Our Life Lately

 Prom pose :)

 August:

We celebrated Weston's birthday and he started a new semester of school. Just work, work, work for me.

September:

We celebrated my birthday. Weston surprised me with couple's massages and taking me to pick out a new purse. We ate dinner at the Orleans, went bowling, and then since that wasn't enough, decided to see a movie because we weren't ready to go home.

October:

We went up to Utah for General Conference and Weston's mission reunion. We celebrated Grandma's 80th birthday and Hannah's birthday. The weekend after we drove down to Huntington Beach to watch the AVP volleyball championships. It actually wasn't as big of a deal as I thought it would be, but we had fun playing on the beach and road tripping together. We found a house that we both agreed on and decided was a great starter house. Unfortunately, it is a short sale so we hurry up and wait as our agent always says.

November:

We celebrated our 6 month anniversary by going out to eat and playing volleyball. The townhouse we are living in has sold and we will have to move by the end of the month. We decided to move back in with Mom and Pop until we hear about the house we put an offer on. Hopefully, it won't be more than a couple months, but we are grateful we have a place to live and that we have been able to stay in this townhouse for so cheap the first 7 months of our marriage.

Next month we are going to the Dominican Republic and I am getting nervous. This is my first trip out of the country, but I am excited to be in New York on our way there so we can see the big Christmas tree. We are staying at the temple the first couple of days while we visit the different areas Weston served in and then off to a resort in Punta Cana! Hopefully it doesn't rain and we get to enjoy the nice weather. I am still working and grateful to have a job that provides us with so much so early on in our marriage. We both realize how lucky we are to not have the struggle of money the first year of our marriage. Weston is still working as a dental assistant at a pediatric office and loves it. He works just enough to keep up his skills and we like it that way. He is doing really well in his classes this semester and amazes me every time he gets an A on a test in Physics (I hated that class and was just glad I passed with a C- in part 1 and 2) People always ask if I am still in love and how I like marriage.Of course we are still in love! Adjusting to marriage has not been difficult for us and I fall more in love with Weston every day. I feel so blessed to be married to my best friend and I know I found him, in the most part, because of Mom and Pop's diligent, loving prayers.

Weston's Birthday

I really wanted to make Weston's birthday special this year. I requested off work so we could have the whole day together. I have a problem with present buying. I tend to want to buy a lot of gifts for birthdays. We are very blessed right now with our jobs and I was able to buy Weston some large gifts this year. I told him it probably won't ever be this big again. I got him a transformer pinata, a new book he wanted, a gun cleaning kit, earmuffs, and a 12 gauge shotgun. I was very against buying a gun because I grew up with no guns in my home. I think because I can't say no to Weston I caved and bought him one. The only condition is that he has to keep it at his parents when we have children. For breakfast, at 11:30am since we both slept in, we went to Hash House A Go Go. I had heard it was really good and wanted to try something new. It didn't really impress either of us as much as I was hoping, but it was still fun to experience it. I bought two all day passes on Groupon for Gameworks a month ago and decided we would spend our day there for Weston's birthday. He told me in the past that he really liked to play there so I did my best to enjoy all the shooting games. We were getting a little tired and still had a couple hours before dinner so we went to the Fashion Show mall to look at some shoes Weston has been wanting since his mission. He found his Puma Ducatis at the Puma store. They were a little over the limit I had set, but I gave in since it was his birthday and he got a free backpack with them. We headed over to the Hilton for dinner at Benihana. Weston wanted to try something he never had before for his birthday dinner. It was a little pricey, but such a fun experience! After dinner we headed over to the Luxor to see the Bodies Exhibition. Weston had commented about wanted to see it and even though I already had it was fun to see it again. We went to dessert at Serendipity 3 at Ceasars Palace for their frozen hot chocolate. Weston loves to get frozen hot chocolate at Dairy Queen so I thought it would be fun to try it there since we were already on the strip. It was a long day, but worth it because my husband was happy.

Newport

Every year Weston's family goes to Newport Beach to vacation at his grandparents' timeshare. It was fun to see everyone from the Milne side the of family and have a week to relax in the sun.

Wedding

The day before the wedding Weston and I went down to San Diego to get our marriage license. It was strange to see all the people dressed in everyday clothes there to get married by a justice of the peace. I was grateful that we were only there to be licensed. I wondered if some of those people got married that way because they didn't have the money to have a nice wedding. Then I thought about how lucky I am to be LDS and have temple free of charge to have a beautiful ceremony in.

We met up with Uncle David, Aunt Karyn, Sabrina and David at their hotel in La Jolla to take bridals. Sabrina was amazing and offered to come down to San Diego to do my hair and makeup for bridals and the day of the wedding. It was a beautiful sunny day in La Jolla, which definitely took a toll on my eyes. I think because I have light eyes I am overly sensitive to the sun. I could barely open them and when I did it was only for a few seconds for Uncle David to get a good shot. After a couple of hours we hoped we got enough pictures of my not squinting.

The day of the wedding Weston and I took the bride and groom pictures in the morning, before our sealing, so our families wouldn't have to stand around for those pictures. We were sealed at 1pm by Grandpa Dougherty. It was such a feeling of calm when Gramps pronounced us husband and wife. I cried the entire time, mostly because I was watching pop cry while he looked at me.

After the sealing we went to a church to have the luncheon. The Milne's had it catered by a guy in Kara's stake who does a lot of their church events. It was delicious food and we were definitely ready to get out of there by the time we were done.

I love to see the temple

The wednesday before the wedding I went through the temple to receive my endowments. Since Weston's brother Jace was going to be leaving on his mission a month later, we decided to do it the same night. It was a wonderful experience I will never forget. I know I was always meant to be married in the temple.

Pre Wedding preparations

DISCLAIMER: contains TMI according to mom


The week of the wedding I wanted to do some manicuring so I would feel good on the wedding day. Weston and mom thought I wouldn't look like myself because of all the things I wanted to do. I was convinced by my fiance not to get a spray tan in the off chance I turned orange.

The first of the preparations was a brazilian bikini wax. I don't know what I was thinking when I decided to do this. I have had my bikini line done before and it was an awful experience. I have no idea why I thought getting everything waxed off would be any better. I went to a place in town called the Pretty Kitty. I think because I work in the medical field, and see pretty much every body part, that this experience wasn't as uncomfortable as it could have been. I removed everything from the waste down and laid on the table with everything out in the open. Still pretty awkward. The lady came in and started putting wax on right away. It hurt so bad! I kept thinking through the entire thing, why and how do women do this every month!? I was sore the rest of the night and the next couple of days were not pretty. I got bumps pretty badly and was hoping they would calm down by the wedding night.

The second prep I had done was my nails. I have been biting my nails since I was 2. Mom tells me she tried everything and I remember her putting that nasty nail polish on them when I little. I would just bite right through it though. I was determined to grow out my nails before the wedding. It went pretty well until all the crap hit the fan about my hair lady and I went to town on my fingernails. I have since then given up the attempt to break my habit and how soon I will be able to kick it. I had pink acrylic nails put on my fingers and my toes painted french tip.

The third prep I had done was eyelash extensions. I have a couple of friends who have them and I thought it would be fun to get them for the wedding. I had to lay on a table for almost two hours with my lower lashes taped down while a light was shown in my face. It was not something I would do every month just for fun. It is a really expensive habit and I just can't bring myself to be vain enough to want fake eyelashes. The plus side was that I never had to put on mascara in the morning.

After the wedding I kept thinking about the money and pain I went through in order to look 'better' on my wedding day. Totally not worth it.

Wedding Drama

I know everyone always says planning a wedding is stressful and I agree now. I am lucky to have a mother and mother-in-law who are working really hard to give me my dream wedding. The first thing that stressed me out was finding fabric for my dress and bridesmaid dresses. Everywhere I looked here in Vegas didn't have the right color for bridesmaid dresses or price for my dress fabric. Finally at 8 weeks before the wedding I asked Pop if he would drive me to the fashion district in LA to see if they had the fabric I needed. He said yes of course and I felt so spoiled that he rented a car just so we could go down for the day. At the last minute mom decided to go down with us and I am glad she did! If she wouldn't have been there to help me I would have been so lost because there are so many fabric stores down there! We went to a bunch of shops to price fabric for my dress and finally decided on one that would give us a deal on all the lining fabric as well. I looked all day for charcoal gray fabric for my bridesmaid dresses and only found one I kind of liked. So, I asked Pop if we could drive 20 minutes away to Mood Fabrics to see if they had anything. The only fabric I liked in there colorwise would not have been good on anyone's body type so we went back to the fashion district. There was a hole in the wall shop that we had seen some fabric at earlier in the day that we went back to. I was looking around the satins and found a charcoal gray! I was so excited because it was the perfect color. They sold it to us for $1.75 a yard too! I was so grateful we spent the day down there and found everything I needed. The second stressful thing was figuring out how to do a drop ceiling for the reception. I wanted it a certain way and, the other day, finally decided doing it an easier way would be better. We have people that are willing to help us and now I am just not thinking about it. The third stressful thing was finding a soft serve ice cream company. At first I thought we might be able to use Golden Spoon since Weston's parents know someone that owns a store. It was really expensive to have them come for two hours and I didn't want to use their cups and spoons. I just felt it was tacky to advertise that type of thing at a reception. I spent all day at work one day looking up and calling companies that might rent out machines. I couldn't find anything! Finally, the next day I found a company that does the maintenance on soft serve machines at the hotel buffets. They rent out machines from their warehouse as well. Pop and Mom have been trying to get in touch with the guy who is supposed to bring the machine that night. It hasn't been easy confirming anything with him so I am hoping I walk into my reception and have a soft serve machine. The biggest drama thus far has been finding someone to do my hair and makeup in San Diego. I started talking to a girl that one of my sisters recommended before I was even engaged to make sure I had that covered. We confirmed about a month and a half ago for her to do my hair and makeup the Friday before my wedding for my bridals. I was just going to have Kylie and Emily do my hair makeup Saturday morning. Kylie was afraid I would be upset if I hated my hair so I asked this lady if she could do just my hair the day of the wedding. She already had an appointment that day so we would do it early in the morning. A few days after we confirmed, she emailed me and said she booked someone else's party of 6 when I was supposed to get my hair and makeup done on Friday. She "forgot" I was scheduled that day and asked if I could do mine ealier. Weston and I are driving down to San Diego that morning to get our license so I couldn't do any earlier. I was really upset to say the least. She then emailed me again and basically said it is better business for her to do six girls versus one. I cried the whole way home from work that day. I couldn't believe anyone could be so rude. I understand someone wanting more money, but I had this confirmed more than a month ago and I thought it was bad business practice and unprofessional! Needless to say I started asking everyone I knew if they knew anyone in San Diego that did hair and makeup. Everywhere I would call was really expensive. It is like because you are getting married people take advantage of you and make you pay more than you would on any other day. Mom reminded me that my cousin Sabrina does hair and makeup in Southern Californina. I decided to email her and see if she was available those two days. She emailed me back about a week later and said she would love to be there, but had to discuss it with her family. This morning she text me and said she will be there! I am so grateful for her and her family for being willing to come up to San Diego to do my hair and makeup. That is one thing I no longer have to stress over and I will never be able to thank Sabrina enough! I know this is a long post, but lastly I just want to say how thankful I am for Weston. He is the kindest, calmest, most loving person I could have ever asked for. He tells me the truth when I am overreacting, which I appreciate. He calms me down when I am upset and always knows how to make me feel better. I know neither of us will be perfect in this marriage, but I know I will always have someone who mellows me out and makes sure I am happy.