wedding weather update
current weather forecast for Sat. Dec. 3 in Monterey, CA
sunny, high 12 c, low 4 c

wrapping christmas presents...
i am about to start wrapping christmas presents...i hope there is no problems with the boarder wanting to open themm cause if that is the case, i guess my family's christmas will be early too...celebrated at the airport...having presents opened for them...lol
i need to have everything ready to go in the next couple of days, so i may as well get on it...
it's gonna be a big cleaning day, too...i am going to try to get everything organized, finish the front page of the guest book and the next page...wrap family's gifts that we already have, cook dinner...should be a good day...
wish me luck :)

wedding weather update...
current weather forecast for Sat. Dec. 3 in Monterey, CA...
mostly sunny, high 13 c, low 4 c

new christmas day...
so, i am REALLY glad that i am going to be on a ride-along with will on christmas...cause apparently, christmas with his family is on Dec. 17th this year...
nope, not the 25th...the 17th...
although, even if for some reason i cannot be on a ride-along, there is a family in the ward that invited me over, so, either way i guess i won't be alone christmas day...
but, yeah, apparently his sister is going to be somewhere else for christmas so we are celebrating it Dec. 17th...
so, the day after my birthday is christmas...will and i won't open our presents to each other that day, or will his kids from us...our family will still do it christmas day...but with his family it will be early...

THE FLIGHT THAT FOUGHT BACK

i just finished watching this movie on tv and, i think, it was the most touching movie i have ever seen...
as i was watching it, hearing others stories and hearing their memories, and just trying to imagine how they felt that day, i am touched...
i am touched at the passengers and crew members families, as well as the victims, themselves...
i looked over at Will, who had fallen asleep on the couch, and i just started to cry...i love him so much and i just could not possible imagine having to say goodbye for the final time...knowing that i would never see him again...i heard actual recordings of people saying their final goodbye's and i love you's and i cannot imagine the fear they had, and yet, how calm they were...
it's amazing to hear of all these people who were on the plane...the one's who barely caught the flight, the one's who traded co-workers to be on that flight for whatever reason, the one's who were supposed to be on other flights, the one's who normally always miss flights, but this time get there early...and yet, as the same time, think about how if they were not on that plane, would things have stilled turned out the way they did???
in one part, a passenger is speaking with a verizon supervisor, and he asks her to pray with him...she recites the Lord's Prayer over the phone and you hear, ..."thy kingdom come, thy will be done..."
and you know it's his will...
i don't know any of these people, but i cried as i watched this, and saw their bravery and their courge...and can only hope that i would have done the same thing...
they gave the ultimate sacrifice...they gave their lives to save the lives of hundreds, if not thousands, of others...
this dvd can be purchased at www.discovery.com/dvd and i would highly recommend the purchase of it...100% of proceeds do go to a flight93 memorial fund...
i just wanted to share my feelings on how precious life is...you just don't know what is held is store for our lives and i am forever grateful for the knowledge that i have...to know that i can, and will be, with Will for time and all eternity...and i am, and always will be, forever grateful for that knowledge...
I Love You, all...i don't say it enough to my family...i don't know how...but i tell you now, I love you!!!

NEW DRESS...
christine (will's sister), bria (will's niece), katrine (will's friend's wife) and i all went shopping today for a new dress...sadly, i could not get mine down here, so we did have to get a new one...this one was much less expensive...it is a michaelangelo dress, and one REALLY nice thing about it, is that it is full enough that i don't have to buy a crinoline for it...it was $400, plus $50 off, the katrine and dave as a wedding present gave us $100 towards the new dress...and will's mum has also offered $100 as a wedding gift to go toward the dress, if we would like...i feel like nothing can compare to my dress i chose in edmonton, i am so in love with that dress, but this is very beautiful and christine, as a shower gift, bought me a pair of red shoes that match the dress perfectly...
and the best part is that will is not going to see this one until the day of...i have it hiden in the closet right now and i will be covering it with garbage bags, as well, so it can still be brought up to monterey without him seeing it... so, here it is...
this is the front of my new dress...

this is the back of it...

and this is it with the bustle...

was this a bad idea...

i decided to get rid of my roots by going back to my natural color...cheaper and easier than re-doing highlights...
so, i went with a friend from church...another fellow canadian...as well as will, to the store to get some dye...now fellow canadian dyes her hair a lot and her and will decided that the dark brown was closer to my natural color...and i admit, looking at the box, it did look closer than the lighter brown...
my hair looks black...
BLACK!!!
not brown...BLACK!!!
and, somehow some spots did not dye as well, so i have to go over it AGAIN!!!
so, now instead of growing out without having roots look obvious...they will look obvious...cause my hair looks black...not brown...
have i made myself clear on that one yet??? lol
i'm not mad, or anything...i'm actually sitting here laughing...cause now i want to make a mad dash to the tanning salon down the street to make my face not look so pasty against what looks like black hair...
so, basically...was it a bad idea to dye it darker than to leave it with the roots (that were about 2 in.)???
personally, i think i still prefer the, basically, black hair :)

say a prayer for me...

because my dress has been reshipped as of yesterday...
for those who don't know, it was mailed out Nov. 10, and for some unknown reason, was refused at the border and sent back to edmonton...
yesterday, Nov. 21, it was reshipped back to me...so far tracking has put it leaving Cowtown at 2:30 this morning, so, it should be at the border by now, or right quick, i imagine...i hope that this time it will clear on through and that i will get it...
so, please say a prayer for me that it will get here...
thanks :)

not much to blog about today...
we have finally figured out the bagpiper music...it only took a couple of emails back and forth...that's not too bad...
to get my dress here, i have to fill out crazy forms that have things that don't apply to me and i am having issues with it...and the people hwo can help me with it, aren't in til 3 pm alberta time...i wanna figure this out now...
i am exhausted beyond all belief...the last 2 nights have been terrible for getting to sleep, and today i couldn't even fall back asleep cause my mind won't stop turning...it is driving me nuts...just want to sleep...
i think we have our final numbers in for the wedding...we are looking at approximately 45-48 people including us and kids...
bridal shower is tomorrow...that should be super fun...i am excited for that...
i had a mandarin orange today with breakfast and you know how it's said that certain smells or sounds, ect. can remind you of a certain time in your life??? well, after i was done the mandarin, in the air, i could smell it...smell the peel...and it reminded me of christmas time at home...this is my first christmas away from home...gonna miss it, but this is my new home...for now...til we retire in back in canada...
well, that is all for now...

2 yay's in one day...

so, happy news...
will got a call today from the city of fresno, saying they did a lotto type thing to determine who could have thanksgiving day off...since they were over-booked...and will's name came up as one to give the day off to...so, he now has the day off, which i think is very exciting... :-)
and, kari-lynn is shipping my dress down today...that means it is guaranteed to be here by next wednesday...
i'm so excited...
oh, yeah, and we have decided on all the songs we want the bagpiper to paly...so i just emailed him to make sure our choices were okay and that he knows all the songs...i'll get back to you on that...

excitedness...

so, i have this kid's store that i loved shopping at at home, please mum...it is a canadian store and they are not in the states...
well, i just looked them up online, and i can order online from there...
which for now, is no biggie, since i'm not having a baby, but when i am having a baby...guess who's ordering clothes from please mum???
yep, that'd be me...i'm so excited...
i know...true geek to the core...but i have come to accept that :)

YEAH!!!
HAPPY DAY...

ok...so a couple of things...i booked my family's hotel room yesterday...i got the last one available and it was the exact one i needed...how handy... :)
it is a family suite, so i can have my mum, dad, 2 sisters and niece all in the same room...keeps costs down...
i have been trying for the past while to lose some weight to feel better about myself and for the wedding...well, a couple months back, a lost 4 lbs, but i gained 7 right after that and i have been fighting to lose that...well, i am now officially 3.5 lbs lighter than last weeks weigh in and down some inches...i am so happy...
since being down here, i have made a friend named heather...we go to the same ward...and she called me today and asked if i wanted to go out today...her older daughter is getting pictures taken, so we are gonna go pick her up at school (kindergarten), then go to the mall and get her pics taken, then walk the mall while they get developed...apparently they get down within an hour...so, we're all just kinda hang out at the mall together...should be fun...
i went to a baby shower on saturday and that was a lot of fun...for a woman from church, as well...i had fun shopping for a gift for her, even though i did not know if she was having a boy or girl...
well, that is my news for now...hope you are all having a good day...BYE!!!

i know what i'm doing for christmas...

i know, kinda early to be planning this, some may say, but this is the way i see it...
this is going to be our first christmas together and he has to work...well, who wants to spend christmas day alone??? i could probably go to his mum's house, but i wanted to be with him, admittedly...
sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
i'm going on a ride-along on christmas day...and i'm sure it'll be busy as heck dealing with all those heinous criminals on christmas day, but not everyone can be in the christmas spirit...someone's gotta go ruin the day...aren't i optimistic???
i'm so excited...it's gonna be so much fun :)

bridesmaid gifts...

i bought them last night...i got the idea from someone online and decided to check it out...expensive!!!
so i looked on ebay and found one quite inexpensive...so, i bought it...with i think 1 min. left on it...then i found more from the same seller for a few dollars more, but buy-it-now...so i bought 2 more...to equal 3...
i was half debating getting the same thing for aubryn and then having the size brought down but i just don't think that it'll work...
and i was thinking about getting one for me too, but, sadly, the only place i could get mine from is coming from hong kong...and i just don't know if it will get here on time...what do you think??? i have 28 days til the wedding, 26, til i would need it here...

bridal shower...

so, yeah!!! i am getting a bridal shower...it is on nov. 15
it's so cute that they called and asked my permission if they could have one for me...UHHH, YEAH!!! you can have as many bridal showers for me as you want...
no need to ask my permission...i am so excited... :)

FLOWERS ARE ORDERED...

and they are not what i said they would be...they were completely changed yesterday...
so, this is the new list of flowers...
bride (that'd be me): 5 white cala lillies, with dark red gladiolas, stephanotis, heather and greenery...
matron of honor (kari-lynn): white lily, red alstroemeria, baby's breath, greenery
bridesmaids (laurenne, camille): white lily, greenery
flower-girl (aubryn): red alstroemeria and heather (i can't remember if there is greenery in here)
so, that is it...the flowers...they are paid for and can no longer be changed...thank goodness :)

SAY WHAT???

i just mailed invites out on saturday oct 29 and guess who already has theirs???
my cousins in scotland...
say what??? now, how did that happen??? i somehow doubt that anyone in the states or canada have theirs yet...and yet somehow, it got to the other side of the world (practically, anyways)

so, it was halloween last night and it was so much fun...
the trick-or-treaters starting coming out about 5:30, and it was really slow, so i though, oh my gosh...we have no kids...give extra candy to get rid of it...well, i learned for next year...DON'T DO THAT!!! they come out later...and then don't stop coming!!! up until 9:00, i would say we had trick-or-treaters...
by then i was only giving 1 candy each kid that had been taken from will's personal stash of candy for himself...i didn't wanna be the bad neighbor that ran out of candy...i would be marked for life in this complex as the terrible person who ran out of candy...and i was not prepared to have that marking on my forehead...
we ended up with approximately 76 kids...maybe a couple more...on here i am posting getting ready for halloween, halloween party, halloween, and absolutely adorable neighbor kids...
will carving the pumpkin...

the finished product...now,sadly, we did carve this pupkin too soon, so when i went out on halloween to put it outside, it had gone bad :-(

at a halloween party...now, as you may notice that is one GIGANTIC cotton candy...they gave me will's share as well since he didn't want any...oh, yeah, and a funny...some girl saw me in my canada jersey and she's like "Yeah!!! Canada rocks!!! they have moose don't they?" yeah, canada does have moose, as do many other places, including the continental usa... :)

the front view of our house...

and our door...notice the ghost coming out of our door...we got lots of compliments on it...

and one of our jack-o-lanterns that i carved...i got compliments on those, too...

adorable neighbor kids... sorry about the blurriness

and another adorable neighbor kid...