The ring and the dress

Chris and I started looking for a ring, but I couldn't find the style I wanted. I always loved my mom's ring that had a design on the band, so I was trying to find something like it. There wasn't anything at all. We decided to call a jeweler to see what they could do. After we met with him, he told us to come up with a design and e mail it to him. I jumped on the computer that night. I found a design that I loved, so Chris and I took it apart, repeated it and came up with something we were happy with. We took the central design and put it on his ring, then took parts of it and created mine. We were originally going to keep the black background, but after seeing it without, we decided against it. I absolutely love my ring. I couldn't be happier.

Originally I had planned on making my own dress. I have had the patter for a few years actually. I decided to try on some dresses of the same style to see if it would look ok on me. We tried 3 stores, and then found the perfect dress. I wasn't even looking for it. And... it was on sale. I couldn't pass it up. We flew back to VA with my dress.

I've always wanted to have a little color on it, so I decided to add to green beading at the waist. It came out perfect. I couldn't have been more happy. After that I cut off the halter strap and built a small jacket to go over it and my veil. It turned out lovely, don't you think?

April 10th, 2010

Chris and I met in October. After a couple of dates, we were seeing each other every day. We couldn't stay away from each other. We made it official in the middle of November. Shortly after that Chris started meeting with the missionaries and decided to get baptized. It was a great day. We were engaged in December and both went back home to AZ in January to meet the family and plan the wedding. That's the short story. We plan on getting sealed in the Arizona Temple in January or February of 2011 after we move to Washington. I can't believe it's been 5 months already. I can't imagine my life without him.

Florida trip

We recently took a trip to Orlando, FL for Tanya's wedding. We decided to make it a family trip for my birthday too. We left Saturday afternoon and stopped at Brandon and Tiff's for two nights. The kids had fun turning uncle Chris into a jungle jim. Tuesday we spent a few hours at all 4 Disney parks. Thanks to my friend Brock, we got in for free. He also got us a discount at a Disney hotel. We stayed in the 1980's section, complete with a giant Rubix cube. The next day we spent at Sea World. We were able to get in free and I could get a discount on all purchases. Totally worth it.

Tanya went through the temple the next morning. It was great to be able to be there with mom. Later that night, Chris and I went to the Arabian Nights show. The horses were beautiful, but the show was a bust.

Tanya got married the next morning. It was the first time I got to go to a temple wedding. I'm so excited for when Chris and I get to go after his year mark. We then all went to Olive Garden for dinner, good byes and a 9 hour drive back to Brandon's. It was a lot of driving and tired feet, but it was completely worth seeing my family. Happy birthday to me.

Some videos.

This is Brock in Art Attack

http://www.youtube.com/user/BuschGardensVA#p/u/80/pkRzipB8I8g

This is Festivale

http://www.youtube.com/user/BuschGardensVA#p/u/78/5lS7u4BrrMU

This is the Goblin King

http://www.youtube.com/user/BuschGardensVA#p/u/61/FWEMhDGunAI

The making of Christmas Town

http://www.youtube.com/user/BuschGardensVA#p/u/51/8vw9sE4d6qw

I helped put up lights and wreaths in England, then they pulled me back into the costume shop to help build costumes.

Christmas Town shows

http://www.youtube.com/user/BuschGardensVA#p/u/47/LbhXY1KlWlE

http://www.youtube.com/user/BuschGardensVA#p/u/43/fFGE61FOAb4

http://www.youtube.com/user/BuschGardensVA#p/u/32/E6zL5z6nEns

This is our newest ride

http://www.youtube.com/user/BuschGardensVA#p/u/13/oY_MNXtHXUs

A few extra Festivale pictures.

Having some fun backstage in others costumes. The girls had to cover up to get to the tower because it was raining.

The view from backstage during the commercial shoot. We got a little bored so we were getting creative. The commercial turned out really cool though.

The entertainment sent a cake for the closing of the festivale as well as my birthday. It was the same day, so we got two cakes.

http://www.youtube.com/user/BuschGardensVA#p/u/22/_ZZ6NxNRx0o

Halloween shows from around the park.

Here is 'Jack is Back'. I helped with the stilt costumes. I also made the costume for Tony as the Goblin King. Then there was Monster Stop. I love that show. I also got to help Brock with his costume. I made him a straight jacket out of a lab coat and some belts. The sleeves had velcro so he could tear then off to paint. It turned out really cool. The last two pictures are in the back stage of Italy. Everyone was trying on Paul's Frankenstein boots. Our stage manager Garrett had them on and was still the shortest guy. Haha. It was pretty funny.