Mt. Rainer Hike

I got out for a much-needed getaway yesterday with my mom, sis-in-law, new nephew, and precious niece, Daisy. We headed up into Mt. Rainer National Park for some hiking!
It was just us girls and the little guy - oh little Daniel got so much attention from other hikers as they were amazed to see Annie doing a strong hike with a 2 1/2 month old. We had a great time. Here mom is enjoying her Starbucks Doubleshot - right after she realized it was expired by a year...
...she survived :) It was a stunning day in the park - the mountain was majestic!
In the midst of all of the packing chaos - it was nice to just take a break and get out into nature. One of my favorite parts on a hike is when you are a few miles into it and everyone gets quiet and you get time to think. I have so much on my mind - this whole summer has been quite the spiritual experience in addition to a whole lot of changes. It has been a treasure to spend time near family for the past two months!
Annie and I got to spend a lot of time chatting about weddings and married life - she had some great ideas for me! I am so blessed to have such a great sister-in-law (and sister in Christ). Little Daniel was an angel the whole hike - he loves to keep movin'!
It was a fantastic day - just what I needed!

Today is a bit nutty. I am packing for a whirlwind weekend trip to Colorado as one of Matt's friends is getting married. When we return Sunday afternoon, we will be hitting the road to Eastern Washington - to my new temporary home until I move in with him after we marry in November. I am nervous and excited for the changes - I will spend the first part of September getting settled in and job searching, getting involved at church and finding my bearings.

It is bittersweet - I am saying goodbye to my folks. We will still make some trips out on weekends here and there as we do wedding planning - but I will miss mom's cooking and making dad's coffee for him in the mornings!

Happy Friday all - I will be back next week with more updates as they come in :)

Spoiler Alert!

Sooo my mom said that there is no way that she "cannot not" blog about the dress shopping experience without showing pics of the dress itself. I will try to tame myself a little...
Don't worry, friends - Matt had to see a picture of the dress that I ended up buying. Yes, buying. I could not make the decision without him, and with his mom overseas and no way to contact her while they were traveling, I had no way to ask her if it was OK if I went ahead and purchased a fantastic gown that was on sale. I knew that she had her heart set on making one for me - and I did too. Until I saw this gown, the price, and new it was the one for me.
We had *the best* time together - my mom, sister and I. We had found our way into a local David's Bridal as I have a friend that works there in the alterations department.
It was the second dress that I tried on. It fit like.a.glove. Snug, but oh so lovely...different than what I had in mind for my super-simple wedding but I loved the look of it all.
It is soooo...girly. It is me. It was on sale for 50% off.

After I had tried it on, and mom took the pictures - I was overwhelmed. I knew it was the dress, and that it would be impossible to duplicate in time for the wedding. I called Matt to ask what he thought - should I go ahead and buy it? Would his mom's feelings get hurt? Our wedding is just over 10 weeks away, it would be such a relief to just get it. And the sale price was for that day only and there was only one in my size...

He encouraged me to go for it. I emailed him a far-away picture of me in it that mom took. His response, "Humina humina humina" )it was something like that :) It is no where near to seeing me in it in person, so I don't feel so bad about the "spoiler".

I feel a sense of relief about having it done already and sweet joy over the day that I had with two of the dearest ladies in my life. Oh what FUN we had!

I told mom that she could write what she wanted on her blog, but that I would be just giving a little spoiler on mine. In the meantime, I have a lot of work to do in the next 74 days!

Loving Life & Love

I had a great weekend with Matt. He came over to the west side so that we could do some wedding planning and visit with a dear friend of ours, Sara and her son. It was the best weekend! I do love the Pacific Northwest - I snapped the picture below at North Seattle's' Carkeek Park on Saturday evening - of a kite surfer.
We spent the afternoon on Saturday in Bellingham, which is north near the border with Canada. I found this place...24 flavors of soft-serve, my favorite dessert!!
Matt and I were delighted with our company - a dear friend and her gorgeous son. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and encouragement for us. We love when friends share marital advice with us, and know that they are praying for us as we head into marriage.
It was our first time meeting in person, but I felt like I knew her my whole life. Amazing how that works in the blogosphere, and even more so when they are a kindred spirit!
I have to say that watching Matt play with her son was too fun. I now want a whole bunch of boys after seeing how he can get around them. Too cute... and this little guy just gushed joy. (There is an amazing mom behind that, always is...)
Each weekend Matt and I are together is a time of learning and growing on this journey. It feels so good knowing that we are not alone on it, and that others have also been on this road. Very encouraging :)

Matt and I also realized when we were saying goodbye on Sunday night that, God-willing, it would be our last time doing so for awhile. I am moving to be closer to him next weekend ;) I can't even begin to count all of the goodbyes... so hard! We are so grateful to be in the same state and time zone, and now - soon to be the next city! This is my last week at home with my folks, and I intend on making it a great one.

I'll write some more soon about what today brought about: a little hint is that it has to do with my wedding dress...

Stay tuned :)

Yay for Weekends

Ah, it is Friday, finally. I really look forward to my weekends with Matt, and this one is a special one. We have a marathon training run first thing in the morning, then spending the afternoon with a precious soul that has come to be a dear friend to us both. We are really looking forward to it. Since next weekend we will be in Colorado for a wedding, we will be intentional to relax a bit. Lots of changes mean we need it a bit more. We got a green light this week with a place for me to live until we marry - praise the Lord! Next: a job, then finding a suitable car. (Thanks for all of the suggestions, folks!!) One thing at a time :)

We hope to tackle some of the to-do list with wedding planning, but most importantly - some reading in our "Save Your Marriage Before It Starts" workbooks. We've already worked through the "Have You Faced the Myths of Marriage with Honesty?" and "Can You Identify Your Love Style?" and next is "Have You Developed the Habit of Happiness?" chapter. It is really fun to talk through the scenarios and be prayerful as we prepare for the big leap.

Next week is my last full week at home before I move over the mountains to be closer to Matt. I plan to make the most of it! Time with family and friends and some dress "looking" with the ladies.

On a side note, my mom asked me a wedding question that I am not sure the proper etiquette on: how will we alert our guests at the wedding to tell them that it is a light fare and very, very basic (no frills)? Will they figure it out with the electronic invite alone? I don't want anyone getting too "shocked" by unrealistic expectations (like no alcohol or a DJ). This wedding will still be a lot of fun and we will be surrounded by dear friends and family. I am really not worried about offending anyone - but some are flying across the country to be there. Thoughts?

Have a great weekend, all! Lots of adventures ahead...

Where'd Time Go?

AH! I did not mean for it to take a week to get a post up. Geesh! My apologies...

It has been busy but the real issue is that I am just not around the computer as much. I am loving being at home, having this time off, and thinking about my upcoming wedding. But I do love to write, when I remember to!

The weekend in Matt's city was great. We had a fun Friday night date (dinner and a performance of "Godspell" at his church). Then, Saturday morning we did the Long Run together. This is the *most important* part of a runners' week when you are in marathon training. You need to get a good nights' rest the evening before, a good dinner the night before, and pack some hearty snacks that won't upset your stomach on the run. 15 miles it was - and 8 for Matt - and it was great! After the run, showers, and food we next headed out to meet with his pastor for our first pre-marital counseling session. I loved it - I realized how much Matt and I have already tackled on our own, and that we really are taking all the right precautions to be somewhat ready for the marriage. I say "somewhat" because you really cannot truly prepare for it. It is all a work in progress :

Saturday night we watched "Fireproof". It was so good. I was really impressed with the movie quality but also how the couple in it save their marriage. Powerful!

Sunday we attended a church service and then went to the waterfront, along the Colombia River, to have a picnic and read from our pre-marriage book. It was delightful! Perfect way to end our weekend before the looong drive back to the west side of Washington... I was in traffic on I-90 forever with all the other returning campers and travelers.

Monday was with Mom - we spent most of the day in Seattle! Old Spaghetti Factory for lunch (split an entree), Tully's Coffee, Pike's Place Market (bought spices I donm't know how to spell) and got lost on the drive home. Fun times!

Tuesday was a good morning run, and I spent the afternoon learning how to make cheese with mom. She does an amazing job on a farmers cheese recipe that is divine! Info on it is here (see January 2009 archives on my mom's blog) I also got to work on my wedding portfolio - a notebook where I will store all my planning stuff. I love being organized!

Then there was today: running, reading, talked on the phone with Matt often, talked with my bridesmaids about dresses, and went to the local plant nursery with Mom. Then it got too hot to be in the house so I came down to the coffeeshop to cool off (I confess...Gelato...nom nom!) and mooch the WiFi. It is too hot to work on the computer at the house.

Lots of plans in the works - I am slated to move to Southeast WA in September, pending finding a place to rent/mooch for two months until I get married. Then there is the job search (I'm utilizing local staffing firms that are members of the American Staffing Association) and oh yes, a car. I need something all-wheel drive to handle the winters there, so I have some research to do. I can't get the car until I get the job, so it is a bit of a balancing & juggling act right now. A great opportunity to just learn to trust God. It's so much better that way!

Ok, off to work on the wedding website. It is very rough right now, but you can take a sneak peak at http://mattandruhiyyih.weddings.com it will serve as a way for us to handle RSVP's and such. Fun times!

Have a great night, all. :) Stay tuned!

Decisons, Decisions

Ohhh my goodness. For an indecisive person, planning a wedding is the ultimate challenge. The good thing about a shoestring budget is that automatically a ton of things get cut off the list. With what remains though - it is fun to get creative. And Matt is SUCH a help - he has a ton of ideas and really involved in the planning.

I only have a couple weeks left of "free time" before I move in September, so I wanted to get as much wedding planning done as possible. I had one "big item" I wanted to tackle daily, and today it was favors. I emailed a company with a potential idea that is awesome - I can't wait to hear back!

I've pretty much decided to go with an off-white or creamy colored chiffon wedding dress. I have yet to find the dress that I see in my head. It is getting made so I am wondering how hard it is to design one myself...with little training to do so?

Tomorrow I am heading over the mountains to see Matt - we have a packed weekend of premarital counseling, making some progress in our workbooks for "Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts", a long training run for the marathon in 58 days, looking into housing for me for September, and church. Hopefully some rest in there too!

The hardest thing right now is our guest list. We have sooo many folks we want to invite and only 220 spots at the church. We will need to do a DC reception and a California one (where Matt lived for 7 years) just to see all the folks that we would like to! Goodness.

Some of our cost saving measures so far:

• Getting married at the church I am a member at already
• Getting my dress and the flower girls' dress made
• Matt's godmother is making our cake as a wedding gift
• No honeymoon (just being married will be one in itself!)
• Our dearest (local) friends are going to bring a food item to share (potluck style!) based on their last name in lieu of a gift
• Minimal decorations
• Using silk flowers for tables, real ones for the bouquets
• Enlisting my talented former housemate, Lauren, to make the floral bouquets as she loooves to do that kind of stuff :)
• $50 Tungsten metal wedding bands
• Casual bridesmaid dresses from Target (still working on the selection of them...but we scored a discount!)
• No tuxedo rentals. Just suits for the men!
• My sister-in-law's mother is doing the photography
• My brothers are doing the videotaping
• The church is providing a lot of items I would have otherwise had to rent
• The pastor marrying us knows us both and baptized me 11 years ago
• We are doing an alternative registry since we are house sitting for a couple years and don't need a blender or a toaster. An item on it will be: "A tank of gas to get to the wedding" = so if you have to drive or fly to get there, that is your gift. We want their presence more than their presents :)

Yippie! I'm leaving in the morning to meet with a bridesmaid heading east of the mountains, so I will be back on Monday. Have a great weekend all!

Life Updates

(My niece, Daisy, and her new little brother, Daniel - also know as "Dan Dan" to me... :)

Running: I am on week 8 of a 16-week marathon training program now. My longest run this season was about 3 hours, the first half of it with Matt. He is doing so good! We have our flights purchased for Chicago and already made the hostel reservations so we can stay cheap in the big city. I have a ways to go to be ready for 26 miles - even if I have done it before. The key is the long run - every Saturday, rain or shine.

Wedding : Goodness it is really coming together! We selected a church (which will double as the reception site as well), a bridal party (so far five folks on both sides of us!), and of course picked the date. We have connections in getting the cake for free, photography, and my dress is being made once I select a pattern. We have a pastor, a website in the works, and selected colors (ivory and...shades of green). Our honeymoon is two quiet nights away only, locally. The big project is our invite list - we would love to have everyone there but it is not realistic. Matt has been a huge help and is just as involved as I am!

The update on Matt, husband-to-be: We are really enjoying engagement. Having just started the "Saving Your Marriage Before it Starts" workbooks I can already tell that it is time well spent. He is still looking for a job but the temp one is steady enough to see us through to getting married, praise God. Next...I need to find a job!

Family update: little nephew Daniel is growing so fast, and I get to spend some quality time with my folks daily. Taraz is in Denver, Rahmat is doing his own thing. Older brother Rue is back to work after his paternity leave, and sister Laurel is staying busy north near Seattle with work. The cat continues to be annoying...

Life Update: I am enjoying the downtime of the next couple weeks. I am reading a lot, researching wedding stuff, having lots of thinking time on a run, and great talks with friends on the phone. I am really so blessed - just focusing on the things that I have rather than the things that I do not have. Things are going to get busy with a trip to see Matt this weekend, then he is coming here the following one. We are going together to a wedding in Colorado at the end of August, and hopefully I will be moving to his town soon thereafter. And that is all that I know for now...September will be a huge adjustment I can imagine. But, God is good - and leading me every step of the way :)

Shout outs: To RACH my dear blogger friend whom is expecting! Yay! I love being a "cyberauntie" :)

Happy Wednesday, all!

How I Feel

Auntie Ru Ru knows just how you feel, lil nephew Dan Dan! :) I love this picture that Annie's mom, Kathy, took of them on a recent trip to Yosemite. He is so precious!

Things are a little crazy. I feel sort of...weird. I would not say too anxious or stressed yet regarding wedding planning, or the upcoming crazy changes (moving, getting a job, buying a car) but on how different things are here "back home".

When I left in February of 2006 I had three dear friends in my town that I hung out with regularly: Hana, Bryn and Veronica. Hana passed away a couple months after I moved. Bryn moved a year later to the South, and Veronica's husband got new military orders and they all moved away to California.

So when I got back, it was different! I finally reconnected with a couple friends that are either new moms or newly married. I am getting back into the social circle at church but it is a little far away and I have to pay a toll to get back from there. Boo.

So I feel a little off. I am super excited to be wedding planning finally (and doing so with a lot of help!) but I wish I had my dearest girlfriends here to go dress shopping with. So! I will go with my mom and dear sis-in-law to make it meaningful - because they are some special people.

Really it is nothing to complain about. Planning a Recession Wedding can be fun because it demands creativity and sacrifice - two traits that you need for a marriage anyway. And, I am one blessed girl with the catch of a guy that I have!

Also - the Chicago Marathon is two months away from today! I am following the training plan I set out to do months ago...it just feels like a huge hurdle. But, I am excited - I love setting physical goals. Perfect timing to be in shape before my wedding, too! :)

Happy Tuesday all - stay tuned for some posts in the coming weeks begging for your advice on wedding details! :)

Announcement

Photo by Stephen Elliot

Matt and I are taking a HUGE step of faith...

...and SETTING A DATE.

Three months from tomorrow, I will marry my best friend. :)

Please pray for us!

Decisons, Decisions

So I am not slow to admit that I am the most indecisive person on the planet. I hate having to pick one thing over another, from big decisions to little. I have an opinion and all still - but I just cannot come to make a decision easily. I hate it!

And I am at a crossroads. I need to make three big decisions, all at the same time! (HELP!)

First: I need to buy a car. I was going to buy my sisters off of her, and then their other car broke down so they need it back - plus, since I will be moving to where Matt is eventually, I need something all-wheel drive that will handle winter weather. So I have made the decision to buy already, but now I don't know when or how I will do this. That brings me to the next decision....

I need to get a job. I have savings that could last for awhile, but I would rather not use it. I can't decide where I should look for work. Here where I am staying with my folks, or in the city Matt is in - to get a head start? My expenses are low so I don't need a fancy job. I'd love to just work in a coffee shop - but the timing is crucial to the being to afford the car. Which leads me to the next decision...

I need to move soon. My folks are great and all but I miss Matt! He has a temp job and a free place to stay, so he is not going anywhere - and he lives four hours away. I want to be near him, so I need to move there by the end of August or first part of September. I gave away everything when I moved from DC...so I don't have enough stuff to get an apartment even. I am just needing to rent a room there somehow until Matt and I marry, then I will move in with him. Ah...the timing of it all...

So these are big things. Moving to his town, getting a car and a job. The order of those things is important, I want to do it right.

Oh yes...then after I nail down all of those things: I need to plan a wedding. That will mean deciding a place, a party, colors, flowers, cake and all that stuff! The praises here? We have enough connections to pull off a real wedding on a shoestring budget. So, I will try to have fun with all that. But first I need to get going on this moving/car/job thing...

I am so glad to be back home. *Happy Sigh*

Happy Tuesday, all!

A Reunion

That was a great weekend. The first one of a new month and it included getting to see some special friends of Matt and mine from our college days.
It is funny how when we all graduated from Central Washington University that we were all single and off to conquer the world. Now many of our dearest friends are married with kiddos and have mostly stayed in the area. It was a blessing to see familiar faces!
We caught up telling stories of the past ten years. Matt and I were friends back then and they all wanted to know how we became more than friends in the past year. We have fun telling them our story :) It was a wonderful afternoon. We ended by singing some songs with the help of Sam's guitar and praying for each of the couples there.
It was a great day with Matt, too. We have been talking a lot about just throwing together a Recession Wedding - where it is a team effort, and instead of bringing gifts people put that money towards just getting there. And, maybe bring a casserole :) The idea is growing on me, and if we decide to go that route (and are assured that Matt's temp job is good for awhile longer) we may just take the plunge later this fall.
I hope that you all had a great weekend! I am house sitting for my brother all this week so it is mostly dealing with animals, my inbox, our budget, some wedding planning, marathon training and seeing some old friends in the area :) I miss DC a bit - mostly the people. The weather here is sooo much better...

Happy Monday...and Happy August!