't know about you, but I work hard for my money. And sometimes, I like to get a pedicure, or go out to dinner, or even go on vacation (gasp)! Necessity? To me, yes. It is a necessity to enjoy my life and do things that make me happy. Does it mean that I'm not living righteously? I'm going to go out on a limb and say "no." 

Modesty

"The most important thing we can do as women (for the men) is to dress modestly. We are responsible for the way we are viewed by others. The men cannot help thinking bad thoughts when we are dressed immodestly. If you are noticing that you are attracting the wrong kind of guys, the first thing I would suggest you do is look at the way you are dressing. I can bet that that's the problem." (and later) "We have the responsibility to make these men see us for who we are:daughters of God. And to do that, we need to keep the distraction off of our physical appearance. I'm not saying makeup is bad, but there's no need to always wear it. And you don't need to always be 'dressed to the nines.' Doing that will only have the men attracted to us for the wrong reasons."

I'm not even sure where to start with this one...

1. Men are not mindless animals. They are able to think, act, and react just like women are. To state that it is the woman's responsibility to keep the man chaste is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. And believe me, I hear a lot of wild things (I teach elementary school)! Can we, as women, assist in keeping their thoughts pure? Yes, absolutely. Are women at fault when a man thinks something inappropriate about them? Absolutely NOT!

What happened to agency? I'm pretty sure one of the most foundational and basic things we learn is that "men are free to choose according to their own will." Yes, modesty is important, if for no other reason than that the prophets have asked us (women and men) to be modest in our appearance. We live in a terrible world. We cannot hide our men (and our sons) from the things of the world. We as human beings are taught to "not judge a book by its cover" and "look inside one another" instead of at their appearance. Why is it then, that when it comes to women's modesty, that's not the case? 

Additionally, to say that women are responsible for a man's thoughts by the way that they dress is to excuse men from any impure thoughts they may have. If your son is speaking crassly about immodestly dressed women, are you going to say, "It's ok for him to do that, because of the way she's dressed"? Take that one step farther, and the rapists who say "she was asking for it" by the way that their victims were dressed will get a pass too. 

I believe women should dress modestly, not because it is our responsibility to keep the men around us chaste, but because it shows self-respect and is pleasing to our Father in Heaven. 

2. Looking nice does not mean you are being immodest. Finding modest clothing is difficult, yes. But that does not mean that if it's cute, it's immodest. And just because something is modest, doesn’t automatically mean it is cute. (You all know someone who falls under this category.) Two weeks ago, I called the temple to book my sealing (hooray!) and was told that they will be closed for the majority of October for cleaning. I told the lady, "That's ok. We aren't getting married until December. If we are at the temple in October, it would only be outside for bridal photos." She informed me that the temple grounds will be getting a makeover as well. That all of the flowers will be replaced, the lawns fixed, and the exterior of the temple cleaned. If we are to believe that our bodies are temples, why is it then that we are not to keep up our own temples? If the temples are all kept beautiful inside and out, shouldn't we do the same? I think that taking care of our bodies and living the law of chastity is far more than simply eating right and refraining from alcohol and tobacco. I think we are also to do our best to keep up our physical appearance. 

3. Our inner beauty is important, but so is our outer beauty. Now, before you turn into a lynch mob, let me say, inner beauty is more important than what's on the outside. Our outer appearance will fade (and all that other mushy-gushy stuff). Let me also say that beauty really is in the eye of the beholder. I am not suggesting that we all run out and have plastic surgery to look like the runway models or actresses on TV. However, we need to take care of our appearance! Trust me, I'm always dressed nice (those of you that know me are probably on the floor laughing right now). Welcome to real life. Nobody looks nice all the time (except maybe Kim Kardashian. But if I have to choose between that and looking like a train wreck, bring on the steam engine), but that does not mean we are exempt from putting forth effort because we want men to see us for our inner beauty.

It is much easier for men to see our inner beauty when they don't have to try to see past our frumpy clothing, oily faces, and dirty hair. We want men who are confident in themselves. Men want them same in women. And what better way to show them that we are confident in ourselves than to put forth a little bit of effort in our appearance? I know I'm a lot easier to love when I'm pretty. (Just ask Carlo.)

And that extends to loving ourselves as well. Think about the way you feel when you are clean, your hair is done, you have your makeup on, and you're wearing nice clothes. Compare that to how you feel when you haven't showered in two days, your hair's a mess, your face is oily, and you're in your old sweatpants. When do you feel more confident? More prone to love yourself? I believe our Heavenly Father wants us to feel good about ourselves, to be confident women who love ourselves and our bodies. And that is easier to do when you have put time and care into your appearance. 

*Sigh* That was tiring. Now I feel better. I think what upsets me the most of all of this is that (1)not one person disagreed out loud (except me), and (2) this is not the first time I've heard similar comments made during church discussions. 

Thoughts? Ideas? Hate mail? I'd love to hear it all. I'm off to go get pretty and spend some money. 

One Time I Started a Blog

I'm pretty sure nobody would have thought I'd be writing a blog right now. But hey, why not? I get heat from family for not keeping them up to date on my life. Well, here you go family. For the rest of you who don't care, I'm sorry. Just ignore me. 

Hmm...what's new? Well, I guess I'm getting married. That's pretty cool. And different. That definitely hasn't happened before and won't happen again. Today we are officially out of the 200s on the countdown. I discovered that the only way I'm going to survive this long endless engagement is if I make baby step countdowns (thus, celebrating being out of the 200s). 

Other new stuff? I bought a house. I officially feel like a grown-up. I'm still deciding if I like that feeling or not. I know one thing though. Being a grown-up is super expensive. I miss the days of getting junk in the mail. Nowadays all I get are bills and more bills. The other thing I know is that it feels pretty cool to come home to your very own house. 

Life has definitely thrown me a curveball over the last year. It's crazy to think that one year ago I was sitting in my house in Mapleton, Utah. I was stressing about moving from 4th to 6th grade at Amelia Earhart. In that one year I moved across the country, started a new job, bought a house, and got engaged. What a life!!

Well, that's the Reader's Digest version of my life. Until next time, that's all folks!